blueprint reimagines existing properties to drive innovation, value, economic impact, and community revitalization
blueprint reimagines existing properties to drive innovation, value, economic impact, and community revitalization
eCos is acutely focused on building value for our team members, partners, and communities.
Through our “blueprint” initiative, we seek out properties that were once prominent pillars and economic drivers at the heart of community, but now sit dormant in need of revitalization and new stewardship. Ranging from 50-100 years old, these relics have often fallen from grace and lost relevance but retained their strong bones and tremendous potential.
We appreciate the original vision for these enterprises, and the investment and community support it required of their custodians. We acknowledge their value and envision decades of continued positive impact.
We take pride in our ability to revitalize these properties, bring them back to life, and make them strong contributors to their communities once again.
With the cornerstone facilities built over 100 years ago by the Redemptorist Fathers, the former seminary encompasses over 300,000 square feet on 70 acres. Its traditional architecture and small-town atmosphere were previously home to Mercyhurst University NE Campus until eCos acquired it in January 2022.
Rebranded and reactivated as Granite Ridge to host full campus users or short- and long-term rentals, Granite Ridge offers ideal facilities for social and milestone events, camp, sport and theatre rentals, and office and corporate functionality, while also offering a growing apartment home community. Standing at the heart of the North East Erie community and minutes from the bustling energy of Lake Erie, Granite Ridge holds the potential to house a variety of partners and provide hundreds of jobs; both of which will benefit the region and meaningfully uplift the local and regional economic activity.
With heavy tourism from Lake Erie and eCos-owned national athletic competition facilities, SPIRE Academy, minutes away, Willow Lake Campground can provide a solution to the Geneva, Ohio housing and hospitality shortage.
Wi-Lo Lake Campgrounds was originally opened in 1969 by William and Lorene Klaue. Steve Klaue, their son, continues to meticulously steward the property today, and is as much of a cultural institution as the campground itself. This 200-acre campus currently hosts 196 seasonal and transient RV sites, with unique opportunity for expanded activation and community benefit.
We aim to create a more attractive destination honoring the vision and values of the founding family of Willow Lake. New and upgraded amenities, added sites that take advantage of the current infrastructure, and future Airbnb rentals, will maximize value and economic impact, bringing more families together for a greater camping and community experience.
Built in 1956 to consolidate Hampstead High School and Manchester High School in North Carroll County, Maryland, the mega-school property continued to grow over the decades with 1,800 students by its 50th anniversary in 2006. The school was closed in 2016 despite proposed government funding and strong public desire to keep the school open.
In our growing partnership with Coppermine, Maryland’s prominent provider of youth sports and health & fitness facilities, we are building a dynamic mixed-use community at Pantherplex. Through indoor and outdoor sports, performing arts, educational and health services, and community outreach partners, blueprint aims to convert the expansive institutional property to a vibrant activity hub for Carroll County.
This prominent high school once served hundreds of young adults with strong community partnerships from Rockhurst University to University of Missouri, and local and regional businesses, all supported by the families and alumni the school drew to the area. O’Hara had great athletic success since its beginnings with state championships in a variety of sports: football, basketball, swimming, soccer, tennis, golf, wrestling, track, and cross country. Closed and dormant since 2017, blueprint’s vision focuses on eliminating blight in the community starting with the rehabilitation of the campus, building exteriors, and resurfacing of the sports fields with modern surfaces.
Interior upgrades and renovations will reenergize O’Hara’s athletic and performing arts facilities, convert existing classrooms to professional flex spaces for small commercial business users, and provide an incubator space for 30-40 small businesses. Promoting and rooting more business activity, as well as activating the youth and adult sports and arts, will bring new energy and life through O’Hara, which we expect will add value to the community and jump start the revitalization of the surrounding area.
The community is so grateful to eCos for saving this building. The team that works here, and the folks who live here, we all have a personal stake in it. My brother and I went to this school. My five kids went here. I am deeply invested in keeping this alive and grateful to create a hub of activity that benefits the community. We have the homeschool and Boys & Girls Club upstairs. We have the sheriff’s office on the bottom. An incoming health provider coming soon.. We have the chance to serve the community in a meaningful way and keep this building alive.
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Ron Schroers, Pantherplex Operations
