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In December, Chanelle Harris opened a bakery in a modest storefront at Shaker Square, joining a community of merchants at what she viewed as a marquee address.
That very month, a lender launched foreclosure proceedings on the Square, an outdoor shopping center that's an anchor and community gathering place on Cleveland's East Side. Now the property is in the hands of a court-appointed receiver, an expert tasked with managing the Square while finding a path forward — an outright sale, a note sale or a handoff to the lender.
The uncertainty surrounding the Square has new and longtime tenants reeling. At least two potential buyers with deep roots in the neighborhood are working furiously to evaluate the worth of the 10.3-acre property and the costs of improving and maintaining it.
And community groups are sounding the alarm about the painful fallout — to Cleveland but also to neighboring Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights — that will ensue if the nearly century-old landmark rots in receivership or ends up in inexperienced, or opportunistic, hands.
"It's terrifying," said Harris, who started Chanelle's Treatz a few years ago in her home and, even in the midst of a global pandemic, couldn't pass up the opportunity to set up shop in the southeast quadrant of the two-story, four-building center.
Across the Square, where Shaker Square Dry Cleaning & Tailoring has operated for 27 years, owner Elina Kreymerman expressed similar worries.
"We're just hoping that somebody local, somebody who cares for it, will come and purchase it," she said. "Because it's a beautiful place. It's a historic place."
On Friday, March 12, restaurateur Brandon Chrostowski submitted a $5 million offer for the Square, where his nonprofit Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute occupies a prime corner. Chrostowski envisions turning the 168,375-square-foot complex into a hub for social enterprises, where retailers will mix with organizations that reinvest their profits for the common good.
In early March, a subsidiary of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress inked an agreement with the Square's current owner, an investor group that includes Coral Co. CEO Peter Rubin, to conduct due diligence for an acquisition. The nonprofit's New Village Corp. arm is willing to be a temporary repository for the property, with philanthropic backing, while an array of community groups...