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A team of more than a dozen Walter Haverfield attorneys have made a vision for downtown Akron a reality. Acting as lead counsel, the team closed on the $42 million Bowery Project beginning on Nov. 15th, 2018. Construction started the next day. The project includes 40,000 square feet of retail, residential and mixed-use space in six redeveloped buildings.
“Our team is proud to be an integral part of re-vitalizing a historic area of downtown Akron,” said Jack Waldeck, partner and head of Walter Haverfield’s Real Estate group. “The Bowery Project will be a focal point of the city, and we are honored to help bring a fantastic concept to fruition.”
The Walter Haverfield team also assisted with completing the $5 million renovation and addition deal for the Akron Civic Theatre, next door to the Bowery Project. The historic landmark will soon boast a small concert venue, an outdoor patio, and a large outdoor electronic screen that will broadcast what’s happening inside outside. New administrative offices and a multi-story box office are also in the plans.
For more than a year, the firm’s real estate attorneys worked on the complex and sophisticated transaction of the Bowery Project, which includes a combination of Historic and New Markets Tax Credits. Nine different financing sources and eight different community and development partners made the deal possible.
“Timing and teamwork were crucial for this deal,” said Waldeck. “It was a balancing act where everything and everyone had to line up just at the right time, and thankfully it did.”
“We are truly grateful for Walter Haverfield’s Real Estate team,” said Kevin Brokaw, a Cleveland-area developer who is one of the partners behind the Bowery Project. “There are no words to describe how valuable their counsel is to us. They pitched in to come up with good solutions to very complicated issues while protecting our interests. We wouldn’t be celebrating this milestone today had it not been for their intimate involvement.”
Construction on the Bowery Project and Civic Theatre are expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
Since 1932, Walter Haverfield attorneys have served as strategic counselors to private businesses, public entities and high net-worth individuals, providing creative and customized solutions that deliver outstanding results at an exceptional value. Our track record has allowed us to sustain year-after-year growth. Walter Haverfield has doubled its size in the past decade to become one of the top ten Cleveland-based law firms. Today, our team of nearly 80 attorneys is focused primarily in the areas of corporate transactions, real estate, intellectual property, labor and employment, tax and wealth management, liquor control law, litigation, public law and education.