Turning a 1922 Factory in to a Modern Apartment Building
By Ryan Horvath
This month, Properties Magazine is featuring the Mueller Lofts. As part of Cleveland’s Asiatown, The Mueller Lofts is an apartment building with a rich history. The Mueller Lofts is also one of our past projects. I had the opportunity to tour the building and learn about its history.
Plan It, Design It
A Brief History
In 1922, the Mueller Electric Company opened its doors. They invented and manufactured the “alligator clip”. The clip is a part of a variety of electronic products and applications today. In its heyday, 48 women made up the assembly department. They were able to produce 85,000 clips a day. In 2011, Desco Corporation in Akron, Ohio bought the company. Today, it still operates as Mueller Electric Company.
Making Old New Again
Sustainable Community Associates (SCA) saw an opportunity with the Mueller building. SCA is an award-winning community development firm. Their focus is on renovating neighborhoods with sustainable and responsible values. What better place to reinforce those values than Cleveland’s Asiatown?
We worked with SCA on their award-winning Fairmont Creamery and Wagner Awning projects. When the opportunity to help renovate the Mueller Building came around, we jumped on it. We teamed up with John G. Johnson Construction to supply the cabinets. Our cabinets are in the community room and apartments. The cabinets are a slab full overlay door style. They incorporate the Choice white and light gray paint finishes. The wall cabinets are in the white while the base cabinets are in the light gray.
In June 2018, the Mueller Lofts opened its doors. The two-story building contains 51 modern apartments. One way that SCA and the Mueller Lofts build a strong community is by giving back. Mueller encourages its residents to donate five hours at a nonprofit organization. Should they do this, Mueller makes a donation to the organization. The donation is 5% of the resident’s rent. This helps build a stronger community and reinforce community pride.
Photos of the Mueller Lofts
Click on the image below to enlarge it.
The Wrap Up
The Mueller Lofts is one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever visited. The history is on display with framed mechanical drawings and old photos. The exposed brick in the apartments only adds to the experience. At the time of this blog posting, the Mueller Lofts has filled its 51 apartments. If you would like to learn more, check out themuellerlofts.com. For more on Sustainable Community Associates, check them out at sustainableca.com.
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