PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYN

One of the most prominent structures in the “South Brooklyn Commercial District” is the Pearl Broadview Building on the southeast corner of Pearl Rd. and Broadview Rd.  After it was built in 1928, Hagedorn’s Drug was in the storefront at the corner, a jewelry store was next to it, and medical offices (doctors and dentists) were on the second floor. The large building wraps around the corner, with four storefronts on the Pearl facade and six on the Broadview facade. This photo is from 2005 and was one of many which accompanied the application for this part of Old Brooklyn to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation’s current Memphis Pearl redevelopment plan includes demolishing four buildings in the Historic District.

PHOTO BY CRAIG BOBBY

May 2025: This house at 3430 Memphis (rear) was built no earlier than 1857 and no later than 1860 for Adam Pallion, a tinsmith. The house is one of four buildings that Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation has slated for demolition.

by Lynette Filips

     (Plain Press June 2025) It’s been a busy month for folks following the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation’s (OBCDC’s) Memphis Pearl Project. This past month featured definitive information brought to light by a local researcher; community survey results;  two TV interviews about the project on WEWS News 5; an informational meeting at Pearl Road United Methodist Church (PRUMC); more conversation at Ward 13 Councilman Harsh’s monthly neighborhood meeting; another official okay from the City; an online article announcing an almost $15 million dollar funding gap with online comments responding to that article; and 90-days to vacate letters reportedly on their way to Greenline Building tenants.

3430 Memphis

     The current news updates portion of my May article ended with preliminary findings about the residential property at 3430 Memphis Ave. (rear) which is one of the four buildings OBCDC has slated for demolition. This month, thanks to research by Old Brooklyn architectural historian Craig Bobby, we have the answers that no one else has been able to come up with. Below is the summary Craig Bobby wrote about the old house (with photocopied documentation to back it all up) that he placed in the appropriate file cabinet at the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn’s Museum.

     Close examination of historical records, particularly property tax records, indicates that this house was built no earlier than 1857 and no later than 1860 for Adam Pallion, a tinsmith. Pallion was residing here according to the 1860 census. Pallion had purchased the property (i.e., the land) in 1857 from Alexander S. Palmer, a physician and Brighton Village resident who was investing heavily in unimproved Brighton real estate. 

     Property tax records alone indicate that the house was built in either 1859 or 1860, but the 1858 Cuyahoga County map shows the house. Property tax evaluation by the County relied considerably upon owners informing them that they had built structures on their properties. Did Pallion neglect to do so at first? 

     Pallion sold the property in 1869 to Jacob Boesch, a stone mason, who also resided there (although he is not in the 1870 census.)  Boesch had the house extensively remodeled in 1908, which included the addition of a front porch. 

     This house is currently used for storage by Rocco Sutera, the owner of A Reliable Construction.   Rocco also has his company’s office on the second floor of the Greenline Building — another one of the buildings OBCDC intends to demolish.

Survey

     The survey referenced in this month’s article‘s opening paragraph concerns what Old Brooklyn residents would like to see built in a community space in the basement level of Pearl Road United Methodist Church (PRUMC). Participants could complete the survey in person or online via specific pages OBCDC set up for the Memphis Pearl project. Although the survey was attributed to PRUMC, the church had major help from OBCDC and Tipping Point, a real estate development and management company from Wheeling, W. Virginia, in bringing it to life. 

     The survey was offered early this year and a total of 231 people responded to it. The two largest groups who participated were: (Twenty-nine percent) people who were in the 35-44 years of age range; and (twenty percent) people who were in the over age 65 years of age range. The activities which respondents want to see happen in PRUMC’s future remodeled area are:  youth programs and educational spaces; a community kitchen; a worship space; community and social events; and fitness, arts/cultural events. Respondents were also hoping for an affordable and accessible space for private gatherings.  Forty-eight percent preferred a room for 25-50 people; twenty-three percent preferred a room for 50-100 people. 

WEWS News 5

     Journalist Remi Murray of WEWS News 5 returned to the Greenline Building twice last month to continue with her initial March 27th news story about the Memphis Pearl Project. On Wednesday, May 7th, Remi again interviewed Historical Society of Old Brooklyn (HSOB) President Constance (Connie) Ewazen and Councilman Kris Harsh, in addition to OBCDC’s Interim Executive Director Amber Jones and Tipping Point President Jim Ambrose. The airing of that segment preceded a meeting OBCDC was conducting about the project that same evening.

     Then on Saturday, May 24th, after being informed that tenants in the Greenline Building had received their “90-day notice to vacate the building” letters, Remi Murray again interviewed Connie Ewazen as well as Maria Rodriguez, the proprietress of the barbershop next to the HSOB’s museum. (Some clips from previous interviews were also included.) None of the tenants had received their evacuation letters yet, so Remi Murray herself became the bearer of the bad news. All three News 5 interviews can be viewed online, and Remi Murray promised to return for more coverage of the story. 

Informational meeting

     Unfortunately, the May 7th meeting which OBCDC sponsored at PRUMC was sparsely attended. Perhaps that’s because people who’ve previously attended knew that the meeting would be very structured timewise (i.e., little or no opportunities for questions) and that they could complete the online survey without going to the meeting. The meeting was also structured so those attending were assigned to specific tables moderated by specific OBCDC staff members. The light attendance was especially disappointing because many of the big names in the project were present, including Tipping Point President Jim Ambrose, OBCDC Interim Executive Director Amber Jones, Ward 13 Councilman Kris Harsh, and PRUMC Pastor Rev. Matt Whisenhunt.  

NEOtrans article

     No project renderings were shown at the meeting, but one could gain a lot of information from reading Ken Prendergast’s online article for NEOtrans the next week. Apparently both the Near West Design Review Committee and the City of Cleveland approved the project the week of May 12th, even though the original four-story building increased to six stories, the number of apartments increased to 84, and the construction cost increased from the original $30 million dollars to $42.3 million dollars. The NEOtrans article included a box which listed the funding sources individually, as well as where OBCDC hopes to come up with the deficit. $27,489,638 (via grants and loans) is committed to the project; $14,814,671 is still needed. 

     I noticed the NEOtrans article after someone posted it in the Facebook group — CLEVELAND STREETS — Then and Now, News and Nostalgia. I then promptly shared it to the “Living in Old Brooklyn” and “Old Brooklyn Crime Watch” Facebook groups. Although there were a few positive comments about the project, far more were against it in its current format. The first comment I read, submitted by Brian Heaton, and the one which got the most “likes” — stated: “Fix up what’s there at a fraction of the cost and quit trying to gentrify the neighborhood.”  The reference Heaton made to a “fraction of the costs” is definitely a true statement. Another developer’s estimated cost to rejuvenate the corner with adaptive reuse of existing buildings rather than demolition and building from scratch was $12 – 13 million dollars. Historic preservation tax credits and other incentives would have paid for most, if not all of it. 

     Although the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is involved in the Memphis Pearl Project, the one- and two-bedroom apartments will not be affordable to low-income residents. Kris Harsh didn’t know the size of the units, but he did say that monthly rent will be about $2,000.

     Many questions have been raised about having sufficient parking spaces. Apparently, the City of Cleveland is not concerned about that. As long as there is nearby parking for half of the units, the City of Cleveland is okay with the parking plan. Here is part of a Facebook comment from one “Living in Old Brooklyn member“: “The building plan was the hot topic at last week’s City Council meeting with Kris Harsh.  The conversation became very heated with many unhappy longtime residents of Old Brooklyn…” The commenter was referring to the May Ward 13 meeting at Estabrook.  

Hope for Preservation

     As we begin another month in Old Brooklyn, we still don’t know the fate of the buildings on the corner of Pearl Rd. and Memphis Ave. As long as the buildings are still standing, there is hope of preserving them. Cleveland History Days will be celebrated this month, from Thursday, June 19th through Sunday, June 29th. A number of the Cleveland History Day events are in the neighborhoods served by the Plain Press. One of them will again be at Metropolitan Coffee, 4744 Broadview Rd. in Old Brooklyn on Monday, June 23rd; from 5:30-7:30 pm. The topic is Preservation Advocacy: Preserving History & Heritage. The presentation will feature a panel discussion with Tom Yablonsky, Tim Donovan, Rick Sicha, and Stephanie Ryberg-Webster.  Admission is free, but registration is required.  Visit canalwaypartners.com to register for this presentation and to view the complete schedule of almost 50 events. 

Editor‘s Note: You can read the past articles in this series online at the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn’s website, http://www.oldbrooklynhistory.org, or on the Plain Press’ website at https://plainpress.blog.