Why the LaSalle Theater is for sale

Marquee of the LaSalle Theater on East 185th Street in Cleveland’s
Collinwood neighborhood. The theater is on the market and the rea-
sons why were confirmed by the owner (David Schwartz Photography
for LaSalle Theater). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Centennial project downtown wins $15m HUD loan

One of downtown Cleveland’s largest buildings and one of its
most difficult office-to-residential conversions is The Centennial
at East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue. Despite and because of it
winning multiple sources of public funding, the redevelopment
project continues to lack a start date (Sandvick).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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New Hough housing seeks affordability

Located across the street from historic League Park where Major League
baseball and college football games were played from 1891-1949 could
soon be a 104-unit housing development called Allen Estates featuring
apartments and townhouses, plus four retail/restaurant spaces for
lease (CPC). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Ohio City apartment project gets ‘The Vibe’

The Vibe’s development site in the Hingetown section of Ohio City in
Cleveland is the former Cleveland Vibrator plant. It is outlined in red,
with the potential footprints of two future apartment buildings marked
by yellow boxes. North is at the top of the image. Clinton Avenue is
across the bottom of the image, with West 29th Street at left and West
28th Street at right (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Sterle’s to be demolished

With part of its roof missing from a November fire, the chateau-like Frank
Sterle’s Slovenian Country House on East 55th Street awaits its fate this
week. The ethnic and cultural institution on Cleveland’s east side since
1954 is days away from getting demolished (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Rock Ventures: First Detroit, now Cleveland

It’s almost impossible to take a picture in Downtown Detroit and not
include a property that belongs to or is connected ith Dan Gilbert’s
Rock Ventures LLC. Start with the Qline streetcar running along 3
miles of Woodward Avenue which was partially funded and man-
aged by Rock Ventures. Then, at far left, Bedrock is building the
$1.4 billion Hudson’s Site development. Just beyond it are three
high-rises owned by Bedrock — One Campus Martius, First
National Building and Ally Detroit Center. Along the side-
walk at right are many more Bedrock-owned buildings
with retailers given free or below-market rent. Cleve-
land is next, Bedrock officials say (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Commission OKs Tremont rezoning

The western edge of a nearly 25-acre site, at right, that’s proposed to be
down-zoned from industrial to retail in Cleveland is seen at the bottom
of Literary Street hill. This is also the edge of residential development
in Tremont, visible just beyond the Towpath Trail’s bridge. At left is the
Electric Gardens apartments developed by J Roc which is seeking the
zoning change (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

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.

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Sneak peek at GCRTA’s new trains

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) is reportedly in

  negotiations with Siemens Mobility to supply dozens of trains like this one for

use on all three of the metro area’s rail lines. The standardization of trains

 and infrastructure means GCRTA could offer a one-seat ride with no transfers

from Shaker Heights to the Airport or from Windermere to Cleveland

Browns games and special events on the lakefront trains (Siemens).

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

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.

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Huge Tremont hillside development site is in the works

Potentially one of the largest and most attractive development sites in
the city of Cleveland is being assembled on a Tremont hillside above
the Cuyahoga River. Tremont-based developer J Roc Development has
at least 18 acres under a purchase agreement with up to 25 acres to be
rezoned for a mixed-use residential-retail development (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

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.

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Sherwin-Williams seeks “strategic developments” at HQ

A purple outline of a building or buildings on the strategic development
site of the North Block of Sherwin-Williams’ headquarters campus
suggests what is possible. This view is from the corner of West 6th
Street and St. Clair Avenue in downtown Cleveland’s Warehouse
District. Renderings of SHW’s complex headquarters tower and
parking garage are in the background (Property of Sherwin-
Williams Company). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

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.

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Seeds & Sprouts XXV — Park Place Tech stays, LaSalle Theater available, Grant Thornton moving

Park Place Technologies currently occupied Building No. 2, at lower left,
in the Landerbrook Corporate Center in Mayfield Heights. It will reportedly
expand into the neighboring Building No. 3 at lower right (Shelbourne).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Progressive Field final plans announced

 By Opening Day of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, which typically
starts in early April, the Cleveland Guardians said they expect the $202.5
million renovation of Progressive Field to be completed. The team will

fund approximately one-third of the facility’s renovation costs (Manica).

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

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.

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Lakefront properties change hands

The lakefront property on Cleveland near-West Side to change hands most
recently was the Premium Metals site, highlighted in red. But The Edison
at Gordon Square, seen just beyond it, also sold to a new owner in the
 past week (Cresco). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.  

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.

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Treatment Center To Vacate St. Mary’s Seminary

If the 98-year-old St. Mary Seminary overlooking Rockefeller Park in
Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood seems older than its 98 years,
it’s because some of it is. A number of decorative features on the
building were imported from Europe and date from the 1400s to 1600s.

Since 1992, the property has been owned by the Hitchcock Center

for Women which provides addiction treatment services. It will be

expanding into a new building planned next door while the historic

facility may be redeveloped into offices (Tom Truelson/Cleveland

Restoration Society). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Bedrock buys Gateway megaproject site

 An unofficial rendering of how affiliates connected to the Cleveland Cavaliers/Monsters
and Cleveland Guardians could develop their newly acquired properties in the Gateway 
District. Today, Bedrock bought a 3-acre development site for a potentially significant
development (Ian McDaniel). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

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.

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Next Woodhill Homes phase starts

Woodhill Center East on Woodland Avenue is starting construction today
thanks to the close financing for the 77-unit residential development that
will replace some of the aging 487 units of Woodhill Homes (City
Architecture). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Marous Brothers Construction is moving equipment onto the site today and are quickly beginning construction on Woodhill Center East, a $33.4 million development located at 11305 Woodland Ave. This phase of the Buckeye-Woodhill Transformation Plan will create 77 quality affordable apartments for families and help revitalize the Buckeye-Woodhill community, according to project backers.

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Shoreway Tower clears another hurdle

A proposed 13-story residential tower overlooking Lake Erie and Edge-
water Park won additional city approvals today and moved closer to
construction (EAO). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One of the most important remaining hurdles for a proposed high-rise apartment building overlooking Edgewater Park was finally cleared after multiple postponements. But today, Cleveland’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) unanimously approved four variances to the city’s zoning code necessary to build the project on a parking lot at the north end of West 78th Street. Today’s action puts the project a big step closer to construction.

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What we may see in 2023

Downtown Cleveland on a foggy night in December 2022. The future
is always foggy but some things that are already in the works are
likely to emerge into the clear in 2023 (Courtesy of Matt Lance
of Lance Aerial). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When it comes to business, real estate and community investment, there’s a lot to look forward to in Greater Cleveland in 2023. Look no further than the new Canon Healthcare headquarters, Bedrock real estate’s riverfront plans, Midtown Cleveland developments, booming University Circle and its spillover into long-neglected neighborhoods, the next artist district in Cleveland, who is buying Stark Enterprises ex-nuCLEus site, ballpark villages around our city’s sport venues, lakefront plans and projects, plus transit-oriented developments.

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