In 2013, Melissa Ferchill, founder and owner of MCM Company purchased the Our Lady of Mercy (OLM) church complex, 2425 West 11^th St. in Tremont. The move, however, was sparked by Ferchill's husband Nick Swingos, owner of Hermes Sports and Events, who was looking to relocate that company from its former St. Clair Avenue space.

Ferchill recalls when Swingos asked her, "Would you guys have any interest in moving with us?" and the search began.

"We started looking in Downtown and Midtown," says Ferchill. "We made offers on a couple other church properties, but we couldn't make deals." Then they learned about the shuttered OLM complex. "It just kind of fit," says Ferchill.

Ferchill purchased the 40,000 square feet of space, which includes what was once a school, rectory and sanctuary, for $550,000. The financial package for the $5.2 million redevelopment included $1.56 million in state and federal historic and tax credits; two municipal grants totaling $110,000, approximately $700,000 in owner equity, a $250,000 Small Business Administrative loan and a $2.25 million bank loan.

Currently, the office design firm RCF Group occupies 7,900 square feet in the complex. Hermes is in a 5,800-square foot space and MCM's offices occupy 5,200 square feet. Still to let is a single 4,800-square-foot area. Other spaces include a game room, conference center and basement.

Renovations began in fall of 2014. MCM, which specializes in historic construction project management, moved from their rental space in the Warehouse District earlier this year. Weber Murphy Fox (WMF) was the architectural firm on the project. MCM acted as its own general contractor.

Locally, MCM have been integrally involved in projects involving historic structures such as the new Cleveland School of Art in what was formerly a Ford assembly plant on Euclid Avenue, the preservation and adaptive re-use of the United Motors Company Building on Prospect Avenue, which is now the Cleveland headquarters for the YWCA, and the Nottingham-Spirk Innovation Center on Overlook Road, which was also once a church.

Considering those projects and a host of other historic renovations across the country, Ferchill says of the OLM conversion, "It wasn't completely out of our wheel house." There was, however, an unusual twist.

"We had to do some modifications to the historic district here," says Ferchill, adding that the West 11^th Street campus was not within the geographical footprint of the Tremont Historic District. The firm successfully worked with the state and the National Park Service to get it amended.

The project included some unorthodox transformations on the interior as well, including retrofitting the church confessionals to, well, bathrooms.

"We needed to figure out how to come up with additional restrooms," says Ferchill, adding that the single restroom in the sanctuary's vestibule wasn't sufficient for the 7,900-square-foot-space. The location of the building's plumbing and a convenient crawl space made the confessionals prime candidates. "Plus, it's funny and most of us have a pretty good sense of humor," says the Catholic business owner.

She's also gotten approval from higher authority.

"We've had priests come through the building and say, 'At least there's still cleansing going on in the confessionals.'"

And to that Fresh Water can only add: amen.