The Renovation and Conversion Story
By Eric Heisig, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The run-down Brooklyn Masonic Temple building in Cleveland’s Brooklyn Centre neighborhood is slated to undergo extensive renovations, as the new owner plans to convert the building into apartments.
New owner Kosta Almiroudis said he hopes to finish $4.5 million worth of work to the threestory brick building at 3804 Pearl Road by September 2023. In addition to rehabilitating the outside of the building and adding 26 market-rate apartments, he plans to build out two storefronts, each with more than 900 square feet of space. He hopes one of the retailers can be a coffee shop.
Plans also include sprucing up an existing courtyard. Once completed, the project would give new life to a century-old building in a neighborhood he sees as having potential to grow. Almiroudis said the building dates to 1898 but Cuyahoga County property records list the completion date as 1926.
He and his team have a long way to go, though they have already replaced a roof that caved in more than a decade ago. During a tour of the building on Tuesday morning crews worked in rooms where existing floors had been torn out, the result of four months of demolition work. Some walls or windows, many of which are boarded up, had messages for workers spray painted on them.
The lobby with its glass showcases and marble walls, had one: “SAVE LOBBY.” Restoration work there had yet to begin in earnest, but Almiroudis already sees the potential. “I know you can’t tell now but this is where you fall in love,” he said of the main lobby. “You come in here when you see all this polished and the woodwork polished and all the steel here painted, and all this marble polished. It’s just beautiful.”
The estimated finish date had been partly contingent on him receiving approval from the Cleveland Landmarks Commission, which had to give its OK because the building is in a historic district. The commission did that during its meeting Thursday, with members praising Almiroudis’ plans to rehabilitate a building that sat vacant for years.
“I am so heartened to see the renovation of this building. I think it’s going to make a huge difference on that section of Pearl,” commission member Michele Anderson said during the virtual meeting, referencing the stretch of road mostly made up of chain restaurants and stores. Almiroudis, who runs Almico Properties of Lakewood that manages properties throughout the West Side and western suburbs, bought the building in July for $200,000. He also bought a house across from the building on Garden Avenue for $15,000 and a nearby parking lot for $150,000 for apartment renters to use. Architect Jill Brandt said plans include tearing down the house to provide easier access to the lot, but the developer has not yet received city approval to raze it.
The apartments will range from about 400 to 900 square feet, with some of the two-bedroom units having lofts. Almiroudis said at the Landmarks Commission meeting that he envisioned college students, doctoral residents and young professionals to live in the building. Some have enjoyed the so-called “micro apartments” that have popped up in neighborhoods such as Tremont and University Circle.
The developer, a native of Greece who has lived in Cleveland for about a decade, said he wondered a few years ago why nobody had bought the building. Once he went inside, he saw the potential, but also the drawbacks. For example, the roof had caved in, exposing much of the top floor to the elements. Almiroudis said trees had started growing inside at some point.
It could be a challenging time to renovate, though. He said the cost of construction materials has made the project more challenging, “but we’re going to make it work.”
Still, he is already looking toward what it will be when it is completed.
“This is a lot of fun for me,” Almiroudis said. “I want to do the right thing and maintain it for future generations.”
The ALmico Team
