CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JULY 3, 2023
A hydraulic lift carries a section of the house’s floor up into this cupola, creating an open-air platform with bird’s-eye views of the lake.
A long rectangular swimming pool could become part of a spa in the second phase of the Waterwood Estate redevelopment.
Larger FIT Technologies office brings perks, fun
The ceiling of the indoor-outdoor great room at the Waterwood Estate is covered with wood. The expansive room will become a restaurant.
IT firm has moved to full floor at Playhouse Square’s Idea Center
PHOTOS BY MICHELLE JARBOE/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
BY STAN BULLARD
The Waterwood Estate, the former home of inventor Donald Brown and his wife, will become a lakefront resort as part of a larger development project.
‘RARE OPPORTUNITY’ Waterwood Estate makeover will open up one of Ohio’s most unusual lakefront properties with townhouses, condos, a restaurant and hotel
BY MICHELLE JARBOE
Inventor Donald Brown meticulously plotted out every detail of his Vermilion Township estate, a striking lakefront mansion that locals call “the castle.” Now that private enclave, the subject of rumors and hyperbole for decades, is poised to become a public space. A Northeast Ohio developer plans to transform the 38,000-squarefoot home into a resort, flanked by luxury townhouses and condominiums.
An affiliate of the DiGeronimo Cos. purchased the Waterwood Estate in early 2020, just over a decade after Brown and his wife died in a plane crash. Now the development arm of the Independence-based family of companies is preparing to launch an $80 million project — the first phase of a broader reimagining of 160 acres in Erie County. “Waterwood presents the rare opportunity to develop at a large scale on the lake in a prime location, with an existing structure
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that cannot be replicated today,” the developer wrote in an email. “Anyone who steps into the estate recognizes that it’s a one-ofa-kind property.” Construction is scheduled to start in late summer on the 60-acre lakefront portion of the site. That’s where DiGeronimo will build 26 townhouses, a short stroll west of the mansion, and a pair of roughly 30-unit condo buildings, to the east. See ESTATE on Page 16
Take the amenity-rich strategy for wooing workers back to the office after the pandemic. Combine with the well-established penchant of tech companies to offer Ping-Pong, Foosball, Skee-ball and pinball games for staffers. Throw in a need to add space for a growing staff. That mix creates the new full-floor office of FIT Technologies on the fifth floor of the Idea Center building at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. But there also is a big switch from companies putting their office suites on diets because so much staff seeks to work from home. “We felt that coming out of COVID-19, everyone wants a little extra space,” said Adam Tubbs, FIT Technologies CEO, during a tour of the firm’s new office. See FIT on Page 18
Ohio has plenty of medical marijuana, not enough buyers BY JEREMY NOBILE
Ohio has plenty of medical marijuana but not enough people buying it. Levels of marijuana flower ready for sale as well as bulk flower held by suppliers — bulk material could be sold as flower or processed into other products — have each about doubled in the year between June 2022 and June 2023, according to figures from the Ohio Department of Commerce. Operators say they don’t need to see the exact numbers to know that there’s too much product now, because they’re experiencing the signs of an oversupplied market firsthand. “There is definitely an oversupply in the market across all categories,” said Andy See MARIJUANA on Page 17
EDUCATION Outgoing Cleveland schools CEO reflects on his 12-year tenure, calling it the most “important work” of his career.
SPORTS BUSINESS Growing interest in pickleball around Greater Cleveland provides opportunities for business and networking.
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