Seeds & Sprouts V - Early intel on real estate projects

This is the Fifth edition of Seeds & Sprouts - Early intelligence on Cleveland-area real estate projects. Because these projects are very early in their process of development or just a long-range plan, a lot can and probably will change their final shape, use and outcome.

The building at right, above, and at left, below, are facing con-
demnation orders from the city of Cleveland. Between the pair
of Vesta Corp.-owned buildings is another Vesta-owned apart-
ment block -- albeit thoroughly renovated. That could be the
the future for its two vacant neighbors in Hough (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Two Hough apartment blocks may be saved

Facing a condemnation order from the City of Cleveland, affordable housing developer and property manager Vesta Corp. of Connecticut is appealing and requesting 180 days to abate building code violations at two 96-year-old, vacant apartment buildings it owns -- 1552 and 1568 Ansel Road. The city's Board of Building Standards is scheduled to consider Vesta's request at its April 15 meeting.

Although the code violations could be abated through demolition, the two substantial buildings may instead be saved per the appeals and their immediate code violations addressed with repairs. That may be what happens as Vesta has been acquiring and improving apartment buildings on Ansel in recent years.

Vesta owns four apartment buildings along the west side of Ansel, between Kenmore and Wade Park avenues, in the Hough neighborhood, just across Rockefeller Park from University Circle. The two troubled apartment buildings are on either side of the 66-unit, 1928-built Regency Square Apartments, 1560 Ansel, that Vesta acquired in 2012 and thoroughly renovated in 2013.

The seven-unit Overlook Apartments at 1552 Ansel was acquired by Vesta in July 2016 by sheriff's deed for $20,000. The 37-unit Lynette Apartments at 1568 Ansel was acquired by Vesta in January 2016 by warranty deed for $75,000. Attempts to reach Vesta representatives by e-mail were not successful.

Several blocks south of here at Hough Avenue, construction is almost finished on Signet Real Estate Group's 163-unit, $35 million Axis at Ansel apartment building. Just west of it, at 9410 Hough, an unknown buyer is doing its due diligence of the vacant, 1973-built Kingsbury Apartments with an eye toward renovating the 10-story, 160-unit building. These are some of the many spillover effects from the growth of nearby University Circle and Cleveland Clinic.

This 93-year-old apartment building at the southeast corner of
Edgewater Drive and Cove Avenue in Lakewood was acquired
last week and may be renovated by Adam Hayoun (Insight).

Lakewood landmark gets new owner, rehab pledge

Adam Hayoun, who is best known for renovating historic structures in Ohio City, has bought 12065 Edgewater Dr. in Lakewood for $1.8 million on March 2, according to county records. Hayoun, dba MSH Edgewater Investment LLC, acquired the 25-unit, 1927-built apartment building from 12065 Edgewater LLC.

Hayoun also secured a $1,523,761.88 mortgage on the property from Lima One Capital, county records show. It's a fascinating building architecturally, with a copper-roofed turret above a high-ceiling corner suite at Edgewater and Cove Avenue.

Hayoun already has the building up on his Insight Holdings Web site, with the note: "Soon going for construction." Given Hayoun's history, he's likely to fix up the place. However, no plans have been filed with the city as of yet, said Bryce Sylvester, director of planning and development for the City of Lakewood.

"Our first acquisition of 2020 (is) an amazing 25 units (sic) building in one of the most desired streets in (Greater) Cleveland," says Hayoun's Insight Holdings Web page about the project. Hayoun could not be reached for comment.

Two structures -- the old gas station and the older house -- that
are visible in this view at the northeast corner of Carnegie Ave-
nue and East 79th Street are proposed for demolition. In their
place could be a retail development. Although small, a deve-
lopment here would join two other property investments
made in the past year at this intersection (Google).

Carnegie-East 79th seeing spurt of investments

Yet another potential restaurant/retail business could be coming to the intersection of Carnegie Avenue and East 79th Street in Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood. But before any construction starts, two pending demolitions must first be approved by the city and possible environmental remediation performed.

A 110-year-old duplex and a 51-year-old former Sohio gas station are proposed for demolition by Property Acquisitions LLC, an affiliate of LRC Realty of Akron. LRC is primarily a developer of small- and medium-sized retail properties. But it has also dabbled recently in several mixed use projects in Akron, Youngstown and Pennsylvania.

Three properties and possibly a fourth are involved. Located in between the former gas station owned by Joe Z, LLC and the duplex owned by investor Naomi Colston is a Cleveland Land Bank property. North of Colston's duplex is another land bank parcel. Both land bank properties had houses on them until they were leveled in 2016. The total area of land for LRC's development is 0.69 to 0.848 acres.

By comparison, the property across East 79th, Angie's Soul Cafe, measures 0.67 acres. Angie's opened in January after closing its St. Clair Avenue location. There are two other Angie's restaurants on the East Side. The Carnegie restaurant was renovated from its prior function of 24 years -- a Hot Sauce Williams restaurant that closed two years ago.

On the other side of Carnegie, a 19th-century Italianate house that was heavily modified in 1920 into a commercial structure was demolished last summer. O.M. Carnegie Realty, LLC acquired eight parcels in 2018 from Regal Arms Housing Inc. and combined them into a single, 1.2-acre parcel. On it, a Dunkin Donuts shop was built in its place. A billboard property at the southeast corner was left untouched.

The gas station's current owner Joe Z, LLC is owned, in turn, by Mahmoud Zayed, according to county tax records. Zayed and his son Ashraf Zayed, both of Westlake, were sentenced to 30 and 37 months in prison, respectively, in 2016 for food stamp fraud involving the Al-Manar Market on West 117th Street in Cleveland.

Joe Z paid off a $60,000 mortgage issued by the property's owner, E&C Properties Ltd. in October 2019. Then, on March 5, a construction permit was submitted by Joe Z to the city although with no other information included.

Typically, a prospective developer will submit construction and/or demolition permit applications through the current property owner once a purchase agreement has been secured but before closing. LRC Realty President Frank Licata did not return an e-mail and a voicemail message prior to publication.

END

Cleveland Clinic, Fairfax seek homes, biz & opportunity

It may be hard to imagine now, but hundreds of new homes
could be restored to the Innovation Square area of Fairfax,
starting with the dark building at left, due to rise by Sep-
tember on East 105th Street at Hudson Avenue. Also in the
cards could be some unusual developments for the Cleve-
land Clinic -- including a grocery store, housing and other
non-conventional real estate investments by the globally
prominent health care system (City Architecture).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

UPDATED MARCH 11, 2020

As more sections of the 3-mile, $330 million Opportunity Corridor Boulevard open, more stakeholders are pursuing real estate opportunities. That's especially true where the first two sections have opened, from East 93rd Street north to Chester Avenue. Work is moving forward on the third and final section from East 93rd west to East 55th Street, set to open in two years.

That has stakeholders like the Cleveland Clinic, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corp., property owners and real estate developers making their plays on and near the Opportunity Corridor. The area with the most activity is the stretch of East 105th Street, north of the recently expanded Red Line rail station at Quincy Avenue.

One of the stakeholders seeking to develop real estate is the Cleveland Clinic. That's hardly surprising considering how much they've developed in Fairfax so far. But what they're considering developing is a surprise.

Cleveland Clinic has organized focus groups of Fairfax residents, property owners and others to determine what to develop and where. And it's not the usual medical facilities that it's considering building, according to a source who spoke off the record.

Instead, the Clinic is looking at building neighborhood assets like a grocery store and possible housing on underutilized land it owns in the southeast part of its campus near East 105th and Cedar Avenue. The Cleveland Clinic did not dispute the source's information but would not provide details yet.

The Innovation Square Fairfax Neighborhood
Plan was released in 2017. Some aspects are
already being realized like Playwright Park
between East 101st and 103rd streets, next
to an extended Hudson Avenue. Other parts
of the plan are fluid, such as the Brooks Life
Sciences building on Cedar Avenue between
East 97th and 100th streets or a larger resi-
dential building on East 105th north of an
extended Hudson (Fairfax Renaissance).

“Now that the northern section of Opportunity Corridor is open, we plan to further develop the southeast part of our campus," said the Cleveland Clinic's media relations department in a written statement issued in response to requests for information by NEOtrans.

"We look forward to working with our community partners on future opportunities that will help accelerate the Fairfax neighborhood reinvestment plan. More information will be shared as details become available,” the Cleveland Clinic said in its statement.

Several sites may be in play in the near term. One could include a 0.6-acre property owned by the Cleveland Clinic at the southeast corner of East 105th and Carnegie Avenue, according to a second source who also asked to speak off the record.

That site, an unimproved lot, may be in play because it doesn't require the expense of constructing parking. It is next to and connected by an overhead walkway to a 3,000-space, 794,077-square-foot parking deck that was built by the health system in 2015.

This undeveloped site belonging to the Cleveland Clinic could
soon be in play for a major development. At right is a 3,000-
space garage that's largely unused at night, meaning that a
residential tower could be built on the lot without requiring
construction of structured parking. At left is the 12-story-
tall Tudor Arms hotel and apartments (Google).

It is also across East 105th from two other potential development sites. One is a 1.5-acre parking lot at the northwest corner of East 105th and Cedar. The other is a 1.6-acre parking lot at the northeast corner of East 100th Street and Cedar.

The latter is on the opposite corner from a planned 21,000-square-foot building for Brooks Life Sciences bio-repository. Another medical-related development due to rise at the east end of the Cleveland Clinic is a 100,000-square-foot expansion of the Cole Eye Institute at East 105th and Euclid Avenue. In the middle of the campus will be a new, 400,000-square-foot Neurological Institute on Euclid at East 96th Street.

The second source said that Midwest Development Partners envisions a possible grocery store in a future phase of its massive Circle Square development. If built, the grocer would likely be on the ground floor of a larger building on the east side of Stokes Boulevard (East 107th Street) between Euclid and Carnegie avenues.

Fairfax Renaissance Executive Director Denise Van Leer said that the Fairfax land use plan Cleveland Clinic was referring to is the community development corporation's Innovation Square Fairfax Neighborhood Plan.

First phase of development of Innovation Square could start
construction by September with the development of an 85-
unit mixed-income apartment and condominium building
at 2258 East 105th St. (City Architecture).

Innovation Square is a three-phased development featuring 223 mixed-income housing units along with some small commercial uses west of East 105th. Offices and research facilities are proposed east of East 105th.

Although she didn't wish to comment on what Cleveland Clinic is proposing, Van Leer did say that Fairfax Renaissance is moving forward with its Innovation Square development plan.

"The first phase will be an 85-unit mixed-income apartment building along Opportunity Corridor," Van Leer said. "We are planning to start construction on the building in August, September of this year."

This $9.8 million mixed-use building will be developed by McCormack Baron Salazar Inc., a large developer of mixed-income communities headquartered in St. Louis. The four-story building will feature 41 units of affordable housing and 44 market-rate condominium units with ground-floor commercial space.

In addition to housing, retail and medical facilities, general
office buildings should be developed in the Fairfax-Univer-
sity Circle area, according to property owner Tom Pecsok
and commercial realtor Newmark Knight Frank (NGKF).

The proposed design includes one- and two-bedroom units with accessible suites. Additional development amenities will include a rooftop deck with a resident lounge, fitness rooms, bike storage and repair plus electric car charging stations. The building will be an easy walk to the Cleveland Clinic in one direction and the East 105th-Quincy train station in the other.

The first phase will rise at 2258 East 105th. That will become the northwest corner of East 105th and Hudson Avenue -- once Hudson is extended west of East 105th. The new street will extend past the north edge of the new Playwright Park to East 100th Street, according to the neighborhood masterplan. Several homes were acquired by Fairfax Renaissance and demolition approved by the city to make way for the new street.

Another site worth watching is a 0.54-acre parcel owned by Tom Pecsok of Castle Rock, Colorado. The property includes the 103-year-old, 22-unit Liberty Fairchild Apartments, 10820-22 Carnegie Ave. He has it listed for sale with Newmark Knight Frank for $2.6 million.

"I was actually born In the building in 1938," Pecsok said. "Yes, 10820 Carnegie Avenue, Suite 9. I went to Observation Elementary School back then on the corner of Stearns Road and Carnegie where the new School of the Arts is. I could talk to you for hours regarding (Cleveland's second downtown at) 105th and Euclid in the 1940s."

A site plan suggested by property owner Tom Pecsok and the
commercial realtor Newmark Knight Frank shows how large
a potential development site at Carnegie Avenue and Stokes
Boulevard could become by combining parcels owned by
Pecsok, University Circle Inc. and Cleveland Clinic (NGKF).

His father William Pecsok owned the apartment building and sold it to Tom in 1987 for $120,000. Tom Pecsok had already moved to Los Angeles 14 years earlier and began a career in commercial real estate. Today, he sees his old apartment building as becoming part of a larger development site, possibly involving the two adjacent parcels, totaling 2.36 acres.

The adjacent parcels contain the Cleveland Clinic's six-story DD Building, 10900 Carnegie, on one side and the former Davidian Brothers carpet warehouse, 10816 Carnegie, on the other. The latter was acquired by University Circle Inc. (UCI) for $400,000 in October 2018, county records show.

The remainder of parcels going west from the former Davidian property to the intersection of Carnegie and Stokes are all undeveloped and owned by UCI. In total, with Pecsok's property but without Cleveland Clinic's DD Building property, they measure 1.5 acres. With all parcels, they total 3.2 acres. He contends the site works better for a corporate or general office building rather than residential.

"There are a lot of options," he says. "Is it not interesting that no substantial office development has gone in between Pinecrest and Van Aken on the east side and the Cleveland CBD to the west? I believe there exists an unmet need for commercial development in the Circle, especially with the coming completion of the Opportunity Corridor in two years."

END

Lumen apartment tours reveal modern elegance, towering views

Public tours of The Lumen -- Ohio's
tallest residential tower -- began this
week. NEOtrans took a tour yesterday
along with lots of photographs and new
information about the latest star to shine
on Cleveland's Playhouse Square (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

If you want to rent your preferred apartment at Ohio's tallest residential building, you'd better take a tour of The Lumen soon. But if you want to see what the views look like from the upper floors of the building, wait until summer before booking a tour.

Rental prices, marketing information and guided hard-hat tours began this week at the 34-story, 396-foot-tall apartment tower at 1600 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland's Playhouse Square district. And on Tuesday of this week, the building got its first signed tenant, said Justin Young, property manager at Greystar for The Lumen.

From now until July 21, the public can take hard-hat guided tours of Ohio's tallest residential building by booking them via this Eventbrite page. Tours are offered Mondays through Thursdays most weeks. There is no cost to register, but tour group sizes are limited to 10 persons. As of March 5, tours for the rest of March are booked solid.

The view from Overture, one of The Lumen's floorplans avail-
able for tours this week. These apartments were furnished for
the benefit of tour-goers to provide some examples of what
apartments might look like once residents move in (KJP). 

I took a tour this week and was joined by a mix of young and middle-aged apartment seekers. One was a young man who boomeranged via New York City, who was seeking a more affordable urban setting. Another was a woman who lived in Washington DC and grew tired of the traffic there.

Yet another was Daniel Cotter, a local man who was considering renting an apartment at The Lumen but was more curious at this point to see everything that the building had to offer. Unfortunately the early tours aren't venturing into parts of the building that are still heavily under construction.

"I kinda thought we would see a little more like maybe some of the amenities on the fifth floor that they mentioned," he said. "I did like the furnished apartments and being able to walk around at will."

Panoramic views of the kitchen and living room in the Overture
floorplan above and Ensemble below. Overture has one bedroom,
a den and one bathroom while Ensemble has two bedrooms and
 two baths. These views are from The Lumen's ninth floor (KJP).

The tour also went no higher than the ninth floor, which isn't high up enough to see over several neighboring buildings. Those neighbors include the 22-story Keith Building across Euclid, the 16-story Hanna Building immediately west of The Lumen or the 11-story The Edge apartments immediate east.

On the fifth floor is the amenity deck offering a 22,000-square-foot community room, fireplaces, outdoor television, a heated outdoor pool on the roof of the 550-space parking garage, gas grilling stations, fitness center and yoga studio, plus on-demand fitness classes. The building is pet-friendly, said Matt McClung, senior community manager at Greystar for The Lumen.

Greystar Worldwide, LLC was hired by Playhouse Square Foundation to provide leasing and management functions for the apartment tower. In addition the hard-hat tours starting this week, the official leasing Web site for The Lumen went live this week as well.

A panoramic view of the bedroom in Overture. All of the bed-
rooms on the tour have windows with shades and curtains (KJP).

Among the 318 apartments, there are 26 apartment floorplans. There are 6-7 units per level on floors 2-4, 11 units per level on floors 6-32, and six units per floor in the penthouse levels 33 and 34, McClung said.

Rents range from $1,448-1,655 per month for the smallest units called Aria, measuring 571 to 630 square feet. A common-sized, one-bedroom with a den apartment style called Overture, priced at $2,029-2,248 per month, measures 870-918 square feet. A two-bedroom floorplan called Ensemble is priced at $2,752-2,887 per month and measures 1,236 square feet. Ensemble's price varies depending on what floor it's on.

Details about these and other floorplans are available in The Lumen's leasing office. It opened recently across the street from the tower at 1501 Euclid Ave., Suite 112. The leasing office will eventually move into the lobby of the tower, Young said.

Each of the apartments on the tour
were fully furnished for purposes
of display and orientation (KJP).

 As construction progresses, more of the building will be open to tours and, ultimately, move-ins. Young said that floors 1-15 will be available for move-ins starting on June 29, floors 16-20 on Aug. 3, and floors 21-34 opening Aug. 17.

Although the tour didn't visit the tower's upper floors, there are still views to be had on the lower floors of The Lumen. Thanks to its design that "leans" over Euclid, the building allows residents and visitors vantage points up and down Cleveland's main thoroughfare. The lower floors also deliver the street action, which on weekend nights in the second-largest theater district outside of New York City delivers plenty of vibrancy.

And then there's the windows themselves -- they extend from floor to ceiling. They shut out the outside noise although some windows open. A few of the apartments have balconies. In the corner units, those tall windows extend all the way into the corners where there are electrical outlets for someone to place a decorative lamp for reading. Or they can plug in their music without worrying about draining their batteries as they soak up the sights of a city on the rise.

Tour-goers and guides mingle in the apartments that were on
display. Three floorplans were part of this first week of tours.
More parts of the building will be added to the tours as more
construction work on the building is completed (KJP).

The decor is elegantly modern and features simplicity and some gadgets. There are neutral colors, lots of angles, 9-foot-8 ceiling heights, wood-look laminate floors in common areas of apartments, carpeting in the bedrooms and ceramic tile in the bathrooms. Kitchens feature stainless steel appliances, gas stoves, white quartz countertops and tiled backsplashes.

The gadgets include Honeywell smart thermostats, Schlage control electronic access to apartments and Draper roller shades on the floor-to-ceiling windows. There are soft-close cabinets and walk-in closets with slide-rod shelves.

Although it's the latest and tallest new residential tower in downtown Cleveland, it certainly won't be the last. Construction is due to start this summer on the 23-story City Club Apartments, 720 Euclid. There are also for-sale offerings starting to emerge downtown as well to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for housing in Cleveland's urban core.

Other areas of the building were
in various stages of construction,
with less advanced work done
higher up in the building. Yet
the lobby still has a ways to
go as it was used for construc-
tion materials staging (KJP).

END

Tremont Lincoln Heights plan shows change is coming

An overall view of Tremont's Lincoln Heights neighborhood,
with Interstate 90 on the south and eastern sides of the area.
Ohio City is at the top with West 25th Street at far left and
Lincoln Park at far right (Seventh Hill Design/TWDC).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

UPDATED MARCH 4, 2019

A development vision for the south-western part of Tremont called Lincoln Heights won unanimous support Monday from its immediate community. Now, that conceptual vision is headed to City Planning Commission on Friday for its possible adoption.

The plan shows existing and proposed buildings, greenspaces and parking lots in the area generally along West 25th Street and Scranton Road, from about Fairfield Avenue south to Interstate 90/490.

While that area hasn't seen the intensity of development as the rest of Tremont, there are signs on the landscape and in recent property transactions that show its fortunes are starting to change.

"The purpose of the plan is to proactively think about neighborhood development with the community," said Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack whose ward includes Tremont, Ohio City and Downtown.

City Council on June 4, 2018 authorized City Planning Commission Director Freddy Collier to enter into an agreement with the Tremont West Development Corp. for the Tremont Lincoln Heights Planning Study. Council also approved using $5,000 in Ward 3 Casino Revenue Funds for that purpose.

"This is a perfect example of how to proactively engage residents and the community in city planning," McCormack added.

This close-up shows the area along Scranton Road including
Sustainable Community Associates' proposed The Lincoln
apartments at the intersection of Willey/Kenilworth avenues.
However it doesn't show potential developments on the north
side of the intersection (Seventh Hill Design/TWDC).

Tremont West Development Corp. hired Seventh Hill Design of Cleveland to draft the plan and produce some graphics to help illustrate it. Seventh Hill Principal David Jurca shared those conceptual images publicly today via Twitter.

"Our Lincoln Heights plan was unanimously approved by the block club and Tremont West (Development Corp.) board," Jurca wrote. "Now, we present to the Planning Commission this Friday. A hand-drawn rendering of the vision plan is shown, but some of the most important elements are policies to address affordability."

"Seventh Hill's David Jurca and team did an awesome job engaging all of the stakeholders in this area," said Khalid Hawthorne, housing and economic development director for Tremont West Development Corp.

"This area experienced large increases in property tax values of 200-300 percent," he added. "That is great if you are able to take out a home equity line but if you are low- and/or fixed-income it just means extra expenses. Will long-term residents be forced to sell?"

He said part of the solution is requiring that 20 percent of housing units in a given development involving city-owned land-bank properties be priced as "affordable." That policy is spelled out in Tremont West Development Corp.'s Near Westside Housing Inclusion Strategy and is available on the community development corporation's Web site.

The renderings show some under-construction buildings as existing, such as St. Joseph Commons, the new Front Steps Housing and Services building at 2554 W. 25th St. Or, there's the The Tappan, 2703 Scranton Rd., Sustainable Community Associates' latest development.

The largest collection of conceptual/new buildings shown in
the Lincoln Heights plan was east of West 25th Street and
north of the Nestle plants. But one of the property owners
in that area says that nothing is under development in that
area at the present time (Seventh Hill Design/TWDC).

But it also shows some planned developments, such as Sustainable Community Associates' The Lincoln, an 83-unit apartment building proposed to rise at the southwest corner of Scranton and Willey Avenue. And it shows a large collection of new structures, including a mix of single-family homes and multi-family buildings concentrated east of West 25th Street, north of the Nestle plant.

Some of that land is owned by affiliates of Tremont-based SoLo Development. But SoLo President Adam Waldbaum said he wasn't aware of what the intent of the plan was in showing those building concepts, although he is a member of the Lincoln Heights Block Club.

"I'm not developing anything at this moment in that area," he said, adding that he did not wish to discuss his company's plans. "As time progresses, I'd like to share more."

When asked if the plan could help provide residents with some expectations of what future developments could involve, thus reducing so-called NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) opposition, he said the planning exercise was successful in incorporating a variety of opinions.

"Seventh Hill did a really good job in taking everyone's thoughts into consideration," Waldbaum said. "I gave my input to it. I'd like to see some things go differently (with the plan) but wouldn't we all."

END

Circle Square plan was big, gets bigger

When it was first announced in 2015, the Circle Square project
was big and ambitious. Now it is even more so, owing to the
success of recent developments like One University Circle
(seen at upper left). The bigger plans, including a 24-story
apartment tower shown in red, will be up for approval
this Friday at City Planning Commission (MPD).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

When Midwest Development Partners first announced its Circle Square plan five years ago, then-called University Circle City Center or UC3, it was considered bold and ambitious.

Cleveland in 2015 was still shaking off the body blows it took from the Great Recession and even from the early-2000s recession before that. But this was University Circle -- Cleveland's fastest-growing employment hub.

That hub, the center of the region's eds-n-meds jobs machine, continues to crank out employment opportunities at a pace exceeding the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So when Midwest Development Partners representatives make their presentation of revised plans for Circle North on Friday to the City Planning Commission, it will show a bigger and more ambitious vision.

Midwest Development Partners and its development team are
presenting to the city its larger vision for the Circle Square
Development that will create a second downtown for
Cleveland in the heart of University Circle (MDP).

The original conceptual design, previously approved by the commission in 2015, showed 625 multi-family residential units, seven townhomes, a 160-room hotel, 110,860 square feet of retail and 1,245 parking spaces in several multi-level garages.

The commission will be asked to approve the revised design and infrastructure plans which show 807 multi-family residential units, 104,990 square feet of retail and 1,469 parking spaces. The rest of the conceptual plan would remain the same, according to documents submitted to the city.

A proposed infrastructure plan shows the removal of high-speed turning lanes from Chester Avenue eastbound to Stokes Boulevard southbound as well as to MLK Boulevard southbound. The goal is to slow down traffic and improve pedestrian safety as more mid- and high-rise buildings are built nearby.

The surrounding area already has four large residential buildings -- the 7-story Park Lane Villa, 11-story Judson Manor, 13-story Fenway Manor and the 20-story One University Circle. It also has the Cleveland Clinic's 16-story W.O. Walker Center.

Infrastructure plan for the area around the proposed Circle
Square development site (MDP).

Also being sought on Friday is commission approval of conceptual designs for a 24-story apartment tower and its associated parking garage at 10600 Chester Ave. On that project component, Midwest Development and its financial affiliate Ponski Capital Partners are joined by the Chicago-based team of White Oak Realty Partners and FitzGerald Associates Architects.

Planning Commission recently approved the first new-construction element of Circle Square -- the 11-story Library Lofts apartment building and new MLK Branch Library. Ground will be broken for that structure on or about July 1.

Although its groundbreaking will be the first new building in the Circle Square development, Library Lofts' construction is intended to occur simultaneously with 10600 Chester, said Chris Ronayne, President of University Circle Inc.

"We are on a trajectory of growth," he said. "One University Circle and Centric, being 95 percent occupied, are giving market investors confidence."

These two images show the ground floor and upper-level
site plans for the Circle North development (MDP).

First Interstate Properties' 276-unit, $116 million One University Circle, 10730 Euclid Ave., opened in September 2019. Midwest Development Partners' 272-unit, $50 million Centric Apartments, 1999 Circle Dr., opened in December 2018. Their ability to attract high occupancy numbers less than one year after opening have occurred while having top-of-the-market rents.

The proposed hotel would rise on the site where the current MLK Branch Library has stood for 50 years, 1962 Stokes Blvd. After the new library is built and opened in two years, the old library will be demolished.

"The hotel is currently planned for the next phase, connected to the parking," Ronayne said.

Numerous mixed uses, primarily cafes and retailers, are shown in Midwest's ground-floor uses plan. The desired uses include a grocery/pharmacy, restaurants, dry cleaner, beauty salon, pet store, cafes and building lobbies.

END

Amtrak considers new resources for new train services, including Ohio

Amtrak’s Next-Gen Acela Express prototype is towed on Feb.
17, 2020 through Cleveland on its way to and through Chicago,
to the American Association of Railroads’ test facility at Pueblo,
CO. Will Amtrak provide fast, modern, convenient passenger
trains like these between population centers in Ohio -- the
nation’s seventh-most populous state? New federal programs
proposed by Amtrak could offer that opportunity (Painesville
Railfans/YouTube). 

If the rail and transit advocacy group All Aboard Ohio had designed proposed initiatives to help jump-start passenger rail development in the nation’s seventh-most populous state, they would likely look similar to the ones Amtrak is considering now, according to their press release.

And a decade ago, when the federal government offered intercity passenger rail capital grants to states without requiring a state match, it was considered a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But if Congress adopts Amtrak’s proposed program to expand the nation’s passenger rail system, Ohio should take advantage of what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally join the civilized world in offering safe, modern, productive and environmentally friendly passenger rail services.

In a new report to Congress “General and Legislative Annual Report & Fiscal Year 2021 Grant Request” available here, Amtrak proposed multiple new initiatives to grow the nation’s passenger rail network which has been largely static for decades. Despite this, Amtrak ridership is up 44 percent thus far in the 21st century and the federal corporation improved its financial performance to cover 99 percent of its operating costs in 2019 with customer revenues.

To further grow the rail system to serve populous, growing states like Ohio, Amtrak proposes to supplement existing funding and programs with:

• New Corridor Development Program
• New Passenger Rail Trust Fund
• Flexing General Revenues Authorized for Highway Trust Fund
• New Passenger-Freight Railroad Shared Benefit Tax Credit
• Expanded eligibility for Rail-Airport Connections
• Expanded Section 130 Railway-Highway Grade Crossings
• Expanded Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Eligibility
• Proposed Infrastructure Bill

Additional details about these proposals follow the press release, available here.

After Ohio in 2010 gave back $400 million in federal funds to
start 79 mph 3C (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati) trains and
$7 million to develop funding-ready plans to increase train
speeds to 110 mph, some of those funds went to Michigan.
There, the state used those funds to upgrade its Detroit-
Chicago corridor to 110 mph. Here, a Chicago-bound
train arrives the new station in Dearborn, MI (KJP).

Of particular note for Ohio is the first item – a new Corridor Development Program. Amtrak is requesting $300 million per year starting in federal fiscal year 2021 from Congress to develop high-potential corridors (routes under 750 miles). Once an agreement is in place with a state entity, Amtrak may pay up to 100 percent of the capital costs to initiate new or additional services. Amtrak may also provide 100 percent of the operating costs in the first two years, 90 percent in the third year, 80 percent in the fourth year and 50 percent in the fifth year. After that, the new service must be state supported in the same manner that 16 other states currently purchase service from Amtrak.

“This Corridor Development Program is a major policy shift for Amtrak,” said All Aboard Ohio Executive Director Stu Nicholson. “Since it began in 1971, Amtrak has been largely reactive and not proactive when it comes to its growth. This policy shift is very welcome and long overdue when it comes to dealing with states like Ohio that have almost no service and thus almost no political constituency to create a passenger rail development program. We hope that Congress will authorize and fully fund this Corridor Development Program.”

Under a Congressionally authorized and appropriated Corridor Development Program, Amtrak will coordinate with stakeholders to develop and submit implementation plans to the U.S. Department of Transportation and Congress for high-potential corridors. Based on ridership and economic impact analyses of a recently developed Midwest Regional Rail Plan by the Federal Railroad Administration, it is likely that one or more Ohio routes will be among the high-potential corridors.

“In physics, objects at rest tend to stay at rest,” Nicholson said. “Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Ohio needs a catalyst to get a modern passenger rail system in motion. This potential federal Corridor Development Program is exactly the kind of catalyst Ohio needs to connect our six largest metropolitan areas to each other and to the left-behind regions of the state. Those six largest metros created 245,000 jobs in Ohio in the last five years and accounted for all of Ohio’s job growth.”

Amtrak’s proposals for growing the nation’s intercity passenger rail system also will likely be submitted for possible inclusion in the six-year federal surface transportation spending authorization. The current six-year authorization expires in October. Amtrak’s Board of Directors will likely vote this spring on what it will seek from Congress in the new authorization. After that vote, details about Amtrak’s proposals and desired new routes will become clearer.

END

Megaproject tax credit slowed by Primary, Larrys' feud

The Transformation Mixed-Use Development tax credit pro-
posal now pending before the Ohio General Assembly was
originally drafted to benefit Stark Enterprises' nuCLEus de-
velopment. It has since been amended to benefit different
types of real estate projects could positively change their
communities (Stark). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

A bill intended to provide significant capital to megaprojects in Ohio's largest urban areas and lesser assistance to real estate developments in smaller communities has sped up and slowed down at various times over the past few years. Now, Substitute Senate Bill 39, the Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) tax credit, is back in the slow lane, awaiting two votes.

One vote would be its potential referral out of the House of Representatives' Economic and Workforce Development Committee to the House floor.

But before that happens, the bill is sitting in committee awaiting a different vote: the Ohio Primary Election on March 17. Many lawmakers are out campaigning as they or their friends and allies face challengers in the primary. That's where their attentions are focused until the election.

The TMUD tax credit bill was originally drafted by a law firm working on behalf of Stark Enterprises to aid its nuCLEus mixed-used development in downtown Cleveland. The $354 million nuCLEus development offers two 24-story towers -- one residential and one office -- atop a pedestal of retail and parking to be built on East 4th Street between Huron Road and Prospect Avenue.

Sub. SB 39 would encourage insurance companies to invest in Ohio real estate megaprojects. It would do so by refunding to insurance companies up to 10 percent of their investments in TMUDs.

Within 10 miles of a major city, a TMUD refers to projects whose new or to-be-renovated connected buildings are at least 15 stories tall, measure at least 350,000 square feet and contain any combination of retail, office, residential, recreation, structured parking or similar uses. In less populated areas, smaller projects can be considered TMUDs.

The TMUD bill, called Sub. SB 39, has sped up or slowed
down at various times in its travels through the committees
and chambers of Ohio State House (State of Ohio).

The maximum credit for a TMUD would be $40 million. A total of $100 million worth of credits would be available in each state fiscal year ending June 30 in 2020, 2021 and 2022. But it remains to be seen if the bill moves fast enough to authorize and implement the 2020 round of tax credits.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Kirk Schuring (R-29, Canton), has been amended several times since it was first introduced in the previous legislative session in 2018.

But a source who spoke off the record suggested that a long-running feud between the two Larrys -- Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-72, Glenford) and Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof (R-22, Medina) -- might be partly to blame for Sub. SB 39's latest hold up.

Each has accused the other of moving too slowly on pending legislation, although it's debatable as to whether the TMUD is one of the victims as both houses have held votes and hearings on this bill. Sub. SB 39 passed the Senate last summer 32-1 and has since had seven hearings in the House's Economic and Workforce Development Committee.

That stands in stark contrast to Sub. SB 8, for example. That bill, also sponsored by Schuring, would authorize a 10-percent transferable, non-refundable tax credit to those who make qualified real estate and related investments in designated Opportunity Zones.

The Senate considered Sub. SB 8 a priority and moved it quickly last year. Senators passed Sub. SB 8 unanimously less than two months after it was introduced to the Ohio General Assembly. It was sent over to the House and had one hearing in the Economic and Workforce Development Committee in May. It hasn't had a hearing since.

Stark representatives don't speak in public about their views
regarding the trials of the TMUD bill. But it seems that each
time there is renewed progress on the bill, Stark issues some
new marketing documents about nuCLEus like the one above
or shares cryptic, hopeful hints on social media (Stark).

"The delay (to the TMUD bill) is purely due to the legislative schedule," said Josh Ferdelman, legislative aide to Rep. Paul Zeltwanger (R-54, Mason), chair of the Economic and Workforce Development Committee. "We couldn’t make it work the week of the 19th and the legislators won’t meet again until March 24th. I fully expect us to meet on March 25."

Rep. Mike Skindell (D-13, Lakewood), who serves on that committee, said he didn't expect a vote by the full House on the TMUD tax credit bill until after the primary election anyway. But he did expect some committee movement before then.

"I am surprised it did not move (out of committee to full House) before the election," Skindell said. "I am not sure of the future of the bill."

He clarified that he didn't believe that the bill was in trouble. But he wasn't sure if it would pass in time so that three rounds of TMUD tax credits could be issued instead of just two rounds.

One development that could aid its swift passage is that the House's leadership is already working with Schuring to win Senate support for the bill's changes in the House. If the Senate issues an expression of support, there would be little chance of a conference committee. That could save weeks or possibly months of time.

The legislation can be effective by June 30 if it goes to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature before April 1 and he promptly signs it. But the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, which would administer the tax credits per the substitute bill, still has to issue application rules before inviting requests for the credits.

END