Council Approves Loan To Help Call Center Acquire Former Medusa Building
Medusa Holdings, LLC will receive a $500,000 loan to help it acquire the former Medusa Portland Cement headquarters on Monticello Boulevard.
Cleveland Heights City Council approved a $500,000 loan to help Medusa Holdings, LLC acquire a building located at 3008 Monticello Blvd. at the regular meeting Monday night.
Medusa Holdings, LLC plans to open a call center and renovate the former Medusa Portland Cement headquarters, most recently owned by Sarver Realty. According to council documents, the business will create 120 full-time jobs by 2016, at least 51 percent of which will be made available to or held by people with low to moderate incomes.
Medusa has a purchase agreement for the property and a "closing date is fast approaching," Mayor Ed Kelley said.
The call center was previously interested in the former Millikin School building on 1700 Crest Road, which resurrected neighbors near the school’s concerns about what would happen to the empty Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District property.
Mayor Ed Kelley confirmed the call center was moving to Monticello instead at a community meeting in May.
Medusa Holdings, LLC applied for a loan under the city’s commercial revolving loan fund program, which helped businesses like Lopez and Melt get started in Cleveland Heights, said Vice Mayor Dennis Wilcox at a council meeting in May. The federal program replenishes itself as merchants who have borrowed money repay loans.
The loan carries certain terms and requirements — $300,000 of the loan will carry a 3.5 percent interest rate and a 10-year repayment schedule after a one-year’s deferral. And up to $200,000 of the loan may be forgiven at a rate of $50,000 per year for each year prior to 2018 during which 100 full-time equivalent jobs are maintained at the call center, according to council documents.
Richard Hollis
6:04 pm on Tuesday, July 3, 2012
This is certainly better than having our calls answered in India. Let's hope that they speak English.
Ted Dick
5:21 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
I like the central staircase and aluminum bannister -- hope it survives the remodel.
Patrick Montler
9:05 pm on Sunday, October 7, 2012
I was the facilities manager of this building for Medusa Corp. I'm glad to see it will continue to stand and be a functional part of this community. It is a unique building. It was built in the 1950's to show case the many different uses of concrete construction. It is lift slab construction witch was unusual for an office building. The lobby has several different construction features such as the three dimensional precast wall, terrazzo floors, faux granite wall and the open stair case. I hope these features survive the remodel.