Best Of CLE: Renovated Event Space

The party is just getting started at Detroit Shoreway event space Gordon Green. While most events were rescheduled for 2021, the spot opened in September for small-scale parties after two years of renovating the early 20th-century space.

Boasting 10,000 square feet, Gordon Green has room for up to 500 people with modern elements (a Carrara marble-topped bar and a clean, light-filled neutral palette) that mesh with its historic attributes (including the original tin-tiled ceiling, refinished hardwood floors and skylights), the result of undoing decades of questionable renovations.

“The building sort of looked like Frontier [Town] at Cedar Point,” jokes partner Jacob Holland. “But behind those renovations were amazing bones.”

Holland, whose partners are also behind the nearby Green Room coworking space, had been searching for a large West Side event venue for 2 1/2 years when he and his partners found the spot and reached out to the current owners.

It was the perfect size and location and would shine with a little work. Nearby Spice Catering Co. came on board as the exclusive caterer, taking advantage of the space’s full-service kitchen to craft custom menus for events. It’s a transformation that exceeded Holland’s expectations.

“Taking that history into 2020 while having amenities that people are looking for now feels like the cherry on top,” he says. 5400 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, gordongreenevents.com

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