Museum tried to buy building next door

Construction is well underway on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's $150 million expansion

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is to the left, the Harbor Verandas to the right, and only 60 feet are between them. That led Rock Hall officials to consider acquiring the mixed-use building to give the Cleveland lakefront institution more and better expansion options for the future (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Construction is well underway on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s $150 million expansion at Downtown Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor. But after the new addition opens at the end of 2026, Rock Hall officials, in looking at their now-landlocked surroundings, are wondering where the museum might expand to in the future.

They thought they had their answer when they made an offer to buy the Harbor Verandas, 1050 E. 9th St., from an affiliate of Cleveland-based Cumberland Development LLC, according to a source familiar with the Rock Hall’s plans. The source spoke to NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity.

Harbor Verandas is a three-story, 50,000-square-foot building with 16 apartments over five ground-floor retail/office spaces surrounding 29 heated indoor parking spaces. Its ground-floor tenants are Bites Cafe, Cleveland Broadband, Intro Boutique, Sushi 86 and Token Cleveland’s Gift Shop. All of the apartments are leased, too.

The Rock Hall sought it for a future conversion to an office building, the source said. The Harbor Verondas is only about 60 feet away from the Rock Hall’s eastern flank. A short, climate-protected corridor could easily be built to connect the two buildings and offer the Rock Hall a retail presence next to East 9th.

A slightly dated aerial view of Downtown Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor showing the Rock Hall, its proximity to the Harbor Verandas, and how landlocked the museum has become with its westward expansion toward the Great Lakes Science Center (Newmark).

But, Rock Hall officials decided not to continue to pursue the deal. In an e-mail provided to NEOtrans by the source, the Rock Hall’s Vice President of Finance Sean O’Malley on Monday notified Cumberland CEO Dick Pace and the company’s legal representative, the Tucker Ellis Real Estate Group, that the deal was off.

“After careful consideration with our board, we will not be proceeding with the transaction under the current terms,” O’Malley wrote. “We appreciate the assistance provided by you and Jeanne (McMaster of Cumberland) as we considered this transaction. We understand that this decision means we surrender the $100,000 deposit and that the LOI (Letter of Intent) is now terminated.”

However, O’Malley left the door open to possibly revisit the acquisition. “If circumstances change or if there is an opportunity to revisit the terms, we’re open to further discussion,” he added.

O’Malley did not respond to a voicemail left by NEOtrans seeking more information. Also, an e-mail was sent to the Rock Hall’s media relations staff but wasn’t answered. Pace confirmed that there was a deal in the works but said he did not know why the Rock Hall walked away.

At the north end of East 9th Street, next to Lake Erie, the Harbor Verondas stand alongside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum with the Great Lakes Science Center to the right (Harbor Verondas).

“Purchase of my building was strategic for them,” he said. “The expansion cost per square foot is many times more than the cost of my building. The deal was that I would give them the building with the existing financing.”

The Rock Hall is adding a 50,000-square-foot wing to west of the 1995-built, 140,670-square-foot museum at a very high cost of nearly $3,000 per square foot — more than 10 times the cost of building the Harbor Verondas. Construction of the Rock Hall’s expansion started in October 2023.

Among display and performance spaces, it includes about 6,000 square feet of new office space. Their current offices in the existing museum will be converted to display spaces. At the Harbor Verondas, each floor of apartments averages more than 15,000 square feet.

Harbor Verondas was built for about $14 million but was appraised last year for taxes by Cuyahoga County at $7.68 million. It and the nearby Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar were built in the late-2010s by Cumberland in a since-concluded development partnership with Trammell Crow Co. of Dallas.

All of the buildings including the Rock hall are set on leased land reclaimed from Lake Erie. Cumberland’s buildings are leased from the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County