Corner Alley Uptown

The Corner Alley, an anchor tenant in the Uptown district in University Circle, will close in late May. Developer-owner MRN, Ltd., says the bowling alley isn't profitable and is just too large of a retail space for the neighborhood.

(Marvin Fong/The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The developer behind the Uptown project in University Circle plans to close the Corner Alley, a major retail anchor in the district.

MRN, Ltd., the family-owned real estate company that also owns and manages the Corner Alley, said the business started off strong in late 2014 but simply isn't profitable. Bowlers will knock down their final pins at Uptown in late May.

The Corner Alley downtown, a smaller venue on East Fourth Street, will stay open.

Large-scale retail has been a bit of a challenge at Uptown, a development at Euclid Avenue, Ford Drive and Mayfield Road, since the first wave of apartments, stores and eateries opened in 2012.

Constantino's Market, a grocery store, sees steady traffic, as does the Barnes & Noble University Bookstore. Around them, street-level spaces in sleek apartment buildings largely house chain restaurants, service retailers and student-centric businesses.

"At Uptown, what we've found is smaller is better," Ari Maron, an MRN partner, said, adding that the 25,000-square-foot Corner Alley "hasn't worked."

MRN plans to break up the space, on two levels with a prominent entrance at Ford and Euclid, into four storefronts. A taco-and-tequila joint, from the owners of Tres Potrillos in Beachwood, will be the centerpiece. The developer also has preliminary agreements - letters of intent - with a bank, a cellphone retailer and a fast-casual restaurant that would be new to the market.

Maron said there's a need for more dining and service businesses that can cater to hospital workers, professors and students. The mezzanine level of the Corner Alley, about 10,000 square feet, will become offices. Renovations could take four or five months, putting new businesses on track to open in early autumn.

MRN started notifying Corner Alley employees about the closure Tuesday. Geoffrey Goss, general counsel and human resources director, said there are just over 30 workers at the Uptown location. The Cleveland-based company expects to offer management-level employees jobs at other MRN properties, which include hotels downtown and in University Circle and businesses on East Fourth Street.

"We will be working with hourly employees to identify potential opportunities for them in other venues, based on current position and skills," Goss wrote in an email. "We cannot be certain we will have openings for all current Corner Alley Uptown employees but hope to be able to provide viable options for as many of them as possible."

Maron said the decision to shutter the bowling alley has nothing to do with a highly publicized incident that occurred in January, when an off-duty police officer shot and killed a man just steps from the front door on a Saturday night. The shooting is under investigation.

Apartments at Uptown are close to 100 percent leased, Maron said, and the retail is 90 percent spoken for. The biggest vacancy is another distinctive space, off East 116th Street, where an Asian fusion restaurant called Accent came and went, followed by the short-lived Crop Kitchen, which closed in 2016.

MRN plans to carve up that egg-shaped former eatery, possibly into two spaces.

"Retail's an interesting thing, because it comes from the identity of the neighborhood," Maron said, responding to critiques of the retail strategy at Uptown as unclear or too student-focused. "As the identity evolves, the retail evolves. ... The same thing happened on East Fourth Street. We're watching the same thing happen on West 25th Street.

"What's important to understand about cities is that they're evolving," he said. "That you don't view them as a point in time, but that you view them as an organism that grows and changes."