| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Ostendorf-Morris Company |
| Title: | Ostendorf-Morris Company Records and Photographs |
| Dates: | 1934-1978 |
| Extent: | 1.02 linear feet (2 containers and 2 oversize folders) |
| Abstract: | The Ostendorf-Morris Company was a commercial real estate firm founded in 1939 by Edgar L. Ostendorf (1889-1977) and Warren L. Morris (1888-1973). The company was established to manage industrial and office space in the Cleveland, Ohio, area, and eventually expanded to offer financial services and property development. The collection consists of correspondence, drawings, project files, and photographs. |
| MS Number | MS 5386 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
The Ostendorf-Morris Company was a commercial real estate firm founded in 1939 by Edgar L. Ostendorf (1889-1977) and Warren L. Morris (1888-1973). The company was established to manage industrial and office space in the Cleveland, Ohio, area, and eventually expanded to offer financial services and property development. The company's first office was on the 9th floor National City Bank Building (previously known as the Guardian Bank Building), on the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 6th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. In 1952, the firm moved into the Public Square Building (55 Public Square), after planning, financing, and supervising the construction of the building designed by Vincent Astor. During the course of its existence, Ostendorf-Morris became one of the largest real estate firms in the Midwest. The firm was involved in the construction of the Illuminating Building in 1955 which was Cleveland's first new skyscraper in 29 years. It also helped the Van Sweringen Corporation acquire hundreds of acres of land to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio, and for the construction of Terminal Tower. During the 1980s, the firm managed Terminal Tower properties.
In 1988 it formed a Corporate Services Group to provide global transaction management and consulting. In 1998 the firm became an affiliate of Colliers Macaulay Nicolls, Inc., and was known as Colliers Ostendorf-Morris, but ended the relationship in 2010. In 2014 Ostendorf-Morris was acquired by Howard Hannah and became the basis for the company's commercial real estate efforts.
The Ostendorf-Morris Company Records and Photographs, 1934-1978 and undated, consist of correspondence, drawings, project files, and photographs (approximately 120).
The collection will be of interest to those studying commercial real estate in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. The project files related to Terminal Tower and the Rock-Cleve Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation will be of interest to urban and city planners and those looking into the development of downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
Finance and economic students and researchers interested in the valuation of commercial property will find the files associated with the Packard Motor Company property on Carnegie Avenue (Box 1, folders 3-8), as well as the study by Cuyahoga County Auditor, John A. Zangerle (oversize folder 2) to contain valuable information on calculations and factors involved in determining urban property value during the mid-20th century.
The modest photograph collection of approximately 120 images showing numerous commercial buildings and retail establishments, most of which are no longer in existence, provide visual evidence of how the city and its surroundings looked during the 1940s and early 1950s. Of particular note are photographs of the construction of the Perry House parking lot (Box 2, folder 1) during 1948 and 1949 which show the area prior to the development of Cleveland State University. Marketing students and researchers looking at retail establishments and advertising during the 1940s and 1950s will want to take a look at various images of storefronts and signage available in this collection. And those interested in interior design and clothing during the 1950s will want to look at the images of Ostendorf-Morris's offices at the Public Square Building (Box 2, folder 8). Overall, the collection of drawings and photographs will interest both architecture students and researchers investigating urban development.
None.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___] MS 5386 Ostendorf-Morris Company Records and Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of the Ostendorf-Morris Company in 1993 and Joseph P. Ditchman, Jr. in 2012.
Processed by Robert Suriano in 2016.
Series I: Commercial Property Valuation and Management 1938-1958 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Drawings and tenant list for the Illuminating Building, 55 Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio (oversize material removed to Oversize Folder 1) 1958 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | The principles of land and building appraisals as scientifically applied in Cuyahoga County, 1937-1938, by John A. Zangerle, County Auditor (oversize material removed to Oversize Folder 2) 1938 | |||||||||
Series II: Packard Motor Company Property 1934-1975 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Appraisal and report, including notes and drawings, of the Packard Motor Company building at 9306 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 1937 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence and agreement to list the Packard Motor Company building at 9306 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 1942 1943 1950 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Correspondence, photographs, and drawings regarding the real estate listing of the Packard Motor Company property in Buffalo, New York 1934 1945 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Portfolio of the Packard Motor Company property at 9306 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, including photographs and drawings ca. 1951 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Project file for the appraisal of 9306 Carnegie Avenue for Cleveland Clinic and BES Carnegie, Inc. 1954-1975 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Valuation study on the Packard Motor Company building at 9306 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 1954 | |||||||||
Series III: Union Terminal Redevelopment and Property Management 1946-1978 undated |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Application for project approval by Rock-Cleve Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation 1977 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10-14 | Application of Rock-Cleve Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation for tax abatement 1977 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15-16 | Drawings and site plans 1946 1950 1976 1977 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Penn Central properties portfolios 1976 1978 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Plan and proposal, including schedule of leases and tenancies, for managing the Union Terminal property 1975 1976 | |||||||||
Series IV: Photographs ca. 1930s-1970s 1946-1952 undated |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Billboard advertising Ostendorf-Morris, realtors, brokerage management, appraisals, and mortgages ca. 1930s-1940s | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Billboard advertising Ostendorf-Morris Co;, realtors, brokerage management, appraisals, and mortgages (photographic negative) ca. 1930s-1940s | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Cleveland Athletic [Club] Building, 1118-1140 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Commercial properties (unidentified) ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Commercial properties along West 3rd Street, West 4th Street, East 2nd Street, East 9th Street, High Street, Superior Avenue, St. Clair Avenue, and Ontario Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | Commercial property at 1001-1017 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 1 | 25 | Commercial property on Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Construction of the Perry House parking lot, bordered between Euclid Avenue and Chester Avenue, and West 21st and 24th Streets, and across from Trinity Chapel. The property is now part of Cleveland State University 1948 1949 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Eastman Kodak store, 1015 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Former Packard Motor Company property at 9306 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio (photographic negative) ca. 1970s | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Grocery stores and supermarkets ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Industrial properties on Herman Avenue, Miles Avenue, Marquette Street, Cleveland, Ohio, as well as unidentified ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Institutional properties, including Cleveland Arena 1946 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 7 | Public Square Building (55 Public Square), Cleveland, Ohio, exterior ca. 1940s | |||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Public Square Building (55 Public Square), Cleveland, Ohio, offices of the Ostendorf-Morris Co., including executives, managers, and employees 1952 | |||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Residential properties (unidentified) undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 10 | Retail properties along Euclid Avenue, East 13th Street, East 9th Street, and Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 2 | 11 | Retail properties at the Forest Hill Building, intersection of Superior Avenue and Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 2 | 12 | Traveler's Shoppe, 1375-1385 Euclid Avenue (WJW Building), Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||
| 2 | 13 | Underwood Corporation, 1924-1936 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio ca. 1940s-1950s | |||||||||