The Cleveland Athletic Club building sold at auction Monday for $3.3 million to N.J.-based lender Waring Investments.

Local developers suspect, however, that Waring doesn’t actually want the property. They think Waring will likely turn it over to a local developer eager to convert the historic building on Euclid, which has been vacant since 2007, into apartments. (Waring has 30 days to make up its mind). 

The only other company to bid on the building Monday was developer Fred Geis, who bowed out at $3.2 million. Doug Price, CEO of the K&D Group, attended the auction as well but elected not to bid when it was clear Waring was in it to win it.

The Cleveland Athletic Club building was built in 1910, two years after the formation of the club. Offerings included swimming, bowling, billiards, a card room, dining room, and 12 overnight guest rooms — hubba hubba.  The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History reports that in 1922, Johnny Weismueller (Tarzan!) set the world record for the 150-yard backstroke in the CAC pool. 

Due in large part to the Euclid Corridor Project construction, the CAC closed in 2007.  

 

This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2015.

Sam Allard is a former senior writer at Scene.

5 replies on “Vacant Since 2007, Cleveland Athletic Club Building Could Have New Life Soon”

  1. Repeating a lie doesn’t make it true. The CAC closed due to bad management. Funny how the Union Club across the street survived the Euclid Corridor’s construction just fine…

  2. Just because one person survives a fire, doesn’t mean the fire didn’t kill the other 99 people

  3. Union Club has its own parking and had access on 12th Street. It is true that the CAC (like many private clubs – probably even the Union Club) was struggling. The Euclid Corridor project kept many from booking private events at the CAC. The project was not the only reason, but was the final nail. With the improvements made at the club when it was open, and the young downtown population now, if the club could have hung on another couple of years, I am sure it would be thriving now. It really was a cool place.

  5. another building with its ornamentation cut off at the top.
    Cleveland’s fascination to “modernize” many buildings in the middle of last century was to lob off decorative elements, cornices and turrets.
    Hope to see that replaced here.

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