H&LA was proud to provide the feasibility study that helped lay the groundwork for one of the most transformative downtown development projects in Akron’s recent history. Our client, Quaker Square Redevelopment Group, is now moving toward a groundbreaking on their $75 million vision to reimagine the iconic Quaker Square complex.

Published by: Crain’s Cleveland Business/Dan Shingler
Published date: April 2026

Akron officials and downtown backers are abuzz over a huge downtown development that’s progressing toward a groundbreaking and could be one of the most impactful yet for the growing and increasingly residential center of the city.

“It’s massive,” said Akron Economic Development Director Suzie Graham Moore, who, prior to 2024 spent 13 years running the Downtown Akron Partnership. “It is clear, based on the size, and based on the history of the space, this can be a transformative project for Downtown Akron.”

Massive, indeed. The project is the $75 million redevelopment of the Quaker Square complex. It’s more than nine acres of space and 10 separate buildings on what amounts to their own campus on Broadway Street. It’s in the middle of downtown and catty-corner from the city’s John S. Knight Center, Akron’s main convention venue.

The project has been undertaken by Quaker Square Redevelopment Group, which includes Craven Construction Vice President Kyle Craven and a group of local partners. It is led by Kyle Craven, the construction company’s vice president and managing director for Quaker Square.

Craven said he and his partners purchased the site for $800,000 when they bought it from the University in April 2025.

It will be the largest project he’s done, but Craven said he’s not intimidated.

“Not even a little bit,” he said. “I’m excited — it’s a very fun project to work on. I like challenges, so this is right up my alley.”

That doesn’t mean he’s underestimating the complexity of it all, though, he said.

“It’s a very big and complex project, and there are many aspects and components toit,” Craven said. “It’s not a simple hotel and apartment complex. It’s retail and officetoo. It’s a true mixed-use development.”

Craven Construction Co., of which Craven is vice president, will be doing much of thework required to build it all.

Craven said he plans to bring to market a modern mixed-use development that will provide luxury living and lodging Downtown, while keeping some of the nostalgic charm of a site with deep history in the city.

Many Akronites who were around in the 70s and 80s remember going to Quaker Square’s kitschy shops, run by the same sort of small independent retailers Craven said he hopes to attract. They also remember eating in the train dining cars on site and the grand opening of its Hilston Hotel in 1980.

The new project would turn the site and its 10 buildings into a major downtown destination and place to live, Craven’s master plan shows.

When it’s done, it will include a 136,000 square-foot, 108-room hotel, 68 apartments encompassing more than 60,000 square feet, and a rooftop restaurant and bar with an outdoor patio overlooking downtown. There will be a smaller café on a lower level, and about 30,000 square feet of office that might include a small coworking space.

Craven said the plan is for the apartments to share amenities such as room service and also cleaning services with the hotel, if residents choose to use them. That’s been a trend as of late and is also how the Project Scarlet and Erieview projects in Cleveland intend to function.

It would also include more than 30,000 square feet of retail space and a redeveloped Quaker Station events space, which is nearly 26,000 square feet of space and the only part of the complex currently in operation.

The scope of this project is daunting, given that this is far from an ordinary group of buildings.

Its dominant feature is a group of 36 grain silos that make up much of its space. The silos, built by the Quaker Oats company in the 1930s, are 120 feet tall and 24 feet in diameter. They were used by the previous owner, the University of Akron, for student housing, and would be used by Craven to create new apartments and hotel rooms.

That means building those new hotel rooms and apartments in cylindrical buildings, with round rooms.

On top of that, sections of the complex are covered with floor-to-ceiling artwork done by local artist Don Drumm, many of which have to be preserved if the project wins the historic tax credits Craven hopes to receive from the state, including $5 million in credits he’s hoping to get sometime around June. 1.

All of this is going to take a good bit of time and a large amount of money, of course. Craven expects the redevelopment to cost around $75 million and to take about two years to complete.

The master plan for the site is done, as are demolition drawings, but the final designs are not, Craven said.

The first part of the project would be to build the hotel on the first five floors of the eight-story silos, followed by the development of apartments on floors six, seven and eight. Craven estimates it will take about 14 months to build the hotel once construction begins, with work on the rest following that.

The site also has to select a hotel chain. That’s in the works now, and Craven said several major chains have expressed strong interest in the project.

Steve Dimengo, partner and chairman emeritus at Buckingham, Doolittle &Burroughs and one of Craven’s co-investors, said none of the site’s challenges or potential is lost on those behind the project.

“We’re trying to make it a destination. And I also like to think of it as a legacy property,” Dimengo said. “All of our investors are friends and local, and I think that makes a big difference… We want to enjoy it ourselves.”

Graham said she’s particularly happy to see this project gain traction and for the property to be in the hands of a local developer committed to its revival.

“It could have been a significant challenge for a downtown,” Graham said, citing the size and unique features of the site. “We’re very fortunate to see it move into becoming a transformative project.”

A couple of factors make Graham especially pleased.

One is that Craven’s plans dovetail perfectly with the city’s own goal and plans for downtown development, which call for the creation of 600 or more new downtown apartments.

The other factor is that a new hotel would support the Knight Center by giving it a very close-by hotel. That should mean the city can win more convention business, which Graham said would not only support the Quaker Square hotel but also others, such as the Blu-Tique boutique hotel downtown, and downtown retail establishments generally.