The development partnership behind the Music Box, a forthcoming supper club on the west bank of the Flats that will offer live music on two stages, will break ground this week. A demolition permit has been issued by the city, and the club will hold a soft opening in August and have a full concert lineup by September.

"The best part has been the breadth of support from around Cleveland," says Mike Miller, a boomerang who returned from Chicago with his wife, Colleen Miller, an experienced concert promoter. "People saw this as an important development for Cleveland, a new concept right on the river. While Cleveland has some great rock clubs spread out across the city, there isn't a downtown concert venue except for the House of Blues. If we’re going to have the Rock Hall and be the city that discovered rock, we should have another venue, and one that’s centrally located."

To pull off the project, Mike and Colleen Miller assembled a team of over 20 investors, including the Jacobs Group, owner of the former Club Coconuts space where the Music Box will be located. They also obtained financing from Key Bank and funding from the City of Cleveland's Vacant Property Initiative.

Krill Construction will handle the build-out. The architect is Dave Krebbs from AODK and the interior designer is Scott Richardson of the Richardson Group.

The basic architecture of the space, which has huge windows overlooking the Cuyahoga River, Flats East Bank and downtown, will remain the same. Construction will add new flooring and finishes, mechanicals, restrooms, two stages and an outdoor deck where guests can enjoy dinner and drinks overlooking the city.

Miller highlighted the support of the Jacobs Group and their vision for the west bank. Jacobs has already begun repositioning the Nautica complex as major event space to capitalize on the tourism wave that's hitting downtown Cleveland. Currently, the developer is working on a new master plan for the area.

The Music Box is located directly across from the new Flats East development, and plans are in the works to revive the water taxi service to better link the two areas.

Source: Mike Miller
Writer: Lee Chilcote