Stadium sites are as much about development

A growing development zone and public realm space next to
Minneapolis' new US Bank Stadium offers an example to us
in Cleveland how a stadium-oriented development site can be
designed (Ryan Cos.). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

It's still early in the game, but a few sites in downtown Cleveland are being considered by the Haslam family, owners of the Cleveland Browns, for a large, stadium-oriented development zone. The planning process is just getting underway with an eye toward 2029 -- the year the team's lease ends with the city for use of First Energy Stadium.

While the record nationally of sports stadiums producing spin-off economic development has been uneven, much of it is due to the fact that the stadiums were often considered the end product. Most stadiums were sponsored by public agencies and any spin-off development was often not part of a coherent plan, let alone part of the sponsoring agencies' organizational missions.

Increasingly, sports stadium developments are led by private efforts and the stadiums themselves are roughly only half of the end game of these developers. The rest includes offices, hotels, housing and supportive retail/restaurants.

Looking north over the Malls extended above the lakefront
railroad tracks to First Energy Stadium, complete with two
20-story towers, one residential and the other a hotel and a
new multimodal transportation center between them (HKS).

The nation's biggest stadium-oriented real estate master plan is in Los Angeles, where a $2.4 billion stadium for the Rams and Chargers anchors an overall $5 billion development. The LA Stadium and Entertainment District in Hollywood Park includes $2.6 billion worth of commercial, residential and retail investment.

Cleveland obviously isn't Los Angeles (it hasn't been since LA overtook it in population in 1930), but it does have a few things in common with cold-weathered, Midwestern Minneapolis.

There, the city established a development zone around the new US Bank Stadium and began offering sites to developers willing to build to meet the city's vision of a high-density district next to a new public park and light-rail line. So far, Ryan Companies has responded with plans for a 17-story office building and a 25-story apartment tower.

Here are four of the potential stadium-oriented development
sites being considered at this early stage. These can and likely
will change as the process becomes more formalized (Google).

Similar opportunities exist in Cleveland. But where? So far, these are the sites that apparently are being considered by the Haslams, according to sources close to them, for their stadium-oriented development built around a domed/retractable-roof facility:

1. Rebuild existing stadium with retractable roof -- This would easily be the least expensive of the plans, costing in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but is also currently one of the least accessible. There are only two routes into the stadium -- West Third Street and East Ninth Street.

This is what First Energy Stadium could look like if someone
put a retractable roof on it and connected it with the new Hun-
tington Convention Center via a land bridge and transportation
center. This general idea has some strong proponents but has
yet to be subjected to a geotechnical analysis (Bob Corna).

Extending the downtown malls as a land bridge over the railroad tracks and Shoreway would help address that, along with incorporating a multimodal transportation center for trains, buses and light-rail connected to housing, hotels, offices and retail. The land bridge, with expanded convention facilities on a lower level and linked to the new stadium would create a massive, connected indoor complex for conventions, meetings and other special events.

2. Northeast side of downtown -- This part of downtown, along St. Clair Avenue west of the Inner Belt, has much in common with what was the Central Market District of downtown in the 1970s and 1980s (today's Gateway District). It is a place of low-rise buildings and parking lots that most people pass through between Interstate 90 and the central business district.

Another view of the stadium-area development zone located in
Minneapolis, with new office buildings at left for Wells Fargo
and a planned 25-story apartment tower beyond (Ryan Cos.).

The site has many advantages. It overlooks Lake Erie and with some access improvements, the site could become an attractive place for a stadium-oriented development zone. Improvement could include extending East 18th Street north to the Shoreway and extending the Waterfront Line light rail southward to create a more usable downtown loop.

But developing here would require acquiring dozens of small properties and demolishing lots of low-rise buildings, much like those in the Central Market-area properties that were sold to and demolished by the Greater Cleveland Domed Stadium Corp. in the 1980s. Those properties were later acquired by Gateway Economic Development Corp. of Greater Cleveland for the basketball arena and baseball stadium.

3. Intermodal Yards -- Formerly the Norfolk Southern intermodal railroad yards, this vast area of vacant land was acquired by the Ohio Department of Transportation in 2011 prior to its reconstruction of the Inner Belt highway. It and most of the surrounding vacant land, suitable for development, remains publicly owned thereby reducing acquisition costs.

The amount of publicly owned land on southeast side of the
Inner Belt (I-90) highway is large. This was the runner-up
site for the Cleveland Browns stadium in the 1990s (Google).

This was actually the runner-up site for the new Cleveland Browns stadium in the late-1990s. But time was of the essence in bringing back the Browns and this site needed lots of infrastructure improvements (parking, transit, plus storm/water/sanitary sewers) prior to building a new stadium.

The site still needs those features, but it is easily the most accessible of the stadium sites being considered. It is accessible from Interstates 77 and 90 and a station on the existing Red, Blue and Green rapid transit lines could be built below the stadium. It would turn a dead zone above the Cuyahoga River into a year-round modern sports and entertainment complex.

4. Honorable Mentions -- Two other sites were included in the list but one reportedly has already been rejected and the other is likely to be turned down, too. The already rejected site is the Weston Group-owned Superblock in the Warehouse District, bounded by West Sixth Street, West Third, Superior Avenue and St. Clair. The field would run parallel with West Third and Sixth. But the site is too constrained for an NFL stadium here.

This site, across Ontario Street from Progressive Field and the
Rocket Mortgage Field House, is a distant fourth among the
sites being considered for the stadium-oriented development
district. This graphic shows a proposed new Loop Trail that
would provide views of the Cuyahoga River valley (AoDK).

The other site, Flats South, has more room but the topography is difficult. It would either require a lot of fill dirt or relocating the rapid transit lines just southeast of Tower City Center and closing Canal Road. But it would offer prime development sites along the river in an area where developer Joel Scheer has been trying to jump start his Flats South Innovation District.

Before someone decides to run out to start buying up land near any of these sites, realize first that the Haslams are VERY early on their search. There are no active proposals being tendered, nor even an architect hired at this time. But it is intriguing to see where their initial search may be leading them.

END

Snavely, investors acquiring Vibrator site for Hingetown project

The familiar sight of the Cleve-
land Vibrator Co. in Ohio City
is due to give way to a fourth
phase of the Snavely Group's
mostly residential Hingetown
real estate development (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Cleveland Vibrator Co., one of the most recognizable names in local manufacturing, will move its operations to the city's Old Brooklyn neighborhood. In its place will be what amounts to the fourth phase of Snavely Group's ever-growing Hingetown development.

Pete Snavely Jr., vice-president of development at his family's Chagrin Falls-based development firm, confirmed the pending acquisition of the 1.715-acre, 14-parcel property bounded by West 28th and West 29th streets, as well as Church and Clinton avenues. Terms of the pending deal were not disclosed.

The property, and indeed the 96-year-old Cleveland Vibrator Co., are actually owned by 2828 Clinton Inc. To facilitate the property's ownership and development, Snavely Development Company (SDC) on Aug. 29 registered two new firms: SDC Residential – 2828 Clinton LLC as well as 2828 Clinton Avenue LLC, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's office.

Site of Cleveland Vibrator Co.'s 1.715-acre, 14-parcel property
in Ohio City's Hingetown section. Also on the same block is
 the Ohio City Firehouse, the Malachi House and the Banana
Blossom Thai Cuisine restaurant which, presumably, will
remain untouched by Snavely's fourth phase (Google).

As reported here at NEOtrans in February, Snavely initially intended to design the fourth phase of its Hingetown master development around the new offices of The Adcom Group. The full-service marketing and communications firm is headquartered at 1370 W. 6th St. in downtown Cleveland's Warehouse District, above Starbucks Coffee.

In Snavely's fourth phase, Adcom's offices would have relocated to the ground floor of a new building topped by residential. But Adcom CEO Joe Kubic said that plan was scrapped due to its high cost. That doesn't mean he has lost interest in redeveloping that site, however. Quite the opposite.

Snavely's third phase along Detroit Avenue between West 26th
and West 28th streets will have a commanding street presence.
But the fourth phase will be located off the main thoroughfare
and in a neighborhood of smaller-scale buildings (Vocon).

"Myself and other investors, including the Snavely Group, are in the process of buying the Cleveland Vibrator site," Kubic said. "We haven't determined what we are going to do with it yet, but we hope to soon. It's a great site, in a great community and we are excited to continue to explore our options there."

Kubic and others at Adcom, founded in 1990, haven't decided if they will look for another location to move the 120-employee headquarters. But a decision has already been made to relocate Cleveland Vibrator and its roughly three dozen workers from its 27,000-square-foot plant that has much outdoor storage. The company manufactures material handling equipment.

Construction barriers went up this week along Detroit Avenue
and West 28th Street for Snavely's third phase (KJP).

Cleveland Vibrator's new location will be at 4544 Hinckley Industrial Parkway in Cleveland, two sources said. The site is the former Watt Printing building located just south of the Jennings Freeway's interchange with Spring Road/Hinckley Industrial.

The property currently is owned by the Gergel-Kellem Company Inc. according to Cuyahoga County records. The 3.14-acre property and 60,790-square-foot building was listed for sale at $3.25 million.

Craig Macklin, president of Cleveland Vibrator, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this article. Thus it is not known when the company will relocate.

The former Watt Printing plant, built in 1996 at 4544 Hinckley
Industrial Parkway in Cleveland, will be the new home of the
Cleveland Vibrator Co., according to two sources (LoopNet).

However, the firm on Sept. 10 was approved by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority  (OAQDA) for $160,000 in Air Quality Revenue Bonds to install air quality facilities at its new plant.

Cleveland Vibrator also was awarded two grants by OAQDA. One grant will cover the financing closing costs and the other will pay up to 30 percent or $30,000 of the principal amount.

Visible construction got underway this week for phase three of Snavely's Hingetown development, featuring 88 apartments in two buildings. One is an existing structure -- the three-story Painters Union building at 2605 Detroit Ave. that is due to be renovated. Next to it will be a newly built, five-story building.

Not all of the block being bought up for Snavely's fourth phase
of development was owned by the Cleveland Vibrator Co. The
block includes several buildings that may not be be a part of the
development, such as Banana Blossom Thai Cuisine restaurant
and, at left, the Malachi House which provides hospice care
and housing for terminally ill persons (KJP).

Phase two was completed this year -- the renovation of the historic Forest City Bank Building and Seymour Block on the southwest corner of Detroit and West 25th Street. The two buildings were updated with ground-floor commercial uses and 38 affordable apartments above.

Last year, Snavely built the first phase at the northwest corner of Detroit and West 25th -- The Quarter, consisting of 194 apartments above 30,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

END

$175 million Market Square development gets new life

Although Harbor Bay's Market Square development may not
be as big as it would have been with the financing that was
minutes away from being OK'd by the State of Ohio, it will
still be a big improvement for Cleveland's Ohio City neigh-
borhood. This old rendering of Market Square shows a plaza
off Lorain Avenue (HPA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Like a tree at risk of getting chopped down, a $175 million development in the heart of Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood was in danger of being felled. But instead of hearing the cry "Timber!" Clevelanders should soon see a new plan released for the construction of buildings here.

The large mixed-use development combining residential, retail and offices in two connected, uniquely timber-framed buildings at Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street was in danger of being axed by an impasse between the city and Chicago-based developer Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors.

On one side, Harbor Bay sought a source of non-conventional financing that included an unusually long (30 years) and expansive (affecting not just residential but commercial uses, too) property tax abatement without civic and public input.

And while the school district and Cleveland Metroparks were willing to consider a shorter abatement term, the City of Cleveland refused to concede its abatement powers to a state entity -- in this case the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority (OAQDA).

But the impasse was addressed at a Sept. 11 meeting between city officials and the developer. The project could go forward with city incentives rather than state help, although the development probably won't be in the same form as before, according to Harbor Bay Project Director Dan Whalen.

"We likely will have to revamp" the project, he said. "But we are moving quickly."

With West 25th Street in the foreground and West
Side Market's tower at far left, Market Plaza will
be a significant addition to Ohio City's Market
District and its urban vibrancy (HPA).

Part of the reason for the expedited development timetable is because Harbor Bay had to commit to contractors and suppliers by the end of September on whether it would proceed with construction.

"The project is 70 percent bid and we can hold those prices for only a limited time," he said.

Harbor Bay has invested nearly $10 million in the project so far, including buying a retail strip for which it has city permits in hand to demolish. City officials acknowledged the renewed positive dialogue and a shared willingness to move the project forward.

"Yes, there are productive conversations with Harbor Bay," said Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack confirmed. "The (city's) normal economic development tools are on the table."

Those typically include a 15-year, 100 percent tax abatement on new-construction residential, with a tax-increment financing arrangement so the city can share the increased income taxes with the school district during the abatement period.

The existing Market Plaza retail strip has more in common with
auto-oriented suburban areas rather than an urban neighborhood
with a busy rail station and three 24-hour bus lines that get more
than 700,000 boardings at this site per year. Harbor Bay hopes
to increase that synergy by demolishing this retail strip and
constructing a transit-oriented development here (Google).

Harbor Bay had hoped to get $150 million in bond financing and the 30-year tax abatement approved at OAQDA's Aug. 13 board meeting. But last-minute letters of of opposition from the city, school district and metroparks nixed the financing and abatement.

OAQDA was approached because Market Square's timber framing would reduce emissions by 40 percent mostly from reduced heating and cooling, but also from avoiding the manufacture of steel and concrete. The most recent plan was for a 10-story office building and seven-story apartment building connected by a pedestal of ground-floor retail.

While Whalen wasn't prepared to say how the project would be changed, he said the timber framing for the buildings would remain.

"Timber will still be the focal point," he said.

Whalen also noted that all of Market Square's office and retail tenants will be new to Greater Cleveland, bringing more than 1,000 jobs and nearly $11.8 million per year in new sales and incomes taxes to the city and county.

END

Sherwin-Williams finally admits new HQ, R&D site search

This unofficial massing based on available information from
 several sources shows what a 1,000-foot-tall headquarters
tower would look like if located on the west side of down-
town Cleveland's Public Square, flanked on the west (right)
by a second tower about 500 feet tall for Sherwin-Williams
research center. This is viewed from Lake Erie (Geowizical).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

After months of denials, Sherwin-Williams (SHW) finally has acknowledged publicly and officially that it is seeking a new home for its global headquarters and research-development facilities.

In a press release shared today, SHW Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John G. Morikis admitted what has been reported here at NEOtrans for nearly a year -- that the global coatings giant has outgrown its scattered offices throughout Greater Cleveland and is looking for a new HQ+R&D.

“The company’s significant growth and global expansion over the last several decades has resulted in a less than optimal configuration of headquarters, offices and R&D facilities across multiple locations,” Morikis said.

This action comes as a result of the company’s ongoing review of its facilities requirements as it seeks to best meet the current and future needs of its customers and employees, the company said.

After multiple articles written here at NEOtrans, Morikis and SHW's public relations staff issued at least two intra-office e-mails (including one just last week) urging staff not to publicly discuss the company's HQ+R&D facilities search.

This has been the location of Sherwin-Williams' headquarters
since 1930 -- the 900,000-square-foot Landmark Office Tower.
. Until the 1970s, SHW shared this 22-story building with three
other large companies' headquarters -- Sohio, Republic Steel and
the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. Now, SHW owns the property
and occupies about 90 percent of the building (KJP).

As part of the exploratory process, SHW said officially that will consider multiple potential sites, including locations in Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and several other states. Any transition to new facilities is not expected to occur until 2023 at the earliest and would require approval by SHW's board of directors, the company said.

The reference to "other states" is likely to appease former Valspar workers now working for SHW in Minneapolis and other locales, according to several sources. The Cleveland suburb of Brecksville also has been mentioned, as the DiGeronimo family -- developers of the former Veterans Administration hospital -- have pitched their site for SHW's R&D facility and possibly the HQ as well.

Also, other sources reminded that SHW sent request for qualifications to the Cleveland offices of Turner Construction Co. and Gilbane Building Co. for the construction of 1.8 million square feet of HQ+R&D facilities. And, Cleveland-based architectural firm Vocon was retained to develop site alternatives for the new HQ+R&D facilities. SHW's attention to the Cleveland offices of those firms may be noteworthy.

Councilman Kerry McCormack, whose Ward 3 includes downtown Cleveland, didn't sound terribly worried about SHW leaving.

"We're in good communication with Sherwin-Williams," he said. "We'll do whatever it takes to keep them. But companies that want to attract talent are looking at moving into cities, not leave them. We are going to work closely with Sherwin-Williams to make sure they have a great new home in Downtown Cleveland."

The days are numbered for Sherwin-Williams' John G. Breen
Technology Center, 601 Canal Rd. But they also appear to be
numbered for the coatings giant's larger research facility in
Minneapolis. Both may be consolidated as a result of major
changes to the growing company's space needs (Ohio EPA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

SHW's consideration of other cities/states for its HQ+R&D spaces may have more in common with Swagelok's recent facility search. In 2018, Solon-based Swagelok Co. issued an RFP for a new corporate headquarters and innovation center.

While company officials claimed that they would consider building a new home anywhere, few expected Swagelok to leave the city where it was founded in 1965. Sure enough, Swagelok decided to stay put and build a new Solon facility for 400 employees now, and possibly growing to 1,000 in the near future.

SHW's roots go 100 years deeper into Cleveland's soil. To pull them out would be a tremendous blow to the city and possibly to SHW as well. And it wouldn't merely be a public relations stain on SHW. All of SHW's headquarters employees and most of its research workers are located here.

A high-level source last week informed NEOtrans that SHW reportedly favors building its HQ+R&D on the west side of Public Square, the same location where SHW had proceeded to advance detailed civil engineering for a new HQ in 2014-15 before the firm decided to direct its resources to acquiring rival Valspar. SHW is on an increasingly speedy glidepath to pay down debt from the Valspar acquisition, possibly by 2022.

SHW has been in its current headquarters in the Landmark Office Tower at 101 W. Prospect Avenue in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio since 1930. The company expanded and filled out that building after it acquired it in 1985 and has since spread its 4,400 employees to multiple facilities in Greater Cleveland.

These facilities include the neighboring Skylight Office Tower, offices for the Performance Coatings Group at 4780 Hinckley Industrial Parkway in Cleveland, plus the Automotive Division Headquarters, 4440 Warrensville Center Rd. in Warrensville Heights. SHW also operates the Breen Technology Center, 601 Canal Rd. and additional automotive research facilities in Warrensville Heights.

The new HQ+R&D facilities will reportedly house 6,000 workers, several sources said.

Sherwin-Williams in 2017 leased this former check processing
center for Charter One Bank as the location for its Performance
Coatings Group. The 151,830-square-foot building is the work-
place for more than 250 SHW employees. The increasingly
scattered nature of SHW's office workforce is why Cleveland's
153-year-old, growing coatings firm is seeking a new global
headquarters and research facilities (LoopNet).

“Given the limitations of our current footprint and driven by the needs of our customers, we are exploring options that will help us to accelerate productivity and efficiency, enhance technology and innovation, enable greater collaboration, support recruitment and retention and reduce maintenance costs over the long term,” Morikis added.

In its press release, SHW said the company will update employees and external stakeholders on an ongoing basis as the multi-year process goes forward. In the meantime, SHW will continue to focus its efforts on the service, quality and innovations that fuel the company’s commitment to help customers around the world succeed, the company said in its written statement.

END