Stuyvesant Motor Company Building

During Cleveland's auto-industry boom of the early twentieth century, Frank E. Stuyvesant established the Stuyvesant Motor Company. Later, he became the principal Cleveland merchant for the consolidated Hudson-Stuyvesant Motor Car Company. The Stuyvesant Motor Company embodies the pivot away from small, local automotive manufacturers to more comprehensive, assembly-line based corporations, which eventually led to numerous mergers and the consequent establishment of massive auto corporations such as Ford and General Motors. Thus, the Stuyvesant Motor Company building (1917) survives today as a reminder of Stuyvesant's company and the city's prolific auto industry during the early twentieth century when the industry shifted away from small, local enterprises.

During the early twentieth century, seven major car manufacturers called Cleveland home, making it one of the world's most prolific automobile manufacturing centers. Cleveland industries gained fame for such innovative creations as the spark ignition, flexible steering column, and various engine types. During this automobile-heydey for Cleveland, Frank E. Stuyvesant first established the Stuyvesant Motor Company in 1909. One year later, the company absorbed the Gaeth Motor Car Company. Still, by 1911 the growing company already experienced significant financial trouble and subsequently sold all its assets to what became the Grant-Lees Machine Company. Stuyvesant did not let the first company's failure deter him from attempting to succeed in the automobile game. In 1914, he formed the Hudson-Stuyvesant Company. Three years later, in 1917, he built the now-historic building, which functioned as a sales showroom, service center, garage, and storage facility for its cars. By 1919, the company expanded the building from its original four stories to five, a sign of its success.

After the Great Depression, the Stuyvesant Motor Company Building became home to various other businesses associated with the automobile industry and service functions until the late 1930s. The building was then occupied by the Coast Guard, the U.S. Government, and a print shop until it lay vacant for decades. The dilapidated property seemed destined for demolishment before a group purchased the building with the intention to convert it into a residential building. Today, the historic property is undergoing substantial rehabilitation to begin its new life as Prospect Yard, scheduled to be completed early this summer. The adaptive reuse project intended to provide "market rate" housing to the community, but plans shifted to an "income eligible" type of housing that offers affordable options to service industry professionals deemed essential to Cleveland's retail, hospitality, and health care industries. 

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Cahal, Sherman. "Stuyvesant Motor Company." Abandoned (blog). abandonedonline.net. Accessed Septembrer 1, 2020. https://abandonedonline.net/location/stuyvesant-motor-company/

"Prospect Yard: Paying Homage to Cleveland’s Automotive History." Perspectus.com. Accessed September 1, 2020. https://perspectusarch.com/blog/prospect-yard-paying-homage-to-clevelands-automotive-history/.