A 1964-era Cleveland skyscraper is becoming the backdrop for what will be Ohio's highest rooftop restaurant and bar. Erieview Tower, a 40-story, 529-foot landmark at East Ninth Street and St. Clair Avenue, is being converted into W Cleveland — a W-branded hotel and residential community — with a signature dining and event venue slated to open on the 38th floor, roughly 480 feet above street level, offering 360-degree views of downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie.
The project is backed by tax equity investment from Foss & Company, a national tax equity syndicator, which is providing capital tied to Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits and Ohio Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) Tax Credits. The redevelopment is expected to generate $102,613,690 in qualified rehabilitation expenditures, unlocking $10,000,000 in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits and $13,089,150 in Ohio TMUD Tax Credits. Foss & Company is also serving as bridge lender for the state credits — a structure that Eric Brubaker, Partner and Managing Director at Foss & Company, said is essential to projects of this scale. "Structuring the Ohio Historic Preservation and Transformational Mixed-Use Development tax credits alongside bridge capital allows a project of this scale and complexity to move forward," Brubaker said.
The Hospitality Program
Beyond the headline rooftop venue, the redevelopment will deliver approximately 19,000 square feet of shared amenity space, including a lobby lounge, a street-level restaurant and bar, a spa, and a state-of-the-art fitness center. A 15,000-square-foot ballroom and additional meeting spaces round out the event and group hospitality offering — a configuration that positions W Cleveland squarely in the competitive upper-upscale convention and events market. For operators and food-and-beverage groups tracking restaurant development within hospitality projects, the layered dining program here — lobby, street level, and rooftop — reflects a broader industry trend of hotels activating multiple revenue-generating F&B outlets rather than relying on a single signature restaurant.
Why Cleveland, Why Now
Erieview Tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its conversion will make W Cleveland the first W-branded hotel in Ohio and the first Marriott International luxury-brand hotel to open in Cleveland since the Ritz-Carlton debuted in 1990. That 36-year gap underscores the significance of the project for the city's hospitality market. Erieview Development is leading the redevelopment, with KJK as lead counsel and TurnDev as project manager. The W Residences are scheduled for completion in 2027, while hotel guest rooms and the 38th-floor restaurant and bar are set to open in 2028.
For the broader foodservice and hospitality industry, the Erieview redevelopment illustrates how historic tax credit programs are increasingly enabling large-scale mixed-use hospitality conversions that would otherwise struggle to pencil out. With more than $11 billion deployed in tax equity since its 1983 founding, Foss & Company has become a significant behind-the-scenes engine for adaptive-reuse projects that carry substantial food, beverage, and hospitality components. The Cleveland project adds a high-profile dining destination to that portfolio — one that, at nearly 500 feet above street level, will have no direct competitor in the state.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
