PNC Bank teams with CNVDC to make an abandoned building viable again

National City Bank (NCB) has always prided itself on being "your neighborhood bank". They have been a pillar of South Collinwood for longer than I care to remember, located at 979 East 152nd. They have stood as a neighborhood institution at the Five Points Intersection serving residents of Collinwood and offering banking services to more people than we can count over the years. When we heard the rumors about another bank coming in to purchase NCB, the neighborhood thought we were going to lose yet another staunch supporter. This has not proven to be the case. Now that they are a part of PNC, the previous NCB commitment will only grow stronger with increased support for valuable programs, from neighborhood causes to schools and business associations.

PNC is one of the largest financial services companies in the country. Its reputation as a leading financial service company with global and neighborhood reach is well-documented. PNC and the PNC Foundation have long histories of strengthening and enriching the lives of the neighbors in communities in which they have branches as well as the City in general, providing resources and seed ideas.

It has been a longstanding norm that banks do not want to own real estate. It is too cumbersome for them to carry the liability and maintenance to say the least. When PNC recently had to take into their inventory a mixed use building at 15800 St.Clair, knowing our long standing reputation of redevelopment in the Collinwood neighborhood, they contacted the Collinwood & Nottingham Villages Development Corporation (CNVDC) to see if we might be interested in acquiring it. Working with Sam Hawkins, the local Branch Manager and Business Development officer from the Five Points office, Michael J.Taylor, the Senior Vice President, West Territory Executive from the East Ninth Street location of PNC, and also John D.Burdorff, Vice President, Regional Manager, Cleveland Northeast Region, the bank made us an offer we could not refuse. We worked out the particulars and within a matter of  weeks, on May 7, 2010, the property transferred into CNVDC's name.

CNVDC is excited with this latest acquisition and we are presently soliciting bids for the redevelopment of the property as well as looking for a property manager. With 2 storefronts and 6 apartment units above, bringing it back to what it once was, and maintaining tenants who care about the neighborhood will be an exciting adventure. This will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

We would like to thank PNC and the former National City Bank for its longstanding and continuing commitment to the Collinwood neighborhood, and also for presenting this opportunity to us. We look forward to a long relationship with PNC, working together for the betterment of the neighborhood on other projects as well as this one.

If you are interested in possibly renting any of the space described above, please give CNVDC a call at 216.383.9772 for more details.

Yolanda Anderson is Executive Director of CNVDC.