Top 10 NEOtrans news stories of 2022

The Cleveland Browns’ football stadium could move from the
lakefront depending on studies now underway of the existing
FirstEnergy Stadium and of the Shoreway highway. If the latter
is moved away from the stadium site, the city and the Browns
could renovate the existing stadium. Two NEOtrans stories about
this subject were among the most-read articles of 2023 (AODK).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The end of the year is a good time to look back and take stock of everything that’s happened in the past 12 months. For a local journalism outlet like NEOtrans, that means taking a measure of what articles resonated with the community the most. This year-end top-10 list of our most-read articles is how we’re measuring what resonated.

READ MORE

Cleveland Clinic sees a busy 2023

Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus, looking west toward downtown
before numerous major construction projects began (CCF).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

For several years, NEOtrans has been following the emergence, planning and development of major projects at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s Main Campus on the city’s East Side. In 2023, shovels will go into the ground for several of those projects which, in total, will rival the global health system’s last big building boom that occurred about 15 years ago. NEOtrans interviewed two of Cleveland Clinic’s leaders to learn more about the Clinic’s $1.3 billion construction program.

READ MORE

Postmortem on Medical Mutual’s HQ decision

Medical Mutual of Ohio’s headquarters since 1947 has been in the
Rose Building in downtown Cleveland. Located at East 9th Street
and Prospect Avenue, the building will be vacated starting next
month (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The decision for Medical Mutual of Ohio to abandon its downtown Cleveland headquarters for suburban Brooklyn was apparently less of a strategic move and more of a matter of which city’s public incentives got used first. And according to a local real estate insider, it was a short-term decision that could end up biting the Fortune 1000 company and downtown in their hind ends in the long term.

READ MORE

Circle Square: looking ahead

This official, conceptual massing is based on the city-approved masterplan
for Circle Square along Stokes Boulevard in Cleveland’s University Circle. The
 nearest buildings are part of phase two which is already in the works (Bialosky).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When Circle Square won a megaprojects tax credit earlier this month from the state, it helped set the financial foundations for the next structures in the massive undertaking in Cleveland’s University Circle. Already, Circle Square’s developers have forever changed the skyline of Cleveland’s second downtown. But more is about to come along Stokes Boulevard, between Euclid and Chester avenues.

READ MORE

Old Brooklyn development plan wins support

A conceptual rendering of a proposed mixed-use development at the
northwest corner of Pearl Road and Memphis Avenue in the business
district of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn. It features a market-rate apart-
ments over ground-floor commercial spaces, at left, a renovated St.
Luke Church and a community spaces along Pearl, at right (Desmone).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Plans for redeveloping the northwest corner of Pearl Road and Memphis Avenue in the heart of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood were set in motion yesterday when a Pittsburgh-based architecture and development firm and its conceptual plan were selected by the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corp. (OBCDC). Desmone, OBCDC and other neighborhood stakeholders pledged to work together in the first quarter of 2023 to turn the proposal into an active project.

READ MORE

Boost in historic tax credits benefits Ohio projects

The underperforming Erieview Tower office building and its Galleria retail
center received the maximum historic tax credit from the state for its $100
million redevelopment into modern offices, apartments, shops, restaurants
and a five-star W-brand hotel. At left is 45 Erieview, rebranded as The Bell
for its now-underway conversion to apartments. It won historic tax credits
at this time last year (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Ohio announced state support for 54 rehabilitation projects that will restore 57 historic buildings across the state including eight redevelopment projects in Cleveland. According to state officials, the projects statewide are expected to leverage approximately $1.01 billion in private investment. The projects were awarded funding as part of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program (OHPTC), administered by the Ohio Department of Development. In total, 21 communities across the state are receiving awards, which total $64,132,847 in tax credits with $14.5 million of that going to Cleveland projects.

READ MORE

Plans for $49M renovation, expansion of convention center revealed

An addition to the former Medical Mart, as part of its conversion to provid-
ing additional meeting and event spaces for the Huntington Convention
Center of Cleveland, extends the ground-floor use converted to a ball-
room out to Ontario Street, at left (TVS Design-Moody Nolan).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Plans for renovating, expanding and converting the ill-fated Global Center for Health Innovation into additional meeting and event spaces for the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland were made available to the public this week. They were released ahead of their scheduled review Thursday by the Cleveland Landmarks Commission. Those plans show the 120,000-square-foot former center, commonly referred to as the Medical Mart, would increase in size by more than 23,000 square feet so it could serve a new and hopefully more productive purpose.

READ MORE

GCRTA wins grant to build new East 79th Rapid stop

A key to transforming an area south of the Opportunity Corridor Boulevard
 into a vibrant neighborhood is the replacement of a station on the Greater
Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s light-rail Blue/Green line. This
is a vision for that area which has been supported by civic leaders in-
cluding the Cleveland Planning Commission (City Architecture).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Early last year, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) opened a new station at East 79th Street on its Airport-Windermere rail transit Red Line. Late next year, and less than 2,000 feet south, the transit agency could start construction on a new East 79th station on its downtown-Shaker Heights rail transit Blue/Green Lines. Both stations are seen as a key strategy to improve access for everyone to reach job sites being added along the new Opportunity Corridor Boulevard.

READ MORE

Brownfield grants reveal progress on many projects

The Peninsula, a 316-unit residential community on Scranton Peninsula
in Cleveland’s Flats won more than $6 million, representing the largest
Ohio brownfield grant awarded in Cuyahoga County. That funding, plus
tax-increment financing from the city of Cleveland, will help the project
overcome rising construction  costs and interest rates, say its developer
NRP Group (BKV). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced $88 million in state support for 123 brownfield remediation projects that will help clean up hazardous and underutilized sites throughout the state. The Ohio Department of Development is funding the awards through the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, which is designed to clean up and prepare hazardous brownfield sites for redevelopment. The projects announced today will impact communities in 35 counties across the state.

READ MORE

Amtrak Ohio expansion may bypass state government

Amtrak’s new Airo trains to be built by Siemens Mobility. Starting in 2026,
these new trains will operate on all eastern routes shorter than 750 miles,
including on services purchased by several states surrounding Ohio
that could be extended to Cleveland (Amtrak).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Several initiatives that are in their early stages may instigate passenger rail expansion to Cleveland before the state of Ohio decides to get on board. That could be welcome timing considering the Federal Railroad Administration will solicit applications next week for funding to begin the process for developing new and expanded passenger rail services.

READ MORE

Dog daycare chain eyeing downtown

From the outset of design for the new City Club Apartments tower in downtown
Cleveland, being a dog-friendly environment was emphasized as demonstrated
 in this and other renderings as well as by floor plans which assumed a dog day
care business would be a tenant. A Cleveland-area businessman wants to take
them up on that  suggestion by opening a dog day care franchise there (Vocon).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A national dog daycare chain is eyeballing the Greater Cleveland area and may start by planting its flag in downtown Cleveland. Dogtopia franchisee and self-described dog lover Alex Mazzenga of Cleveland Heights is seeking to open a dog daycare business at the City Club Apartments, 776 Euclid Ave, according to a building permit application filed with the city this week. The investment necessary to build out the space, estimated by the permit at up to $1 million, shows there’s some serious puppy love involved.

READ MORE

Phase 2 sought for Midtown apartment complex

Looking at The Foundry Lofts from the Carnegie Avenue side, the two
darker buildings are what is proposed to be added. The red buildings
closer to Euclid Avenue were completed last fall and are filling up
fast (City Architecture). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

With the paint still drying on the first phase of a mixed-use development called The Foundry Lofts, 7240 Euclid Ave., Signet Real Estate Group is asking the city for approvals to begin construction on an apartments-only phase two. The reason for moving forward so quickly on expanding the Midtown Cleveland development is because both residential and commercial leasing activity for the first phase have been strong.

READ MORE

Odeon, 3 other Flats parcels sold to developer

The Odeon concert club and three other parcels on Old River Road on Cleve-
land’s Flats East Bank were sold to local real estate development financier
GBX Group. The same company is part of ambitious plans for several
neighboring buildings which belonged to the Samsel Supply Co. (KJP).
 CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The Odeon concert club, 1295 Old River Rd., was among four contiguous parcels on Cleveland’s Flats East Bank sold last week to Cleveland-based GBX Group, a real estate development financier which specializes in structuring financing for historic rehabilitation projects. However, when contacted by NEOtrans, a GBX representative said their plans for the site would not be officially announced for at least two months.

READ MORE

Canon takes aim at Cleveland

Opportunity Corridor, in Cleveland’s University Circle and the Cleveland
Clinic’s main campus, appears to be the favored location for the new Canon
Healthcare USA headquarters. And if rumors from several years ago remain
true, it is also the favored site for Canon Healthcare’s research, production
and warehouse facilities. This view looks north on East 105th Street at Frank
Avenue with the mostly vacant IBM Explorys building at right (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Three years ago, the first rumors of Canon seeking to increase its presence in Cleveland surfaced. NEOtrans couldn’t report all of the gory details back then because it would compromise a source. So only some of the information was shared once it became publicly available. But the rest of the information from back then can be shared now that the Japanese imaging company let the cat out of the bag that it’s putting the headquarters for Canon’s newly created Canon Healthcare USA Inc.’s subsidiary in Greater Cleveland.

READ MORE

Four NE Ohio projects win TMUD credits

One of the most significant developments underway in Northeast Ohio
is the Circle Square megaproject between Euclid and Chester avenues
at Stokes Boulevard. At left is Library Lofts. Behind it is The Artisan
apartments, now the tallest building in University Circle. Front and
center is the historic and recently renovated Fenway Manor Apart-
ments. Behind it is a future hotel. The two buildings to the right
are also future projects — an office building in the foreground
with an apartment tower in the background. (Bialosky).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

In the first round of Ohio’s Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credit program, more than half of the major-city credits went to Cleveland. Today, more than half of those credits went to just two projects in Columbus. That left enough TMUD credits to benefit two projects in Cleveland — the Erieview redevelopment in downtown Cleveland and the Circle Square megaproject in University Circle. Unfortunately, that also meant that several other projects in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County were left out.

READ MORE

Bridgeworks seeks options after 2nd TMUD snub

Rendering of the planned Bridgeworks mixed-use development in the
Hingetown section of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The deve-
lopment was turned down a second time by the state for a so-called Mega-
projects tax credit (Mass/LDA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The development team that has sought to build the high-rise Bridgeworks development, 2429 West Superior Viaduct, in the Hingetown section of Ohio City is left with more questions than answers today after being left off the awards list for Ohio Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credits the second time. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority passed over Bridgeworks in awarding TMUD credits to other projects statewide.

READ MORE

Up to $10M coming to Irishtown Bend Park

If enough funding can be found, Irishtown Bend Park would line the east
edge of West 25th Street in Ohio City, north of the Riverview Towers
Apartments toward the Detroit-Superior Bridge seen in the distance.
If a challenge grant announced today is matched by 2024, half of
the funding will be in place to start building the park (Plural).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

In a project beset with hurdles — primarily centered around money — the effort to move forward on developing the 23-acre Irishtown Bend Park in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood got a big financial boost today. That boost came from a $5 million challenge grant from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. If enough donations are received by the end of 2024 to match the challenge dollar-for-dollar, it could generate up to $10 million.

READ MORE

Making waves on Cleveland’s lakefront

This is one of the ideas for improving the East 55th Marina area on
Cleveland’s lakefront. This concept is for a new multi-use facility
on North Marginal Road at the marina, which is being considered
by the Cleveland Metroparks. This and other ideas are being con-
sidered as part of a larger vision called the Cleveland Harbor
Eastern  Embayment Resilience Strategy (Contributed).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Depositing of fill dirt, removal of a pedestrian bridge and plans for a combined restaurant, event center and boat launch are all in the works along Cleveland’s lakefront. And these activities are early, yet tangible indications of potential next steps for even larger changes along where the city meets its greatest natural asset.

READ MORE

Stark has new buyer for downtown site

Stark Enterprises reportedly has a new buyer for the nearly 3 acres of land
on which it publicly sought to build the high-rise, mixed-use development
called nuCLEus. Considering the likely high sale price, the buyer is some-
one with deep pockets who will want to develop the site quickly with
large buildings to recoup its big investment (Stark).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARE THEM

If it’s December, then there’s a new buyer emerging for the so-called “nuCLEus” properties owned by Cleveland-based Stark Enterprises. But there’s a few differences with the potential sale of downtown land in the Gateway District compared to last year’s deal that fell through. Perhaps the most significant difference this time is that Stark’s CEO isn’t denying it.

READ MORE

Bedrock’s ambitious Tower City, riverfront plans

Bedrock Real Estate’s masterplan for the Cuyahoga Riverfront below Tower
City Center will reportedly take decades to realize (Adjaye Associates).
 CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

After months of work, Bedrock Real Estate of Detroit and its masterplan architect David Adjaye Associates of Ghana today released their vision for the Cuyahoga Riverfront below Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland. The $3.5 billion vision would add more than 3.5 million square feet of mixed uses next to the former railroad passenger terminal turned shopping center. It’s the latest in a century’s worth of ambitious visions of the waterfront closest to Public Square.

READ MORE

Police HQ to the ArtCraft Building

The City of Cleveland has announced that the new site for the new Division
of Police headquarters will be the historic Artcraft Building, 2540 Superior
Ave. It is located next to Interstate 90 at the east end of downtown in the
Campus District (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

After a competitive request-for-proposals (RFP) process the city has selected the historic ArtCraft Building, located at 2530 Superior Ave., as the top pick for the new Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) headquarters. The city will begin negotiations for the site with the property owner’s team led by TurnDev Development and expects to have legislation ready for City Council review in January 2023.

READ MORE

Westinghouse plans revealed

A recent rendering of the planned Westinghouse redevelopment. While this
image is from a 2021 plan for the project, the proposed features in this angle
showing the West 58th Street frontage at left and the lake-facing side at right
haven’t substantially changed in the current planning (Trebilco/AECOM).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Plans for the Westinghouse redevelopment got a lot clearer this week after NEOtrans was able to secure recent conceptual plans for the project. While a luxury boutique hotel and apartments are likely to be the highest-profile features in a pending redevelopment of the former Westinghouse plant overlooking the West Shoreway, a less sexy land use will be the plan’s bread and butter. That use is a planned warehouse for Cleveland-based MCPC, an information technology company that helps businesses manage security risks and logistical challenges.

READ MORE

Kalina House eyes construction in 2023

Over the next few weeks, the nonprofit Mark Kalina Jr. Foundation needs
the generosity of Greater Cleveland and beyond to realize dreams of building
the Kalina House along East 79th Street between Euclid and Carnegie avenues.
The site was selected due to its proximity to the HealthLine bus rapid transit
and its connectivity to Cleveland’s largest medical institutions (AoDK).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Although a proposed building in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood to support individuals with traumatic injuries and their families is physically small, the need for the facility is large. To that end, the nonprofit Mark Kalina Jr. Foundation will host a Buy-A-Brick Fundraiser over the coming weeks in support of the proposed housing facility – The Kalina House. This opportunity for charity will run from Giving Tuesday on Nov. 29 until New Year’s Eve.

READ MORE

The next CSU: a few insights

It may look like a new building but it’s not. As part of Cleveland State
University’s desire to add more dorms, the 1971-built Rhodes Tower may
be converted to housing and get a new exterior. This is just one example
of how it could look. Another is to add glass curtain walls to protect the
precast concrete façade from moisture and better insulate the building
(CSU). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When Cleveland State University (CSU) formally released its downtown campus master plan to the public last week, a few things were left out it. Their exclusion wasn’t because of some devious intent to deceive the public. Rather, it was because CSU officials and those at the Boston-based planning firm Sasaki Associates CSU hired to develop the master plan hadn’t yet made decisions on the omitted elements.

READ MORE

Sherwin-William HQ+R&D rises to $750 million

To the left of a holiday-themed Terminal Tower, the new Sherwin-Williams
headquarters will rise to 39 stories, including rooftop mechanicals. At 616
feet, it will be the fourth-tallest tower in downtown Cleveland before the
end of 2024. This rendering shows how the new skyscraper will look on
some nights. On other nights it will have decorative lighting in its vertical
crevasses and within its reverse-angled crown (Michael Collier/SHW).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Sherwin-Williams (SHW) has announced that construction costs for its new headquarters in downtown Cleveland plus its research and development facility in suburban Brecksville have increased from at least $600 million to $750 million. But the cause, according to the global coatings giant, isn’t entirely what’s affecting all other construction projects — inflation and interest rates. Instead, it cited compliance with state, county and municipal regulations in hiring minority- and female-owned subcontractors and suppliers, plus local small businesses. Those regulations were triggered because of public-sector resources SHW tapped for these projects.

READ MORE

Slavic Village’s Broadway in transit

The five-way intersection of Broadway Avenue, East 55th Street and Hamlet
Avenue is the traditional center of Slavic Village, once called Little Bohemia
for its large Czech population. It retains all of its pre-World War I buildings
even though many are in a decayed condition. Reviving this area as part of
the Broadway transit corridor is the goal of new planning and development
by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and Slavic Village
 Development Inc. (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The beleaguered Broadway Avenue corridor in Cleveland’s Slavic Village could soon see new signs of life thanks to a federal grant that was awarded last week to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). The $432,000 grant will allow the transit agency to develop plans to redesign the Broadway corridor from the Turney-Ella bus loop near Calvary Cemetery to downtown as a bus rapid transit (BRT) route with enhanced pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Once those plans are complete, it can then apply for federal funds to build that infrastructure.

READ MORE

Cleveland to get MLS NEXT Pro team

Krenzler Field in downtown Cleveland is the home of the Cleveland State
Vikings soccer and lacrosse teams as well as the Cleveland Soccer Club
semi-pro team. If available, Krenzler Field and its seating capacity may
need to be expanded to accommodate Cleveland’s new Major League
Soccer NEXT Pro team (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The reserve league of top-tier Major League Soccer is expected to announce on Monday that it will expand to Cleveland as the next city to gain a professional soccer team, according to sources who spoke off the record. The announcement will be made at 1 p.m. Nov. 21 at Pins Mechanical on West 25th Street in Ohio City by Michael Murphy. He led the effort locally to land the MLS NEXT Pro (MLSNP) team.

READ MORE

CSU releases campus master plan

Conceptual rendering of a new 5,000- to 7,000-seat arena for Cleveland
State University on Payne Avenue overlooking Interstate 90, at lower
left. The new arena would host CSU basketball, concerts and other events
and allow the university to demolish the 13,610-seat Wolstein Center. The
9.3-acre Wolstein Center site would be redeveloped as the Partnership
District with up to 800,000 square feet of new mixed-use development
(CSU/Sasaki). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

At a regular meeting today of its board of trustees, Cleveland State University (CSU) unveiled a new campus master plan to capitalize on its location in Cleveland’s urban core and to guide the development of the university’s physical campus over the next decade. Details of that plan were shared with NEOtrans and other Northeast Ohio media in a press release and an illustrated presentation.

READ MORE

Downtown Lakefront buildings no longer for sale

At North Coast Harbor, Harbor Verandas in the foreground and Nuevo
Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar in the background are no longer on the
market. Owner Cumberland Development wants to retain them due to
their profitability and reassess after the real estate market improves,
including when the fate of nearby Burke Lakefront Airport is
decided (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Two very visible buildings at downtown Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor that were listed for sale over the past year were just taken off the market this week by owner Cumberland Development LLC. There are several reasons why the Harbor Verandas mixed-use building and the Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar are being retained. But one of them is because of the fate of the nearby Burke Lakefront Airport could cause the value of the site to rise in the future.

READ MORE

A Christmas Story House, campus for sale

Tens of thousands of guests tour A Christmas Story House in Cleveland’s
Tremont neighborhood each year — especially this time of year. Some of
them stay the night in the working-class home-turned-celebrity along with
the Bumpus House, at left, thanks to the holiday-themed movie. Both were
renovated by owners Brian and Beverly Jones to look like they did in the
movie (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

That little house on Cleveland Street is on the market just in time for the holiday season and the release of a sequel to the 1983 classic movie “A Christmas Story.” And just like one of Ralphie’s father’s silly puzzles, “This one could be worth 50,000 bucks.” But the house isn’t on Cleveland Street, it’s not merely the house that’s for sale and the campus of seven properties is likely to fetch multiples of $50,000. Indeed, according to some real estate insiders, it could go for dozens of times more. Dare we say “A major award”?

READ MORE

Hough busily breaking new ground

Groundbreakings for new projects are becoming more common in Hough
just as the new projects are breaking new ground in other ways, too. That
includes investing in residents and their futures. This groundbreaking was
in August 2021 for the Lumos Apartments on East 93rd Street that is re-
placing structurally deficient houses next door (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

For anyone who has been watching real estate activity in recent years in Hough, they are probably no longer surprised that investment is growing here. But what may be surprising is that the pace of it continues to increase. And, with that, there’s growing interest by local and national investors to make sure that gentrification doesn’t take hold and push away people who need jobs within an easy walk, bike or bus ride of booming University Circle.

READ MORE

Reactivating downtown Cleveland

Downtown Cleveland catches the evening light on a muggy June 11, 2022,
as seen from Voinovich Park and North Coast Harbor. Downtown continues
to struggle to fill offices and retail spaces although hotels and especially re-
sidential buildings are performing much better since the depths of the global
pandemic two years ago. Helping downtown climb out of those depths is the
responsibility of many, including the Downtown Cleveland Alliance (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

In the late 20th century, downtown Cleveland rolled up its sidewalks after 5 p.m. Now, on some weekdays, it seems like downtown doesn’t roll out its sidewalks until after 5 p.m. That shows how much downtown has changed in the post-pandemic world from a commercial district to a residential, entertainment and tourism center.

READ MORE

Plans revealed for big Tremont site

Looking northwest toward the former APL site in Tremont with West 18th
Place at the right, the proposed APL Apartments and Townhomes fill the
middle of the image. An improved greenspace is planned to the left of the
proposed development. No building colors or textures are shown here as
this rendering is intended to show only the scale and siting of proposed
buildings. At the upper left, near West 25th Street, is the planned West
20th Apartments and the Treo mixed-use development that’s nearly
completed (Sixmo). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Perhaps the largest never-developed piece of land on Cleveland’s near-west side now has a plan for developing it. Tomorrow, a neighborhood-level committee of the City Planning Commission will see and hear a presentation by a development team led by Knez Homes and Property Advisors Group to construct 129 housing units on a 3.65-acre plot of Tremont land Knez acquired last February, a story first reported by NEOtrans.

READ MORE

Shoreway Tower plan rises

Looking eastward along the Shoreway from Edgewater Park, the proposed
12-story-tall Shoreway Tower would overlook the park and provide views of
Lake Erie. But a city design review panel had strong reservations about the
building’s proposed height (EAO). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A conceptual proposal for a residential tower along the West Shoreway, overlooking Edgewater Park, got a little bit taller after it was first introduced to Cleveland’s City Planning Commission last April. Originally proposed to be 10 stories tall, the market-rate apartment building got bumped up to 12 stories and 138 feet tall which puts it over the 115-foot height restriction for that area’s zoning.

READ MORE

Medical Mutual HQ staff won’t return downtown

Medical Mutual’s 10-story, 120-year-old Rose Building in downtown Cleve-
land has been mostly empty since the pandemic, as many of the insurance
company’s employees are working from home. They will not return to
work in this building in 2023 and will instead report to work at the
company’s operations center in suburban Brooklyn on a hybrid
work basis (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A spokesperson for health insurance industry giant Medical Mutual confirmed that the company’s headquarters will leave downtown Cleveland in 2023. However most of their roughly 1,000 downtown office employees never returned from remote-working during the pandemic, leaving the historic Rose Building at East 9th Street and Prospect Avenue mostly empty over the past two-plus years. Today’s news has led to some wondering if the building could be converted to residential as with other old office buildings downtown.

READ MORE

Historic buildings to be razed in Flats

This group of 19th-century buildings in the 1772-1800 block of the west
side of Columbus Road in Cleveland’s Flats are proposed to be demolished
by the property owner, a Beachwood developer which currently has no plans
for developing the site (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A row of buildings along Columbus Road in the Flats is due to be razed in the coming weeks by an active, local real estate developer. But there is no plan to replace buildings, including two from the 19th century that stand in a nationally registered historic district. Instead, according to a partner at the property’s owner, Integrity Realty Group (IRG) of Beachwood, the contiguous buildings would be demolished to keep them from falling down on innocent passersby. No structural analysis was included in the owner’s demolition requests to the city.

READ MORE

Cleveland police HQ site search begins anew

Since 1977, the the Cleveland Police Department headquarters has been
located in this eight-story building at the northwest corner of Ontario
Street and St. Clair Avenue downtown. It has been proposed for several
new locations since 2017 and may be proposed for yet another pending
the outcome of a new request for proposals issued by Mayor Justin
Bibb’s administration this week (Ideastream).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Officials at Cuyahoga County and now at City Hall are having difficulty deciding where to build their new venues for addressing crime. Three years ago, an effort began in earnest to find a new home for Cuyahoga County’s new jail campus and a new courthouse tower. A steering committee set up to decide that course of action has failed to settle on a site for those facilities in that time. But the city’s efforts to find a new home for its Cleveland Police Department (CPD) Headquarters has been going on for even longer and will continue for at least a few months more, following an announcement today by Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration.

READ MORE

$80 million OK’d for Greater Cleveland development

Opening this past week was the new MAGNET incubator and job training
center on Chester Avenue in Cleveland’s MidTown neighborhood which
received $5 million in New Markets Tax Credits last year. Similar trans-
formative projects in this and other distressed neighborhoods will be
seeking tax credits from two allocations totaling $80 million to local
economic development organizations (GCP/Michael Collier).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Yesterday in Baltimore, Treasurer of the United States Chief Lynn Malerba awarded $5 billion worth of New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) nationwide, with $80 million of that to support real estate development projects Greater Cleveland. The projects are intended to be transformative by attracting private investment to create jobs in underserved communities.

READ MORE

MetroHealth adding more clinics at CMSD schools

Glenville High School, located just south of St. Clair Avenue at East 113th
Street, will be one of four Cleveland school buildings that will gain a new
community clinic as a result of MetroHealth System’s School Health
Program (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A mix of federal and state funds along with a partnership of MetroHealth System and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) have come together to spur construction of additional health clinics at four Cleveland school sites to increase basic health care services to young people. A wide variety of health care services will be available at these clinics, including treatment of illnesses, mental health, sports injuries and even dental care.

READ MORE

Cleveland’s first railroad is history

A placard from the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad showing
a proposed union station on Cleveland’s lakefront that would have included
a steamship terminal as well. While a union station that united several rail-
 roads under one roof was built, it didn’t look like this. The placard empha-
sizes Cleveland’s emergence from being a wilderness outpost to a well-
connected industrial center (WikiMedia Commons).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

On an early fall day, Sept. 30, 1847, one of the most prominent men in the fast-growing state of Ohio rolled up his sleeves and joined others in starting the construction of Cleveland’s first-ever railroad. It was a ceremonial groundbreaking not unlike those of today where dignitaries flip dirt with golden shovels to commemorate the start of some new construction project. But, in this case, Cleveland’s first village president, its first attorney and the father of the Ohio & Erie Canal had to get his hands dirty pronto or his new railroad company would lose its charter from the state — again.

READ MORE

Affordable apartments planned at RTA station

This is a conceptual rendering of a proposed transit-oriented development
involving three sites at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s
West Boulevard-Cudell Red Line rail station. The site that Flaherty &
Collins seeks to develop with affordable apartments is at far-right. While
it will likely look different than this, it may be of similar height and
scale (AECOM). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

An Indianapolis-based real estate developer is seeking to build affordable apartments just west of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) West Boulevard-Cudell rapid transit station on land owned by the transit authority. Today, the GCRTA Board approved giving that developer, Flaherty & Collins LLC, an option to purchase the land for the development of 60 to 80 apartments. The option, priced at $5,000, gives the developer site control so it can nail down financing and city approvals over the next year. If the developer needs more time, RTA can extend the option for another year for another $5,000.

READ MORE

First look at Cleveland Clinic’s largest-ever building

Looking at the southwest corner of the planned new Neurological Institute,
the scale of the building can be better appreciated by looking at the
silhouettes of people next to the massive, glassy new high-rise
(Cleveland Clinic). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

In several days, the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee will get its first chance to offer its opinion on the design of what will be the Cleveland Clinic’s largest-ever building. The facility will be the new home of the Clinic’s Neurological Institute — a 1-million-square-foot structure that will tower over Carnegie Avenue, between East 89th and 90th streets. It is the current site of the eight-story P Building surgery center that is now being demolished.

READ MORE

Cleveland benefits from national migration shift

Cleveland, like other cities on the Great Lakes, seem to be benefitting
from new population migration patterns that are in response to long-
term structural shifts like climate change, remote work and lower
costs of living (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

One of North America’s next big migrations may already be underway. And according to early data, it appears that Cleveland and other Great Lakes cities are among those benefitting from it. What’s driving this new migration? The basics — low cost, proximity to family, abundant fresh water and peace of mind from not worrying about your neighborhood catching on fire or washing out to sea.

READ MORE

Historic Vitrolite Building harnesses new future

A terra cotta standout among brick facades along Detroit Avenue in
Cleveland’s Ohio City, the Vitrolite Building will transition from its
prior owner and use as the home of the Intermuseum Conservation
Association to that of the Harness Collective (Kurtz).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Restoration of the historic Vitrolite Building, 2915 Detroit Ave., in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood moved closer to reality yesterday when the city’s Landmarks Commission approved the project with a unanimous vote, along with a few conditions. The nearly century-old building with its unique terra cotta façade is on the National Register of Historic Places. But it has a new future with a new owner who will take it in a new direction.

READ MORE

Lakefront park expansion advances

Masterplan map for the Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience
Strategy (CHEERS) project, located just east of downtown Cleveland
along the city’s Lake Erie waterfront. The project will increase access
to recreation, expand sanctuaries for wildlife, protect Interstate 90 from
wave action from storms and possibly promote development of the
former First Energy Lakeshore Power Plant, west of East 72nd Street
 (Cleveland Metroparks). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

While there’s been lots of studies about how to improve Cleveland’s lakefront, one is actually moving forward into formal design and construction permitting — the last step before acquiring funding and construction for an expanded lakefront park just east of downtown. And although the detailed design and permitting work will continue through to the end of 2024, a big piece of funding for lakefront park expansion will be decided by voters next month.

READ MORE

Downtown Cleveland’s ‘office market needs help’

Downtown Cleveland has lost 30 percent of its leasable office space to
adaptive reuse projects, mainly residential. The leased space that remains
is only 60 percent full on any given day following the pandemic and its
instigation of remote or hybrid work policies. Public incentives are being
sought to boost the office market downtown with a recognition that it may
never be the same again (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

This week, global real estate brokerage Newmark released its third quarter office market report for Greater Cleveland and the news wasn’t good, especially for downtown Cleveland. While three of five submarkets in the metropolitan area saw declining occupancies of office spaces in July-September, none suffered a greater loss than the central business district. That district includes everything from Ohio City east through Downtown to Midtown.

READ MORE

Will Sherwin-Williams’ HQ be a pretty bunker?

This rendering of the proposed gardens in front of Sherwin-Williams’ new
downtown headquarters shows people standing around. They’re not sitting
because the global coatings giant did not want any benches to be included
in its gardens which face Public Square. Security concerns about attracting
homeless people led to a compromise with the city by providing leaning
 and sitting railings at locations around the new headquarters complex. The
railings aren’t wide enough to allow someone to lie down on them (The
Sherwin-Williams Company). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

To sit or not to sit, that was the question that caused the biggest debate today among members of a design-review panel of Cleveland’s City Planning Commission prior to supporting landscaping and site amenity plans for Sherwin-Williams’ (SHW) new global headquarters. The question became a point of debate over concerns of whether adding benches to the outdoor areas of the downtown HQ would attract homeless people to sleep there as is already the case at locations throughout the adjacent Public Square.

READ MORE

City reveals MetroHealth’s West 25th plans

An updated elevation view shared exclusively by NEOtrans shows the
west side of West 25th Street showing the proposed senior apartments,
at left, and new Metrohealth police station at right. This image pro-
vides greater relevance to current plans compared to the outdated
images shared last week, which were the only views available at
that time (CPC). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Conceptual plans made publicly available this week for the next phase of development near the MetroHealth medical center along West 25th Street show a slightly scaled-back design compared to previously released massings by the MetroHealth System and shared by NEOtrans last week. Specifically, a proposed new headquarters for the hospital’s police department will be built next to rather than on the first floor of a new 60-unit senior apartment building at the northwest corner of West 25th and Trowbridge Avenue in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood. A future apartment building at the southwest corner may be considered at a later date.

READ MORE