Two developments, two sides of town and redesigned, too

A new development concept is proposed for 12607 Larchmere
Blvd. in Cleveland. Another project, the View On Detroit in
Lakewood, also is moving forward with a new approach
to its conceptual design and proposed uses (SA Group).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Two small-to-medium-sized developments on each side of town are finding new lives after they've been significantly redesigned. One was a purely residential development in Lakewood that shrank but added mixed use. The other was a mixed-use development in Cleveland's Larchmere district that has become purely residential.

The Larchmere development not only has a totally new design concept but an additional developer involved. Previously, Berusch Development Partners pursued a 20,000-square-foot project with RDL Architects moving its office from Shaker Heights into a 13,000-square-foot ground-floor space next to a new coffee shop and topped by four apartments.

Now, MRN Ltd. founder Rick Maron seeks to bring his penchant for micro-unit apartments to Larchmere. In partnership with Berusch, who bought the 0.356-acre property a year ago, Maron proposes 28 apartments in an L-shaped building surrounding 19 off-street parking spaces.

"The mixed-use/office project I'd been planning can't proceed because the coronavirus hit my anchor office tenant hard, which is why I'm now planning micros with Rick," Berusch said in an e-mail.

The development borrows from Maron's recent micro-unit developments in Cleveland including an eight-unit project called Mikros Smart Suites, 11427 Ashbury Ave. in Glenville and the eight-unit Tremont Oaks, proposed at 2260 W. 14th St. in Tremont. In fact, the units are of the same size and design as those being planned in Larchmere.

Proposed site plan for 12607 Larchmere
in Cleveland (SA Group).

Prior to submitting them to the city, Maron didn't change the architectural renderings' labels showing their location and identity of the micro-units from his Tremont project. The concepts were developed by SA Group of Cleveland.

The micro-units measure a mere 436.3 square feet and each unit is identical to the next in terms of their proposed layout. They have a fold-away queen-sized bed, a fold-away wall-mounted TV, and a stowable table for dining, office work or other uses.

A chain-of-title agreement and 30-year non-school tax financing arrangement were approved by the City Planning Commission on May 15 to aid the previously proposed project. Those incentives would apply to the new project as long as the property doesn't transfer to a new owner. An existing two-story warehouse on the site must be demolished prior to construction.

MRN is best known for redeveloping East Fourth Street in downtown Cleveland and for the Uptown District in University Circle. Berusch served as a consultant to MRN on the Uptown development and redeveloped two buildings next to Uptown.

Propoosed layouts based on activities
in the proposed micro-units. They are
the same as those planned for a Maron
development in Tremont (SA Group).

On the other side of town in Lakewood, one of Jerome Solove Development Inc.'s two development sites secured its final zoning approval from the city on July 2. Planning Commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the View On Detroit located on Detroit Avenue just east of Bunts Road, said City Council President Dan O'Malley.

The conditional use is for a mixed-use overlay district to construct two four-story structures containing 113 market-rate apartments as well as a designated commercial space on the first floor in the east building. There will also be 140 parking spaces; 113 spaces are required per the building code. The development site is located in a general commercial district.

The eastern building has more of a sidewalk presence than the western one thanks to the first-floor commercial space and a lobby, mailroom, bike storage and fitness area at the corner of Detroit and Parkwood Road. As proposed, the west building has no access points along its ground floor facing Detroit, making it less pedestrian friendly.

The impervious Detroit facade in the west building, closer to the Detroit-Bunts intersection, makes one wonder if a mixed-use building is envisioned for a future phase at the corner. Solove said he has attempted to acquire the property on which Bruce's Automotive sets at the corner of Detroit-Bunts but has been turned down so far by owner George Shaker.

Site plan for Solove's View On Detroit, located at the current
site of the vacant Spitzer Chrysler-Plymouth car dealership
and the former Educators Music shop (JSDI).

Owners of the other properties have agreed to sell to Solove, including the vacant Spitzer Chrysler-Plymouth car dealership and Stavash Family LLC, owner of the now-closed Educator's Music shop. All buildings on both sites will be razed. NEOtrans broke the news in 2018 about Solove's interest in developing this site.

This is the third version of the View On Detroit proposed by Solove. The first proposed a massive, eight-story apartment building west of Parkwood and a multi-level parking deck fronted by a five-story apartment building on Detroit east of Parkwood. The second version scaled down the project with a less-massive eight-story apartment building east of Parkwood and a surface parking lot west of Parkwood.

Solove also is planning a second Lakewood development at another former car dealership. The Columbus-based developer got city approval last year to build 160 apartments and 3,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space centered at 16000 Detroit, site of the closed Steve Barry Buick.

The development is planned on both sides of Detroit, with three-story buildings and surface lots on multiple parcels. That includes the neighboring Bobby O's tavern, 16013 Detroit. However, Solove has yet to take title to any of the parcels, according to public records. Solove is reportedly wrapping up the financing for both Lakewood projects.

Tyler Kapusta contributed to this article.

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