After more than thirty years of sitting vacant, the Ameritrust tower and complex will once again be a center of commerce. That is, if Cuyahoga County accepts a redevelopment proposal from Doug Price and Bob Corna, principals of the K&D Group.

Cuyahoga County, which started an open bid process for the complex after determining they would not have the finances to consolidate its administrative offices there, unsealed the single bid—$35,005,000 from the K&D Group – on Jan. 15, 2008.

K&D, which developed and manages the Stonebridge condo development on the West Bank of the Flats, proposes reusing the Marcel Breuer-designed Ameritrust Tower and converting it to a combination boutique hotel of 170 rooms and 200 permanent residential units and a restaurant on the floors above. The 1908 George Post Rotunda will be restored and serve as the hotel lobby, but the group hasn’t decided the fate of 1010 Euclid Building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, except to offer that it might become Class B office space.

Perhaps the most important component of the bid, from K&D’s standpoint, is the addition of a new, 200,000 sq. ft. office tower that would rise at least fourteen stories in place of the existing, low-rise annex of the Breuer Tower at the Northeast corner of Prospect, Huron and E. 9th streets.

“We hope to make this a (LEED) Platinum building,” Corna said. “It would be self-sustaining.”

Cleveland Thermal, which provides steam heat to buildings along Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, was contacted about re-connections to their system.

K&D’s plans also include expanding the existing parking garage that bridges Prospect Avenue, adding floors to accommodate 800 cars and loft apartments. In addition, Price and Corna would replace an existing garage owned by Lou Frangos (who was mentioned as a possible project partner) with a new garage/residential project just east on Prospect with a 950-car, 190 loft apartment structure. If all goes well, K&D will add a new loft condo tower with 153 units in place of the NY Spaghetti House. The pair estimate the entire development deal could reach $200 million.

Price and Corna said the recent need for more Class A commercial office space in Cleveland, a stronger downtown residential market, and the completion of the Euclid Corridor project were contributing factors to their bid.

“This is the heart of the city,” Corna said. “We’d like to see it come back, and have people living and walking here at all hours.”

Asked about timeline, Price admitted that securing a tenant for the new office tower would make the project a go within a year. Asked to explain why the familiar “public-private partnership” idea was not floated, Price said, “We don’t need any (public funds). We might ask for a TIFF (tax incremental financing) for the parking garage.”

Price is considering state and federal historic tax credits, which could subsidize millions in restoration costs, but said he will first weigh the costs of doing an historically accurate restoration versus the benefits of the tax credits. K&D plans to complete asbestos abatement in the tower that was started by the county using a $3 million Clean Ohio Fund grant.

“Conceptually, their plan makes a lot of sense,” said Cuyahoga County Deputy Administrator Lee Trotter. “Instead of one bucket, you have four ways of making money.”

K&D could tap county funds for brownfields and county commercial development loans for their proposal, Trotter said. A TIFF would require city of Cleveland approval.

If the sale is complete, the county would walk away from a site for which it paid Richard Jacobs $22 million six years ago. Despite some damage to the exterior lobby of the Breuer, including the demolition of a one-of-a-kind window treatment, Corna notes that the original lobby’s granite walls, floors, and concierge are still intact. Speculation that the building’s copper water pipes and wiring, valued in the millions, had been illegally scavenged, were denied by Barb Shergalis, coordinator of the county’s admin. project.

• Photo gallery of K&D Group's bid to redevelop the Ameritrust complex
• Nominate the Ameritrust Complex for the Cleveland Restoration Society's 2008 Preservation Award
• Crain's Cleveland Business report.