The Ameritrust Tower (formerly known as the Cleveland Trust Tower) is a brutalist skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The building is 29 stories and rises to a height of 383 ft (117 m). It was designed by Marcel Breuer and Hamilton Smith and completed in 1971. The tower faces East 9th Street, and although plans called for a second mirror-image tower along Euclid Avenue, the second building was never constructed. It initially served as the headquarters for Ameritrust Bank before they merged with Society Bank, which is now part of Key Bank.
In 2005, the tower, an adjacent historic George B. Post rotunda, and several other surrounding structures were purchased for use as the consolidated administrative offices of Cuyahoga County. On March 29, 2007, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners voted to demolish the tower and to replace it with a new building to be designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.[1] The Cleveland Planning Commission approved demolition of the landmark Ameritrust Tower, to the chagrin of preservationists, who argued that the county would destroy a valued piece of architecture. In 2007, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners, claiming a desire to devote more of their energies for Medical Mart and Convention Center, decided to attempt to sell the complex to private developers.[2] The County declared that it would not sell the property for less $35 million, which represented the purchase price plus expenditures made during removal of asbestos and the demolition of the tower's lobby which was begun but not completed. The removal of the asbestos and the now-defunct Cuyahoga County Administration center are now involved in Federal investigation on contractor paybacks. In a June 2008, Cleveland Magazine article, the county's own consultants told commissioners that it would be cheaper and more prudent to renovate the tower for its own use, but two commissioners, James "Jimmy" DiMora and Timothy Hagan, voted against renovation, while commissioner Peter Lawson-Jones supported renovation.
The only bid on the complex was submitted by the K&D group of Willoughby, Ohio, for $35,005,000. K&D proposes converting the tower into a hotel and residential building, and plans to build new office space on the site as well. K&D Group owns Reserve Square on East 12th and Chester, Reserve Square was known as The Park Apartments in 1973. Today this development has an Embassy Suites Hotel, an apartment complex, and is home of Cleveland's CBS affiliate WOIO. Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer 11/06/07. On 4/17/2008, Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners approved the K&D group Bid and the deal should close within six months. K&D Group has enlisted the Cleveland Architectural firm of Westlake, Reed, Leskosky to design an office building. A Hotel operator will be announced in May or June according to the K&D Group. The Marcel Breuer tower will become a hotel/condo complex, there will be preservation and sandblasting of the famous portal windows.
On 7/16/2008, The K&D Group and the Cleveland firm of WRL-or Westlake, Reed, and Leskosky did a presentation of the site. The plan includes a 13-story glass and black granite building on East Ninth Street and Huron Avenue. WRL will become a tenant in the new building. The Marcel Breuer Tower will house an Indigo Moon Hotel with condos in the building. The 1908 rotunda will house either a ballroom or a gallery. The plan must also be examined by the City of Cleveland's fine arts commission. Also an alleyway named Barn Court will have to also be vacated for new complex to be built and renovated. This project will be a $133-million dollar project. This project could begin as early as December 2008. Cleveland Plain Dealer 7/17/2008
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In 1990, Richard Jacobs with the success of the then Society Center now Key Tower was under construction, Jacobs proposed another tower on Cleveland's Public Square. The Tower would have been owned by the Ameritrust Corporation. They budgeted about $500,000,000 dollars for the project. The site would have been on Public Square.
The Architectural firm of Kohn Pedersen Fox or KPF of New York City would have designed the new Ameritrust Tower. Coincidentally, KPF would have had designed the Cuyahoga County Administration Building which would have built at the old Ameritrust Tower (1971) site.
In 1992, Ameritrust merged with Society Bank (now KeyBank), obviating the need for the Ameritrust Tower.
Had the Ameritrust Tower had been built, The Tower would have had a curved glass curtain wall, a Hyatt Hotel, and high class shopping with names like Giorgio Armani and Versace as anchor tenants.