Onetime NASA Building Gets New Life as Apartments
Located in a Cleveland suburb, the property played an integral role in early space exploration.
The Centaur in Fairview, Ohio. Image courtesy of Citroc Real Estate Co.
Ceres Enterprises LLC is transforming the onetime NASA K Building in Fairview Park, Ohio, into a luxury rental property.
To be called The Centaur, the 84-unit development broke ground in suburban Cleveland in autumn 2020, and is slated for completion late this year. The $46 million project is on Brook Park Rd. near NASA John H. Glenn Research Center.
The apartment community derives its name from the Atlas/Centaur and Titan/Centaur booster vehicles NASA Lewis designed, built, launched, and managed during the infancy of U.S. space exploration in the 1960s and early 1970s. The K Building and neighboring L Building were first occupied in 1964 and provided office space for NASA.
The Centaur will offer a blend of studio and one- and two-bedroom suites. The residences, ranging from 700 to 1,200 square feet in size, will rent from $1,099 per month. In addition to apartments, fully-furnished corporate suites will be offered.
The developer was intent on not only filling an apartment supply shortfall in this area of metro Cleveland, but also preserving the building given its NASA legacy.
“Typically, buildings have local historical significance, and this arguably has international historical significance,” David Crisafi, president of Ceres Enterprises, told Multi-Housing News. “There aren’t many historic buildings of this scale in the suburbs, which was a great opportunity on all fronts.”
The developers placed a conservation easement on the property, protecting its historical renovated condition in perpetuity.
National Register
Sandvick Architects served as the designer of The Centaur. Summit Construction Co. is the project’s general contractor. The development’s lender is ERIEBANK. Pace Financing provided special financing. Citroc Real Estate Co. is the owner’s representative. Ceres Enterprises, LLC will manage The Centaur.
Vacant for years, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and, as such, received $16 million in federal and state tax credits.
Apartments will feature kitchen islands, oversized showers with Euro frameless doors, independent HVAC systems, high-speed Internet and soundproof windows. The high-profile common-area amenities include a private yoga and training studio.
The Centaur will put residents near a number of Cleveland conveniences, including Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, the Cleveland Metroparks and NASA John H. Glenn Research Center. Last week, the Yardi Matrix Cleveland Multifamily Report showed the metro’s multifamily market continued resilient in the face of adversity.
