By the end of this year, commercial loan originator Berkadia Commercial Mortgage will be showing off its greatly expanded offices on the 14th floor of Key Tower, 127 Public Square. And that expansion offers a couple of statements about Greater Cleveland’s economy in general and downtown Cleveland in particular.
Monday, March 27, 2023
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Blue Abyss may build $250m research center here
Friday, March 24, 2023
From Kyiv to Cleveland, art firm HQ moves
Founded in Ukraine nearly two decades ago, Dion Art has been expanding thanks to stunning, innovative public art projects and a stabilizing, growing nation. When that growth slowed to a trickle a year ago when Russia began its all-out invasion of Ukraine, its founder and his friend made a choice — move Dion Art to Cleveland.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Irishtown Bend Park stakeholders announce deal for George property
Partners working together on the transformational Irishtown Bend Park project have reached a tentative settlement agreement today following a lawsuit by an affiliate of the George family against the use of eminent domain to acquire their land for the project. Terms of the deal were not officially disclosed at this time but it appears to be a really good deal for the Georges.
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Seeds & Sprouts XXVIII – Seeds & Sprouts XXVIII – Big retailer to Steelyard, AJ Rocco's progresses, Hemingway bets on offices, Leather shop reno, Bakery to Euclid Ave
Ross Dress for Less is opening at Steelyard Commons. AJ Rocco’s Restaurant & Bar renovation work progresses downtown. Hemingway Development bets on Midtown office spaces. TRD Leather gets new insides on the West Side. And a new bakery is coming to Euclid Avenue.
Monday, March 20, 2023
It’s official: Lakewood Center West sells
While Lakewood waits on the Downtown Lakewood development, a mostly residential development could come to this inner-ring suburb’s former office and current retail district even sooner. According to Lakewood city officials and Cuyahoga County records, a Brooklyn, NY-based developer has acquired the seven-story Lakewood Center West at the northeast corner of Detroit and St. Charles avenues for $2.4 million. The developer told NEOtrans that they envision 60-70 apartments on the upper floors and will retain the ground-floor and basement commercial tenants.
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Cleveland Hts Cedar Lee Meadowbrook “A done deal”
The City of Cleveland Heights and its development partner, Flaherty & Collins Properties, announced the real estate and financial “closing” for the Cedar Lee Meadowbrook project, clearing the way for construction to commence in the coming weeks. It’s the second major project for the Indianapolis-based developer in the eastern inner-ring suburb of Cleveland.
Friday, March 17, 2023
Half of Bulkley Building to be residential
A significant building in downtown Cleveland’s theater district is proposed to undergo a transformation that would convert nearly half of the structure to residential and add a high-profile office tenant. The Bulkley Building, or simply The Bulkley, 1501 Euclid Ave., is not only owned by the Playhouse Square Foundation but is also the current site of the foundation’s offices.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Cleveland adds fewest apartments among major metros
New data from a leading North American real estate services firm shows that Greater Cleveland had the smallest number of new apartment units under construction in the USA in the fourth quarter of 2022. That snapshot of construction activity in America’s multi-family rental market shows that, not only is Greater Cleveland lagging way behind the nation’s largest metropolitan areas in adding new apartments, it’s also lagging behind many of its peer metros. The report comes as the City of Cleveland considers reducing its financial incentives for new developments.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Cleveland Habitat for Humanity opens first union-built home
A new home on Grandview Avenue was the first all-union-built home in Greater Cleveland to be provided by the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity program. And yesterday its residents got the keys to it. Thanks to the Habitat for Humanity program, the 14th house was built on Grandview Avenue in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood. The resident, Sierra, mother of six, couldn’t hold back her tears of happiness.
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Casket maker brings factory to life
Construction permits were filed this week with Cleveland’s Building Department to retrofit a west-side factory so Victoriaville & Co. of Victoriaville, Québec, Canada can open its first manufacturing operations in the USA. The plant will manufacture what’s called “death care merchandise” — namely caskets and urns in what is a growing market as the oldest Baby Boomers approach 80 years of age.
Friday, March 10, 2023
Downtown Lakewood work starts for new bank
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Façade designs for the new Chase Bank in downtown Lakewood, showing the north side facing Detroit Avenue and the south side facing the parking lot and drive-up ATM (TAP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM |
Persons visiting or passing through downtown Lakewood have likely noticed the demolition of a small bank branch-turned-bagel restaurant and wondered what is going to replace it. The answer is that another bank branch will return to that site but with a more pedestrian-friendly approach to the building’s design this time around. And while the new structure will be bigger than its predecessor, the amount of floor space in the building isn’t as much as the new structure makes it appear.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Two Cleveland-area projects win millions
Two Greater Cleveland historic rehabilitation projects got an unexpected boost this week to the tune of nearly $7.2 million. The Taylor Tudors portion of a larger development in Cleveland Heights plus a renovation of McKinley School in Cleveland’s Westown-Jefferson Neighborhood were beneficiaries of an oversight by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD).
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Cleveland Clinic to raze ex-TRW HQ
Two significant structures on a large piece of land in Cleveland’s eastern suburbs, whose prominence is owed to the industrial giants of Gilded Age Cleveland, face very different fates. One, the 106-year-old, 45-room Frances Bolton Mansion, will be preserved. The other, the 1985-built, former TRW headquarters with its four office wings radiating from a glassy central atrium, is proposed to be demolished by the end of the year.
Monday, March 6, 2023
Chicago builder expands to Cleveland
Chicago-based Leopardo Companies is already making a name for itself in Cleveland by serving as the construction manager of two major development projects in downtown. But while some construction companies might be content with overseeing a couple of big building projects in a secondary market like Cleveland before moving on to the next opportunity somewhere else in the country, Leopardo has different ideas.
Sunday, March 5, 2023
More downtown firms making moves
Three legal and financial service firms in downtown Cleveland are on the move to new addresses in the central business district, with two firms seeking smaller spaces as part of an ongoing trend by many office-based employers to downsize their work spaces after the pandemic. The third firm moved to accommodate significant new growth in Cleveland. And each firm is staying downtown, investing in their new office locations, with none of the three seeking a reduction in employment. Indeed, even as some office spaces shrink, the number of employees at those tenants’ aren’t shrinking. Instead, they are taking advantage of remote working and web-based contact with clients.
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Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Ohio City high-rise may get loan, start date
On March 14, Cuyahoga County Council is expected to vote on a proposed $2 million loan that could finally close a persistent funding gap on the planned $103.7 million Bridgeworks development. The investment would allow site demolition and construction to start as early as this spring, putting a 15-story building at the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge in the booming Hingetown section of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.
The Elliot: New life for historic Tremont church
The Elliot, Tremont’s newest events venue which opened in Fall 2022 in Tremont’s former Holy Ghost Church, has launched its Rosehip Room speakeasy with a spring lineup of performing acts. They will perform in the Rosehip Room, a speakeasy designed to accommodate live music, trivia nights and private events at 1415 Kenilworth Ave. in Cleveland. The Rosehip Room’s launch was celebrated with a party Feb. 24.
Monday, February 27, 2023
Sources: Browns want new stadium; Mayor wants community input
According to several sources, the Cleveland Browns and its majority owner, the Haslam Sports Group, want to move faster than City Hall on what happens before the team’s lease at FirstEnergy Stadium expires at the end of 2028. That reportedly includes a new football/multi-purpose stadium and supportive development in downtown Cleveland.
Friday, February 24, 2023
201 more apartments for Lorain Ave.
With the paint still drying on its latest development along Lorain Avenue in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, real estate developer My Place Group is already planning its next investments which would extend that thoroughfare’s rebirth westward. Conceptual plans are being circulated among community stakeholders to get their input on two new developments that would add a total of 201 apartments plus additional ground-level retail spaces to the section of Lorain between West 44th and West 52nd streets.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Seeds & Sprouts XXVII – Downtown apts groundbreaking due, Factory to be artist studios, Urgent Care tosses Pizza Hut
Groundbreaking due for downtown apartments
The first sign of progress that’s visible on the landscape for The Apartments At Bolivar is expected to appear in mid-March when a groundbreaking for the large, planned apartment complex is due to be held, according to sources familiar with the project. But the first actual sign of construction activity must first begin with a demolition to help clear the way for site preparation and construction of this development in downtown Cleveland’s Gateway District.
Saturday, February 18, 2023
CWRU seeks more housing
Symbolism comes in many forms. A compelling symbol for the University Circle-area economy is seeing a building which housed people at the end of their working lives be turned into one for people preparing to start their careers. That’s the plan for the McGregor At Overlook, 2187 Overlook Rd., which Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) wants to buy and convert into student housing. When you need space for a growing number of students, you do what you can to accommodate them.
Friday, February 17, 2023
City staffing shortage threatens some Cleveland projects
At the start of 2024, the city of Cleveland’s new tax abatement policy will go into effect. While the policy will remain basically unchanged for much of the city, it will become less supportive of developments in neighborhoods where construction has been most active — University Circle, Ohio City, Tremont and parts of downtown. So, in those areas, developers are trying to expedite the delivery of projects before the 15-year property tax abatement on new developments declines from 100 percent to 85 percent. But there’s something standing in the way of that acceleration: a lack of city staff to get projects approved in time.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
East Cleveland on track for $100M project
Cuyahoga County Council’s approval this week of a property sale to a New York City-based developer could lead the way toward a “significant” development in the heart of East Cleveland. The site, at Euclid and Superior avenues, is just one-half-mile from the eastern edge of University Circle and set between stations on the HealthLine bus and Red Line rail rapid transit routes.
MLK Plaza bought by DC developer
Continued redevelopment of Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood was put into play last week following the acquisition of 4.45 acres of property which has hosted the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, 9300 Wade Park Ave., since 1972. Purchasing the MLK Plaza on Feb. 6 for $2.75 million was an affiliate of Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures (NREUV), according to Cuyahoga County records.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
EY moving across downtown
Although rumored for weeks, the announcement that EY (formerly Ernst & Young) is moving its offices out of one of only two trophy-class buildings in downtown Cleveland still came as a surprise to some longtime real estate executives. The 23-story office tower at 950 Main Ave. at Flats East Bank that bears Ernst & Young’s name has been one of downtown’s most expensive and successfully leased since it opened in 2013.
Clinic unveils Innovation District buildings
Two years ago, Gov. Mike DeWine announced hundreds of millions of dollars in state money to launch the Cleveland Innovation District — a program to advance health care, research and related activities in the Greater Cleveland area. This week, one of the largest and most visible outcomes of that initiative will be unveiled in the form of plans for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s next phase of its Global Center for Pathogen and Human Health Research at its Main Campus in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood.
Monday, February 13, 2023
Bedrock lays out riverfront plan, steps
Nighttime view of Bedrock’s vision for the riverfront below Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland (Adjaye Associates). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM |
At the City Planning Commission’s design-review meeting starting 9 a.m. Friday, representatives of Detroit-based Bedrock are scheduled to present more of its vision for downtown Cleveland’s riverfront below Tower City Center. In addition to showing renderings of the buildings and public spaces, Bedrock’s architectural team led by Adjaye Associates will lay out a schedule and a menu of items needed for building the infrastructural foundations to support the ambitious riverfront plan.
Saturday, February 11, 2023
Downtown Lakewood back to drawing board
After two years of seemingly endless meetings surrounding the redevelopment of Lakewood’s former hospital site, Roundstone Insurance has not only left the development project but decided to leave the inner-ring suburb entirely. Currently located in the former First Church of Christ Scientist, 15422 Detroit Ave., the headquarters of this fast-growing insurance firm with up to 240 employees and $17.5 million in annual payroll is due to leave Lakewood in April 2024, according to Mayor Meghan George’s administration.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Oracle/Cerner to open Cleveland training center
Cerner Corp., a healthcare division of software giant Oracle, is planning to open a training center at 3121 Euclid Ave. near downtown Cleveland that could accommodate hundreds of people in classrooms simultaneously. The proposed training center speaks to Oracle/Cerner’s growing presence in Greater Cleveland and the addition of another major healthcare employer to the region’s economy.
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Ohio, planning orgs plan Amtrak expansions
While Gov. Mike DeWine made the big news this week about Ohio seeking federal money to plan for and pursue Amtrak passenger rail expansion on two Cleveland-based routes, those aren’t the only routes that will be pursued. The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) also confirmed today that it will be seeking funds for similar plans but for several other routes ending in Cleveland. If realized, the services that could result from those expansions would turn downtown Cleveland into a mini-hub for Amtrak.
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Seeds & Sprouts XXVI – UC tech building, EOC going downtown, Tech Ready Mix buys land
CedarTech and Cumberland Development reveal office building plans. The Cleveland chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization is opening an office downtown. And concrete wholesaler Tech Ready Mix is acquiring a large property in Kinsman for what may be a new production facility.
Friday, February 3, 2023
Lakewood site prepped for development
Fences went up yesterday at Lakewood’s East End around a former National Tire & Battery (NTB) store and its parking lot at the southwest corner of Detroit and Coutant avenues. In the coming days, the NTB store will come down while hydraulic lifts in the building’s vehicle repair shop will be removed and possibly some of the soil surrounding the lifts, too. Those are just some of the activities that will prepare the site for the next phase of the Studio West 117 development.
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Downtown’s next high-rise to turn residential
Downtown Cleveland’s next office-to-residential conversion project appears to be in the works. But this one might not be a total changeover to a new use. Ohio Savings Plaza, with more than a half-million square feet divided among two buildings has something big going for it — it’s half-filled with office tenants. Or, half-empty if you’re a pessimist.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Why the LaSalle Theater is for sale
Earlier this month, NEOtrans broke the story that a Collinwood landmark, the LaSalle Theater, 823 E. 185th St., had hit the market after 14 years of ownership by the Northeast Shores Development Corporation (NSDC). But with the building stabilized and the NSDC ending its service to the Cleveland neighborhood, officials from the community development corporation said it was time to sell.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Centennial project downtown wins $15m HUD loan
The Centennial, one of downtown Cleveland’s most complicated, expensive and elusive redevelopment projects, got another sign that it is very much alive by winning a $15 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The financial assistance will be provided through HUD’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program and will be used to help finance the half-billion-dollar conversion of the former Huntington Building, 925 Euclid Ave., from mostly offices into primarily a residential property.
Saturday, January 28, 2023
New Hough housing seeks affordability
As market-rate housing developments continue to be built in Hough, this east-side Cleveland neighborhood is facing a challenge it hasn’t had to deal with for a century — remaining affordable. To that end, two new developments are moving forward to offer up to 160 workforce housing units plus a few retailers/restaurants that will offer services to those new residents. Those would add to hundreds more housing units that were recently completed, are under construction or planned in response to strong job growth in and near University Circle.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Ohio City apartment project gets ‘The Vibe’
Things are starting to come together for new construction on one of Ohio City’s largest development sites. A new developer is at the ready. A project architect was selected and a firm that typically provides construction general contracting has been added to guide the development’s design. The developer even has a name of the development and some basic, preliminary design concepts regarding scale. But what isn’t yet known for certain is the programming for the project and if it will include a ground-floor commercial use, like a restaurant.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Sterle’s to be demolished
If the demolition permit application filed Jan. 20 with the city wasn’t enough of an indication, the heavy equipment in the parking lot of Frank Sterle’s Slovenian Country House certainly is.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Rock Ventures: First Detroit, now Cleveland
Billionaire Dan Gilbert can ride up and down Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit and admire his work like no one else can. He can point at buildings like a kid checking out baseball cards in a collector’s showcase and say “got it, need it, got it, got it…” Perhaps he and his real estate company Bedrock might have the opportunity to do that soon in downtown Cleveland, too.
Saturday, January 21, 2023
Commission OKs Tremont rezoning
A nearly 25-acre area of land on a hillside at the north end of Tremont was recommended for rezoning by the City Planning Commission yesterday to allow more development closer to the Cuyahoga River. But the rezoning, primarily from general industry to general retail to accommodate new residential, neighborhood shops and restaurants, was opposed by the industries currently using those properties. Planning commission members responded that the rezoning allows existing uses to continue and that the rezoning is consistent with the city’s land use plans, namely its Vision For The Valley.
Friday, January 20, 2023
Sneak peek at GCRTA’s new trains
When the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) acquired new Italian-built Breda trains for its Blue and Green light-rail lines linking Shaker Heights and downtown Cleveland, Jimmy Carter was still in the White House. It was only a few years later, in Ronald Reagan’s first term, when GCRTA received new Japanese-made Tokyu trains for its heavy-rail Red Line between Cleveland Hopkins Airport and Windermere. GCRTA is still relying on trains that predate the mullet. To say that these trains are due for a replacement is an understatement.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Huge Tremont hillside development site is in the works
A former railroad yard-turned-asphalt plant at the edge of one of Cleveland’s hottest neighborhoods is the location of an emerging, large development site that could add shops, restaurants, other small businesses and hundreds of homes at a riverfront location. The developer leading the charge for this nearly 25-acre site is the same one involved in helping to move forward the 25-acre Thunderbird development on Scranton Peninsula in the Flats. But there appears to be some disagreement as to whether neighbors support or oppose the development.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Sherwin-Williams seeks “strategic developments” at HQ
When Sherwin-Williams (SHW) finalized a deal last month with Florida-based Benderson Realty Development Co. to buy a big stake in its new global headquarters, the conversations reportedly began with different intentions. According to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, those intentions were both more modest and more grand, depending on how one looks it, and could play out further over the coming year.
Friday, January 13, 2023
Seeds & Sprouts XXV — Park Place Tech stays, LaSalle Theater available, Grant Thornton moving
In this article, Park Place Technologies plans to stay and expand in Mayfield Heights, the LaSalle Theater is on the market in Collinwood, and Grant Thornton is moving, shrinking its downtown Cleveland office.
Thursday, January 12, 2023
Progressive Field final plans announced
The Cleveland Guardians today announced renovation projects that are scheduled to be completed over the next three years as a result of the Cleveland Guardians new lease extension at Progressive Field announced last year. Progressive Field Reimagined will improve and extend the life of Progressive Field, which is the 11th-oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, and will include renovations to the Upper Deck, Terrace Club, Dugout Club, home and visiting Clubhouses & Service Level, and the Guardians Administrative Offices.
Lakefront properties change hands
In the past week, two significant property sales occurred near the lakefront in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. While both occurred on different sides of Breakwater Avenue, one sale was of a former light-industrial property that was redeveloped with residential a little more than five years ago. The other sale was of a light-industrial property that has been destined for years to become residential and may now be on a faster ride in that direction.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Treatment Center To Vacate St. Mary’s Seminary
It’s a place where few women wanted to go. And after their experiences at the Hitchcock Center for Women, many say they never wanted to leave. While each person tends to enter the center facing an abyss wrought by addiction, many leave feeling loved and hopeful. The Hitchock Center hopes their new home will be able to provide at least as much care as the old.
Friday, January 6, 2023
Bedrock buys Gateway megaproject site
Bedrock and Stark Enterprises today officially announced the acquisition and sale of the former nuCLEus development site, adding 3.17 acres to Bedrock’s growing downtown Cleveland development portfolio. Situated at the intersection of East 4th Street, Prospect Avenue and Huron Road, the site is comprised of a large surface parking lot, a crumbling parking garage, and a two-story retail building containing Mr. Albert’s Men’s World.