There's never a good time for a pandemic, but as far as Akron's concerned, now is probably the best time in terms of its impact on the city's redevelopment plans.

As long as things return to normal as planned and attitudes toward urban living survive this historic episode, that is. If so, it may even present the city some opportunities.

The COVID-19 crisis has downtown Akron, like a lot of city centers, virtually shuttered. But at least the shutdown is occurring when the core of the city was already hobbled by a massive construction project on Main Street, said the builder spearheading downtown's $42 million Bowery Project, which now sits behind orange barrels on Main Street.

"Now would be the time to do it, because there wasn't a lot happening on Main Street anyway," said Don Taylor, CEO of Fairlawn-based Welty Building Co., of the current shutdown.

Taylor's company is building out the six formerly decrepit office and industrial buildings to transform them into a mixed-use development slated to open this summer. His company also is leasing out the 92 apartments that Taylor said make up the project's residential component, as well as its roughly 40,000 square feet of retail space.

Welty has been leasing apartments throughout the current crisis, Taylor said, speaking over the sound of jackhammers from the site as work continued on the street outside.

"We are now at over 35 leases signed for the residential, out of 92 units. So, our residential leasing has done really well, even with coronavirus," Taylor said, noting that all of the apartments in the project are now complete.

Many people may not have expected that prospective tenants would be signing leases. After all, the economy is in tatters, especially in downtown areas that rely heavily on now-shuttered bars, restaurants and retail establishments. Those are the amenities places like the Bowery typically use to market themselves, as well as sources of income for some potential tenants.

Leases at the Bowery are not cheap by Akron standards, either. Apartments at the new complex lease for between $1,000 and $3,100 a month fairly pricey for Akron, where various apartment-tracking sites list average rents between $600 and $825 a month.

But even as the city and the nation are gripped by what most economists say is likely the beginning of a significant recession, Taylor said interest in leasing at the Bowery has been keen.

He likely can thank Akron's diverse economy and, in particular, its strong health care component for picking up the slack.

"We have a real cross-section (of new tenants), from young professionals to those newly moved to the area," Taylor said. "And probably the most concentration is with doctors and those that serve health care, mainly because we are a block from Akron Children's Hospital and four blocks from Cleveland Clinic Akron General (Hospital)."

On the retail side, though, pretty much everything is on hold, he noted, with prospective new bars, restaurants and other establishments taking a wait-and-see approach before committing to space.

Taylor said that's not necessarily due to the COVID-19 crisis, but to the construction on Main Street, which is taking longer than anticipated.

"Every single commercial space had at least one person looking at it. And when I say they were looking at it, I mean we were in serious conversations about leasing," Taylor said. "But because of the delay in construction on Main Street, as it became apparent it would not be finished (in 2019), our interest in those spaces really dried up. They said, 'When Main Street is done, call us back. We can't put time into planning something when we don't know when we can open the front door.' "

That means the establishments likely won't have their space built out and be ready to open when Main Street is completed, Taylor said.

Taylor had planned to have a grand opening for the Bowery in April or May but said he will now push that back to June or July. However, he's not overly concerned as long as Main Street construction wraps up in July as the city is currently promising.

"Now, the city's telling us that Main Street will be done in July. Most of the retail community said, 'Prove it. When it's done, we'll talk again.' Now, we have the coronavirus and we're in a serious pause," Taylor said, stressing the importance of the city completing Main Street by the new deadline.

That's on track to happen, said Jason Segedy, Akron director of planning and urban development.

"We're really full steam ahead on all the city's construction projects. One of the things COVID has done is eliminate a lot of traffic, which has made it easier to work. I think we're in good shape in terms of opening a new Main Street on July 1," Segedy said.

If that happens, and things do return to some semblance of normalcy, Segedy and Taylor both think Akron could even benefit from the effects of the crisis.

For one thing, as big cities such as New York seem to be having the worst time during the pandemic, it may spur folks to seek out smaller cities in which to live, where the pandemic so far appears easier to manage. Or maybe the work-from-home trend forced on society will stick around, meaning locals who take jobs with companies elsewhere could work from Akron.

"I do wonder if this doesn't hurt really large cities like New York. But for midsize cities like Akron, I think in the long run we may even benefit from people giving us a second look now," said Segedy, a staunch urbanist who studies issues that impact cities.

Taylor said the dramatic impact of the crisis on restaurants and bars in the area could benefit downtown, too. He said he thinks that when the shutdown ends, many restaurant operators might see a newly rebuilt downtown as a more desirable place to reopen and relocate their businesses, especially if the Bowery and other projects successfully fill the neighborhood with new residents.

"The predictions that 50% to 60% of restaurants will go out of business, that also means good operators will be looking for new places to run their businesses," Taylor said.

He added the Bowery will seek to work with four or five such operators and will offer particularly generous terms in the form of tenant improvement allowances to help make their visions a reality in the Bowery's new "white-box" spaces. It will cost Welty more up front, but it should also help ensure the project's ultimate success, Taylor reasoned.

"We're willing to take some financial bets on some good operators that are out there," he said.

Of course, all of the city's plans and Taylor's bets depend on the crisis passing and on people continuing to seek out cities in which to live and play.

If the past is a gauge, the signs are good, according to economists and historians familiar with past pandemics.

People sometimes fled cities during the outbreaks themselves, but the lure of urban environments didn't go away. Human behavior changed in many ways spitting on the sidewalk became taboo, for instance but people always came back to cities for their social and economic benefits.

"What cities saw during cholera outbreaks and the 1918 flu pandemic is that people just left for the short term. They left while the pandemic was going on, but then they just returned," said Amanda Weinstein, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Akron.

Matthew Crawford, an associate professor of history at Kent State University who specializes in the history of science and medicine, agreed.

"It's hard to imagine there would be a big demographic shift back to the countryside or even the suburbs," Crawford said. "I can't think of a case where there was a massive shift of people moving to the countryside and giving up on living in the cities. Cities exist for a reason."

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Akron's shutdown may have come at least painful time - Crain's Cleveland Business