Coventry PEACE talks will include University Heights at the table

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Looking to the future of the Coventry PEACE campus and its current nonprofit tenants, University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan wants his city included in joint discussions.

“I often say that as a mayor, I don’t get to pick and choose our problems or crises,” Brennan stated in a Sept. 23 letter to Heights Libraries board of trustees, prior to their meeting that he also attended.

“Yet somehow as elected officials, we have chosen thus far mostly to stay out of this situation — until now.”

Brennan thanked Cleveland Heights City Council and Mayor Kahlil Seren for recently initiating a public discourse, including a proposed resolution of support toward ensuring long-term viability of the campus, its arts-infused programming and the building itself.

Brennan was one of nine speakers at the ensuing Heights Library board meeting.

The lineup also included Cleveland Heights City Council President Tony Cuda, in attendance with council members Jim Petras — who drafted the proposed resolution of support — and Gail Larson, who did not address the board.

“I take very seriously the hard numbers that you all have to look at,” Cuda told the library trustees. “And I would never minimize that, nor would I ever minimize the contribution of the tenants at Coventry PEACE Campus.”

Cuda added that if government entities enter the conversation, “we should be bringing something to the table. And in the spirit of what Mayor Brennan and Marty Gelfand “were talking about, let’s see what we can do together.”

Gelfand, the former South Euclid city councilman who moved to Cleveland Heights in 2020, had asked the trustees to “do the right thing, because I think you’ve heard enough from the people in this room that we really love what’s going on in that building.”

Brennan noted that while the building needs investment — anywhere from $1.25 million by the tenants’ estimation to $2.8 million projected by the library — it appears to be structurally sound.

Although it’s located in Cleveland Heights, the two cities share the same school district and library system, and University Heights taxpayers contributed to building the former Coventry school back in 1976.

“Coventry PEACE is a shared community asset,” Brennan said in his letter. “I credit Heights Libraries for recognizing that in 2018 when it intervened in the situation.”

At that time Library Director Nancy Levin and her board stepped up and agreed to take title to the 6-acre campus and park adjacent to the Coventry branch.

Six years later, the situation remains “unresolved,” as Brennan put it.

As expected, the library board voted Sept. 23 to proceed with a $20,000 feasibility study on the building, including potential demolition costs. The board also declined to turn the building over to Coventry PEACE Inc. for $1.

This has led to outcry from at least nine of the 12 nonprofit tenants, those that will be switching over to “month-to-month” leases in 2025.

The other three newer tenants — including a non-denominational church that also runs an adult daycare center in some of the former gymnasium and Ensemble Theater space — have leases that currently run through 2025 and could be renewed to the end of the decade.

drama disclaimer

Levin reminded tenants that when they did not renew their 18-month leases in the spring, she and the library board asked for at least six months to assess options.

“What’s missing from this discussion is the finances,” Levin said. “I know you’re saying we should just give it to you (for $1). But what about the $500,000 we’ve spent (on repairs to the building)?”

Levin added that any talk about demolition has gotten “blown out of proportion — it doesn’t mean we’re going to do it,” She referred to the study as “due diligence” on the library’s part.

“Let’s try to work on this problem,” Levin said. “I hope we can simmer down some of that drama and not talk about demolition while we’re trying to find out what is necessary and what’s not necessary.”

If the cities wish to assist on the issues at hand, “I think it really does fall into the realm of economic development,” Levin said, with the PEACE campus being the largest employer in Coventry Village.

Levin added that the transfer of the property for $1 in 2018 occurred between government entities: the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education and the library trustees.

“That is a very different thing than what you’re asking,” Levin told the tenants and their supporters.

In his letter, Brennan said he is prepared to devote city staff time and guidance toward working together with Cleveland Heights and the library board to find a way forward for Coventry PEACE together.

He noted that his city recently created a limited-purpose community improvement corporation (CIC) focused on redeveloping the University Square into the Bell Tower Center mixed-use development.

The University Heights CIC will hold title to the ramshackle parking garage there.

“The Coventry PEACE situation is not the same, but it is not altogether different,” said Brennan. “We need to bring the experts together to create a legal and governing structure that can best facilitate that process.”

Cleveland Heights is also setting up its own CIC. The Coventry Village Special Improvement District (SID) — made up of businesses to the north — has offered to extend its boundary to the PEACE campus building, for which the SID could hold the title if need be, executive director Matt Moore said earlier.

In terms of providing library officials with a more tangible financial plan, Coventry PEACE Inc. forwarded a proposed 10-year pro forma statement to a trustee later in the week. He shared it with Heights Libraries Finance Officer Deborah Herrmann.

“The two things that stick out are: (first) they show an increase in rent revenue from $178,748 to $238,849,” Herrmann said.

“That is quite an increase in rents, tenants, or both — particularly since (library property management firm) Cresco’s estimate of rent and operating income for 2024 is $86,281.”

From there, Herrmann said that on the expense side, “they have no budget line for capital repairs. “The line item for maintenance and repairs is $15,000, half of which should cover maintenance agreements for the HVAC, elevator, fire alarm systems and fire extinguishers.”

Herrmann also saw no line item for debt repayment.

“If they were to enter into a loan agreement with Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC), the repayment should show as an expense,” Herrmann said.

“NOPEC does not ‘give’ businesses money for upgrades; “they offer financing at 5 percent,” Herrmann said. “So they really show no planned capital expenses for the 10 years for major repairs to the roof, HVAC, windows, doors and lighting.”

The 10-year pro forma does include cash reserves and annual carryovers climbing to $203,000 in the third year, up to $511,000 in the sixth year and then $907,000 in year 10.

A path forward

On their end, Brennan and Cuda expressed renewed optimism after the Sept. 23 meetings.

“The good thing is that we have additional time to work with the library and the stakeholders,” said Brennan. “I don’t want to see us give up before we’ve tried everything to find a resolution that would allow Coventry PEACE to continue.”

Cuda planned to ask the library board to consider a lease extension beyond month-to-month for the remaining nine tenants after the first of the year.

“But today, at least the door was opened for us to work toward finding a solution,” Cuda said.

During the library meeting, Brennan also thanked University Heights Vice Mayor Michelle Weiss for meeting with Heights Library Director Nancy Levin while he had COVID.

“Much as happened, including a global pandemic that caused unprecedented upheaval in our lifetimes,” Brennan stated in his letter, commending the Heights Libraries and the Coventry PEACE campus tenants for continuing the shared community asset.

Brennan noted that Levin had called him in mid-August, when she reached out to discuss the community survey. This came after he attended a library board meeting earlier in the month — featuring a presentation from Coventry PEACE Inc.

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