Downtown Cleveland’s Ameritrust building was bought by the then Cuyahoga County commissioners to become their new administration building.

Even then, consultants and at least one commissioner had reservations. And after spending more than $45 million on the acquisition and asbestos removal, the county can’t move in and building sits empty waiting for a buyer.

After the new government took over, County Executive Ed FitzGerald began an internal investigation to find out if lawsuits can be filed to recover some of the costs. And this week, additional corruption charges were filed against attorney Anthony Calabrese III alleging he bribed a county official to push the Ameritrust deal. FitzGerald says the new charges show the purchase was more than bad public policy.

“Whether or not that means we can sue is another question because it gets very complicated legally," Fitzgerald says. "But this is more evidence, in my opinion, that the process was corrupted on several different levels.”

FitzGerald says the Ameritrust building’s design makes it difficult to convert into a government building. But he says it is well suited for residential use, and developers have made some informal offers. If it is sold, FitzGerald says it will be at a substantial loss.