Garfield Building (Cleveland)

The Garfield Building is a high-rise building on the corner of Euclid Avenue and E. 6th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. It was the first steel frame skyscraper constructed in the city.

Garfield Building
Former namesGarfield Building
General information
TypeCommercial/Residential Conversion
Location1965 East Sixth Street, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Completed1893
Height
Roof46 m (151 ft)
Technical details
Floor count10
Design and construction
ArchitectHenry Ives Cobb
Website
https://www.thegarfield.com

The original building

The edifice was designed by Henry Ives Cobb[1] and built in 1893 by Harry Augustus Garfield and James Rudolph Garfield, sons of President James A. Garfield.[2] The ten-story structure[3] was the first steel frame office building erected in the city.[4] The facade on E. 6th Street was 214 feet (65 m) long, taking up the entire block between Euclid and Vincent Avenues, but just 70 feet (21 m) on Euclid Avenue.[5]

Patrons could access the upper floors via a large marble staircase or four elevators. All the upper floors featured Italian marble wainscoting.[6]

A below-ground level was intended to serve as a bank, and several meeting rooms, banking parlors,[6] and massive steel vaults were erected there during the building's construction[4] at a cost of $100,000 ($2,800,000 in 2019 dollars).[7] A customer for this space was not found until 1895, when the Cleveland Trust Company moved in.[8][9] The building's major tenant was the local luxury jewelry firm of Cowell and Hubbard, which rented the entire first floor.[10] In 1898,[9] the Cleveland Trust Co. moved a portion of its operations onto the first floor, building "club rooms" for its male depositors to relax in while banking.[11] and a "ladies' parlor" and tea room for its female patrons.[9][lower-alpha 1]

1921 renovations

In 1918, National City Corp. (a bank) purchased the Garfield Building.[1][lower-alpha 2] The structure was renovated at a cost of $500,000 ($8,500,000 in 2019 dollars),[14] converting the entire first floor into a marble-walled public banking room.[15] The architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White oversaw the renovation.[14] The structure was renamed the National City Bank Building after the renovation was complete in 1921.[15] National City Corp. suffered extremely heavy financial losses on mortgages during the 2007-2009 Great Recession. Despite a $7 billion infusion of capital, the bank was sold at below-market-value in October 2008.[16] Westcore Properties acquired the building in 2008.[17]

21st century renovations

Having sat vacant since 2009, the Garfield Building was purchased by Millennia Companies in April 2014,[18] with plans to convert it into apartments.[19] The Garfield attracted renewed attention in April 2015 after portions of the parapet fell onto the sidewalk and adjacent parked cars.[20] The newly renovated apartments opened as the Garfield Apartments in the fall of 2017.[21]

In 2017, the former public banking hall in the Garfield Building was converted into an upscale restaurant, the Marble Room. Ground floor office space adjacent to the hall was converted into a kitchen, and a small mezzanine constructed to provide space for a glass-walled wine cellar. The below-ground bank vaults were converted into banquet and private dining space.[22]

References
Notes
  1. National City Bank soon became the Garfield Building's biggest tenant. In 1900, the bank leased most of the building's second floor for its executive offices and trust business.[9] In 1903, after National City absorbed the Western Reserve Trust Company, the executive offices and man's banking moved to a building on Cleveland's Public Square, while women's banking continued at the Garfield Building.[12]
  2. Cowell & Hubbard moved out of the Garfield Building and to a newly-constructed edifice at Euclid Avenue and E. 13th Street.[13]
Citations
  1. Gregor 2010, p. 34.
  2. Ayers 2000, p. 70.
  3. Rose 1990, p. 508.
  4. Rose 1990, p. 547.
  5. Davies 1911, p. 53.
  6. Davies 1911, p. 54.
  7. Fuller 1904, p. 1096.
  8. Rose 1990, p. 555.
  9. Chapple 1907, p. 532.
  10. "A Monument To Greater Cleveland". The Plain Dealer. October 23, 1894. p. 10.
  11. Fuller 1904, p. 1097.
  12. Chapple 1907, pp. 532-533.
  13. "Jewelry Firm Will Erect New Downtown Home". The Plain Dealer. February 20, 1919. p. 19.
  14. "Big Buildings Elsewhere". The Economist. June 19, 1920. p. 1336. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  15. Rose 1990, p. 799.
  16. "American Home Mortgage Seeks Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection". Associated Press. August 7, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2018; Murray, Teresa Dixon (March 14, 2008). "National City Corp. looking for buyers". The Plain Dealer. p. A1; Murray, Teresa Dixon (October 1, 2008). "National City shares rebound". The Plain Dealer. p. C1; Dash, Eric (October 24, 2008). "PNC Gets National City in Latest Bank Acquisition". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  17. "Westcore Properties Sells Historic Cleveland Property for $6 Million". Westcore Properties. February 4, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  18. Jarboe, Michelle (April 23, 2014). "Millennia Companies to buy Garfield Building for apartments, plans downtown Cleveland HQ move". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  19. Jarboe, Michelle (January 26, 2015). "Garfield Building sells for $6 million, will be remade as Corning Place apartments, retail". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  20. Jarboe, Michelle (June 4, 2015). "Cleveland considers facade inspection law after Garfield incident". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  21. Bullard, Stan (August 19, 2018). "Downtown apartment rentals gain momentum". Crain's Cleveland Business. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  22. Picciano, Jen (March 7, 2017). "New Cleveland restaurant opening in August in Garfield Building: Marble Room and Raw Bar". WOIO. Retrieved August 9, 2018.

Bibliography

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