Akron developer Tony Troppe is creating a mixed-use concept at the historical Evans Building at 333-335 S. Main St. in Akron that will include about 35 loft apartments, a chicken-and-waffle restaurant and a conference room.
Features such as terrazzo and marble floors and a bank vault in the basement will remain.
Evelyn's Coffee & Banh Mi is in a three-story annex with the address 11 E. Exchange St. that is included in the project and will stay in operation, Troppe said, adding that he plans to work with Evelyn's to expand its menu and kitchen.
Troppe said he and his team helping relocate the Evans Building's upstairs tenants, which include law, engineering and wellness businesses.
He said his plan to make the downtown building "relevant for a whole new generation of knowledge workers."
"It's a unique opportunity to invigorate an already successful crossroads at Main and Exchange and High," Troppe said.
Troppe is receiving a $1.5 million tax credit from the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program for his nearly $6.2 million project.
Another downtown project — redevelopment of the CitiCenter Building at 146 S. High St., owned by the city of Akron — also is getting tax credit financing through the program. That credit is to the tune of more than $3.1 million and will help fund the developer's nearly $31.8 million conversion of the building into a 114-unit apartment complex.
Sean Vollman, Akron's deputy director of economic development, said via email that Welty Building Co. is the developer of the CitiCenter project.
Welty management was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Inside the Evans Building
The Evans Building has seven stories on the corner of Main and Exchange streets, the three-story annex on Exchange and another two-story annex on Main, Troppe said.
He said he estimates the project to begin in September and to take about 10 to 12 months.
The Evans Building was constructed in 1916, according to a list of projects being funded through the tax credit program from Gov. Mike DeWine's office and the Ohio Department of Development. However, a University of Akron blog provides a 1915 construction date for the building, which throughout its history was owned and operated by the Evans Building and Loan Association and the People’s Savings Bank.
Troppe said the building is has "a beautiful, neoclassic revival" look with a steel frame encased with concrete.
"So, it makes for open floor plans, it makes for the possibility to go higher, and it's a smart building to be adaptively reused as loft, mixed-use apartments," Troppe said.
Prior to that, the land housed Henry Clark's Tavern, which according to a placard outside the Evans Building was "the first hotel in Akron on the stage route near the Ohio Canal." Akron's first mayor, Seth Iredell, was elected there in 1836, according to the UA blog.
At the street level, Troppe said Rascal Blues Chicken and Waffles, a New Orleans restaurant, will open a location on the street level of the Evans Building.
Troppe said he and the restaurant's owner, Daniel Morgan, also have plans to build a venue for live music. Morgan has previously hosted music acts with a New Orleans "flair," Troppe said.
The lofts will be mostly one-bedroom units and some studios with new mechanical systems and windows, including egress windows that open up for natural ventilation, Troppe said. The apartments will range from 600 to 900 square feet with the smallest units renting for about $1,200 per month, he said.
The roof of the annex will be an outdoor space for residents, he said.
CitiCenter project receiving $3.1 million state tax credit
Vollman told the Beacon on Thursday that the city of Akron has been working with Welty on the CitiCenter project at 146 S. High St.
“Welty was selected in a competitive process in 2023," Vollman said. "They had previously developed the Bowery project on South Main Street. The city is excited to be working with them again for this transformational project and is in the process of negotiating a development agreement to bring it to fruition.”
Welty owner Don Taylor told the Beacon last year that the firm planned to construct at least 117 apartments, which is a few more than the 114 listed in the tax credit project description recently provided by the governor's office and Ohio Department of Development.
The description states: "The rehabilitation plans to repair all masonry work-ins, tall new historically compatible windows, and retain all historic decorative plaster ceilings where they remain."
Construction on the building started in 1930, and it first opened for a Young Women's Christian Association branch the following year, according to the National Register of Historic Places, on which it was listed in 1982.
Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.
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