Haslams respond to Cleveland mayor’s ‘Modell’ letter

Cleveland City Hall, below the wind turbine, and Huntington Bank Field at right,
home of the Cleveland Browns, may be within sight of each other but they are
far apart on any agreement regarding where the professional football team
will play its home games after the 2028 season (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Ten days ago, NEOtrans broke the story that the city of Cleveland intended to pursue invoking “the Modell Law” against the Cleveland Browns in order to make them keep playing their home games within the city limits — and especially Downtown Cleveland. Today, the Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb sent a letter to the Browns’ owners outlining the terms of how the city intends to do that. And now the Browns’ owners have responded.

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Top Cleveland-area developments of 2024

Beyond the Cleveland Browns stadium debate, the Cleveland Cavaliers, city
of Cleveland, Sherwin-Williams and more pushed projects forward on the lakefront
across Northeast Ohio (HKS). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Development plans and projects picked up the pace in 2024 as inflation got back under control, interest rates stabilized, construction supplies became more readily available and lending became more liquid. But no Greater Cleveland story dominated the news more than a proposed stadium for a certain football team.

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The end of industry on Breakwater

This row of industrial buildings last used by Premium Metals Inc., as seen last August
on the south side of Breakwater Avenue in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood,
 probably won’t survive long enough to see the spring. They are the last industrial
buildings along Breakwater and are due to be leveled for a large development called
Breakwater Residences (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In the coming weeks, the last vestiges of industry along a once heavily industrialized street are due to pass into history. What will replace it is the same thing that has replaced industrial uses along the rest of Breakwater Avenue in Cleveland’s redeveloping Gordon Square neighborhood — housing. Lots of housing.

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Ex-Medical Mutual HQ sale amount ‘A great deal’

The former Medical Mutual of Ohio headquarters in Downtown Cleveland sold
earlier this month. But its sale price wasn’t publicized until the deed transfer was
recorded by the county on Christmas eve. The sale included the 10-story Rose
Building and the attached six-story Sloan Building, at left (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Although the buyer of the former Medical Mutual of Ohio headquarters in Downtown Cleveland publicized earlier this month it had closed on its purchase financing, they declined to reveal the transaction amount at that time. But that amount became public when the deed transfer was filed with the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer on Christmas Eve.

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Miceli Dairy to start its big expansion in spring

The first phase of Miceli Dairy Products’ expansion in Cleveland’s Buckeye-
Woodland neighborhood will build south along East 90th Street and around
two homes plus the New Zion Baptist Church, shown only as a trio of two-
dimensional rectangles along East 90th in the bottom image. New structures
include the one hosting the docked trucks and the dark-sided storage building
next to it (TMA Architects). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Miceli Dairy Products is taking the first big steps toward its multi-phase expansion vision by unveiling plans for its $16 million first phase. But when all three phases are completed in the coming years, Miceli anticipates making a $128 million investment that will bring hundreds of new jobs to Cleveland’s Buckeye-Woodland neighborhood.

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Historic Carriage Co. project in Ohio City advances

The Carriage Co. redevelopment of the former Voss Industries plant by MRN Ltd.
is anticipated to liven up the south end of West 25th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio
City neighborhood (SA Group). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A slew of construction permit applications were submitted to the Cleveland Building Department last week for the redevelopment of the former Voss Industries plant, 2168 W. 25th St., in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. This $63.4 million project along with a planned bus rapid transit corridor on West 25th promises to expand the vibrancy of the Market District farther south.

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Fairview Hospital’s North Campus plan gets Rx

This massing shows the conceptual scale and placement of buildings on Fairview
Hospital’s North Campus. The new cancer center and medical office building is
proposed to be built first then the old Moll Cancer Center will be demolished
for a parking garage to replace the existing parking garage on Groveland
Avenue (CannonDesign). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Although a conceptual plan for Fairview Hospital’s North Campus $150 million redevelopment won unanimous support from Cleveland Planning Commission on Friday, commissioners attached a few conditions to it. At the same meeting, the commission also recommended that Cleveland City Council approve rezoning the hospital’s properties with a more appropriate classification. The hospital is located at 18101 Lorain Ave. in Cleveland’s Kamms Corners neighborhood.

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City to invoke Modell law against Browns move

The Haslam Sports Group are advancing in their plans to relocate the venue for
their Cleveland Browns football team’s home games to suburban Brook Park.
City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County officials have vowed to stop
them (HKS). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin confirmed this week that the city will invoke the state’s Modell Law to stop the Cleveland Browns from leaving the city for a new stadium site in suburban Brook Park. He also said the city and county are in a joint effort to keep the team playing its home games downtown with Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne leading the fight.

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Projects OK’d for affordable housing loan, credits

An affordable apartment building similar to this one planned by Pivotal Housing
Partners in Buffalo, NY is sought by the same developer on West 27th Street in
Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood. A second five-story senior housing

complex is also planned next door by St. Mary Development Co. (Pivotal).

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In Cleveland, one east-side housing development and one west-side development are set to receive 4-percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA). The agency announced that determination yesterday in a spreadsheet posted on its Web site. A third project won a $1.75 million OHFA loan, OHFA said in a written statement released today.

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JCU Gateway North project approved by city

University Heights City Council approved plans for the JCU Gateway North
development at Fairmount Circle and Warrensville Center Road (Vocon).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

John Carroll University’s (JCU) transformative Gateway North project, a mixed-use retail and residential complex, has taken a significant step forward with approval from the University Heights City Council yesterday. Plans for the project had been under review by several city panels in this eastern Cleveland suburb for several months.

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Cleveland NWSL bid falls short, seeks future team

Cleveland has apparently lost out to Denver in landing the 16th expansion
franchise of the National Women’s Soccer League. But local backers of
the effort to land an expansion franchise said they haven’t given up
hope (CSG). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Denver appears to have outbid its nearest rivals, including Cleveland and Cincinnati, for the 16th expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). A Denver-based ownership group is reported to be exclusively negotiating a $105 million to $120 million fee to land the team — or roughly double the previous record high expansion fee of $53 million paid last year by a Boston group.

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Downtown Lakewood megaproject gets final OK

Construction is due to start in the second half of 2025 on the development of the
former Lakewood Hospital site in Downtown Lakewood. The project is expected
to deliver much needed housing, retail and community plaza space in the center of
this walkable inner-ring suburb (Dimit). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Two panels of elected officials voted simultaneously last night to approve agreements authorizing the Downtown Lakewood development to start as early as Aug. 30, 2025. The $119 million mixed-use project will finally repurpose the former site of the city-owned Lakewood Hospital that closed in 2016 and has sat largely devoid of structures for five years.

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Large Midtown development planned

Planned between Euclid and Chester avenues in the East 40s is a large, mostly
residential development. This project takes its cue from the newly built Foundry
Lofts between Euclid and Carnegie avenues in the East 70th that leased out pretty
quickly. This view looks northwesterly from Euclid Avenue (Vocon).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A property transaction recorded last week by Cuyahoga County revealed an emerging development site that could host about 200 apartments in Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood. The site, located between Euclid and Chester avenues in the East 40s, has been the subject of interest by multiple developers in recent years.

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A Browns stadium quid pro quo

An architect’s rendering of a mixed-use development surrounding a proposed,
enclosed, 67,000-seat stadium in suburban Brook Park. The $1.2 billion in
development would depend on the $2.4 billion stadium, which in turn would
depend on half of its funding being financed by public-sector sources (HKS).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Two years before Gloria Gaynor released her 1978 smash hit “I Will Survive” about recovering from a breakup, she released another song titled “Let’s Make a Deal” — referring to a marriage. In the coming days and weeks, we’re likely to hear more about a similar plot line albeit in reverse involving the proposed new stadium in suburban Brook Park.

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Ohio City housing emerging south of tracks

A private home was demolished earlier this year on Barber Avenue in Cleveland’s
Ohio City, just east of the BVQ Lofts seen in the distance that was delivered by
the same developer five years ago. Now the developer is turning his attention
to a new construction project on the vacant land on the north side of Barber,
west of West 25th Street and south of Train Avenue (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

An early indicator of an emerging real estate development is to see a request for unused public rights of way to be vacated. Another is a mass of properties being acquired by the same company in the same area. Yet another is to see decaying structures in that area be demolished. All three of those conditions are occurring on Barber Avenue at West 30th Street, at the south end of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.

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Cleveland maritime sector is big business

A lake carrier ship makes it way up the Cuyahoga River from Lake Erie, past
Downtown Cleveland. A new report by the Ohio Department of Transporation
shows how important the maritime industry is to Greater Cleveland's
economy (Port of Cleveland). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The Port of Cleveland and the maritime-dependent industrial sector are showing resiliency and growth as an economic force in Northeast Ohio, according to a new study commissioned by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). The latest analysis reveals the port and maritime sector generates more than 23,000 jobs and over $7 billion in economic impact, a notable increase of $2.3 billion since 2021.

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Bridgeworks gets green light from Landmarks

Design refinements were made to the south side of Bridgeworks, a proposed
Ohio City apartment building, with this version win approval today from the
Cleveland Landmarks Commission. The project site is at the northeast corner
of West 25th Street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge, just west of Downtown
Cleveland (GLSD). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Typically, the third time’s a charm, but Bridgeworks needed more times than that to earn the approval of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission. Ultimately, the proposal passed unanimously today. The go-ahead allows developers to move forward with constructing all of the $84 million project, located at 2429 W. Superior St. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.

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Haslam email preempts City, County at stadium debate

The question of whether the Cleveland Browns should play home games in suburban
Brook Park, at left, or in Downtown Cleveland, at right, has been put to Greater
Cleveland’s business power brokers (HKS, left; Vocon, right).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Yesterday morning, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, Cuyahoga County Council President Pernel Jones Jr., Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin arrived at the monthly board meeting of the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP). There, they asked the 70-member board of the region’s corporate CEOs and presidents to side with them on where the Cleveland Browns should play their home games after 2028.

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NE Ohio projects get historic wins from tax credits

At 363 feet tall, Rhodes Tower at Cleveland State University is the fourth-tallest
educational-purposed building in the United States. The 53-year-old building
won $5 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits as part of a $92
million project redevelop most of the tower with student housing (CSU).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

There were 14 Cuyahoga County historic renovation projects that won a total of $16,267,141 in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits today. Most of those projects would repurpose their 50-plus-year-old buildings for new uses so they can contribute to their communities for at least another 50 years. Some of the buildings are pretty well known.

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Haslams announce Brook Park stadium-area development partner, updated plans

This updated view from above Interstate 71 and looking westerly toward Cleveland
Hopkins International Airport in the background, shows the proposed multi-purpose
roofed stadium in suburban Brook Park and surrounding development. The stadium
is in approximately the same place as before, but the conceptual location, arrange-
ment and scale of mixed-use buildings is different in this view than in previous
 graphics which showed more structures to the south and west of the stadium.
Instead, these are arranged to the south and east closer to EngleRoad/Henry
Ford Boulevard (HKS). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

New details emerged today on the proposed $1.2 billion mixed-use district surrounding the Haslam Sports Group’s (HSG) proposed all-purpose, roofed stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park. HSG announced that Lincoln Property Company, a global real estate firm, will be the development partner for the Cleveland Browns’ 176-acre mixed-use entertainment district.

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Old Brooklyn structures OK’d for demolition

Three structures identified here are to be demolished plus a fourth, a small house,
partially hidden behind them are to be replaced by a new development called
Memphis & Pearl. St. Luke Church will be preserved and incorporated into
the development (Desmone). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In the coming months, the busy intersection of Memphis Avenue and Pearl Road in the heart of Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood will look very different. The change is due from the City Planning Commission’s approval on Friday of an application to demolish four buildings at that intersection, each of which are historic structures but in varying stages of decay.

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Shoreway Tower has construction in view for 2025

A proposed 13-story residential building overlooking Edgewater Park and the West
Shoreway Boulevard is planned as an addition to the Shoreway Apartments. The
existing apartment building will also be renovated (EAO).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

There’s been lots of progress lately on the development of a proposed 13-story Shoreway Tower overlooking Edgewater Park in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. Revising easements for a sewer right of way, transferring properties for a tax-increment financing (TIF) district, and advancing legislation to authorize that TIF could allow construction to start sometime in 2025.

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North Collinwood ‘historic’ modular townhomes OK’d

Final designs for six modular townhomes called Arcade Place
were unanimously approved yesterday by the Cleveland
Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee. They will be
built on a vacant lot on East 156th Street at Arcade Avenue, just
north of the Waterloo Arts District (HEART Design Group).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Six townhomes may not sound like much, but their builder says they’re an “historic” next step toward increasing the amount of modular housing in Cleveland. City officials and some home builders say more modular homes are needed here to address shortages in quality, affordable housing, fill vacant lots, repopulate the city, increase homeownership in Cleveland and build equity.

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Tick Tock Tavern closing after 75+ years

A familiar sign along Clifton Boulevard in Cleveland’s Edgewater neighborhood
will go dark a week before Christmas. Owner John Tripodis is retiring after more
than 30 years of running the famous West Side restaurant (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

It’s not often that a restaurant survives more than a few years. Rarer still is the restaurant that lasts nearly eight decades. Tick Tock Tavern, which has been at the same location, 11526 Clifton Blvd., in the Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland since the year before the last electric streetcars rumbled by in 1948, is set to close its doors forever in just 12 days.

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Gordon Square development wins approval

Unlike most Cleveland buildings which are of a gray or beige color, the “Soap Site”
apartments next to Herman Park in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood won
approval from a city design review panel for being different and for embracing
its surroundings (Dimit). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Projects can move fast in Cleveland when you coordinate with stakeholders and align with the Planning Commission. That’s what happened with a proposed mixed use development in the Gordon Square neighborhood dubbed the “Soap Site” went from a conceptual plan revealed publicly only a month ago, to unanimous final design approval today by commission members.

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Haslams say proposed Browns’ Brook Park stadium, development to net $1.2 billion in benefits per year

The ownership of the Cleveland Browns and their stadium development firm say
that a new roofed stadium will create benefits for the suburb of Brook Park and
all of Northeast Ohio including Downtown Cleveland where the team currently
plays (HKS Architects). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The Haslam Sports Group, owners of the Cleveland Browns football team and stadium development company Primacy Development LLC, released findings today from a study saying their proposed stadium in suburban Brook Park would benefit all of Cuyahoga County, including Downtown Cleveland. But county officials say they want the Browns to continue playing downtown and aren’t buying the study’s findings.

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Centennial still alive, among Ohio Brownfield winners

The Centennial redevelopment of 925 Euclid Ave. is project that has not seen much
visible activity lately. But it suddenly has some by winning $10 million in Brownfield
funding through the Cuyahoga Land Bank. It was one of 34 such projects to win
funding (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Without any visible activity in nearly two years, rumors circulated throughout Cleveland’s development community that the roughly $500 million Centennial redevelopment, 925 Euclid Ave. in Downtown Cleveland was dead. Similar rumors circulated about the fate of the Rockefeller Building, 614 W. Superior Ave., and renovations to Rhodes Tower, 2124 Chester Ave., one of the projects in Cleveland State University quieted development master plan.

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Three vacant drugstores, three possible outcomes

A former Walgreens at the busy intersection of West 130th Street and Bellaire
Road in Cleveland’s Bellaire-Puritas neighborhood is due to become a super-
rmarket with a new gas station outside and fresh foods inside (HEART
Design Group). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In Councilman Danny Kelly’s Ward 11 on Cleveland’s West Side, there are three vacant drugstores. Each is facing a different potential outcome. A former CVS on Madison Avenue at West Boulevard may be replaced by a fire station after a gas station was rejected by the neighborhood. An abandoned Rite Aid at West 117th Street and Lorain Avenue may become a senior center. And a vacant Walgreens at West 130th Street and Bellaire Road could turned into a supermarket with a gas station.

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Ohio City townhomes project gets 2nd shot

Townhomes in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood are about to see construction
after being put on hold for nearly three years. An improving for-sale housing
market is a major reason why as is a new general contractor overseeing
the project (Sixmo). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A long-planned and contentious townhomes development at 4705 Bridge Ave. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood is seeing signs of construction activity after being on hold for nearly three years. The project’s revival is due to several factors including an improved for-sale housing market of lower interest rates, more fluid financing for construction and a new construction contractor that was hired.

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Cleveland wants a home for manufactured homes

Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity installed five modular homes Oct. 23 at
11830 Matherson Ave. on Cleveland’s West Side. Each was a three-bed, two-bath,
1,350-square-foot home and was the first significant project to build new homes
in Ward 11 since 2005. But the nearest plant for building modular homes is more
than 100 miles away. City officials want one in Cleveland to increase the supply
and reduce transportation costs (Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The city of Cleveland and the Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund announced today they have issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to modular home manufacturers across the United States and internationally to establish a manufacturing facility in Cleveland. The city and fund officials said they are responding to industry requests for such a facility.

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Look to Milwaukee to rid lakefront of freight trains

Reducing freight train traffic off Downtown Cleveland’s lakefront is a realistic
possibility, one that was bolstered  by a similar project in Milwaukee that was
just funded by the federal government. One of the benefits would be to reduce
the amount of time the Norfolk Southern drawbridge at the mouth of the
Cuyahoga River is lowered for so many long freight trains (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One month ago, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) won a $72.8 million federal grant to reroute freight train traffic south of the Menomonee River and away from Downtown Milwaukee. The project has many similarities to a local concept for rerouting most freight traffic south of Downtown Cleveland, away from the lakefront.

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Cedar Branch YMCA to become African Town Plaza

Opened in 1942 and closed 70 years later, the Cedar Branch YMCA at East 77nd
Street was a safe and welcoming place for young African-American men. It could
be that again, led by Nigerian immigrant and real estate development James Sosan
who is seeking to give back to his adopted hometown (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

On this Thanksgiving, we’re reminded that there was a place on the city’s East Side that was once a source of thanks and appreciation to young African-American men for 70 Thanksgivings. That place was the Cedar Branch YMCA that helped young men gain a foothold to start climbing in the community. It could be that again for future Thanksgivings after it is renovated as a mixed-use project thanks to plans and financing that are now coming together.

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Lakewood’s Barry Buick to fall, apartments to rise

Looking west on Detroit Avenue from Rosewood Avenue in Lakewood, two apartment
buildings and a new Huntington Bank branch are planned to be built on the three blocks
of the former Steve Barry Buick car dealership. A view of some of the existing conditions
 is shown later in this article (Vocon). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Another one of Lakewood’s former car dealerships on Detroit Avenue is about to come down. Next to fall is Steve Barry Buick, 16000 Detroit Ave., that closed in 2018, to be replaced by a pair of four-story apartment buildings plus a stand-alone bank branch. Site work could potentially start in a few months, said a Lakewood city official.

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New Shaker Square apartments stir again

The Van Aken Plaza at the east end of the Shaker Square commercial district is coming
down. After 85 years, the venerable shopping center along Van Aken Boulevard, south
of the two-story office building at right, will be demolished for future development,
possibly a a modern, competitive, multi-family building atop ground-floor retail
spaces (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Development projects in Shaker Square and elsewhere in Greater Cleveland that have languished in recent years are showing signs of life again. That new energy is thanks in part to new state funding that was awarded to make their development sites ready for construction and renovation.

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Downtown Heinen’s store to be reconfigured

Heinen’s Downtown Cleveland grocery store is being simplified for
customers by placing everything on the first floor (Michael Collier).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Work is underway to reconfigure what many have called America’s most beautiful grocery store. The work represents the most significant renovations to the Downtown Cleveland Heinen’s store, 900 Euclid Ave., since it opened in 2015.

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Ex-Leisy Brewery site back on the market again

The former Leisy Brewery property on Vega Avenue at Fulton Road at the south-
west corner of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood was envisioned as a residen-
tial redevelopment site by its current owner and others. But due to internal issues,
the owner is selling the property only 18 months after buying it (The Sweda
Group). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Only 18 months after buying the former Leisy Brewery property, 3400 Vega Ave. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, an affiliate of Sanctus Capital LLC of Westlake has put the site back on the market again. It’s the second former brewery this year that was put up on the market in this part of town. Across Fulton Road, the closed Platform Brewery was put up for sale in May.

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Land Bank, Loiter Cafe call truce in East Cleveland

The Mickey’s Building in the Circle East section of East Cleveland is back on track
as the Cuyahoga Land Bank and tenant Loiter Cafe announced they ended their
legal battle and will work together on improving the neighborhood (RDL).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cuyahoga Land Bank and Loiter Cafe and Marketplace are pleased to announce that they have settled their dueling lawsuits concerning the Mickey’s Building, 12550 Euclid Ave., in East Cleveland. The land bank and Loiter said they realized an amicable solution was achievable and in everyone’s best interest.

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Haslam’s Brook Park, Berea developments progress

Starting tonight at a city of Berea Planning Commission meeting, property owner
Haslam Sports Group, developer DiGeronimo Companies and architect AODK Archi-
tecture are seeking a project design-specific rezoning for a Cleveland Browns-themed
mixed-use development (Architecture, Design, & 3D Renderings by AODK Archi-
tecture). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A small but strategic piece of land that was in the way of the Haslam Sports Group’s (HSG) proposed stadium for its Cleveland Browns football team in suburban Brook Park has sold. Its sale gets it out of the way and into the fold of the overall property transaction for the roofed stadium. And in neighboring Berea, where HSG and its partners plan a Browns-themed mixed-use development, site plans are getting their first airing tonight as part of a rezoning request.

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Cleveland riverside neighborhood opens for tours

The Collins Apartments, at left, are built on a former steel mill site along Carter
Road in the Flats. The new development features 15 townhomes and two multi-
family buildings and are now open to hard-hat tours by prospective tenants.
More developments are rising on Scranton Peninsula across and down
the street (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

For much of the past 50 years, Scranton Peninsula, across the curving Cuyahoga River from Downtown Cleveland, had become an increasingly desolate place. It saw its two largest industrial employers — Northern Ohio Lumber and Republic Steel’s Upson Nut Division — depart, leaving the 75-acre peninsula scarred and mostly vacant.

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Barons-Greyhound Lease at Brookpark station OK’d

A Barons bus rolls past the old Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Downtown Cleve-
land Barons and Greyhound bus operations will move in the Summer 2025 from
downtown to an unused parking lot at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit
Authority’s Brookpark Rapid transit station on the city’s far-west side (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

With the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) board of trustees unanimously approving a lease with Barons Bus Inc. today, the intercity bus carrier and its partner Greyhound have started on a timetable to relocate out of the historic Downtown Cleveland Greyhound station, 1465 Chester Ave.

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Machine Gun Kelly aims for Shooters in Flats

Shooters On The Water restaurant at Cleveland’s Flats West Bank has a new
operator, a company associated with singer and songwriter Machine Gun
Kelly who grew up in Cleveland. The 37-year-old restaurant on the
Cuyahoga River will be renovated but will keep the name as
Shooters (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

If there was anyone who would be a perfect fit to take over the operation of a restaurant named Shooters, it would be a guy named Machine Gun Kelly. The riverside restaurant will reportedly be the singer and songwriter’s second establishment in Downtown Cleveland’s Flats entertainment district and is due to be renovated and reopened in the summer of 2025.

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Clinic’s next big parking garage reveals growing pains

University Circle in one picture — big, shiny new buildings, more under construction,
traffic and transit. This is the scene at Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street and en-
capsulates the promises and challenges of rapid growth of Cleveland’s “Second
Downtown” which is rivaling its first downtown as the region’s largest em-
ployment hub (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The largest structure on the Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus isn’t the new 1-million-square-foot Neurological Building on Carnegie Avenue. Instead it’s the 1.56-million-square-foot East 89th Street Parking Garage just west of the Neuro Building. And immediately west of that, on the former site of the Cleveland Play House, Clinic officials are reportedly considering another large parking garage that has transit advocacy groups calling for healthier options.

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Bedrock plans Riverfront Rock & Roll Land theater, 17-story hotel in Downtown Cleveland

The near structure and its surrounding public spaces along the Cuyahoga River in
Downtown Cleveland are the subject of a request by developer Bedrock for $40
million in Transformational Mixed Use Development tax credits. It is one of
21 applicants from around the state to seek the “megaprojects” tax credit
(Adjaye Associates). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The next phase of Bedrock’s Downtown Cleveland Riverfront development is proposed to feature a large, 17-story entertainment complex topped by a hotel. Dubbed Rock and Roll Land, it is the largest of seven Northeast Ohio projects and is seeking the largest award possible in the fourth and final authorized round of the Ohio Department of Development’s Transformation Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credits.

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Port OK’s $171M in financing for major projects

Additional financing was approved today for the $200+ million dollar Cleveland
Clinic Global Peak Performance Center to be built over a restored Eagle Avenue
ramp, extending up from this intersection of West 3rd Street to Downtown Cleve-
land’s Gateway District (Populous). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The Port of Cleveland today approved the issuance of more than $171 million in bonds and notes for four transformative projects, including the pivotal first new development in Bedrock’s Riverfront project along the Cuyahoga River and a major affordable housing renovation in downtown Cleveland, among other strategic initiatives.

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Go Browns! But where?

An unofficial, conceptual rendering of what Downtown’s Cleveland lakefront
immediately north of the central business district could look like if Huntington
Bank Field were replaced by smaller, productive, everyday uses — and if Burke
Lakefront Airport was closed and replaced by other uses, including possibly a
relocated, all-purpose domed stadium that pushed land-eating parking away
from downtown (Ardoonave). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One of the most anticipated games in my early Cleveland Browns fandom came three days after Thanksgiving in 1979. The 8-4 Browns faced the hated Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh where the Browns had yet to win. The Steelers were going for their fourth Super Bowl in the 1970s and the Browns were trying to get back to their glories of the prior three decades.

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What may follow St. Vincent’s demolition?

The greenfield foreground is the fate of the hospital in the background. This was the
St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in 2021 — its last full year of operation. The
hospital ended its in-patient services later the following year. Every structure
visible here except the enclosed walkway at left and the small, one-story
brick building at the end of it will be demolished in early 2025 (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Turns out there is more to the story that NEOtrans broke over the weekend — that St. Vincent Charity Community Health Center (SVCCHC) main campus, 2351 E. 22nd St., at the west end of Cleveland’s Central neighborhood, will be demolished in the coming months.

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St. Vincent Charity Medical Center to be demolished

Outlined in red is the St. Vincent Charity Medical Center that will be demolished.
The only structure within that outline that won’t be demolished is a small building
on the other side of the near-Downtown Cleveland campus that is not visible from
this angle. A streetview of that building is shown later in this article (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In just three years, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, 2351 E. 22nd St,, went from planning a major expansion to requesting the demolition of nearly its entire main campus to the southeast of Downtown Cleveland. Plans were submitted to the city’s Building Department on Friday for demolishing all but 18,000 square feet of the 449,338-square-foot campus.

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More changes arriving at Shaker Square

One of Cleveland’s most unique districts is Shaker Square but had worn out over
the years. The commercial district fronting the square and the residential areas
around it are starting to get some long overdue attention (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

While a large federal grant was awarded to improve existing conditions at Shaker Square in Cleveland, plans to make long-term changes that reenergize the 95-year-old square are advancing. The short- and long-term work on the square is based on the belief that this historic district can and should be a neighborhood gathering spot rather than try to compete as a regional retail draw.

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Browns’ Berea District 46 plans coming into focus

The Haslam Sports Group, majority owner of the Cleveland Browns, plan a 6,500-seat
stadium at the center of its District 46 mixed-use development in suburban Berea. Other
details about the plans were revealed in public records. At left is a proposed hotel with
an apartment building to the right of it. This view looks southeast from the intersection
of Front Street and Lou Groza Boulevard (Architecture, Design, & 3D Renderings
by AODK Architecture). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In a public record secured by NEOtrans, more details are coming to light about the owner of the Cleveland Browns, the Haslam Sports Group’s (HSG), proposed mixed-use development in suburban Berea. That includes specifications for the features in the new 500,000-square-foot development which will be built around a small, new sports stadium, dubbed a community field.

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Second apartment complex next to Herman Park

In a couple of years, this proposed apartment building could be overlooking
Herman Park in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. It is the second
multifamily development proposed next to the park and the latest of many
in the immediate area (Dimit). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Herman Park may be in need of updating, but its presence is enough to attract a second proposed apartment building to rise next to it. Conceptual designs for that building, located at 6400 Herman Ave. in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood, were approved yesterday by a neighborhood design-review panel and referred to the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee.

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