BJ BUILDING SAVED! FIX, EXPANSION, $5.35 MILLION TAX CREDITS IN THE WORKS

 

BJ building saved from demolition; $5.35 million for major additions & improvements

 

The old Akron Beacon Journal building at 44 E. Exchange Street was awarded $5.35 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit funds to help defray the cost of redeveloping the building, named one of the state’s most endangered historic sites in 2019.

Tony Troppe, the Akron developer known for creating the arts district and the BLU-Tique Hotel in downtown Akron, was granted the funds from the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program to help defray the cost of redeveloping the historic property. 

The entire cost of the project is estimated at just over $54 million. 

The 1930 Art Deco-influenced structure at East Exchange and South High streets, which housed the newspaper’s operations until the offices moved to the AES (former Goodyear) building in 2019, was sold to Birmingham, Alabama-based Capstone Real Estate Investments for $1.1 million in 2020.

The company requested permission from Akron City Council to demolish the building but was denied. 

The redevelopment will include 197 new residential units, tenant space for offices and retail and restaurant spaces. 

A new 71,785-square-foot building would be added to the south side of the original building, with commercial space on the ground floor and three floors of residential space. 

Commercial tenant space will be on the ground floor of the original building, with residential space available on the first and second floors and lofts at the mezzanine level. New apartments will be constructed in the areas of the building added on in 1954 and 1985.

The work on the building and its additions will include: 

• Removal of some sections of the 1954 and 1985 additions to the building on the south side. 
• Reintroduction of large openings for windows that existed before the addition of a since-removed parking deck on the south side of the original building. 
• The addition of new windows to parts of the building’s exterior that are exposed as sections of the 1954 and 1985 additions are removed.

Restoration of the building’s brick and stonework.