Downtown is a business district that people are moving back into
Downtown Akron covers just over a square mile and is known mainly as the seat of city and Summit County government and the home of employers like Huntington Bank, GOJO and Akron Children’s Hospital. Nearly 3,000 people live here, alongside the offices.
The city wants more of them. Developer Joel Testa announced plans to turn the former Cascade Plaza Hotel into 137 apartments, and 17 organizations funded a new Downtown Akron Development Corporation whose top goals are more housing and more retail. The pull for residents is what one newcomer described to Signal Akron: the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad station behind Northside Marketplace, RubberDucks games on Main Street, the Akron Civic Theatre and a wide range of food.
The residential side is still young. A shop owner on South Main told Signal Akron she’d like neighborhood discount cards and a holiday block party on Mill Street, and a newer resident asked for regular Friday events like the ones small towns hold.
Downtown’s history runs deep as well. It was the setting of the 1851 Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, where Sojourner Truth gave her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech.
Old buildings, historic districts and what owners can do
Three stretches of downtown are National Register historic districts:
| District | Roughly covers |
|---|---|
| Main-Market | North and South Main around East Market, North High and Broadway |
| South Main Street | 150 to 280 block of South Main |
| Main Exchange | Main Street near Exchange Street |
Listing on the National Register does not by itself stop a private owner from altering or selling a building. The National Park Service says owners can do what they wish within local laws, unless federal money or permits are involved.
Selling residential property in the center of Akron
Downtown’s housing growth is coming through apartment projects like the Cascade Plaza conversion, not new houses. The owners who contact a buyer like us here tend to hold one of these:
- an older house on the edge of downtown, where it meets West Hill, Cascade Valley, Summit Lake or University Park
- a small mixed-use building with an apartment upstairs
- a property inherited from someone who bought decades ago
For a house with tenants, read selling a house with tenants. For a two- to four-unit building, our page on selling a duplex or multi-family property covers how buyers value rent rolls. If the place has open orders from the city, the Akron housing code enforcement guide explains the process.
Being close to a planned conversion can change who wants your property. A building near one of these projects may interest a developer or investor more than a household buyer, and that affects how you should market it.
Downtown isn’t a neighborhood where every property suits a direct sale. Send us the address and we’ll tell you whether it fits us or whether an agent or commercial broker would serve you better.