In July, thieves broke through a side door of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, a 45,000-square-foot butcher, bakery and training facility in Shaker Square, and stole liquor. Valet signs at the restaurant have also been stolen and a carjacking occurred in its parking lot. In 2023, a man smashed the windows at a nearby CVS and Subway and grabbed merchandise.
Business owners and tenants at Shaker Square say they are concerned that ongoing crime — including carjackings, break-ins and vandalism — will continue to drive off potential visitors before a planned large-scale revival of the square can take hold. At the same time, the square's owners say they are taking steps to improve security and safety will get better as they attract more activity to the square and have challenged stories about out-of-control crime in the area.
Two nonprofits purchased the square in 2022 with low-interest loans from the city of Cleveland and have set to work to improve infrastructure, attract new tenants and address safety concerns.
Shaker Square is Ohio’s oldest shopping district, an early suburban retail center constructed in the late 1920s in conjunction with the development of neighboring Shaker Heights.
Brandon Chrostowski, owner of Edwins, said that he agrees with the plan to bring more activity to the square to increase security, but said he worries about how long businesses will be able to survive the perception the square is unsafe while those changes are implemented.
“If ownership maintains a presence, what you’ll find is less incidents,” Chrostowski said. “When you have a fully occupied square, and you have more foot traffic, you’ll find less crime. We’ve just got to be committed to what we’re doing.”
In the district’s current state, employees are concerned about their personal safety, he said, even fearing robberies during working hours.
He said he appreciates efforts by police, but said jailing individuals won’t stop the square’s degradation. Nor can roving officers or security personnel be anything but a stop-gap.
“They’re a deterrent, but they can’t be everywhere at once,” said Chrostowski. “The hours they operate are good, but the hours when bad things happen are when they’re off. Most importantly, you can’t put an officer at every store and every corner.”
Chrostowski has contemplated relocating his restaurants but quashed reports circulating in October that he was moving to the recently vacant Nighttown spot in Cleveland Heights. The news was derived from a letter sent by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, one of the center’s owners, to 50 CNP board members and its subsidiary, New Village Corp.
The letter, written by CNP CEO and president Tania Menesse, stated that Chrostowski “started calling board members and former board members regarding his interest in moving his restaurants out of Shaker Square.”
Chrostowski said that while he’s always seeking new opportunities, he has no plans to leave his current home.
“I have nothing signed with Nighttown or their subsidiary,” he said. “There’s nothing here one way or the other.”
Activity equals safety?
Ownership groups Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Burten Bell Carr Inc. acquired Shaker Square in August 2022 for about $11 million from the property management firm The Coral Company, with help from the city of Cleveland. After completing a capital needs assessment, the new owners made electrical and plumbing upgrades, improved facades and installed new lighting and awnings.
The goal is to stabilize the property before eventually selling it, said Menesse.
On Sept. 19, the groups held a public event during which they laid out the square’s more immediate future. Officials called the plaza a “key asset” that should be refurbished rather than reinvented.
Business owners are in close contact with Cleveland Division of Police’s Fourth District about how to address crime concerns — though upgraded cameras and lighting are additional measures to combat wrong-doers, Menesse said.
In addition, the square’s owners have released “general safety” fact sheets saying that “although there have been some incidents, any suggestion that Shaker Square is facing out-of-control crime is not based in reality.”
However, a true sense of safety will only return when the area has more activity, Menesse added.
Shaker Square could have 90% occupancy by this winter, with anchor tenants including CVS, Dave’s Market and Atlas Cinemas existing alongside restaurants and service-oriented concerns. Two new businesses, Coyoacán Taqueria & Brew and Café Indigo, are scheduled to open this fall.
New storefronts and day-to-day programming, including concerts on the lawn and similar events, will bring the type of foot traffic that deters opportunistic criminals, said Menesse.
“A level of security comes from energy and things happening at the square,” she said.“Let’s provide opportunities for people to sit, relax and take in some greenery in the midst of the city.”
North Union Farmers Market has been a cornerstone of Shaker Square for nearly three decades. The square also hosts events like the Cleveland Garlic Festival, a summertime showcase of food, drinks and fun, said market executive director Donita Anderson.
Anderson, who runs daily operations from her office on the second floor of Edwins, said customers’ well-being must be a priority for a vibrant plaza.
“We have to be a safe place for people to come and shop,” said Anderson. “If they don’t feel comfortable, we’ll lose what we do here.”
Do the right thing
Farmers market events filled with foodies and uniformed police help prevent trouble, said Anderson. Yet, recurring burglaries and carjackings create a perception of danger difficult to dispel, she said.
“Broken windows create that bad perception, and you’ll have nefarious people taking advantage,” Anderson said. “We need people with a bigger vision to turn this around.”
Parijata Jain launched her Pari House of Photography in March in a space previously occupied by an architecture firm. Running her first storefront is exciting, but Jain is empathetic to the worries of her fellow merchants. Echoing other Shaker Square business owners, the family-focused photography entrepreneur believes that Shaker Square ownership and the city should concentrate on building a lively district where shoppers feel safe.
“Have a space accessible to the community that’s a safe place for people to hang out,” said Jain. “They are trying to build a community with family evenings and different activities. The more people see this, the more they will want to come and spend time here.”
Security, infrastructure and tenant attraction are the watchwords for the square’s ongoing development process, said Menesse, the Cleveland Neighborhood Progress official. In July, Cleveland approved a $250,000 loan to revitalize Dave’s Market, part of a five-year lease extension for the 26,000-square-foot neighborhood grocery.
At the same time, Menesse understands why some current and would-be tenants are suspicious of promised improvements.
“People want to know where the square is going,” Menesse said. “There is a very understandable skepticism and a fatigue for people seeing the deterioration at the square. That was humbling for us.”
While Chrostowski wants to keep Edwins in Shaker Square, the chef-owner needs more immediate action from those in charge, he said.
“What you’ll find is this place being the gem that it always should be,” said Chrostowski. “I’ve never seen love for a place that I have for Shaker Square, but this love is getting kicked around. We can’t give up – let’s give ownership a shot and hope they do the right thing.”
