Shak­er Square nears fore­clo­sure, leaves ten­ants with uncer­tain future

Edwins own­er look­ing at putting togeth­er an own­er­ship group to buy his­toric property

Shak­er Square, one of the nation’s old­est shop­ping dis­tricts, has fall­en into receiver­ship, sur­pris­ing ten­ants who see high occu­pan­cy and good business.

“The unknown becomes who will pur­chase the Square, how will they care for the Square,” said Edwins Lead­er­ship and Restau­rant Insti­tute CEO Bran­don Chros­tows­ki. “I think that’s where some of the con­cern goes, espe­cial­ly when you see large apart­ment build­ings being pur­chased by out-of-state, out-of-coun­try land­lords and let them go downhill.”

Coral has owned Shak­er Square, which includes a movie the­ater, restau­rants, and shops, since 2004, but appar­ent­ly had prob­lems secur­ing new financ­ing giv­en doubts caused by the pandemic.

Chros­tows­ki says he was surprised.

“We under­stand it’s a busi­ness, the pan­dem­ic, who knows what a land­lord is going through or who knows what lenders are going through,” he says.

Chros­tows­ki owns two restau­rants on the Square, open­ing Edwins Too in Novem­ber dur­ing the pan­dem­ic and says it’s already in the black. He says he’s look­ing at putting a group togeth­er to buy Shak­er Square.

“We’re a tight-knit group of ten­ants,” Chros­tows­ki says. “If things go south, we have part­ners. We have check­books, too. So it’s not out of the ques­tion we get involved in this purchase.”

Fore­clo­sure at @Shaker_Square, changes, could new own­er be @EdwinsCLE? @cleveland19news pic​.twit​ter​.com/​S​0​R​S​z​a​0​7lG— Vic Gideon (@VicGideon) Jan­u­ary 22, 2021

The Van Swerin­gen broth­ers devel­oped Shak­er Square in the late 1920s after build­ing the Ter­mi­nal Tow­er, run­ning the Shak­er Rapid from down­town through the Square.

The lega­cy and his­to­ry of the area has ten­ants like Chros­tows­ki optimistic.

“I think no mat­ter what hap­pens, the Square will con­tin­ue to do what it’s always done, be a des­ti­na­tion for din­ing and oth­er ameni­ties,” says Chros­tows­ki “The right thing is going to hap­pen in the Square. and we’re just going to open up anoth­er chap­ter as ten­ants into the lega­cy of this his­toric area.”

By Vic Gideon

Source: WOIO