Will Cleveland’s Tower City Center Have a Future as Appealing as Its Past?

Photo by Halle Parks on Unsplash

During three recent years when I was living with my mother, I became pretty familiar with Tower City Center. My mother and I love to go to the movies and our top choice was matinee day at Shaker Square Cinemas – a short seven-minute drive from our house. But the movie selection there wasn't the largest. For wider options, we often hopped on the rapid transit to Tower City Center and the multitude of options at the AMC Theater there.

Whenever we went, we would invariably stop beforehand or afterward at one of the many eateries in the food court. This was a bit of a fun treat since they're only about eight or nine restaurants near the shopping center that's walking distance of our house.

On one of these occasions, I took my mother to Jack Casino for a really impressive all-you-can eat-buffet that offered some serious gourmet options.

And how did I know about this buffet? Why, because I had come to the casino twice by myself to play Texas No-Limit Hold 'Em tournaments. We also wound up celebrating a Mother's Day dinner there with my brother using some discount coupons he had accumulated. For someone who's not a big fan of indoor malls, I certainly gave them quite a bit of my business.

But then came this crushing blow

You’ve probably already heard - if not, then I must be the bearer of some terrible news. AMC Theaters has left Tower City for good - another casualty of pandemic lockdowns. This borders on a catastrophic loss. First of all, for movie lovers. The selection of films with always great, public transportation went straight to Tower City and meant no fuss with traffic or parking fees.

But I suspected that the biggest losers from this development would not be the moviegoers but the restaurant owners in Tower City. They already had a year's worth of pandemic business losses. I’m sure many closed up shop for good. But for those who wanted to get back on their feet, the anchor that brought people to Tower City in droves was that AMC Theater.

As much as I enjoyed the mall's food courts, I would never have gotten on the rapid transit for a thirty-minute trip to downtown Cleveland just to chow down. I suspect that there are thousands of others like me, if not tens of thousands, with similar behavior patterns. Once there, we might step into a sporting goods store or a jewelry store. Pick up a Starbucks Frappuccino. And always stop for a meal. But all of this would be in addition to the primary goal of seeing a movie.

Asian malls – an interesting contrast

More than a year ago, I spent about eight months in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and lived right between two large malls, each a thirteen-minute walk away from me. I became a huge fan of the largest and most modern one for a multitude of reasons. First of all, there was free air conditioning. It was Thailand remember? Why run up the air conditioning in your own apartment when you can enjoy the communal chill? Add to that, there were several coffee houses with Wi-Fi where I could write for hours, a wide range of food options including pizza, a steakhouse (with special Thanksgiving and Christmas menus), and many local and more inexpensive options. A co-working space there was always filled with local students and digital nomads. The deluxe movie theater on the top floor had a $3 weekly matinee day, but also luxury booths with velvet sofas and reclining chairs and glasses of wine available for purchase. Of course, there were clothing stores and phone stores to refill your monthly cell phone service.

In the basement, there was a huge grocery store with a lot of Western options in case you were in a Doritos or Fruit Loops kind of mood – it had everything. There was also a very cheap food court on that level. The mall was seriously a place where you could stay all day. And to stay out of the hot weather, I often did.

I suppose that would be my personal vision of a revamped post-pandemic Tower City Center (where people would be escaping rain and snow rather than heat.) But, I'm not a billionaire and I have no say in the matter. I just recently found out the actual plans for Tower City Center’s future. It's quite a bit more trendy and high-tech than I would have envisioned. Will it be better or worse than the older incarnation?

CityBlock is the future

Owner Dan Gilbert and his development corporation, Bedrock, intend to transform Tower City’s 350,000 square feet retail space into a lifestyle center and workspace hub for entrepreneurs and the public, to be named CityBlock.

The $110 million dollar reconstruction project will focus primarily on appealing collaborative workspaces, as well as adding escalators and ramps to make the entire space easier to navigate.

Is there a demand for this type of space and will it work in Cleveland?

My gut reaction is skeptical. I don't know if this is something the general public is going to be willing to pay for. In my time on the road as a digital nomad, I often had the choice of holing up at a local coffee house to get my writing done or going to a proper co-working space. I almost always chose the coffee house. More atmosphere. Better choice of food and drink. And always the intriguing possibility of meeting new people.

This new CityBlock proposal seems geared for existing Cleveland businesses (and those that can be lured here) who would like to have a semi-remote workforce with no need for a traditional headquarters, but with the ability to give their employees a space to foster collaboration and accountability. I wonder if they were able to get commitments from future corporate customers while they were in the planning process.

It could work and since it looks like a done deal, I certainly hope it succeeds.

This gets a thumbs up

One drawing of the future complex that I saw that seemed especially promising was a lengthy stairway/ramp outdoors leading straight to the river's edge.

It looks as if they're planning easier access to the river with leisure and food attractions right on the waterfront. That's going to be a draw even for people who never use the facilities inside the building.

Cleveland needs as many wins as it can get. Fingers crossed that this will be one of them.

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