LaSalle Theater purchased covered by Crain's

Crain's Cleveland Business covered Northeast Shores purchase of the LaSalle Theater and Tavern.

The article read as follows:

LaSalle Theatre awaits next act
Northeast Shores sets stage for revitalizing E. 185th St. landmark
By Stan Bullard

After staking its claim to the old LaSalle Theatre in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood by buying the foreclosed property, Northeast Shores Development Corp. is exploring ways to revive the landmark on East 185th Street.

“We're not a preservationist group, but we want to make sure it has a good shot at survival,” said Brian Friedman, executive director of the Northeast Shores neighborhood group. “We want to bring the power of our nonprofit status to bear on it and explore every option for restoring the property. If we come to the conclusion we have to demolish the building, we will be the one making that decision.”

Northeast Shores commands LaSalle's fate after paying PVF Capital Corp., the Solon-based parent of Park View Federal Savings Bank, $150,000 for it on Sept. 28, according to Cuyahoga County land records. Besides the 800-seat theater, the block-long, 25,000-square-foot complex at 819 E. 185th includes three storefronts, five second-floor apartments, a parking lot and an adjoining tavern — all empty.

Mr. Friedman said his staff's “marching orders” from its board are to secure financing to renovate the property and find new uses for the complex.

The biggest unknown is what to do with the theater. Northeast Shores will take an entrepreneurial approach to that task.

“It's really finding someone with a vision for the theater more than anything else,” Mr. Friedman said.

Nearby multiplex movie theaters already serve the area, so putting a cinema in the space is not viable, he said, as it was at the renovated Capitol Theatre on the city's West Side.

One avenue the nonprofit is pursuing is renovating the empty apartments as four lofts. It has applied to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for $300,000 to help restore the apartments, Mr. Friedman said. If it wins a grant, the nonprofit would need to decide if the prospects for other space are strong enough to spend the money.

Councilman Michael Polensek, whose Ward 11 includes the theater, sees making a go of the complex as essential.

“It's a symbol of East 185th Street,” Mr. Polensek said. “We've had some successes on East 185th Street, but the challenge is the economy.”

Putting the block-long LaSalle complex back into working condition should take about $2 million, Mr. Friedman said.

Keith Hamulak, a CB Richard Ellis retail broker who has sold properties on the street for a new supermarket and construction of two new banks, said Northeast Shores has the expertise to advance a project, even if it means leveling the 1927 landmark. He described East 185th as a “healthy corridor” in the city.