CLEVELAND — A court-appointed receiver is stepping in at the historic Union Trust Building, taking a long-stalled renovation project out of an embattled developer’s hands.
On Friday, a federal court judge appointed a receiver to take over the massive empty office building at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue. The move comes as Deutsche Bank seeks a foreclosure over more than $33 million in debt on the property, a nearly 1.4 million-square-foot complex in the heart of Downtown.
Now the vacant behemoth is on a path to be sold again, after 15 years of unrealized dreaming by a series of developers. The current owner is an affiliate of the Millennia Cos., a prominent Cleveland-based landlord that’s been slapped with sanctions by the federal government and faces the loss of other local properties.
Millennia bought the Union Trust Building – still known by many Clevelanders as the old Huntington Building – in 2018, with hopes of transforming it into apartments, a hotel and modern office space, with a high-end restaurant in part of the cavernous bank lobby.
The project, called the Centennial, won outsize public support, including state tax credits for historic preservation and so-called “transformational” mixed-use development. Those incentive commitments are still in place, but the state has not actually paid out any of the money.
RELATED: The Centennial project gets $40 million boost with new state tax credit
Court records show Millennia defaulted on its debt payments in 2023 but managed to negotiate short-term deals to stave off a foreclosure. By last fall, though, Deutsche Bank had run out of patience – and had lost confidence in Millennia’s ability to get financing for a redevelopment or properly care for a complex that’s roughly the size of 23 football fields.
Since September, Deutsche Bank and Millennia have been sparring – in state court first, and now in federal court – over the foreclosure process and control of the real estate.
Millennia opposes the receivership and has been trying to work out a deal to sell the building and preserve the state incentive pledges, including $65 million in tax credits and a $10 million brownfield grant for asbestos abatement, lead-paint removal and other clean-up work.
"While we respectfully disagree with the court’s decision to appoint a receiver and intend to pursue an appeal, we remain fully focused on constructive outcomes,” Angelica Sinito, the company’s chief investment officer, wrote in an email to News 5 late Monday afternoon. “We continue good-faith discussions with the lender, and our priority remains a resolution that serves the best interests of all stakeholders.”
The receiver, John K. Lane, said it’s early – and he’s not coming into the situation with any preconceptions about what to do.
“I’m just starting to get involved,” he said during a phone interview Monday.
Lane is the CEO and managing director of Inglewood Associates, an advisory firm based in Mentor.
He said he’s well aware of the Union Trust Building’s past as a linchpin of the city’s financial district – and its importance to the future of Downtown.
"If that building fails for some reason or, God forbid, it somehow has to get torn down or something, the loss to Cleveland would be massive,” Lane said. “I’m a big believer in old architecture that is part of the heart of any city.”
He said he has no intention of holding a fire sale, unloading the building for pennies on the dollar. But he acknowledged, “it’s a tough time in the real estate marketplace,” with other current and former Downtown office buildings in foreclosure and receivership – or owned by lenders, after defaults.
In court filings, Millennia says it couldn’t live up to its end of the deal with Deutsche Bank because of factors beyond the company’s control, including the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, soaring construction costs and interest-rate spikes.
But Millennia's troubles aren't limited to the Centennial.
The company is facing foreclosures at other Downtown properties, including the Statler and 75 Public Square apartment buildings in Downtown Cleveland.
In early 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development barred Millennia – a major owner of federally subsidized apartments – and founder Frank Sinito from entering any new federal contracts for five years.
The agency accused Millennia of misappropriating or losing track of millions of dollars from HUD-insured or HUD-subsidized properties. In October 2024, agents from HUD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which also provides financing for affordable-housing projects, raided Frank Sinito’s house in Waite Hill, a small village in Lake County.
RELATED: Federal agents search the home of Frank Sinito, the founder and owner of Cleveland-based Millennia
The two agencies have not provided any updates on their investigation.
Millennia has been trying to sell its affordable-housing portfolio, in favor of focusing on market-rate apartments and its Northeast Ohio properties, including Key Tower and the attached Marriott hotel. Frank Sinito stepped down as Millennia’s CEO in June, though he still owns the business and the real estate.
He and his wife, Malisse, are behind the Marble Room and Il Venetian restaurants Downtown and Lockkeepers in Valley View.
Millennia’s initial vision for the Centennial was even more ambitious – evolving over the years to include a museum, fine dining, event spaces, a boutique hotel and more than 800 apartments. In 2023, the developer pivoted and started pitching the property as a site for a new Cuyahoga County courthouse. But the county still hasn’t announced a decision about the future of the existing Justice Center and the courts.
As receiver, Lane will be responsible for securing and maintaining the building while the foreclosure process plays out. “First step is to find out what the borrower has in place, what they’re planning on doing,” he said Monday.
Michelle Jarboe is the business growth and development reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @MJarboe or email her at Michelle.Jarboe@wews.com.
