Akron announced the completion of the sale of the historic CitiCenter Building located Downtown Thursday to Welty Development, according to a press release from the city.
The building was constructed in 1931 as a YWCA, before being converted to mixed use office space, according to the press release. It's been owned by the city since 1993, and after Akron Public Utilities relocated in 2017, it's been largely vacant. The sale is a step toward the city's goal of revitalizing Downtown, attracting businesses, jobs and residents to truly make the area a 24/7 community.
Welty plans to renovate the building into a 116 unit residential community, according to the press release, which will contribute to Downtown Akron Partnership's Vision and Redevelopment Plan's goal of adding 1,200 residential units and grow the Downtown population to 5,000 by 2030.
鈥淲e expect the project to generate more than 500 jobs and $77 million in economic activity within the first five years, Welty Chair and CEO Don Taylor said in a statement. Over 20 years, it is projected to support 1,200+ jobs and contribute more than $178 million to the local economy.鈥�
The project will generate jobs both through construction and long-term upkeep of the units, Akron Director of Economic Development Suzie Graham Moore said.
Through the construction of the development itself, you're going to be putting a lot of people to work through construction projects, through bringing it from its current state - which has been vacant for many years and was used previously as a mixed use building - into this new phase of becoming a core residential building, she said.
Welty's plan for the building includes studio, one bedroom and two bedroom units, and amenities like an outdoor dog area, according to the press release.
We're excited to see them not just lean into building a stronger residential market but also thinking about the experience of their residents, Graham Moore said.
The city was looking for a developer to maintain the Art Deco style of the historic building, she said.
We want to also retain as much of our historic architecture as we possibly can in not just Downtown but throughout the city, Graham Moore said, so we're trying to find developers who can reuse that historic architecture to help us meet those goals.
