Trustees agree to buy Quaker Square for student housing, old properties for new stadium
The University of Akron trustees took sweeping steps Wednesday that will change the face of the campus and the city.
They agreed to buy the Quaker Square hotel, retail and office complex at South Broadway and Mill Street for $22.7 million and convert it to student housing.
They also agreed to buy the balance of land needed -- through eminent domain if necessary -- for a long-awaited, wide-ranging stadium complex that may include retail shops, student housing, a parking deck and more.
The decisions will increase the size of the campus by 10 percent, or 21 acres, to 229 acres. And the moves pave the way for the next chapter in UA's massive Landscape for Learning redevelopment plan, which aims to make the university more attractive and more residential.
The first phase of the redevelopment included $300 million in new buildings, including a parking deck, student union and residence hall.
The new phase includes the newly built 450-bed Exchange Street Residence Hall that will open next month, an updated Robertson Dining Hall, Quaker Square and stadium project.
At Wednesday's trustee meeting, UA President Luis Proenza said the new additions to the campus will provide ``tremendous opportunity for students.''
Mayor disappointed
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic saw it differently. At his Wednesday news conference, he was disappointed that UA had not kept him in the loop about its plans to buy Quaker Square.
``I have gone out of my way to share a lot of information -- including things that were very secret at the time -- with the university so if there was something that impacted them, they would know beforehand,'' Plusquellic said.
``It's really a disappointment to me to have them go marching on to take over one of only two downtown hotels.''
UA's purchase of the nine-acre Quaker Square still must be approved by the Ohio Board of Regents, which provides oversight for higher education statewide, and the Ohio Controlling Board, a legislative panel that reviews contracts involving state money.
If the sale goes forward, UA could take possession of Quaker Square in the next 45 days or so. The university likely would allow Quaker Square's Crowne Plaza hotel to operate through Dec. 1, said Ted Curtis, UA vice president for capital planning and facilities management.
Furniture liquidation
The university would take possession of the hotel in January, liquidate the hotel furniture, change the locking systems and move in dorm furniture. No massive renovations would be done.
By the time spring semester starts in mid-January, more than 400 students would be housed in the unique, round silos that once held grain. The complex, located across the railroad tracks from the university, has 450 parking spaces.
Quaker Square also is home to lawyers and other tenants whose exit dates haven't been determined. Quaker Square Properties, which owns the complex, owns three stores, which also would close. A university committee would decide what to do with three restaurants on the property.
Roy Baine, marketing manager for Quaker Square, said 116 employees would lose their jobs. They were notified Wednesday.
``We told them as much as we can about what is going on,'' he said. ``We're glad the university will be taking over.''
As for the stadium project, the university needs to acquire land on the crowded city landscape to make it happen.
Curtis said officials are negotiating now or will open talks shortly with owners of the 48 properties it still needs to acquire on the stadium footprint, which is bounded by East Exchange, South Union, Vine and Spicer streets on the east side of campus.
Most of the properties are modest homes built near the turn of the 20th century, many of which have been converted to rentals.
$5 million project
The total cost to buy the properties and raze the buildings will be about $5 million, Curtis said.
If UA cannot come to terms with the property owners, it will proceed with eminent domain in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Eminent domain is the government's right to acquire property without the owner's consent, while paying the appraised value.
The university already owns 67 properties that would be the home to the stadium project, including seven that trustees agreed to purchase Wednesday at a cost of $597,000.
UA also owns four dorms and apartment complexes on the stadium project site that house about 350 students. The Brown Street, Joey, Wallaby and Wallaroo residence halls will be razed to make way for the stadium.
Plans for the project are expected to be presented to trustees in August.
UA officials view the current Rubber Bowl stadium, built in 1939 and deeded by the city to the university in 1971, as too old and far away from campus to be useful.
They say the cost of repairing and renovating the aging facility would approximate the cost of building a new one.
While nothing has been set in stone, the stadium project -- total cost, perhaps $120 million -- may be financed by bonds that would be paid off with stadium revenues, state money or donations.
As for Curtis, the UA official under whose watch the stadium will be built, Quaker Square already is familiar territory.
An architect, he was one of the original investors to get the project off the ground 35 years ago. He sold his interest in the property in 1985. Jay Nusbaum, owner of Quaker Square Properties, is the only original partner to still be involved.
``Now I'm back into it. It feels very good,'' Curtis said.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com. Beacon Journal staff writer John Higgins contributed to this report
