A deal more than a year in the making has finally come to a close, and as a result, another of Downtown's grand spaces is about to undergo a stunning transformation. The historic Garfield Building, 1965 East 6^th Street, is slated to become apartments.
 
The West Coast-based Westcore Properties, which purchased the building for $8 million in 2008, has sold the 11-story, 160,000-square-foot structure to the Millennia Companies for $6 million. Westcore, however, did not lose money.
 
"On the surface, you could say we paid $8 million and sold it for $6 million, so we lost $2 million," summarizes Don Ankeny, president and CEO of Westcore Properties. "But along the way, we probably got 15 percent unlevered return on our capital. We enjoyed six years of very attractive cash flow."
 
Originally built in 1893, the refurbished building will be renamed the Corning Place. Preliminary plans call for 125 one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging from 540- to 1,325-square-feet with estimated rents from $1.70 to $1.90 per square foot.
 
The first floor, which includes the breathtaking column-lined lobby, houses between 35,000- and 40,000-square feet of retail opportunity, none of which has been locked into tenants.
 
Permits for the $40 million project, which received a $5 million historic tax credit, are pending and should be in hand within 30 to 60 days, well ahead of a construction start date in June. Units are expected to be ready for rental 18 to 24 months after that. Sandvick Architects are the designers on the job and the general contractor is American Preservation Builders. Both firms are based in Cleveland.
 
Westcore's sole tenant for the building was PNC, whose lease expired in December. The Garfield Building was the real estate acquisitions firm's only Cleveland holding.
 
"We had a good experience in Cleveland," says Ankeny, "and with the right opportunity we would come back."
 

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Fortified with grants of $25,000 and $75,000, respectively from the Gund and Cleveland Foundations, Habitat for Humanity will be opening the area's second ReStore location this spring at 4601 Northfield Road.
 
Similar to the existing ReStore at 2110 West 110^th Street, the North Randall location will sell a mix of new and used furniture, appliances, housewares and construction materials. The new location is adjacent to a number of discount retail outlets as well as a Salvation Army thrift store, but ReStore director Matt Haren feels confident that the venture will add a new dimension to the existing competition.
 
"I think we're bringing in that uniqueness of furniture and building materials and household wares," he says.
 
The new 22,000-square-foot space requires some updates. The work is being financed by the grant money and will include flooring repair, new restrooms, a delivery door and a new employee/volunteer lunchroom to accommodate the planned staff of five and diverse volunteer pool. ReStore attracts volunteers through organizations that cater to the disabled, low-income and disadvantaged such as Bridges Rehabilitation Services, Towards Employment and LEAP.

The new site, which formerly housed a Unique Thrift outlet, will feature a 16,000-square-foot showroom and the same policies, product mix and layout as the successful West Side store, which turns around its inventory in a brisk 90 days.
 
"We're going to try and mimic the same philosophy and culture we have here and transport it over to the east side," says Haren. One of the reasons the formula works is that it's a win-win-win, for customers, workers and even the folks supplying all the merchandise.

"The donor population sees us as being able to move stuff into the community in both a recycling aspect and repurposing aspect," says Haran, "but also in taking those proceeds and applying them to our mission of putting families into homes."
 
The grand opening is tentatively scheduled for April 2. Haren hopes the day marks a new partnership between Habitat for Humanity and the North Randall community, as well as that entire southeast quadrant of the county.

"From our perspective," he says, "it's a community center. The community will shape what we're going to be all about."