Three redevelopments to boost Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard

These three catalytic redevelopment sites identified in the Lee-Harvard
Community Master Plan are the subject of a request for qualifications
from the city to attract investment in developing them. They are: 1. Miles
 Avenue land bank lots; 2. ex-Gracemount School site; and 3. the John F.
Kennedy High and Recreation Center campus (HCSC).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Three large redevelopment sites totaling nearly 20 acres on Cleveland’s Lee-Harvard neighborhood are the subject of city efforts to focus investment on them. The effort is intended to reverse decades of disinvestment that has occurred in Cleveland’s southeast side by producing jobs, new housing and catalyzing more investment. In fact, there’s some evidence that such a reversal is already underway.

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Ohio City megaproject nearly ready for roll-out

 The question of how might the largest undeveloped site, its parcels outlined
in various colors, in Cleveland’s booming Ohio City neighborhood be deve-
loped could be answered starting in April. That’s when a development master-
plan may be presented to the community by Ohio City Inc. and others. The
site is the Lutheran Hospital parking lots, across West 25th Street from
preparatory works for the new Irishtown Bend Park (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

 As early as next month, plans may go public for a significant mixed-use development on the largest undeveloped site in Cleveland’s booming Ohio City neighborhood. Sources familiar with the project said the release of plans for the development, first confirmed by NEOtrans in October 2023, was delayed as the development team attempted to include a well-known property but will instead move forward without it.

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Sherwin-Williams HQ delayed into 2025

Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters tower west of Public Square has
topped out but isn’t fully enclosed as it was scheduled to be by this time.
That means the project will probably not be completed by the end of
this year, as planned (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Sherwin-Williams’ headquarters construction management team had hoped to enclose its new 616-foot-tall office tower in Downtown Cleveland by spring. But with April right around the corner, the building has not yet reached that milestone. While delays are happening to a lot of building projects due to supply constraints, Sherwin-Williams has made sure its employees won’t be left out in the cold.

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New Downtown Cleveland Clinic, Cavs center to see groundbreaking by year’s end

By the end of 2026, more than 210,000-square-foot Cleveland Clinic inter-
disciplinary center will serve as a performance training facility for the
Cleveland Cavaliers, the community and athletes from around the
world (Populous). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Today, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Clinic and Bedrock Real Estate revealed the first official renderings of the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center. Pending city approvals, groundbreaking on the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center is anticipated before the end of 2024.

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Browns stadium likely going to Brook Park, if…

An unofficial site plan for a potential Cleveland Browns Stadium built in
suburban Brook Park, showing how a ballpark village between the sta-
dium and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport could be built along
along with large surface parking lots and transportation infrastructure.
A stadium here would not be built along with large surface parking
lots and transportation infrastructure. A stadium here would not
be located below any airport flight paths (Noah Belli).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

NEOtrans has learned that the Cleveland Browns and their owners, the Haslam Sports Group, want several things from their stadium over the next 30 years that the City of Cleveland appears unwilling to give them. That includes a dome that adds another $1 billion-plus to the stadium’s cost and control over revenues from parking and a ballpark village development.

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Cleveland Public Square’s continuing transformation

Concrete “jersey” barriers were removed from Downtown Cleveland’s
Public Square today in a ceremonial start to the construction of the Su-
perior Crossing Project to improve pedestrian safety on Cleveland's central
commons (Michael Collier). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Construction started today on the Group Plan Commission’s Superior Crossing Project with a ceremonial farewell to the unpopular and infamous concrete barriers that have stood on Public Square since its major reconstruction eight years ago. But for the next three months, that means some traffic reroutes, bus detours and transit stop relocations to learn.

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One downtown garage down, more to go?

In November 2023, demolition crews were busily taking down the 65-year-
old Arena Parking garage in downtown Cleveland’s Gateway District. Two
more aging downtown garages were recently closed due to their decaying
conditions and many more garages are reaching the ends of their financial
and structural lives at a time of increasing remote work and declining of-
fice markets (Kevin DeFranco). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

It’s a tough time for Downtown Cleveland parking garages built in the 1950s and 1960s. Three of them in particular, each with just over 300 parking spaces or 966 total, are having a rough go of it. One already was demolished. Two others were closed due to their worsening condition. Many other downtown garages are of a similar age and may face financial and structural uncertainty in a weak office market.

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One Hulett may be saved — in Canton

When the Hulett Ore Unloaders were first introduced, they reduced the time to
unload Great Lake ships from several days to several hours,  thereby allowing
a tremendous increase in the production of steel in Cleveland and other manu-
facturing cities. The economic growth that resulted made Cleveland one of the
wealthiest blue-collar cities in the world. Unfortunately, today, funding could
not be found to save one Hulett in Cleveland. These were Huletts in action on
Whiskey Island in 1948  (Glenn Zahn via the Cleveland Memory Project).

Where once there was four Hulett Ore Unloaders, soon there will be none. But at least one of the massive, dinosaur-like machines that revolutionized the steel industry and Great Lakes shipping through high-volume efficiency, now has a chance to survive extinction.

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It’s official: Board of Elections to ex-Plain Dealer building

Cuyahoga County Council will begin considering next week whether to approve
a lease agreement at the former Plain Dealer building, 1801 Superior Ave., for
relocating the Board of Elections and some Health & Human Services
offices (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Confirming news first reported here at NEOtrans two weeks ago, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne informed county staff that he will introduce plans to Cuyahoga County Council on Tuesday to lease the former Plain Dealer building downtown for the new Board of Elections (BOE) offices. In a memo circulated today to certain county employees, he also outlined plans for additional real estate moves by the county.

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Cuyahoga Land Bank gets $10M from Cleveland

This home renovation project on West 89th Street in Cleveland’s Cudell neigh-
borhood is an example of the work the Cuyahoga Land Bank does. This latest
financial infusion from the city will help the countywide agency focus its efforts
on three city neighborhoods (CLB). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland City Council has awarded $9.9 million of remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Cuyahoga Land Bank to build and renovate homes in three wards that include four historically disinvested neighborhoods including Central, Clark-Fulton, Collinwood and Glenville. The targeted wards are five, 10 and 14.

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Metroparks buying more Cuyahoga Riverfront land

On Whiskey Island is a 4.5-acre piece of riverfront land, across the Cuyahoga
River from Downtown Cleveland. The Cleveland Metroparks is seeking
to buy the property just beyond its new Wendy Park Bridge, overhead,
to expand its waterfront recreation offerings (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Adding 4.5 acres of land along the Cuyahoga River is a relatively small contribution to the 1,000 acres the Cleveland Metroparks has acquired in just the past three years. But this latest addition may be one of its most visible and strategic. The site the Metroparks is acquiring is located in Cleveland on Whiskey Island, between the river and the park system’s new Wendy Park Bridge.

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Irishtown Bend Park design features unveiled

Design features of the Irishtown Bend Park include the Coal Docks site
featuring foundation remnants of the Erie Railroad Coal Derrick and
the Iron Power Building, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps show. Such
workplaces employed Irish and other immigrants 100-150 years
ago. This is at the north end of the planned park, next to the
Cuyahoga River and the Detroit-Superior Bridge (Plural).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Tomorrow, the board of the Cleveland Metroparks is expected to authorize requesting a $10.8 million grant from the state to pay a significant portion of the construction costs of the planned Irishtown Bend Park in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The proposed improvements and their projected costs are based on designs that were released today.

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Cleveland suburban office market ‘bloodbath’

This is one of two office buildings for Hyland Software in Westlake that’s
on the market. And it’s just one of multiple office buildings that are either
for sale or for sub-lease. The peaceful, bucolic-like setting belies the tur-
moil in the local, regional and national office markets that isn’t limited to
downtown central business districts. Suburban areas are taking equally
big hits (CBRE). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The numbers are downright ugly. High office vacancy rates and even higher availability rates exceeding 20 percent owing to a big jump in office spaces available for sub-lease. Numerous Class A office buildings are for sale with few if any interested buyers. For those in a buying mood, their lowball interest may be only for the land to hold for a possible conversion to new uses or for the hopes that better days may return to the office market — someday.

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Downtown Cleveland’s recovery accelerated in 2023

Downtown Cleveland is where Greater Clevelanders converge to enjoy
festivals and big events like Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day parade which,
according to TheIrishRoadTrip.com, is America’s fifth-largest. At Su-
perior Avenue and East 21st Street, the parade assembled yesterday
for its 182nd annual march through downtown (The GBX Group).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In a data-heavy report released today, Downtown Cleveland, Inc. (DCI) outlined its achievements in continuing the recovery of Cleveland’s business and hospitality center and one of Cuyahoga County’s fastest-growing residential areas. The data, contained in the 2023 Downtown Cleveland Economic Development Report, says the recovery of Cleveland’s central business district is outpacing that of its peer cities in Ohio and the Great Lakes region.

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Flats On Pearl OK’d, Row On Garden tabled

Landmarks Commission members approved this updated design of the Flats
On Pearl, a new-construction apartments-over-retail building next to the 134-
year-old, to-be-renovated Kerns Building at the corner of West 25th Street and
Garden Avenue. Behind the Kerns office building are four houses in varying
degrees of decay that developer Kostas Almiroudis plans to demolish (Brandt).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A next step for developer Kostas Almiroudis went forward when the Cleveland Landmarks Commission approved plans for the mixed-use Flats On Pearl. But the commission didn’t take as many steps forward as Almiroudis wanted, in requesting the demolition of four neighboring, decayed houses and a small townhouse development that would replace them.

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New design for Cleveland Shoreway tower OK’d

The developer of a planned residential tower overlooking Edgewater Park
redesigned it based on market analysis and a need to control costs. The end
result was a new design that won more praise and support from the Cleve-
land Landmarks Commission. This view looks southeast from above upper
Edgewater Park (EAO). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A desire to make a proposed residential tower overlooking Cleveland’s Edgewater Park more viable produced a design that won for it more praise from a city review panel. The proposed 13-story Shoreway tower grew from 95 apartments to 112 and shrunk its floorspace from 204,400 square feet to 140,000. In so doing, its grid-like exterior gained an intentionally distorted and sculpted appearance that earned it unanimous praise.

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Hamilton Brown, Niro to lead St. Clair-Superior CDC

The St. Clair-Superior neighborhood of Cleveland is located near the Lake
Erie shore east of downtown to the Glenville neighborhood. This view looks
 west above St. Clair Avenue from East 60s toward downtown (SCSDC).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A well-known name in Cleveland development circles this week has lost the “interim” prefix to her job title as executive director of the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation (SCSDC) in Cleveland. Not only did Terri Hamilton Brown become the Cleveland neighborhood’s new permanent director, Michael Niro was named chair of the development corporation’s board by unanimous board votes, announced today.

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Cleveland’s new Bridgeworks plan takes next steps

In Cleveland’s Hingetown section of Ohio City, Bridgeworks’ new design will
likely make a return to city review boards starting next week with an eye
toward demolition work and possibly construction later this year. The
proposed development would rise at the northeast corner of West
25th Street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge (GLSD).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Bridgeworks, a mixed-use development proposed in Cleveland’s Hingetown section of Ohio City and that’s gone through several iterations, will be back in front of city design-review panels this month in the hopes of getting construction started this year. If approvals are granted, demolition of existing buildings at the northeast corner of West 25th Street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge could start in the coming months.

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Streetcar deck of Detroit-Superior Bridge wins $7 million for bike/ped path

Cuyahoga County won $7 million in funds to plan for the reactivation of the
long-closed streetcar subway deck of the Detroit-Superior Veterans Memorial
Bridge over the Cuyahoga River, between Downtown Cleveland and Ohio
City. The subway deck may be permanently reopened for used by pede-
strians and cyclists (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cuyahoga County won $7 million in federal funds today for the reactivation of the streetcar deck of Detroit-Superior Veterans Memorial Bridge linking Downtown Cleveland and Ohio City. But instead of bringing back streetcars for the first time in 70 years, the funding would start planning for permanently reopen the deck as a pedestrian-bike path protected from rain, snow and fast-moving cars, trucks and buses on the roadway deck above.

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Cleveland, other climate havens win Bloomberg bucks

Cleveland and other Great Lakes cities are considered to be climate havens in an
era of rapid change. Not only is Cleveland’s climate moderating, but its low
property insurance rates and nearly unlimited access to fresh water make
it climate-safe and affordable place to live (ClevelandWater.com).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland was selected today by Bloomberg Philanthropies as one of 25 U.S. cities to join Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities (BASC) and be the recipient of $200 million divided roughly equally among them. BASC is a three-year initiative designed to leverage historic levels of federal funding to incubate and implement transformative local solutions to build low-carbon, resilient, and economically thriving communities.

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Adding ridership generators to the Waterfront Line

This is the Waterfront Line’s Flats East Bank station, viewed from the then-
new Aloft Hotel in 2014. Every station along the Waterfront Line might
need this much density, diversity and mixed uses around them to make the
light-rail line more usable (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Over the next two months, a Cleveland State University study will identify untapped lands in Downtown Cleveland along the inactive light-rail Waterfront Line and consider how to encourage their development for the benefit of the lakefront and the transit line. The findings could ultimately be incorporated into the city’s lakefront plan which has yet to be finalized.

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Elections board to the ex-Plain Dealer building?

The former Plain Dealer building on Superior Avenue on the east side of Down-
town Cleveland appears to be the favored landing spot for the Cuyahoga County
Board of Elections (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

While not as controversial or as impactful as the county’s pending moves of its consolidated jail or courthouse facilities, the new site of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (BOE) could boost its new surroundings. With up to 200 permanent employees, plus hundreds more at election time and many more visitors for early voting, the positive and negative impacts on the BOE’s new surroundings could be significant.

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Browns continue to add land in Berea

Either an affiliate of the Cleveland Browns or the city of Berea own all of the
land visible on the right side of Front Street including the former Serpentini
Collision Center until reaching north to Lou Groza Boulevard, marked by the
traffic signal in the distance. Both the Browns and the city also own much of
the land on the other side of the street, including the last house on the left.
In their place, the Browns’ owners plan to construct a large, mixed-use
development (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Property acquisitions in the Cleveland suburb of Berea appear to be nearly wrapped up for a large, mixed-use development featuring an expanded headquarters for the Cleveland Browns and its ownership, the Haslam Sports Group. Only one or two homes need to be acquired to make way for a new headquarters office building, the professional football team’s practice facility, hotel, shops, restaurants and community recreation facilities, first reported by NEOtrans.

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Hough health center ready for $19.5M rebuild

Closed and boarded up after a fire nearly three years ago, the Hough Health
Center for Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services Inc. on Hough
Avenue is finally starting to see movement toward reopening and serving
the community again (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

On May 19, 2021, shortly after the Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services Inc.’s (NEON) Hough Health Center, 8300 Hough Ave., closed for the night and employees went home, an apparent electrical fire sparked. The resulting flames spread throughout the building, causing millions of dollars in damage.

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North Coast Waterfront Development Corp. names its first executive director

Implementing Downtown Cleveland lakefront projects that result from a
final version of this vision will be ultimate goal of newly hired North Coast
Waterfront Development Corp. Executive Director Scott Skinner. But his
 first goal is to start hiring a support staff to help him implement those
projects (FO). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Over the decades, one of the biggest barriers to developing Downtown Cleveland’s lakefront with public and private amenities was the lack of a staff dedicated to that purpose. That barrier began to come down today with the hiring of the first staff-person to lead the new North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation (NCWDC).

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Slavic Village’s Olympia Building to be renovated

Although the Olympia Building at East 55th Street, Broadway and Hamlet
avenues is reported to be in fair condition, it’s actually in much better con-
dition than many other nearby structures in the heart of Cleveland’s Slavic
Village neighborhood. Some of those other building are subject of another
redevelopment effort called The Village 55 to renovate or replace them
(Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Increased interest in reviving historic structures around the mostly intact Broadway-East 55th intersection in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood has expanded to include the 113-year-old Olympia Building, 3335-3361 E. 55 St. That building will feature renovated apartments over existing storefronts and the preserved lobby for the Olympia’s adjacent movie theater demolished long ago.

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Royal Docks Brewing comes to Cleveland

As seen from the corner of Detroit Avenue and West 28th Street, this rendering
shows the future site of the Royal Docks Brewing Co. in the Hingetown section
of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The brewpub is due to open in
May (Royal Docks). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In a couple of months, Stark County-based brewpub chain Royal Docks Brewing Company plans to expand to Cleveland by opening a location in Ohio City’s booming Hingetown neighborhood. Ohio City is a community with a half-dozen brewpubs already in operation. But with their planned Royal Docks Tied House + Kitchen, the proprietors are confident they can offer something the others don’t.

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Jones Day’s downtown offices on the move?

Jones Day’s current offices are in the first phase of the North Point complex,
a five-story office building constructed 40 years ago. While the building re-
mains in very good condition, the law firm that was founded in Cleveland
is considering its office location options as it nears the end of its
lease (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Aside from a few rarities like Sherwin-Williams, not many corporate citizens stay in one office building for multiple decades. They are constantly growing or shrinking, their buildings get new owners, their corporate culture changes, or their biggest clients move. Another rarity is Cleveland’s largest law firm, Jones Day, which is entering its fourth decade in the same building, 901 Lakeside Ave., called North Point I.

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