Region 5 Brownfields Success - City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH
Former Clothing Factory Converted into
School for Gifted Children
Opportunity:
The former Joseph and Feiss/Hugo Boss property in Cleveland, Ohio was developed in 1870
for clothing manufacturing by the Joseph and Feiss (later Hugo Boss) company. Three buildings
were constructed over a number of years; a warehouse, factory and administration building.
Operations continued at the property until 1998. In the early 2000's, the factory building was
razed along with parking lots on the northern boundary. The administrative and the warehouse
building remain onsite, but were abandoned.
Targeted Investment:
Cleanup and redevelopment funding from a multitude of sources made this project financial
viable.
-The Cuyahoga County brownfield program performed initial phase I and phase II
assessments in 2010 and provided a sub-grant from their RLF for cleanup.
- Ohio EPA's Targeted Brownfield Assessment funding was used to perform soil and
indoor air sampling.
-The $13 million renovation utilized $3.3 million in federal and state Historic Tax Credits,
$3.4 million in state and federal New Market Tax Credits, $4.6 million grant from the Ohio
Facilities Construction Commission funding, as well as other local and private resources.
Results: The former Joseph and Feiss site is now
home to the Menlo Park Academy a tuition-free
community school dedicated to gifted learners.
Utilizing the 81,300 square-foot four story
warehouse building, Menlo Park opened its
doors to over 420 students in Fall 2017, and
made an immediate impact on property
values surrounding the site.

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