Bridgeworks wins Landmarks OK, awaits financing

A departure from past renditions, Bridgeworks’ glassy exterior and use of
colors intends to brighten up the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge.
Downtown Cleveland is visible in the background of this mixed residen-
tial, hotel and retail development. An 11th-floor restaurant with an
outdoor patio view of Lake Erie  is planned (Mass/LDA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Final design of a 15-story mixed-use tower that’s proposed to be built at the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge was narrowly approved today by Cleveland’s Landmarks Commission. But whether the project actually gets built reportedly will depend on whether the project, called Bridgeworks, will win a “megaprojects” tax credit from the state in a few weeks.

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Is UC becoming Greater Cleveland’s top jobs hub?

The increased density of University Circle is evident in this view above
Uptown along Euclid Avenue at East 115th Street. At left is University
Hospitals, the region’s second largest employer. Just beyond is Case
Western Reserve University which is Greater Cleveland’s largest
employer among institutions of higher learning. And in the back-
ground is Northeast Ohio’s largest employer, the Cleveland
Clinic. Downtown Cleveland is out of view to the right in
this southwest-looking view, (Lance Aerial Media/UCI).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

For the first time in 200 years, Downtown Cleveland is at risk of losing its position as the region’s top employment hub. And in so doing, it would also no longer be Ohio’s top job hub, too. Downtown Cleveland has held the region’s top ranking since the days before the Ohio Canal opened for business in 1832, making downtown Cleveland the state’s reigning economic powerhouse.

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The future of the Cleveland Play House site

Interior demolition of the former Cleveland Play House has begun,
including the removal of materials such as decorative ornaments deemed
to be architecturally significant and/or historic. The complex will be demo-
lished in the coming months to temporarily serve as a construction staging
site for the new Neurological Institute. After that, it could become a mixed-
use neighborhood (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Planning and development activities by several large players are pointing toward the need for constructing thousands of housing units in and near the Cleveland Clinic and the nearby booming University Circle area. And while the large number of housing units already under construction in and near University Circle is evident, it’s likely that they will start rising west of the Clinic’s main campus soon.

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GE may demolish historic factory, incubator in Cleveland

This substantial building at the corner of East 45th Street and Commerce
Avenue, plus all of the structures in the background, are proposed to be
demolished. They comprise the former General Electric Euclid Lamp
Plant whose origins go back to 1880 when its first buildings were
constructed for  the Brush Electric Company (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A sprawling factory complex on Cleveland’s near-East Side that incubated many lighting, industrial and transportation innovations is proposed to be demolished by its owner of the last 130 years, General Electric (GE). The Design Review Committee of Cleveland’s City Planning Commission will hear a presentation this week by GE’s engineering consultant Stantec on why it should approve demolition of the factory, called the Euclid Lamp Plant, 1814 E. 45th St. But not everyone agrees the factory has to be razed before the property can be sold by GE.

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GCP’s new web tool gives development insights

A screenshot from the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s new Web-based inter-
active tool that debuted today to aid in an investor’s site selection process. It
is intended to clear up confusion due to the many recent, under way and
planned development projects in an near downtown Cleveland (GCP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A new Web-based development tool went live today to give prospective real estate investors more information on where and what is going on around sites in which they may be interested in buying and developing. The tool, developed by the Greater Cleveland Partnership and City Architecture of Cleveland, is available to the public free of charge and without any registration required.

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Solove to start one Lakewood project, abandon another

Solove’s The View On Detroit East development in Lakewood is on track
to start demolition and site preparation by the end of the year. The $20
million mixed-use project will add to Detroit Avenue 120 apartments plus
plus a ground-floor commercial space at this southwest corner of and
Wyandotte avenues (Solove). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

It’s a case of good news/bad news regarding a Columbus-based real estate developer’s plans for two developments in Lakewood. Both were slated to redevelop former car dealerships plus some adjoining properties with mostly residential uses. The investments by Solove Real Estate were sought in response to strong demand for housing in this walkable inner-ring suburb.

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Money turning Circle East plan to reality

Looking southerly along Woodlawn Avenue from Euclid Avenue in
East Cleveland shows a proposed mix of new and renovated old
structures — both commercial and residential — that are just one-
eighth of a mile from University Circle. The proximity to one of
Northeast Ohio’s fastest-growing job hubs is what is providing a
boost to a longtime redevelopment vision that finally appears to be
moving forward (RDL). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

There have been lots of plans over the decades for stopping the decline of East Cleveland. But most were unfunded or lacked the necessary local political stability to be implemented over the long haul. A new plan has come to the fore over the past few years to rebuild the west end of the city, closest to University Circle. And now the money is finally coming, too.

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Greater Cleveland TOD initiative on track

A Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Blue Line train coasts
into the Warrensville Station in Shaker Heights at the east end of the
line where the $100 million first phase of the Van Aken District was
under construction  in 2018. Phase two is now under way and will
deliver two high-rise apartments just one block away (AAO).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A new initiative has started that, if successful, could reverse decades of urban sprawl, a hollowing out of Greater Cleveland’s urban core and an erosion of its transit system. It would also address a wide variety of problems that hurt the region’s environment, economy and human health. The new initiative would accomplish that by encouraging more accessible, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use developments along high-frequency transit corridors in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

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CWRU seeks $300M research center

A vision for the Case Quad as shown in Case Western Reserve University’s
2018 masterplan. The university’s proposed new research center, now
envisioned to be larger than what was proposed four years ago, is at
right. This view looks southeast across the Case Quad (Sasaki).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

At an alumni event earlier this week, Case Western Reserve University President Eric Kaler announced that the university has begun philanthropic fundraising to construct a new $300 million Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building. The new research facility was part of the university’s campus masterplan that was completed in 2018 but various components of it, including the expanded South Campus Residential Village now under construction, were delayed by the pandemic.

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Death of Public Square's parking lot

The former Jacobs Lot, a surface parking lot on downtown Cleveland’s
Public Square, had endured for 30 years. That era came to an end this
week as construction crews ripped up the lot’s asphalt to make way for
the pavilion/welcome center for Sherwin-Williams’ new global head-
quarters. This lot was the last of three parcels to see HQ-related con-
struction start. Terminal Tower and the SHW HQ’s tower crane stand
 in the background (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Work crews this week began pulling up asphalt pavement from the parking lot on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, ending a three-decade use that some urbanists considered an embarrassment to the city. It is the last of three project component sites to see construction start for the new Sherwin-Williams (SHW) headquarters. Work is now occurring on each of the three sites simultaneously with a eye toward completion in late-2024.

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Two old Hough walk-ups: two fates

Looking south on East 89th Street, two 1920-built apartment buildings stand
across the street from each other. Each faces a decidedly different future. The
one on the left is structurally unsound and likely to be demolished. The building
at right will be renovated and expanded with workforce apartments (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Two century-old, walk-up apartment buildings face each other on East 89th Street in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. One is structurally unsound and in danger of collapse after it was neglected by a so-called foundation facing a huge unpaid tax bill. The other will have its renovation and expansion plan reviewed by a committee of the City Planning Commission starting this week after it was bought by a successful, civic-minded local investor.

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Cleveland Clinic’s big projects are on the move

This aerial view of the Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus shows the
addition of more than $1.3 billion worth of new construction and
renovation projects. It includes a conceptual redevelopment of the
former Cleveland Play House site in the foreground. But this is an
evolving masterplan as the overhead view at the end of the article
indicates (CCF). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

To say that the Cleveland Clinic has a lot of development activity happening would be a major understatement. And some of that $1.3 billion worth of construction at its Main Campus is already starting to manifest itself on the landscape.

This week, the Clinic is starting site preparation work for its massive new Neurological Institute on Carnegie Avenue. It also delivered plans to the city for its expanded Cole Eye Institute to be reviewed starting next week. The health care system has been prepping the site for the first phase of its new pathogens center. And it is finalizing plans for a full or partial demolition and redevelopment of the ex-Cleveland Play House property, the details for which could be released this fall.

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Ukrainian refugees seek, offer hope

Ukrainian-Americans, refugees of the Russo-Ukrainian War plus their
families and friends gathered Aug. 5-7 for the annual Pokrova Ukrainian
Festival at the Pokrova Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Parma. It was
the largest turnout in recent memory, including before the pandemic. The
number of attendees, including a large number of younger families and
children, was apparently boosted by the arrival of so many war refugees
to Greater Cleveland (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

While NEOtrans normally covers real estate developments and other business activities in Greater Cleveland, we also occasionally cover economic trends. Those trends, such as the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County adding more working-age population and creating more jobs than many Sunbelt economic powerhouses, also drive business growth and real estate development.

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Shaker Hts, developer reach deal for ex-car dealership site

 Metropolitan Holdings Ltd. of Columbus plans to build next to
 the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights a 250,000-square-foot
  mixed-use development with 140 mixed-income residences
above 18,000 square feet of retail and office uses (RDL).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The City of Shaker Heights has entered into a preliminary agreement with a Columbus-based developer interested in constructing an architecturally distinctive, mixed-use building on vacant city-owned land, formerly the Qua Buick-Pontiac car dealership, across Warrensville Center Road from the existing first phase of the Van Aken District.

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Stokes West wins final approval

Stokes West, a planned 261-unit residential development in
Cleveland’s University Circle, won final approval today from the
City Planning Commission (LDA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

City Planning Commission today voted to support the final design of a large mixed-use development called Stokes West in Cleveland’s University Circle after nearly a year of debate over the fate of six historic but neglected rowhouses. The project’s landscaping plan still has to reviewed by the commission but today’s vote puts the development on a path to secure a building permit and start construction, possibly by the end of the year.

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Buckeye neighborhood plan sets goals

The Buckeye neighborhood has several anchors for broader redevelopment.
One of those is the Moreland Theater, across Buckeye Road from Providence
House, which is intended to be the anchor for the new Buckeye Arts Innovation
and Technology District (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

“That neighborhood has good bones” is often said about an inner-city community as its leaders look for foundations in the area on which to build its comeback. Unfortunately, it is not always true the bones are good or if they even exist. But for Cleveland’s Buckeye neighborhood, located on the city’s southeast side, it has a number of features in it or nearby that can be considered good bones on which muscles can be enhanced to regain lost strength.

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Harbor 44 sets new course in Ohio City

Looking south from Lorain Avenue on the one-way, southbound-
only West 44th Street, the planned Harbor Flats apartments is
planned for the east side of the street with the Harbor Row town-
homes proposed just beyond it. However, some design elements
shown here may change, including the signage on the side of the
building which is intended to be visible from Lorain. Also, the
planter boxes along the front may be lowered slightly (Horton
Harper). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM 

With City Planning Commission approval behind it, the developer of Harbor 44 is ready to set sail on its next phases of the mixed-use development in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Local Development Partners, LLC (LDP) in 2021 completed phase one at the southeast corner of Lorain Avenue and West 44th Street, called Harbor Street before 1905. 

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New developer turns in big property plays

Looking west at Cleveland’s Superior Arts District and downtown from
the intersection of Superior Avenue and East 26th Street plus the ramps
to/from Interstate 90. This is the area in which TurnCap/TurnDev has
reportedly made its largest play for properties — about 650,000 square
feet  and counting. The largest of these is the Artcraft Building, at
left (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A Beachwood-based real estate development partnership that’s less than two years old is making a lot of big moves in acquiring real estate in Cleveland’s urban core. The “where, why and how” questions surrounding those acquisitions are answered by “who” is behind those buys.

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Shaker Square commercial district sold

Shaker Square has a new future after two nonprofits acquired it last week
from the Coral Company. This view looks east above Shaker Boulevard the
rapid transit tracks. Shaker Square sits amid mid-rise apartment and condo
buildings with single-family homes just beyond. In the distance, past the
square, is Shaker Heights (KJP file).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Community developments groups Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Burten Bell Carr Development have purchased the historic Shaker Square shopping center. The sale keeps the property under local, community-minded ownership and triggers a process by which deferred maintenance issues can be addressed and a strategy can be developed that will stabilize the center short-term and ensure it flourishes long-term.

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City seeks $15.7 million East 66th corridor boost

Looking south on East 66th Street from Hough Avenue in July 2022, this
important north-south street is more peaceful now than it has been in 150
years. That was before the neighborhood became densely populated with
the city’s economic growth and became over-populated as a result of the
Great Depression, the Great Migration, block-busting and red-lining in
the postwar years that sent Hough into a downward spiral. Now, new
investments are turning this neighborhood into a more attractive
place again (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

In 2012, backers of and participants in a study of improving the East 66th Street corridor in Cleveland’s Hough and MidTown neighborhoods probably couldn’t imagine how much development would be happening over the next decade along this long-neglected corridor. Many of those same stakeholders are now seeking a major investment in this north-south street to support its further development over the coming decade.

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Campaign arrives to expand Cleveland Amtrak service

Several business and planning organizations have joined forces to
lobby for expanded Amtrak passenger rail service to the railroad’s
downtown Cleveland station. While the state of Ohio ponders if it
will tap into the largest-ever infusion of federal dollars into passen-
ger rail for service on a new route to Columbus and Cincinnati,
Cleveland interests want to expand service on existing east-west
Amtrak routes. The above photo is from Providence, RI (Amtrak).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA) and Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) are advocating to expand Cleveland’s Amtrak service into a central passenger rail line. As the economic powerhouse of Northeast Ohio, Downtown Cleveland is home to the state’s largest jobs hub and residential downtown area, making it central to business, housing and events, and a critical access route within the region and beyond. The organizations are joining forces to seek community input and support for the initiative through a survey, running through the month of August.

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PearlBrook shopping center to be razed

Everything from Luna’s Deli & Restaurant at the left to Athens
Imported Foods & Deli, a fixture here since 1957 but out of view
to the right, will be demolished in the coming months. In the
place of 75-year-old PearlBrook shopping center will be a
Sheetz gas station and store plus to-be-named future
development (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

An historic retail strip where Cleveland meets Parma, but was often better known for its cinematic and musical neighbors, is due to be demolished. In place of the PearlBrook shopping center will be a Sheetz gas station and convenience store, plus some identified future development just north of it. The center, located at its namesake Pearl and Brookpark roads, has been the space between two places ever since it was built.

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CentroVilla25 may start construction this fall

A splash of color is planned for West 25th Street south of Clark Avenue
in the heart of Cleveland’s La Villa Hispana where a center of Hispanic
culture, shopping and entrepreneurship is due to rise perhaps as early as
 this fall (RDL). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

It has been years in the making, but things are finally starting to come together with CentroVilla25. Building permits were filed with the city last week for the start of construction that will turn a vacant warehouse at 3140 W. 25th St. into a center of Hispanic culture, shopping and entrepreneurship for Cleveland’s La Villa Hispana (Clark-Fulton) neighborhood. That follows City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee giving the project schematic approval earlier this month — with two conditions.

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Ohio megaproject applications released

Eight historic buildings on Cleveland’s Flats East Bank could be redeveloped
if the developer, the George Group, receives an Ohio Transformational Mixed
Use Development tax credit by fall. It is one of 36 applications announced
today for the $100 million megaprojects incentives program (LDA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When real estate developer Bob Stark thought up the Ohio Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credit several years ago, he envisioned it as a means to transition from tapping historic tax credits for renovating old buildings in downtown Cleveland to affording the construction of new ones. His rationale was that, with the supply of obsolete commercial buildings dwindling to provide new residential inventory, a new financial incentive would be needed to overcome Cleveland’s high construction costs and low rents to satisfy downtown housing demand.

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INTRO phase 2 gets a bit clearer

A structural study of Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors’ INTRO phase two
shows a 16-story residential tower between Gehring Avenue and the Greater
Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Red Line. West 25th Street is across
the bottom of this northeastward-looking image. Phase one of INTRO is seen
to the left of the proposed new tower. The shape of the actual phase two will
be somewhat different than this early concept but the location, use of wood
and a concrete parking podium will likely be the same (HBREA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

After a developer entered a project design contest recently, it did more than just win some money. It also gave some insights into its next big construction project in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. But a spokesman for the developer, Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors, cautioned that the basic design it submitted was merely a study of how the project’s second phase could be built in an innovative way.

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Five Iron Golf to fill four Euclid Ave. storefronts

The 1000-block of Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland won’t be
quiet much longer, even when golfers step up to take their strokes at
Five Iron Golf. The New York-based interactive sports gaming
business will fill four of the five ground-floor storefronts at the
Euclid Grand development. The only space it won’t fill is the one
next to the Euclid Grand apartments’ lobby, at right. The Centen-
nial at left and The Statler Apartments bookend the site (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Downtown Cleveland’s Euclid Avenue is a bit of a dead zone between East 9th and East 12th streets, but it’s not for a lack of residential. Almost every building on both sides of the street were converted from offices to residential uses over the past decade. What silences this stretch of downtown’s historic main street is the scarcity of ground-floor activities.

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Lumen tower no longer for sale

The Lumen, downtown Cleveland’s tallest residential building, was
90 percent leased just one year after it opened for occupancy in July
2020, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its owner,
the Playhouse Square Foundation, put the building up for sale
but reportedly has taken it off the market (JLL).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

If you were gathering up spare change in the hopes of buying The Lumen, Cleveland’s tallest residential building, you’re probably out of luck. The reason is that The Lumen’s owner, the Playhouse Square Foundation (PSF), is reportedly taking the 34-story apartment tower off the market. And it wasn’t just out of your price range. It was out of everyone’s range.

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More Pearls of development due

A conceptual rendering of the five-story Flats On Pearl, 3784 Pearl Rd., in
Cleveland’s Brooklyn Centre neighborhood was among the designs approved
by the city’s Near West Design Review Committee last week. However, some
 additional refinements to the design were requested before developer Kosta
Almiroudis advances the project through the city approvals process (Brandt).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

While renovations are well underway on converting the old Brooklyn Masonic Temple into the Lofts On Pearl, Kosta Almiroudis is already planning his next move two doors down. At 3784 Pearl Rd., the founder of Almico Properties and Northern Lights Maintenance LLC plans to redevelop a strip of single-level, historic storefronts into the Flats On Pearl.

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Great Lakes Brewing on the move

Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s production facility is spread among multiple
structures, both new and old in the heart of Cleveland’s densely deve-
loped Ohio City neighborhood. As the neighborhood continued to
densify and the facility became constrained, the prospects for
relocating the entire brewery to the Flats increased (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A number of factors have come together to prompt the Great Lakes Brewing Co. to seek a relocation of its production facilities from its longtime location in the heart of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Previously, the large craft beer brewer had considered expanding production to properties it acquired over the last four years along the Cuyahoga River on Scranton Peninsula in the Flats. Now it appears that it may move all of its production to the nearly 10-acre site.

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Van Aken District high-rises may start next month

The 15- and 18-story Farnsleigh Apartments are due to see construction
start as early as next month thanks to city incentives that were approved
this week. The high-rises next to the Van Aken District, seen at bottom,
will be the tallest buildings in Shaker Heights when completed
sometime in late 2023 or early 2024 (SCB).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

In a sudden development, a major real estate construction project that was rejected for state financial incentives earlier this year has found its salvation from its host city Shaker Heights. And not only was phase two of the Van Aken District blessed with city incentives, phase three was also a beneficiary of the city’s generosity. The approvals came earlier this week during a City Council meeting as an emergency measure, meaning it would not go through the usual readings at three separate council meetings and thus without public input.

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Work starts on reviving 45 Erieview

A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held this week to reactivate
the former Ohio Bell Telephone Co. headquarters at East 9th Street and
Lakeside Avenue in downtown Cleveland. The vacant office building
will be revived with apartments, restaurants, shops and eSports gaming
within 14-16 months (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

NOTE: This article is sponsored content

The wide variety of top-notch, on-site amenities will probably be the first thing to grab your attention at 45 Erieview. But the unobstructed views of Lake Erie and downtown Cleveland from the tower’s unique curving, glassy façade will stay in your memories. With this week’s groundbreaking for the renovation and conversion of the former Ohio Bell headquarters building, 45 East 9th St., those features are just 14-16 months away from being enjoyed by hundreds of residents, office users and restaurateurs.

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Woodhill Station West starts construction

Construction workers and their vehicles showed up today for the first time
at the construction site for one of the largest residential developments in
the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood in decades. The site is  across the
street from a recently renovated rapid transit station and just uphill
from the new Opportunity Corridor Boulevard (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When the Porta-Potties show up at a new construction site, you know it’s for real. In the 9500 block of Buckeye Road in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood, the construction equipment showed up today, too. They’re there to be a part of building the $46.4 million Woodhill Station West development that will bring 120 apartments offering modern housing and on-site amenities mostly to residents of the aging Woodhill Homes public housing complex just north of here. However 30 of the apartments will be offered to anyone who meets income guidelines.

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Two cranes, coming right up

At the Sherwin-Williams’ headquarters construction site, a mobile crane
at right helps construct the base of the tower crane at center so the new
skyscraper can grow to nearly as tall as the 658-foot-tall 200 Public
Square at left. In the middle of it, the Grande Dame of Cleveland
skyscrapers, Terminal Tower, watches over it all (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM  

While work has started on installing the tower crane at Sherwin-Williams’ (SHW) headquarters construction site, the timetable has been set for the next crane to rise in downtown Cleveland. That second crane will appear at the work site for the City Club Apartments near the end of August, according a spokesman for Cleveland Construction Inc. Tower cranes are considered by some to be a visual indicator of a city’s economic growth.

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Artcraft Building has a new suitor

The largest building in Cleveland’s former garment district, now the Superior
Arts District, is the Artcraft Building. There have been several attempts at re-
novating the building with new offices or new apartments. The building now
has a mystery suitor with an equally mysterious redevelopment goal for
 the property (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Often the biggest domino is the last one to fall. That’s the case in the Superior Arts District where one former warehouse/textile building after another is falling under the redevelopment knife and coming out with a new lease on life. The biggest of those old buildings is the Artcraft Building, 2530-2570 Superior Ave. and is proving to be the most difficult to get rehabilitated.

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Megaproject candidates — a partial list

The Artisan, a 24-story apartment building, towers over Chester Avenue in
Cleveland’s University Circle. It is just one of a handful of large structures
planned or under construction in the massive Circle Square development
that is seeking for the second time a state tax credit intended to help such
complicated, expensive projects round out their financing packages (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

While a complete list of applicants for so-called “megaproject” tax credits won’t be available until sometime next week, NEOtrans has learned who a few of the local applicants are and aren’t, including at least one surprise. The deadline was today at 5 p.m. for submitting applications to the Ohio Department of Development for the second round of Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credits that could total $100 million worth of awards.

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Downtown construction boom looms

The last tower crane over downtown Cleveland was for the 34-story
Lumen apartments. It came down in February 2020, a month before
the pandemic hit in full force. The next tower crane arrives in August
for Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters. Perhaps a half-dozen more
are likely to arrive in the next year downtown with more cranes in other
parts of Cleveland (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Are you ready for some construction cranes, Cleveland? No, I’m not talking about the tower cranes that will rise next month above Sherwin-Williams’ new HQ west of Public Square or the crane soon to arrive over the City Club Apartments on Euclid Avenue. Those may be just the tip of the iceberg for downtown. And for this article we’re not even getting into the cranes above University Circle now and in the future. Or the future cranes above Ohio City. Or MidTown. Or near Edgewater Park. Or even near Gordon Park someday.

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Stokes West plans revised, gains support

Looking north in this birds-eye view from above the intersection of
Cedar Avenue and East 107th Street, one of the most significant additions
 to the Stokes West development is the construction of six for-rent town-
homes. The new townhomes would restore a street presence to Cedar
that would otherwise be lost by the demolition of six century-old
rowhouses. Beyond them are two connected towers with 255
apartments (LDA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A largely vacant triangle of land in the southern part of Cleveland’s University Circle could see construction of a 261-unit residential development start by year’s end. But the part of the triangle that isn’t vacant has been a source of debate for the community. That piece is a group of six, century-old, brick rowhouses that was considered obsolete by the developer and deemed a hindrance to the community’s revitalization.

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Glenville regaining Superior density

Called the Gold Coast Lofts, this four-story, 71-unit apartment building with
ground-floor commercial space at the near corner is proposed to rise at the
southeast corner of the intersection of Superior Avenue and East 105th
Street in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood. A former bank branch,
now called the Jonell Building, is outlined at far left (RDL).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Community development corporation Famicos Foundation proposes to build two buildings comprised mostly of apartments at two locations along Superior Avenue in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood. The two projects would develop underutilized properties along a once-vibrant street now lined with vacant land and abandoned buildings, to provide quality workforce and senior housing and help draw University Circle’s energy a little farther north.

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Source: Browns want inland stadium with roof

The Cleveland Browns are working to determine whether a structural
redesign of the 67,895-seat FirstEnergy Stadium may be in order to
bring the city-owned facility up to the standards of peer National
Football League venues. If a study now underway proves that to be
not feasible, as some Browns executives reportedly expect, then
the Browns will consider options for a new stadium (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A third source has now communicated with NEOtrans that the Cleveland Browns favor a new, retractable roof stadium built off the lakefront but in or near downtown. And this source is a high-ranking official within the National Football League team itself. Despite this, a team spokesman angrily denied the report and called the source “not credible.”

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Cleveland looks steady in new office market data

Under construction on Scranton Road in Cleveland, The Apex office
building is an anomaly. This is one of a precious few new office
buildings under construction that will be available for general lease.
This 312,000-square-foot building is being built to serve medical
offices that are in extremely short supply in Greater Cleveland which
is one of the tightest markets for available offices in the nation (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Contrary to the narrative that office markets nationally and especially in Greater Cleveland are dead, two new reports show they are very much alive. And while they’re not fully recovered from the pandemic and remote working, some office markets including Cleveland’s have shown surprising resilience.

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Cleveland, Lakewood rehabs corner historic credits

St. Michael School on Scranton Road, south of Clark Avenue in Cleve-
land, is a Gothic beauty, albeit faded. It was among the local winners of
state historic tax credits to help facilitate their renovation and revival into
 new, productive uses (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Several Greater Cleveland redevelopment projects in the works for years got a big boost today when they were among the 38 projects awarded nearly $40 million in historic tax credits by the Ohio Department of Development. The awards were part of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program that is administered in partnership with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office.

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Seven-story building considered in University Circle

This may not be the last seven-story building constructed in University
Circle’s Uptown district. Another is planned behind the completed three-
story first phase, to the left of the US Route “322” road sign. This was
the scene in October 2013 at Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM. 

MRN Ltd., owner of the Uptown development it built on both sides of Euclid Avenue in Cleveland’s University Circle, is weighing its first expansion of the mixed-use complex in eight years. That potential expansion, a seven-story apartment building, comes less than one month after the Cleveland-based developer put its existing Uptown property up for sale.

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Heating Up: 3 big downtown reno projects to start

These three large former office buildings in downtown Cleveland are due
to start their renovations and conversions this summer into mixed-use
structures that will add a total of 1,671 housing units and nearly $700
million in new investment into the central business district. The build-
ings are, from left, The Centennial, The Rockefeller Building and 45
Erieview (Millennia & KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

This summer, renovations to a trio of large, former office buildings in downtown Cleveland are due to get underway that will convert their combined 2+ million square feet into mixed uses that will add 1,671 housing units, Class A office and co-working spaces, plus unique restaurant, retail and residential amenities. Total investment is projected to be $687 million for all three projects — The Centennial, 45 Erieview and The Rockefeller Building.

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Browns leaning toward new stadium

In Minneapolis, the $975 million US Bank Stadium is well-integrated with
its downtown surroundings, making it easier for downtown visitors and re-
sidents to access the multi-purpose facility. It is next to hotels and other
hospitality venues and accessible by light-rail. As a domed facility, it is
used year-round for more than just Minnesota Vikings football
games (HKS). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

According to two sources close to the Cleveland Browns and its owner the Haslam Sports Group, the National Football League (NFL) team is leaning toward building a new stadium versus renovating the existing FirstEnergy Stadium. And the sources say the team already has at least two sites picked out as options for a new stadium that will likely cost in excess of $1 billion.

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Beachwood is home to apartment boom

The Icon, a 147-unit apartment building over ground-floor retail/com-
mercial uses is planned to be developed from the Commerce Park IV
office building near Chagrin Boulevard and Green Road. It is
the latest of many redevelopments from commercial to multi-
family residential uses in Beachwood (RDL).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

While one-third of all apartment demand in Greater Cleveland is downtown, Beachwood appears to be the most active suburb in the development of apartments. And that suburb’s activity was added to in a big way just this past week.

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The Pearl gets a major redesign

Real Life Real Estate Group today publicly presented for the first time its
refined plans for The Pearl, a mixed-use development with 130 apartments
over parking and retail in the first phase shown here along West 25th Street
in Cleveland. A second phase would add dozens more apartments in a smaller
building north of and behind this building in the Duck Island section of
Tremont (Bialosky). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Major design revisions to a large mixed-use building planned for West 25th Street at Columbus Road at the south end of Tremont’s Duck Island’s neighborhood have won the project praise and support from civic groups, especially for redesigning an intersection in front the proposed building. On June 7, the Duck Island Block Club voted in support the proposed redesign. Then on June 8, the plans won unanimous support from Cleveland’s Near West Design Review Committee. Next stop is the City Planning Commission.

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Westinghouse rebirth to be announced ‘soon’

Now a dark, vacant hulk towering over the West Shoreway, the 100-plus-years-
old former Westinghouse plant is due to be illuminated with new life includ-
ing a luxury hotel, housing and restaurants. The owner’s plan will reportedly
be announced soon (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The new owner of the old Westinghouse plant next to the West Shoreway in Cleveland says their development team has made great progress on a plan to revive the vacant factory. But while he’s not ready to reveal any specifics yet, NEOtrans has learned the project will feature a luxury hotel, housing, restaurants and possibly other uses.

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Adaptive reuses flourish in Ohio City

Cleveland City Planning Commission members lauded this proposed
conversion of a 154-year-old church in the Ohio City neighborhood
as an example of how historic structures in salvageable condition
can be saved and repurposed with new uses (LS).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Several adaptive reuse development projects in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood are saving older buildings from the wrecking ball. Their developers are using creativity to convert vacant or underutilized structures into new uses that serve present-day needs.

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Next for Hough: Chester 82 Apartments

The latest apartment building planned along Chester Avenue in Cleveland’s
Hough neighborhood is Marous Development Group’s Chester 82 at East 82nd
Street, a short walk or bike ride to booming Cleveland Clinic and University
Circle (Sullivan Bruck). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A site that’s been on Marous Development Group‘s to-do list for 15 years is finally on its getting done list. Located on the north side of Chester Avenue, between East 81st and 82nd streets, a 1.6-acre piece of vacant land is proposed for the construction of another in a series of modern apartment buildings for Upper Chester in Cleveland.

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