Officials want Burke Airport on the table for Browns

The Haslam Sports Group, owners of the Cleveland Browns, wants to build a domed
stadium, supportive development and about 20,000 parking spaces in the Cleveland
suburb of Brook Park. But city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County officials want
the Haslams to build in Downtown Cleveland. Some of those officials want
Burke Lakefront Airport to be considered as a development site (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Two key public officials have, in recent days, suggested that Burke Lakefront Airport be closed down and replaced by a new Cleveland Browns Stadium and supportive developments, parking and public spaces. But if such an idea evolves into a serious project, it would also likely require making interim repairs to the existing stadium.

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Cleveland offers up prime Ohio City property

McCafferty Health Center on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, as seen
from the alley Fulton Court behind it (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland city officials followed through on a promise they made in early July when they announced they would be making the city-owned McCafferty Health Center property, 4242 Lorain Ave., available for redevelopment. Today, they issued a formal invitation to professional real estate development teams to respond to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to redevelop the site and address the need for affordable housing in the Ohio City neighborhood.

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‘Lakefront plan’ becoming ‘lakefront project’

A part of the city of Cleveland’s lakefront plan that doesn’t get the attention is just
east of downtown where the Shoreway highway would become a boulevard and
East 18th Street is extended from behind the smokestacks at left, down the bluff
on an S-curve toward the foreground to an intersection with the boulevard.
Also a middle portion of the Municipal Parking Lot near a Waterfront Line
light-rail station could be developed with workforce housing (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One of the most important pieces of legislation regarding the future of Downtown Cleveland’s lakefront is working its way through Cleveland City Council. The proposed ordinance amendment, if passed at council’s next regular meeting Sept. 9, would codify the desired lakefront land-use features and set the city on a course to implement them. In other words, it would no longer be a lakefront plan, but a lakefront project.

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Hough groundbreaking set for Sept. 5

Redevelopment of a vacant and vandalized 51-year-old apartment building
on Hough Avenue is due to start next week, according to public records. The
project will help continue the Hough neighborhood’s turnaround (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

According to a public record located by NEOtrans, a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Sept. 5 for the redevelopment of a vacant 10-story apartment building at 9410 Hough Ave. in Cleveland’s resurgent Hough neighborhood. Kristi Halford, a spokesperson for the project’s development partners, confirmed the scheduled event in an e-mail to NEOtrans.

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UH plans Wolstein conference center on Euclid Ave.

Iris S. and the late Bert L. Wolstein provided half of the funding for proposed
University Hospital Health System education and conference center on
Euclid Avenue in Cleveland’s University Circle (levelHEADS).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In an e-mail sent to all employees today, University Hospital Health System CEO Cliff Megerian announced that the health care provider will seek to build a new 30,000-square-foot conference and education center in Cleveland’s University Circle. The facility will be built on an underutilized green space at 11100 Euclid Ave. in front of an existing parking garage.

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Shaker Square sees $4.5M in updates, more planned

Making improvements to Cleveland’s Shaker Square is essential to keeping it vibrant
and attractive as a commercial and transportation center for sustaining the surrounding
neighborhoods as well. The new owners of the square are working to address deferred
maintenance there and so far have made about $4.6 million worth of repairs and
improvements (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Two years ago this month, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) and Burten, Bell, Carr, Inc. (BBC) acquired Cleveland’s historic but faded Shaker Square mixed-use district. Today, the new owners outlined what they considered to be significant work and investment in making capital improvements to the property and carrying out a retail strategy to restore vibrancy to the square.

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Bedrock starts Downtown Riverfront phase one

Site preparation is underway for the first phase of Bedrock’s Downtown Cleveland
Riverfront development. This view is looking north from the Lorain-Carnegie Hope
Memorial Bridge. At left is West 3rd Street and the former CSX railroad right of
way at right. Also visible are two bridges that will be demolished soon — the
Eagle Avenue lift bridge at left and the Stones Levee Road bridge over the
CSX tracks (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Construction permit applications were filed this week with the city of Cleveland’s Building Department so contractors can start digging and installing foundations for the first phase of Bedrock’s Downtown Riverfront development. That first phase is the Cleveland Clinic/Cleveland Cavaliers Global Peak Performance Center, touted as one of the world’s largest training facilities.

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Last round of megaproject tax credits opens

The fourth and final round of the Transformational Mixed Use Development tax credits
is now available and could help realize large building projects in Ohio’s largest cities
or their nearest suburbs (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Developers looking to transform their Ohio communities can now apply for funding opportunities through the Ohio Department of Development’s Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) program that awards up to $100 million in tax credits per round.

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The Arch at St. Michael gets underway

A sample of Gothic architecture in Cleveland can be found on Scranton Road at the
old St. Michael School, which is now in the process of being converted into senior
apartments called The Arch at St. Michael. The start of renovations yesterday co-
incided with the 50th anniversary of the funding program that helped make the
renovations possible (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Renovation work for The Arch at St. Michael is a day old. The funding program to pay for the renovations is 50 years old. And the Gothic Revival beauty located in Cleveland’s South Tremont neighborhood that will gain new life from the work is 118 years old. Combined, the milestones involved a lot of celebrating.

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Stella Maris buys Flats site to expand

Highlighted in red, the property at 2208 Superior Viaduct was acquired by
Stella Maris to allow for its expansion. The second floor will become
administrative offices and the first floor will be for storage and warehousing,
 including donated items (Cresco). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

After nearly eight years on and off the market, a small parcel at 2208-2210 Superior Viaduct at the west edge of Cleveland’s Flats District has sold to a growing stakeholder in the neighborhood. Addiction treatment center Stella Maris Inc. acquired the property last week and proposes to renovate an historic building on the site to expand the scope of its services. The site was twice proposed for a residential tower but neither advanced past the conceptual stage.

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Market District Lofts in Ohio City to expand

The 25-unit Market District Lofts in Cleveland’s Ohio City could soon add another
17 apartments by converting another floor of offices at the United Bank Building
at Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street (Market Districts Lofts).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

On most other plots of land, adding 17 homes to it would be noticeable from the street. But if a proposed expansion of the Market District Lofts in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood happens, it might be the most below-the-radar residential development in the urban core since The Residences at The Guardian condominiums opened downtown. And the same developer is involved in both.

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Downtown property owner penalized for tax credit ‘double-dipping’

The Garfield on Euclid Avenue in Downtown Cleveland was built in 1895 as an 11-story
office building. In 2016, while it was getting renovated as apartments, its owner claimed
a $22.6 million tax deduction on the property for not building a 34-story addition above
it. That apparently improper deduction may prove costly to the owner (Google).
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A U.S. Tax Court judge in Washington D.C. has agreed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in disallowing a $22.6 million tax deduction claimed by Corning Place Ohio, LLC for not building a 34-story vertical addition on top of its 19th-century Garfield Building, 1965 E. 6th St., in Downtown Cleveland. Senior Judge Albert George Lauber also sustained the IRS commissioner’s imposition of a 40 percent penalty for a “gross valuation misstatement” in seeking the deduction.

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A strategic perspective of the Cleveland Browns Stadium

What is the regional game plan for building and sustaining a new or renovated
Cleveland Browns Stadium? This contributed commentary takes a research-
based look in that question (iStock). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The Cleveland Browns have long been a cornerstone of Greater Cleveland, symbolizing community pride and excitement, and contributing to the local economy and cultural identity. While the current debate around the Browns’ future stadium is heavily focused on facility location and financial issues, it is crucial to recognize the team’s non-economic benefits, such as fostering civic pride, quality of life, regional unity, and shared traditions that bring people together.

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Ohio City hotel development revealed

A massing of a proposed hotel for Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood on Lorain
Avenue at West 26th Street. While details of the proposed concept are still being
worked out, the planning for the hotel has advanced far enough that its deve-
loper, Places Development, is presenting it to the community (Places).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A successful business finds an unmet need in a market and fills it. According to Places Development founder and Managing Principal Dan Whalen, the lack of a hotel west of Downtown Cleveland to near Hopkins International Airport is just such a gap in the market. To fill that void, he is submitting plans for a new, eight-story boutique hotel at 1960 W. 26th St. in the Ohio City neighborhood.

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Downtown Cleveland Inc. takes over management of Public Square

Public Square has been the geographic, business, transportation and civic heart of
Cleveland for more than 200 years. Downtown Cleveland Inc. has taken over the
management of this public space to ensure it remains a a safe and attractive space
for the next 200 years (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland City Council has passed legislation transferring the management, marketing and programming for Public Square to Downtown Cleveland, Inc., effective upon Mayor Justin Bibb’s signature. This transition underscores Downtown Cleveland’s ongoing commitment to revitalizing the core and builds on the organization’s recent successes in securing significant funding for Public Square enhancements.

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Glenville-Collinwood site may finally get new life

The abandoned National Acme plant on East 131st Street at Coit Road is getting
swallowed up by Mother Nature. Demolition crews will soon lend a helping
hand by taking down the once-prolific factory so the site, abused by its
last user, can be returned to more uses in the near future (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

It’s a factory name that conjures thoughts from classic Road Runner cartoons. But few are laughing from the enduring health and economic burdens that the long-closed National Acme plant, 170 E. 131st St., is having on Cleveland’s East Glenville and Collinwood residents. Once one of Cleveland’s largest blue collar employers, its fate is similar to that of other aging industrial properties across the city.

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Cuyahoga Land Bank appoints León interim prez

Ricardo León was appointed yesterday as interim president of the Cuyahoga Land
Bank following the sudden passing of its founder and longtime president Gus Frangos
last weekend (Cuyahoga Land Bank). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

At an emergency meeting held yesterday, Cuyahoga Land Bank’s board of directors appointed Ricardo León as interim president of the organization after the sudden passing of its longtime leader and founder Gus Frangos last weekend.

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Skyline 776 tower fills while under construction

While construction continues on Skyline 776 on Euclid Avenue in Downtown Cleveland,
the building’s lease-up is underway and is already more than 40 percent leased. This photo
was taken Aug. 7, the day after tornadoes  and severe thunderstorms raked Northeast Ohio
and tore off several panels from the top of the tower’s façade (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

When you first walk into the lobby of the Skyline 776 tower, 776 Euclid Ave., you realize you’re not in your usual Downtown Cleveland apartment high-rise anymore. Of the 11 downtown apartment buildings of 20 stories or more that preceded it, each has varying degrees of luxury or lack of same. And most tried to either highlight the architectural era in which they were built, or simply present the most modern appearances possible.

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Land Bank President Frangos dies unexpectedly

Gus Frangos spoke in 2017 before the City Club of Cleveland on the Cuyahoga Land
Bank’s first eight years  of existence, as it increasingly became more active in
repurposing blighted land. Frangos led the land bank from its inception
(Cuyahoga Land Bank). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One day after the Cuyahoga Land Bank won its largest score of Ohio Brownfield Program grants to repurpose blighted, long-fallow properties, land bank President and General Counsel Gus Frangos suddenly passed away.

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County officials urge Haslams to keep Browns downtown

City-owned Cleveland Browns Stadium has been the venue for the National Football
League team’s home games since 1999. And after the team’s lease expires following
the 2028 football season, city and now Cuyahoga County officials want the team to
play there for another 30 years following a $1 billion renovation (Iryna Tkachenko).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Two Cuyahoga County leaders sent a letter today to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam urging the football team to keep playing at the stadium on the Downtown Cleveland lakefront rather than build a new domed stadium in suburban Brook Park. County Executive Chris Ronayne and Cuyahoga County Council President Pernel Jones Jr. said the Haslams’ Brook Park plan “does not make fiscal sense.”

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Cuyahoga County cleans up with brownfield bucks

In Downtown Cleveland, Bedrock’s Riverfront Development is planned on the Tower
City Center side of the Cuyahoga River. But the riverfront land has historically been
used for industrial purposes for nearly two centuries and needs to be cleaned up before
new construction can begin. Cuyahoga Land Bank won $10 million to help make
that happen (Adjaye Associates). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., known simply as the Cuyahoga Land Bank, has secured multiple funding awards from the Ohio Department of Development’s Brownfield Remediation Program for demolishing more than 1,100 structures, mostly blighted single-family homes in Cleveland and East Cleveland. But there are also multiple funding awards it got for cleaning up polluted industrial sites so they can be redeveloped for new housing and jobs.

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Greyhound/Barons station may move to Brookpark rapid

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Brookpark Rapid Station in
suburban Brook Park could soon host a Greyhound and Barons intercity bus
station, too. Negotiations are underway for an agreement among the
transportation providers to make that a reality (Tom Horsman).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The Cleveland Browns aren’t the only one considering a move from Downtown Cleveland to suburban Brook Park. Now, it’s Greyhound/Barons intercity bus services that could move to the west-side suburb near Cleveland International Hopkins Airport.

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15 women investors back Cleveland’s NWSL bid

Fifteen Cleveland-area businesswomen have joined forces to financially support the
Cleveland Soccer Group’s bid for a National Women’s Soccer League expansion
team. The investors are a who’s-who of Cleveland-area women business
leaders (CSG). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland Soccer Group (CSG), which submitted a bid for Cleveland to be awarded a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) expansion team, announced today that it is being backed by a group of 15 local, influential businesswomen as investors. However, the money they have raised thus far has not be publicly disclosed. If successful, this would be Ohio’s first women’s professional soccer team.

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Haslams reveal Brook Park domed stadium plans

The Haslam Sports Group released this and other renderings today in officially announcing
the proposed venue for Cleveland Browns’ home games in suburban Brook Park (HKS
Architects). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One day after NEOtrans broke the news that the Cleveland Browns’ home games would likely be moved from Downtown Cleveland to a proposed domed stadium in suburban Brook Park (and why), the football team’s owner Haslam Sports Group has outlined what that could look like. However, the Haslams stopped short of saying it was a done deal despite their obvious enthusiasm about the Brook Park stadium-development.

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It’s Brook Park

This is a conceptual rendering commissioned by the Haslam Sports Group showing
the future home of the Cleveland Browns in suburban Brook Park along with park-
ing and stadium-area development, starting with a hotel, restaurants, shops and
public spaces (anonymous). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A COMMENTARY

In the coming weeks, the owners of the Cleveland Browns will reveal their plans to build a $3.6 billion domed stadium and associated development in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park. According to public sector sources familiar with the plans, owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have their capital funding identified for the stadium and a small first phase of development.

Cost of the new domed stadium and the provision of about 20,000 parking spaces, almost entirely in surface lots, is estimated at $2.2 billion. Half of that will be privately funded and create new tax revenues that will fund the other half. Much of the funding for the stadium will come from bonds serviced by new stadium-related revenues and city, county and state taxes generated by stadium activities and employment. Another $1.4 billion in private, stadium-area development is planned.

The Haslams have reportedly identified their bond financing firm, a company with lots of experience in financing sports stadiums, arenas and entertainment venues. And they have hired their joint-venture construction management team for the Brook Park site — M.A. Mortenson Co. of Minneapolis and Independence Construction of Independence, soon to be relocated to Brecksville.

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Cleveland Moves plan seeks resident input

Cleveland city planners want your input to develop a transportation plan for the
community that makes walking, biking and taking transit safer and more enjoy-
able for people (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The City of Cleveland recently launched public engagement for Cleveland Moves — the city’s five-year multimodal transportation plan. Cleveland Moves will create a strategy that builds on the city’s ongoing work to make it safer, more comfortable, and more convenient to walk, bike, and take transit in the city. A presentation about the planning process and its goals was delivered yesterday to the City Planning Commission.

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CWRU Humanities Building planned on Bellflower

For now only a featureless massing, Case Western Reserve University’s proposed
Humanities Building on Bellflower Road is shown to satisfy Cleveland Planning
Commission requirements to win permission for demolishing a vacant house in
University Circle (CWRU). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland City Planning Commission today approved a conceptual design for Case Western Reserve University’s new Humanities Building and to demolish an abandoned fraternity house at 11333 Bellflower Rd. to make way for it. Most of the rest of the roughly 1.6-acre site in University Circle is used as a parking lot.

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Mayor Bibb’s offer to Browns may be last-ditch effort

Cleveland Browns Stadium looms large in the foreground with Cleveland City
Hall in the background, beyond the wind turbine. An overture from City Hall to
the Cleveland Browns might make the wind turbine move but it may not stop
the Browns from moving (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb sent a letter today to Jimmy and Dee Haslam, owners of the Cleveland Browns, urging them to stay in Downtown Cleveland. Bibb also publicized the city’s $461 million contribution to renovate Cleveland Browns Stadium to show to the public that the city has made a strong financial offer to the National Football League team. But that might not be enough to keep the Browns at the deteriorating lakefront stadium.

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