Bingham Company Warehouse facts for kids
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Bingham Company Warehouse
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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 Location in Cleveland
Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1278 W. 9th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
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| Built | 1916 |
| Architect | Walker and Weeks |
| Architectural style | Commercial |
| Part of | Cleveland Warehouse District (ID82003558) |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001406 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | November 2, 1973 |
| Designated NRHP | November 2, 1973 |
| Designated CP | September 30, 1982 |
The Bingham Company Warehouse is a really old and important building in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was designed by a famous local architecture firm called Walker and Weeks. This building is special because it's one of the few everyday commercial buildings they designed. For many years, the W. Bingham Co. was the biggest hardware maker and seller in the Midwest. The company closed in 1961, and the warehouse was sold to different owners over time. In 2001, it was bought by private investors who turned it into apartments. Today, it's known as The Bingham.
Contents
Building the Bingham Warehouse
The Bingham Warehouse is a huge and important building. It was built to be very strong and useful.
Planning the Warehouse
In 1841, two business owners, William Bingham and Henry C. Blossom, bought a hardware store. They officially named it the W. Bingham Co. in 1888.
In April 1913, the W. Bingham Co. announced they would build a new main office in Cleveland's Warehouse District. They wanted it to be the biggest warehouse in the city. The land and building were expected to cost about $1 million. The company had already bought the land for around $400,000.
Their architects, Walker & Weeks, had already drawn up the first plans. They got ideas from other buildings like the Rockefeller Building and their own Renkert Building. The new warehouse was planned to be made of steel and concrete. It would even have a special train track from the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (called the "Big Four") going into its basement.
The architects also wanted many truck loading docks on one side. There would be a parking garage for trucks in one of the three basements. Another basement would store the heaviest items. Elevators were planned for the middle of the building so they could be reached easily. A local engineering firm, Christian, Schwarzenberg & Gaede, helped with the plans.
Construction Begins
By June 1914, the building plans were ready enough for W. Bingham Co. to order a lot of steel. But city officials had many concerns about the design. Changes were made to the plans in July 1914.
At the end of July, a Cleveland company called Crowell-Lundoff-Little won the contract to be the main builder. Even though the city hadn't given final approval yet, enough of the design was approved for the builder to start ordering steel. In August 1914, McClintic-Marshall Corp. got the contract for 1,500 tons of shaped steel. Ayer & Lord Tie Co. from Chicago won the contract for flooring, and Carnegie Steel got the contract for 2,100 tons of reinforcing bars.
Excavation (digging) at the site began in early August 1914. The plans now showed 10 floors above ground, made of reinforced concrete, and three basement levels. The total cost of the land and building was still estimated at $1 million. It was said to be the largest warehouse in the United States at that time.
The digging was done by Fred R. Jones Company and was very hard. The site was large, and there was a big drop in ground level. A steam shovel removed a huge amount of earth. Steel walls were put in the soil to stop cave-ins. These walls stayed to support the building's foundation. Both the "Big Four" and the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (the "Nickel Plate") ran a joint train track onto the site. They used trains to haul the dug-up earth to Kingsbury Run to fill land. The digging was finished in mid-October.
Building the Foundation
The city gave a permit for the foundation when the digging was done. The foundation used a mix of piers, a slab, footings, and retaining walls. It was expected to cost about $50,000. Soil tests showed hard clay about 50 to 60 feet deep, and the piers rested on this clay.
Strong retaining walls were built to hold back the surrounding earth. Special footings were poured to support the walls. Because of a nearby building, some parts of the foundation needed extra strong steel pilings. During construction, they found areas of quicksand in the soil. Engineers dug test pits and found solid clay deeper down. They used special tubes called caissons to dig down to the firm clay for the footings.
Finishing the Building
The city issued the main building permit in late February or early March 1915. Work on the basement floors and walls was slow. Large coal and ash bins and long steel rails for moving heavy items were designed to hang from the ceiling beams. This needed perfectly joined steel pieces and concrete poured around them.
Once the basements were done, the rest of the building went up very quickly. Upper floors were poured at a rate of three floors a day. The outside brick walls rose at a rate of one floor every two days.
The W. Bingham Co. warehouse officially opened for business in February or March 1916.
About the Building's Design
The W. Bingham Co. warehouse cost $600,000 to build. It is mostly made of brick, concrete, and steel. The building is shaped a bit like an "L". It was 99 feet wide on W. 9th Street and 198.5 feet wide on W. 10th Street. Its total length was 435 feet.
On W. 9th Street, you can see eight floors, and the building is 101 feet tall. On W. 10th Street, 11 floors are visible, and it's 148 feet tall. Each floor had 57,000 square feet of space. The whole building had a total of 683,892 square feet inside.
The building had three basements. The back wall of the third basement was a very strong retaining wall, 28 feet high. This made the third basement ceiling 25 feet high. There were only two large shipping doors in the back wall of the third basement. A train track ran under part of the building. There were also 24 truck loading docks on one side.
The building's structure was very strong. It had unusually heavy columns and floor slabs. This allowed the floors to hold a lot of weight. Some parts of the second basement were designed to hold even more weight for things like the boiler and coal bins. The columns in this area were 59 feet tall. Many columns in the basements and first floor were made of steel and concrete to handle the stress. Above the second floor, all columns were reinforced concrete.
The floors were poured in large slabs. These slabs were 11 inches thick in the basements and on the first floor. They were 9.5 inches thick on all other floors. The roof was a 7.5-inch thick slab. The floors throughout the building were made of Kreolite, which is a special wood block treated with creosote.
The outside of the building was covered in "reject" paving bricks. These were bricks that weren't perfectly uniform in color. The architect, Harry Weeks, suggested them because they were strong, long-lasting, and cheap. He also liked that they created a "tapestry effect" that looked artistic. The windows all had steel frames and wire mesh glass for safety. The roofline had a simple curved edge.
Inside, the building was simple, as it was a warehouse. Five elevators were in the center. There was also a system of pneumatic tubes (like a vacuum tube system) to send small packages. The building also had spiral chutes for packages and an outdoor parking lot.
In total, the land and completed building cost $1 million. About 300 tons of cast iron, 1,200 tons of structural steel, 2,300 tons of rebar, and 38,000 cubic yards of concrete were used. When it was finished, it was said to be the largest single warehouse in the world!
Architectural Importance
The W. Bingham Co. warehouse is considered one of the best "Commercial style" buildings in Cleveland. It was built with very high quality and design, which is unusual for a building meant for everyday use. It's also seen as an early example of a building that clearly showed its purpose through its tall, rectangular design.
People really like the building's use of the "reject" paving bricks. They add color and texture to the outside. The exterior is thought to be very clever, with "subtle refinements of proportion and detail." Its simple, repeating columns are also praised for making the building look lively.
History of the Building
After the warehouse was built, the W. Bingham Co. stopped selling directly to customers and focused only on selling to other businesses. Over time, changes inside the building reduced the available space.
Changes and Decline
The W. Bingham Co. stopped operating in June 1961. Some company executives bought the company's name, products, and equipment. They started a new company called Bingham, Inc., which continued to sell Bingham products. The W. Bingham Co. still owned the warehouse and rented out space to different businesses, including Bingham Inc.
Around 1971, a real estate company called Ostendorf-Morris Co. bought the Bingham building. In November 1973, the W. Bingham Co. warehouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's recognized as an important historic site.
The Bingham Co. moved out of the building in 1980. During the first 50 years of the warehouse's life, Cleveland and its Warehouse District faced tough times. Heavy industry in Cleveland slowed down a lot after 1950. The city's population also dropped significantly. In the Warehouse District, many buildings were torn down, and the number of people living there decreased.
Modern Renovation (2000-2004)
At the start of the 2000s, the W. Bingham Co. warehouse was mostly empty. A few city and county offices used space on the ground floor, but the rest was for storage or unused. Even though the building hadn't been updated in 85 years, it was in good shape. It was also the largest building in the Warehouse District that hadn't been torn down or rebuilt yet.
In February 2000, a company called Bingham Burnside LLC decided to buy the building. They wanted to turn it into a mixed-use development, meaning it would have apartments, parking, and shops. They planned to spend $66.7 million to convert 379,606 square feet into 339 apartments. They also planned 292,666 square feet for a 340-car parking garage and 21,000 square feet for shops on the ground floor.
Marous Brothers Construction was hired as the main builder. The project hoped to start on April 1, 2001. To help pay for the conversion, Bingham Burnside received loans and tax credits from the city and state. The city also agreed to lower their taxes for the first 12 years.
By June 2002, most tenants had moved out. The cost of converting the building had risen to $70 million. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave Bingham Burnside a $41.8 million loan. This was the biggest HUD-financed project in Ohio at that time. The loan allowed construction to begin in fall 2002, with completion expected in summer 2003.
Unexpected delays meant the Bingham apartments didn't open until May 2004. The final cost of the conversion was $80 million. In late 2004, Constantino's Market opened in 9,600 square feet on the ground floor. This space used to be a showroom for W. Bingham Co. hardware. It was restored and kept its original look. The market even used the building's columns as display shelves.
Awards for the Renovation
The renovation of the warehouse won two awards. The first was the Downtown Development Award in March 2005, given by the Downtown Cleveland Partnership to Bingham Burnside. The second was the Award for Excellence in Renovation (Other Buildings), given by the Northern Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties to Marous Brothers Construction in May 2005.
New Owners
During the Great Recession (a time of economic difficulty) from 2008–2010, Burnside Construction faced big financial problems. In May 2007, they had to declare bankruptcy. Even though The Bingham apartment building was mostly full, Bingham Burnside LLC couldn't make its loan payments without its parent company's support.
HUD took over the mortgage and ownership of the building. Resource Real Estate bought the loan for $25 million in March 2010. They then took legal action to take ownership from Bingham Burnside. Resource Real Estate won court approval to sell The Bingham in July 2010 to pay off the mortgage.
Resource Real Estate won the auction for The Bingham on November 1, 2010. The company said they didn't plan big changes, but would make cosmetic improvements to the common areas.
