Millennia’s Centennial due this year

Once one of the busiest intersections in Ohio, Euclid Avenue and East 9th
Street may start gaining new life this summer as workers descend upon 925
Euclid to remove and store historic features and undertake selective demo-
lition of non-load-bearing walls, conduits and other building components
that will not be part of the renovation of the former Union Trust Building
into The Centennial (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Although a “groundbreaking” ceremony for the start of one of downtown Cleveland’s largest-ever building renovations may not happen until late summer, you may see work crews going in and out of the former Union Trust Bank, 925 Euclid Ave., even earlier. That’s because an interior demolition permit application was submitted to the city this week to prepare for construction work in converting the 1.4-million-square-foot behemoth into The Centennial, featuring nearly 600 apartments, 170 hotel rooms, plus retail, restaurants and a museum.

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CWRU’s $300m research center moves forward

Yost Hall at Case Western Reserve University is to be demolished this summer to
make way for a research center that could be five times larger than Yost. This is no
longer a theoretical project as the university is already making moves to relocate
classes currently at Yost Hall (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A proposed Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building with a construction budget roughly equal to that of the new Sherwin-Williams headquarters’ original tab is no longer just an idea for administrators, staff and students at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). The university is already making moves to relocate classes and other services and activities out of Yost Hall, 2049 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., so it can be demolished this summer to make way for the new research center.

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Little Italy, Tremont townhouses planned

Four townhouses are planned in Tremont at the southeast corner of Jefferson
Avenue and West 7th Street, following the proposed demolition of two
structures that are up to 150 years old. Another pair of townhomes by
the same developer are planned in Little Italy (Bialosky).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A Cleveland real estate firm that has been renovating homes in the metro area is entering the new-construction market by building new homes in Sandusky and seeking to construct new townhomes in two of Cleveland’s hottest neighborhoods. ParaPrin Construction, located on West 105th Street, wants to construct six new townhomes in Little Italy and Tremont if its vision passes muster with the City Planning Commission.

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Weston plans huge warehouse in Euclid

In its promotions for a proposed, massive new warehouse in Euclid, Weston
Group used this rendering of its 2.1 million square foot distribution center in
Walton Halls. The Euclid warehouse will be about one-third that size, but final
plans are not yet available (LoopNet). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Keeping Euclid’s industrial facilities modern and competitive to attract new jobs is the goal of a large, new warehouse/light industrial facility called Tech Park 90 that could see construction start as early as June, said a representative of its developer, the Weston Group. Even more impressive is that the project is being pursued as a speculative development, meaning that an anchor tenant hasn’t been secured prior to Weston’s decision to move forward on it.

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Chester 82 gets thumbs up

The addition of more apartments along Chester Avenue in Cleveland’s
Hough neighborhoods will continue, this time with the addition of
Chester 82, to accommodate the growing number of workers at Cleve-
land Clinic and other University Circle-area eds-and-meds institutions
(Sullivan Bruck). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When the Cleveland Planning Commission gave final approval of design plans on April 21 for the Chester 82 development, 1898 E. 82nd St., it coincided with the federal government’s release of the latest jobs data for Greater Cleveland. That data offered a reminder of why Chester 82 and other residential developments in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood are happening.

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Hulett Hotel plans make a comeback

Plans for a hotel on West 25th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City are
returning after a six-year hiatus. Property owner Mark Raymond,
who also owns The Cleveland Hostel and Guesthouse just down
the street, and his architect will present their revised plans to
a neighborhood block club next week (Vocon).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Six years ago, Mark Raymond planned a 25-room boutique inn called the Hulett Hotel with a mix of new construction and renovation at 1452-1468 W. 25th St. in the Hingetown section of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood but the plan faded into memory during the pandemic. Today, he’s raising some eyebrows in the neighborhood by going bigger at a time when many real estate developers are putting construction plans on hold.

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The West Shore also rises

Looking east along the Lake Erie waterfront from the proposed Shoreway
Tower offers views of Edgewater Park, Battery Park and downtown Cleve-
land faintly in the distance. Several other lofty developments will be
visible from this new tower as properties along the West Shoreway
continue their metamorphosis from industrial to residential (EAO).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

In the coming weeks and months, the continued metamorphosis of land uses along Cleveland’s West Shoreway from industrial to residential will yield some new features that will show just how much Cleveland is changing. Several projects along the Shoreway-turned-Edgewater Parkway will be under way at roughly the same time and offer some lofty symbols about Clevelanders’ evolving regard for its often-ignored lakefront.

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GCRTA gives final OK to new rail car purchase

Although the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority approved a contract
with Siemens Mobility for these new trains, they won’t be ready to ride here
until the summer of 2026. It remains to be seen if GCRTA’s existing trains
will last that long (Siemens). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

After at least eight years of discussion and planning, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) Board Members unanimously voted to approve the Rail Car Replacement Team’s recommendation of Siemens Mobility Incorporated as the preferred vendor to replace their aging rail fleet during today’s GCRTA Board meeting. This follows a detailed presentation and committee recommendation made on April 4.

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Haslams’ major announcement(s)

One or more announcements are expected, starting in a week about the
future of downtown Cleveland’s lakefront and the Cleveland Browns’
CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea. If the results of those announce-
ments come to pass, downtown Cleveland’s lakefront and the north end of
Berea are going to look very different by the end of this decade (AoDK).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Berea Mayor Cyril Kleem, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne and others are due to make one or more big announcements starting next week that will include the lakefront football stadium, the Browns’ Berea campus, mixed-use developments around both plus a relocated Shoreway. The announcements will be about changes intended to activate the downtown lakefront by the end of this decade in ways it hasn’t been since the 1930s and to create a year-round fan-friendly village around the team’s suburban headquarters and practice facility, according to two sources familiar with the developments.

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Library Lofts: on time despite appearances

Library Lofts is two buildings in one — a nine-story apartment building
atop a two-story library, each with separate owners. The complicated coor-
dination between owners is one of the apparent causes of the slow pace of
construction. This photo was taken on April 9, 2023. Compare it with the
 photo below from more than six months ago on Sept. 30, 2022 (Gruver).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Last September, construction crews in Cleveland’s University Circle appeared to be close to topping off a cast-in-place concrete podium within which a new, two-story Martin Luther King Jr. Branch Library will be built and, on top of that a nine-story apartment building will rise. In the six and a half months since, one full story has been added to the podium. And, according to the project’s development team, you won’t see new stories added above it until mid-summer. By just about anyone’s book, that’s a long time getting through a story.

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Woodhill Homes gets funding boost

Woodhill Center East, a 58-unit multi-family residential building in the
foreground and 19 rental homes in the background, are rising at 11305
Woodland Ave. But their construction costs are also rising as a result of
inflation and other pandemic-related disruptions. An additional $10
million in federal funds were awarded to cover those costs (CMHA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

To cover rising construction costs resulting from inflation and other pandemic-related disruptions, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $10 million to the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and the City of Cleveland for the Woodhill Homes Transformation Plan. The funding is from a Choice Neighborhoods Supplemental Funding Grant to further support the development of replacement housing in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood. HUD awarded similar funds to 15 other current Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grantees to address their pandemic-related disruptions as well.

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Bridgeworks wins financing, start date

Thanks to the closing of a financing gap, developers of the long-planned,
15-story Bridgeworks tower at the northeast corner of West 25th Street
and the Detroit-Superior Bridge anticipate demolishing vacant buildings
on the site in June with construction following immediately thereafter.
In their place will rise a mixed-use tower with apartments, hotel,
offices, retail, parking and public spaces (MASS/LDA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

For more than two years, a planned high-rise at the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood has sought public funding to fill a financing gap. After missing out twice on tax credits from a statewide program, the developers looked closer to home and found the resources to start and finish construction. This week, the developers united under Bridgeworks LLC were awarded the final pieces of the fiscal puzzle to the $108 million project, allowing them to start work in June, they said.

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Greater Cleveland office market still struggling

Downtown Cleveland’s office market continues to struggle in the wake of
the pandemic that caused employees to work remotely, often from home.
Getting them back into the office may involve creating public incentives
to offset employers’ costs of adding more office amenities (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Newmark, one of the world’s leading real estate services firms, issued its first quarter 2023 (23Q1) office market report for Greater Cleveland today and it continues to show a worsening situation in the region’s office sector. While only one submarket within Greater Cleveland showed an increase in office occupancies, none are taking it on the chin more than the central business district (CBD), its retailers, restaurants and transportation providers. But that data may have been disproportionately affected by a major deal.

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Treo opening doors on West 25th

 

Tenants are already moving their stuff into to Treo on West 25th
Street, where Tremont meets Ohio City, even as construction
workers put the finishing touches on the building and the
landscaping (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Treo, named for where Tremont meets Ohio City, is the first of the big, market-rate apartment buildings to come to this no-man’s land part of town. Built on the site of a former auto repair and scrap yard business along a lesser-traveled section of West 25th Street, Treo’s first resident moved into the 171-unit property last week as construction work is substantially completed.

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Haslams envision glitzy new Berea future

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ Star District in the Dallas suburb
of Frisco, TX is reportedly the inspiration for Dee and Jimmy Haslam’s
planned expansion of its Cleveland Browns/Haslam Sports Group head-
quarters and practice facility in Cleveland’s suburb of Berea. While
this is a rendering, it shows what has been substantially built in
Frisco so far with much more planned (stardistrict.com).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The owners of the Cleveland Browns are trying to keep up with the Jones’. And the Kroenkes, Spanos’ and Wilfs, too. To do that means upgrading the Browns’ football facilities. But that isn’t limited to their downtown Cleveland stadium where the team plays games each Sunday in the Fall.

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Cleveland RTA reveals its new trains

Introducing the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s new trains
that will operate on all rail lines and replacing one of the oldest rail car fleets
in the nation. The new trains, to be built by Siemens Mobility of Sacramento,
CA, will increase service reliability for passengers and reduce operating costs
for the transit agency (GCRTA). CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE THEM.

For the first time in four decades, Greater Cleveland is about to get a new Rapid. While NEOtrans revealed in January what type of new rail car Greater Clevelanders will be riding for the next two to three decades, that news was made official today by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). Much more detail about the new rapid transit trains also was provided.

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Slavic Village properties back on market

The vacant, former Elgin Furniture store, 5217 Broadway Ave. in Cleveland’s
Slavic Village, is spread across five parcels and for sale along with another
vacant building at 5236 Broadway. A seventh parcel at 5311 Magnet Ave. is
owned by the same Columbus-based firm and next to the ex-Elgin site. That
site is across the street from The Rising, the largest development in Slavic
Village in 25 years (LoopNet). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Seven high-profile properties along a short section of Broadway Avenue in Cleveland’s Slavic Village have hit the market after years of inactive ownership by a Columbus-based real estate firm. All of the properties except one which is an empty lot, have historic but vacant buildings on them. But the offerings are not publicly listed as available for sale by ME Real Estate LLC.

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