Sherwin-Williams drills down on data for HQ sites

Geotechnical survey crews descended upon the Weston Group-
owned parking lots in downtown Cleveland's Warehouse Di-
strict Nov. 2-3 (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Identifying where Sherwin-Williams' (SHW) massive headquarters plus research and development (HQ+R&D) facilities might land requires lots of information. And the global coatings giant gathered a lot more detail this weekend.

Survey crews on Nov. 2-3 fanned out across 5.6 acres of parking lots owned by the Weston Group, a couple of blocks west of downtown Cleveland's Public Square.

In what's called the "Superblock," surrounded by Superior and St. Clair avenues, plus West 3rd and West 6th streets, geotechnical survey workers from Enviroprobe Integrated Solutions Inc. and Environmental Works Inc. labored in a cold drizzle. The brawny crews bored perhaps a dozen holes deep below the asphalt of the entire Superblock and extracted core samples.

The broad area of sampling suggests a massive development over the whole Weston Superblock. A source close to the HQ property negotiations says that "the Weston lot excites them (SHW) as an opportunity to make a revolutionary sort of campus."

SHW already knows a lot about the 1.17-acre Jacobs Group-owned lot on the west edge of Public Square. It's where the Fortune 500 company planned to build a new, 900,000-square-foot HQ tower in 2014-15 until it redirected its resources to acquire rival Valspar.

When Weston-Citymark planned to develop the Superblock
according to their vision, they imagined three 20- to 25-story-
tall towers on the site with a fourth tower being a 37-story-tall
office building. Sources say few if any SHW buildings on the
Jacobs/Weston lots would be so tall. That makes sense consi-
dering SHW's 1.8 million square feet would be spread across
more land than Weston-Citymark's plan for 3.5 million square
feet of office, residential, hotel and retail space (Weston).

Just five years ago, SHW hired civil engineering firm AECOM to help it plan a new HQ. As part of its fact-finding, AECOM subcontracted with a geotechnical driller to gather soil samples all the way down to bedrock, some 200 feet below the Jacobs lot.

Today, SHW is a larger, faster-growing company. Not only are its HQ needs much larger. This time, with Valspar's R&D workers in Minneapolis unable to unite with SHW's research workers in Cleveland's overcrowded John G. Breen Technology Center on Canal Road, a new or expanded R&D facility is in the cards too.

Combining the HQ+R&D brings the scale of the project to 1.8 million square feet (not including parking), per a request for qualifications by SHW's facilities consultant Welty Building Co. for construction management services for some or all of SHW's HQ+R&D. Two sources say Gilbane Building Co. won the bid on Oct. 8.

But Bedrock Cleveland, which owns Tower City Center and its Riverview parking lots plus other parcels between Huron Road and the Cuyahoga River, is the leading competitor to the Public Square site that SHW had long desired.

Bedrock is making a strong pitch to SHW. And it can tell SHW what the earth looks like far below the surface of its properties because it gathered soil boring data several years ago when it planned to build the phase two casino south of Huron.

Geotechnical survey crews began taking core
samples at Weston's Superblock Nov. 2. Here,
crews worked near St. Clair Avenue and West
6th Street (UrbanOhio/Cleveland95).

So the only place where SHW doesn't have good soil data below its final, desired sites for its HQ+R&D is at the Weston lots -- until now. Despite the impressions from well-informed sources, the surveying work this weekend shows that SHW may not yet be favoring one of the two final sites.

"Taking samples helps us determine the type of foundation systems that we can use," said a high-level source who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about SHW's project. "It (the soil boring) needs to happen before any real design can start."

And knowing what type or scale of foundations are needed will establish a baseline of costs for comparing the Jacobs/Weston and the Bedrock sites. So will the actual value of the land involved.

Unlike 2014-15, SHW has added a new/larger R&D facility to go along with a new HQ. So more land than just the Jacobs lot would be needed this time around. That's why the Weston lots are in play, offering a 6.77-acre site by combining the Jacobs/Weston lots for the HQ+R&D.

The riverfront site is even larger. SHW already owns 9.2 acres of riverfront land for the Breen Center, next to the 2.7 acres of land Bedrock is offering between Huron and Canal, just east of the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse tower. For either site, a large amount of downtown land is involved and it is expensive.

Geotech crews moved their way south to alongside and then
beyond Frankfort Avenue which divides the Superblock in
half. Usually, a geotech survey crew pokes a few holes in
the ground at a proposed development site. These crews
drilled perhaps a dozen such holes over a 5.6-acre area,
suggesting a very large development project (KJP).

The Jacobs/Weston lots are appraised by the county for tax purposes at about $4 million per acre, which is based on the most recent, comparable property sales in that area. By comparison, Bedrock's Riverview parking lot currently is valued at $2.4 million per acre. But it was valued by the county at $5.26 million per acre as recently as 2014.

In the past week, several insider sources were equally split on which site had the edge. But all agreed that SHW was close to nailing down its preferred location for an HQ+R&D. That facility would become the workplace for up to 6,000 employees in the coming years.

This weekend's activity shows how refined that data gathering process has advanced. In the end, SHW may have requested the geotech work to either justify sticking with a long-desired site or to eliminate it from further consideration.

END

Sherwin-Williams HQ+R&D is down to two sites; decision due soon

This unofficial massing represents how Sherwin-Williams' new
headquarters and new/renovated research facilities (all shown
in dark orange) might appear if built on Bedrock Cleveland's
and SHW's properties between the Cuyahoga River and Tower
City Center in downtown Cleveland. It also shows, to the right
of the increasingly likely SHW site, apartment, hotel and office
buildings that represent later phases of Bedrock's CityBlock
development (Geowizical). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

A source close to ongoing property negotiations said Sherwin-Williams could decide in "the next week or so" between two downtown Cleveland sites for its new global headquarters plus research and development facility.

Officially, SHW has held steady to its official statement that it will announce its HQ+R&D site decision by the "end of this year or early 2020."

However, the source said SHW's decision is now down to two sites and may be leaning toward one of them:

1. Bedrock/SHW riverfront: The site includes about 2.7 acres of Bedrock Cleveland-owned land, between Huron and Canal roads, and between the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse tower and the Tower City Center Riverview entrance. Next to it, SHW owns 9.2 acres between Canal and the Cuyahoga River. It is where SHW's John G. Breen Technology Center is located and where SHW was founded 153 years ago.

2. Jacobs/Weston: West of Public Square, a total of 6.77 acres of parking lots owned by the Jacobs Group and the Weston Group would provide the site for a connected, urbanized office campus. It would be fully integrated into the amenities of a major city's central business district. Cuyahoga County officials apparently are interested in this site for a new Justice Center complex, as well.

The source believed that the Bedrock/SHW riverfront site had the advantage for several reasons.

"They (Bedrock) can move quicker, they can take a lower return since Dan Gilbert is a multi-billionaire, and it will also tie better into CityBlock, giving that some life," the source said. "I think there's enough of a push politically by Bedrock and the CityBlock team that will probably get it done."

Another view of the unofficial massing, showing a possible
juxtaposition of new and renovated SHW buildings in dark
orange at the riverfront site. To their right or east are four
buildings that could become the later phases of Bedrock's
CityBlock development. To the right of them are new and
planned buildings by Stark Enterprises (Geowizical).

Previously, NEOtrans reported that SHW had narrowed its HQ+R&D search down to four downtown Cleveland sites.

In 2014-15, SHW had completed civil engineering and architectural work for a 900,000-square-foot headquarters on the Jacobs lot on Public Square. That effort was shelved as SHW worked to acquire rival Valspar.

This time around, SHW, led by its facilities consultant Welty Buidling Co., is pursuing a 1.8-million-square-foot HQ+R&D complex, highlighted by a 40-story HQ tower. On Oct. 8, SHW through Welty chose Gilbane Building Co. as its construction manager, according to a high-level source.

That same source said that the HQ+R&D facilities would be immediately adjacent to each other, regardless of site, and accommodate up to 6,000 employees. About 3,300 SHW workers are currently employed in downtown Cleveland and another 1,100 elsewhere in Northeast Ohio.

If the Jacobs lot on Public Square was chosen for the HQ, then the R&D facility and all structured parking for the HQ+R&D would probably go on the neighboring Weston-owned lots in the Warehouse District. Yet there has been no chatter among insiders in Cleveland's close-knit real estate community that the Jacobs/Weston site was favored by SHW in this HQ endeavor.

Instead, a source said that the county and many influential law firms want a new Justice Center courthouse tower built within a few blocks of Public Square. Even with the jail possibly relocated out of downtown, the only undeveloped lands large enough and so close to Public Square are the Jacobs and Weston lots.

Any deal that might be part of a new Justice Center is still years off as the county has yet to decide its course of action. But it could be enticing to Weston and/or Jacobs to accommodate a new courthouse tower if the county buys their land and, in exchange, gives the keys to the old Justice Center complex to rebuild or raze it for new development.

Adding 1.8 million square feet of new HQ+R&D facilities for
SHW just west of Public Square could require more significant
new construction yet fill downtown Cleveland's largest parking
crater. But developing that 7 acres of parking lots may have to
wait for a decision by county officials on whether to build a
new Justice Center courthouse tower (Geowizical).

Meanwhile, relocating to the Bedrock/SHW site would be less disruptive to SHW. It could use its existing parking, albeit expanded. And it could allow SHW to modernize and expand its existing, 140,000-square-foot R&D facilities at the Breen Center. Without it, SHW would have to build an entirely new R&D facility measuring, by some estimates, up to 350,000 square feet.

How easy could relocating to the Bedrock/SHW riverfront site be for SHW? It could move its office furniture, equipment and materials without using trucks or even having to go outside. Passageways through Tower City Center would allow for such an indoors move.

Recent news has created a buzz around the Bedrock site. It started with CityBlock's announced $110 million first phase in The Avenue Shops at Tower City which is due to get underway in early 2020. The next phases of CityBlock, between Tower City and the Cuyahoga River along Huron and Canal roads east of SHW's Breen Center, may soon receive a jolt of capital.

Bedrock Real Estate exited its casino businesses including selling off and leasing back its Cleveland-area casinos, raising $843 million in capital in the process. That capital may stay with Rock Ohio Ventures, allowing it to develop the riverside phases of its CityBlock project.

"The combined efforts of our gaming properties together with the other Cleveland assets operated by our sister companies including the Cavs, Avenue Shops at Tower City and the May Company Building, have created a strong connection to the city and allows us to remain heavily committed to the Cleveland area," said Mark Dunkeson, CEO of JACK Entertainment.

This massing by Vocon, SHW's and CityBlock's architect,
shows future phases of CityBlock immediately east of the
 site that some say has the lead in landing SHW's HQ. And
it is just east of SHW's existing R&D facilities that could
soon be expanded. This massing's view is cut off right at
the edge of a candidate SHW HQ+R&D site (Vocon).

"We will continue to invest significant capital into these properties which will have a lasting positive impact on the city and Cuyahoga County," he added.

Several large buildings are proposed by Bedrock adjacent to and east of the site that SHW is weighing. They were included in a massing for Bedrock by Cleveland-based Vocon Partners LLC, which is also SHW's architect. The massing represented potential future work by Bedrock above the river but south of Huron Road, including offices, apartment buildings and hotels, according to another source.

It should also be noted that the law firm guiding SHW's HQ+R&D project -- Korman, Jackson & Krantz LLP -- is the same law firm assisting the CityBlock effort. But it is not the same law firm representing Bedrock Cleveland in its negotiations with SHW. Instead, that law firm is Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.

More news this week pointed to increased buzz surrounding the CityBlock site. The London Stock Exchange Group's Elite Initiative, an international business support program, chose Cleveland for its North American headquarters. A source close to Bedrock's CityBlock project was hopeful that Elite would soon sign a lease at CityBlock for its HQ.

In the early 1970s, SHW's 19th-century HQ and factory in the
foreground still stood next to its 1948 research facilities that
would be expanded in 1998. This view looks west from SHW's
post-1930 HQ in the Landmark Building. Scranton Peninsula is
at left and Ohio City is beyond the many bridges (SHW).

Lastly, just across the river, NRP Group is finalizing its designs for 330 residences on Scranton Peninsula. NRP Group usually goes where the action is or is going to be. But what action exists on Scranton Peninsula -- currently a desolate, 80-acre blank slate of land?

None, but the calculus changes dramatically if a Fortune 500 company builds a massive new facility just a half-mile walk away. NRP Group reportedly was aware that the Bedrock/SHW riverfront site was seriously being considered by SHW for many months.

A real estate development source with intimate knowledge of downtown Cleveland projects pointed to the developments at and near Bedrock's CityBlock and its legal and architectural linkages to SHW as intriguing. He argued that it reinforces what the source close to the SHW negotiations believed -- the Bedrock site had the edge for SHW's HQ+R&D.

"At this point, I would be shocked if the Bedrock site wasn't selected," he said.

END

TMUD tax credit could be law in November; help big Cleveland projects

Stark Enterprises released a new presentation for its $350
million nuCLEus development in downtown Cleveland on
Oct. 22 -- while new life was breathed back into legislation
that would benefit nuCLEus and other Ohio mega projects
(Cresco/Loopnet). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Skyline-changing legislation has suddenly sparked back to life in the Ohio legislature. Substitute Senate Bill 39, to create a tax credit for insurance companies to invest in Transformational Mixed Use Developments (TMUDs), could aid several big real estate developments in Cleveland.

If the legislation continues on what appears to be a new, fast track, it could become law as early as next month.

There was little visible activity surrounding Sub. SB 39 since it passed the Ohio Senate 32-1 on June 25. It was introduced into the House of Representatives the following day. But there had been no action on the bill since it was referred to the Economic & Workforce Development Committee on June 30.

That changed this month when three hearings were scheduled, with Sub. SB No. 39 being the only legislation on the committee's docket. The bill could be reported out of the committee as early as Oct. 30 or Nov. 6 for a vote by the full House, with as many as a half dozen House sessions available in November for the House to pass it.

The House may move the bill quickly as it had already passed a similar bill, House Bill 469, last year by a 91-0 vote. It came after six hearings over two months in the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee. But the legislative session expired before the Senate could pass it.

Originally drafted by Thompson Hine LLP at the request of Stark Enterprises, the legislation would allow an insurance company investor to fill a missing piece in the capital stack for Stark's nuCLEus development in downtown Cleveland. In fact, a source said the $350 million, 2-million-square-foot project couldn't move forward without it.

The level of detail in Stark's newest presentation about its
nuCLEus development is omnipresent. So is the fact that
it centers on the commercial uses in the new-construction
project for which there are few public-sector incentives
from the city and others (Cresco/Loopnet).

Perhaps coincidentally, and with the legislation showing promise of passage, Stark's real estate broker Cresco released on Oct. 22 a new nuCLEus presentation with more detailed images about the project.

The presentation heavily promoted the office building, more half of which is already spoken for by prospective tenants. And it promoted specific retail spaces, the rentable areas of those spaces, and noted that the spaces would become available in "March 2020." While tax abatement is available from the city for residential real estate it is not available for commercial development.

Ezra Stark, chief operating officer, of Stark Enterprises did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this article.

NuCLEus is proposed to feature two 24-story buildings, one for residential and the other for offices, atop a muli-story pedestal of parking and retail between Prospect Avenue and Huron Road at East 4th Street. NuCLEus is pursued by a partnership called Gateway Huron LLC, comprised of Stark Enterprises and J-Dek Investments Ltd.

For a development to be considered a TMUD it must include a mix of land uses, have a development cost of more than $50 million and be 15 or more stories in height or at least 350,000 square feet. The bill authorizes a nonrefundable insurance company tax credit of up to 10 percent of total eligible project costs for contributions of capital to eligible projects.

The transformational aspects of the nuCLEus development
are also emphasized in Stark's latest presentation, which is
no coincidence since sources say the downtown Cleveland
mega project can't proceed with the proposed transforma-
tional tax credit (Cresco/Loopnet).

NuCLEus would likely qualify, but a number of TMUD credits per year still has to be authorized by budget corrections language that has yet to be introduced to the Ohio General Assembly. Then, nuCLEus would have to be one of the limited number of projects certified by the state's Director of  Development Services as eligible for the tax credit.

Ohio Senator Kirk Schuring (R-29, Canton) is sponsoring Sub. SB 39. The bill has 18 bipartisan co-sponsors. Schuring delivered his sponsor testimony Oct. 16 to the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee.

"Sub. SB 39 will have a catalytic effect on the surrounding areas where these mega projects are constructed," Schuring testified. "It will trigger an economic chain reaction that truly will be transformational, fostering new retail establishments, new office buildings, new residential facilities and new entertainment venues. In short, it will be a vibrant place where people will want to live, work and play."

It isn't known if the new Sherwin-Williams (SHW) headquarters and research & development facilities, likely to be built in downtown Cleveland, would be eligible for the TMUD tax credit. It has been assumed that SHW would pay for the roughly $1 billion project from its own significant net cash flow, which is nearly $2 billion per year.

But if an insurance company did invest in SHW's new HQ+R&D under the TMUD program, it could create a roughly $100 million public incentive to build the anticipated 1.8-million-square-foot project in Ohio. Sources say that up to $200 million in public incentives from the city, county and state were pledged to SHW to build its new HQ+R&D in Cleveland.

A week after Senator Schuring testified, on Oct. 23, Frank Sinito, CEO of Cleveland-based Millennia Group of Companies, testified before the committee that redevelopment of its 1.3-million-square-foot Centennial building couldn't happen without Sub. SB 39. The Centennial is the former Huntington Bank building at 925 Euclid Ave.

Redevelopment of  the 1.3-million-square-foot The Centennial
in downtown Cleveland could also benefit from the proposed
TMUD tax credit. The legislation was written so it could aid
new-construction megaprojects, but it could also help a few
large-scale historic redevelopments (Millennia).

He noted that, as opposed to new construction, the redistribution of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and other circulation systems throughout an existing building is extremely challenging and "far exceeds" the cost of new construction.

The renovation of existing buildings often results in much lower efficiency factors in the range of 65 percent as opposed to new construction which is usually 85 percent and above. Of the 1.3 million square feet in The Centennial, over 350,000 square feet is non-income producing circulation and other space.

"The rents from the other income-producing areas of the building simply are not sufficient to subsidize the costs associated with these very large but non-income-producing areas of the building," Sinito testified.

"So, given these realities, it is very important to see -- and I think it becomes quite clear -- that existing buildings often have an even greater need for the type of financial assistance that SB 39 is intended to provide than new construction does," he added.

In his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee in April, Stark Enterprises CEO Robert Stark said that the TMUD tax credit wouldn't be a replacement for the limited-duration and since-expired "catalytic" historic tax credit. Instead, it would apply equally to new construction and foster investment in the future of Ohio's cities.

"We're seeing an international phenomenon of re-urbanization," Stark said. "We're faced with attracting and keeping the best and the brightest. To do that requires a culture of an interconnected, collaborative society and undoing the isolationism of sprawl."

END

Cleveland neighborhoods win $9 million to boost development

The Buckeye-Kinsman is one of Cleveland's neighborhoods
that will benefit from new funding to improve housing, work-
force development, access to living-wage jobs and fresh food,
as well as support of small businesses and minority entrepre-
neurs (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Cleveland Development Advisors today announced $9 million in new commitments to help stimulate projects with measurable social impacts in the Cleveland neighborhoods of Clark-Fulton, Glenville and Buckeye-Kinsman, and the immediately surrounding areas.

JPMorgan Chase is investing $5 million over three years to expand access to opportunity in Cleveland's target neighborhoods so more residents can share in the rewards of a growing economy. This investment is part of the company's sixth Partnership for Raising Opportunity in Neighborhoods (PRO Neighborhoods) competition to support neighborhood development projects and promote inclusive growth across communities in the U.S.

Cleveland is one of only seven winning submissions in this year's national competition for philanthropic funding. Overall this year, JPMorgan Chase received 75 applications covering 49 U.S. cities to support capital and planning projects. The successful application was submitted by Cleveland Development Advisors, the real estate and business development financing affiliate of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and Finance Fund Capital Corporation, a nonprofit real estate developer serving Ohio.

Cleveland Development Advisors will add $3.75 million to JPMorgan Chase’s commitment, and form and oversee a revolving loan fund that will offer qualifying developers financing at below market lending rates. Finance Fund Capital Corporation will provide real estate technical assistance.

These neighborhoods have an average poverty rate of 44 percent and an unemployment rate of 25 percent, which exceeds the city’s overall poverty rate of 31 percent and jobless rate of 18 percent.

The nearly $9 million in commitments will be coupled with other incentives to attract projects that residents of the neighborhoods have identified as top priorities:  affordable housing, access to fresh food and greenspace, access to living wage jobs, workforce development, digital connectivity and support of small businesses and minority entrepreneurs.

"This commitment from JPMorgan Chase and the matching loan funds from Cleveland Development Advisors will give us another significant tool to leverage new investments aimed at benefitting residents of the Clark-Fulton, Glenville and Buckeye-Kinsman neighborhoods," Mayor Frank Jackson said. "These funds will complement my Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, which has designated all or parts of these neighborhoods for economic development funding and other assistance."

NRP Group is building a $60 million mixed-income apartment
complex in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. The new funding
awarded today can help put more opportunities within walking
distance of this and other new housing developments (RDL).

"Helping more people share in the rewards of a growing economy is critical for the long-term viability of Cleveland," said Rudy Bentlage, Market Leader for JPMorgan Chase in Northeast Ohio. "We have an important role in working with the local leaders and community partners to identify solutions that promote growth, development and collaboration. This investment is a great example of this partnership at work and we’re proud to work with Cleveland Development Advisors to ensure that more residents have the resources they need to grow and thrive."

Yvette Ittu, Cleveland Development Advisors President, said the new funds will help to attract additional incentive financing including Opportunity Zone funds to these neighborhoods. Federally-sanctioned Opportunity Zones offer tax breaks for investors as an incentive to attract and assist development projects in designated areas.

"We're very focused on trying to attract projects to these neighborhoods that will improve the lives of the residents there," Ittu said. "These dollars complement our work, and our community's work, by strategically investing in neighborhoods that can benefit from it the most. This grant from JPMorgan Chase – when bundled with the city's incentives, other public and private monies and the Opportunity Zone designations – allows us greater ability to attract, encourage and assist investment and development to empower these neighborhoods."

Since 1989, Cleveland Development Advisors has invested nearly $450 million in more than 135 projects in Greater Cleveland that have resulted in 6,750 new housing units and seven million square feet of commercial space.

Cleveland City Councilman Blaine Griffin, whose ward includes a neighborhood selected for the new investments, lauded the announcement.

"This is great news for three Cleveland neighborhoods that have experienced years of abandonment, disinvestment and neglect," said Councilman Griffin. "And I commend JPMorgan Chase and Cleveland Development Advisors for this infusion of much needed capital that will surely help in the revitalization efforts already happening in these neighborhoods."

Finance Fund Capital Corporation has worked with Cleveland Development Advisors previously on a wide range of community development projects in the Cleveland area. The organizations will partner in working with the neighborhoods and local community development corporations including Famicos, MetroWest and Burten Bell Carr.

"This investment from JPMorgan Chase gives us another opportunity to work successfully with Cleveland Development Advisors to help create positive change in Cleveland neighborhoods driven by local residents," said Diana Turoff, President and CEO of Finance Fund Capital Corporation. "Our past working relationships with Cleveland Development Advisors and neighborhood organizations in Cleveland give us a strong foundation upon which to build. We look forward to working with them as well as local residents and leaders to cultivate sustainable growth in these three neighborhoods."

The Glenville, Clark-Fulton and Buckeye/Kinsman neighborhoods were chosen by the applicants for the Chase grant application based on a study by Cleveland State University that identified areas in Cleveland with Opportunity Zone designations where focused planning could attract private investment to the benefit of existing residents and businesses.

END

Lakewood's East End gets some refreshments

Developer Jim Miketo bought this Birdtown building whose
ground floor featured the Madison Bi-Rite until it closed two
years ago. This is what the building could look like with its
 white paint removed and the bricks restored to their natural
color (Cresco). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Several properties at Lakewood's East End have changed hands recently, resulting in new investments that are due to turn underutilized structures into productive buildings once again.

The latest and largest transaction occurred Oct. 16 when Jim Miketo, owner of Forest City Shuffleboard in Ohio City, acquired a three-story, 101-year-old, mixed-use building at 12501 Madison Ave., county records show. It recently hosted the Madison Bi-Rite grocery store and Silhouette School of Dance.

Starting in mid- to late-2020, Miketo plans to transform the upper two-thirds of the 30,588-square-foot building into approximately 20 new apartments, according to real estate brokerage Cresco which handled the property sale. The rest, about 9,000 square feet, will feature ground-floor retail fronting busy Madison, the main street of Lakewood's Birdtown neighborhood.

Along with converting the property into apartments over retail, Miketo proposes to offer a new fitness center, dedicated parking, outdoor spaces for grilling and an expansive rooftop deck that promises to offer views of Lake Erie and downtown Cleveland's skyline.

“We are all about elevating historic neighborhoods and galvanizing communities while bringing new and unique developments to the area,” Miketo said in Cresco's Oct. 16 blog. “This property is a cornerstone building in a community that has incredible historic significance and a thriving demographic. We’re beyond excited to be able to contribute to such a beautiful neighborhood and help continue its rich legacy.”

This is how 12501 Madison Ave. looked until its grocery store
closed two years ago. It has sat vacant ever since (Cresco). 

The three-parcel property was acquired for $750,000 through a company named Little Jemmy, LLC that Miketo formed in July. The property was previously owned by Nicholas A. Sanfilippo's Mulberry Street Properties LLC, county records show.

Another important property sale took place in July. Gregory Rossi of Rocky River bought the property at 11824 Detroit Ave. that contained the former Maria's Roman Room restaurant for 44 years until it closed in 2005.

"He is opening a sports bar called the Ohio Inn," said Ward 4 Councilman Dan O'Malley. "When I talked to him over the summer, he was ambitiously hoping to open for football season. Obviously it's not yet open, but it's progressing."

Rossi has installed new windows and doors in the 96-year-old, 4,870-square-foot building that contains the restaurant on the first floor and apartments above. O'Malley said Rossi doesn't own any other restaurants or bars in the Cleveland area but said he may have owned an establishment previously in the Youngstown area.

According to LoveLakewood.com, Maria and Anthony "Chick" Bastulli owned and operated Maria's Roman Room for 44 years before she sold the restaurant business in early 2005 to Leonard and Olga Fink, according to Lakewood Patch. The restaurant has been closed since 2009. Maria Bastulli passed away in 2017.

The building at 11824 Detroit Ave. that was home to Maria's
Roman Room for 44 years until 2005. At left is the driveway
to the Value World store and municipal parking lot (Google).

County deed records show a company named Vibracorp, Inc. whose president was Angelo Gallo, acquired the property in 2012 for $110,000. Paul Colletti, owner of Brickhouse Bar and Grill in Slavic Village, tried in vain in 2013 to reopen the restaurant as a steakhouse called "Braised."

Rossi, under the name 11824 Detroit LLC, bought the restaurant property for $350,000 on July 10, according to Cuyahoga County records that were later corrected on Sept. 6.

Another property transaction occurred June 27 when the city acquired the closed Cove United Methodist Church, 12525 Lake Ave., for $900,000. The city had been looking for a large, underutilized property for it to build additional capacity for aging storm and sanitary sewers at Lakewood's East End.

With this large, 1.765-acre property, the city will be able to install an underground sewer retention tank and possibly retain the church for a future civic use like a community center. Or it could be demolished for development, considering the rising rents and low vacancies in the Gold Coast area. That will be decided after the sewer project, city officials said.

More refreshments are coming to the city's East End. City officials are planning some modest streetscape improvements in the Rockport area, including new pole-mounted traffic lights on Detroit Avenue for the Coutant Avenue and Ridgewood/Cove Avenue intersections as well as renovations to the pocket park on Clifton Prado, O'Malley said.

END

Planning starts for cross-county Lake Erie trail, erosion control

Plans for the first phases of Euclid's Waterfront Improvement
project are near to being realized, as construction is wrapping
up on the first half-mile of lakefront trail and enhancements.
This is a model for the rest of Cuyahoga County to address
lakefront access and erosion issues simultaneously (City
of Euclid). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A large investment in Greater Cleveland's greatest natural asset could result from a multi-jurisdictional planning effort announced on Oct. 17 at the Lakewood Women's Club Pavilion at  Lakewood Park. The investment could result in a transformative economic and quality of life payback for the region.

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish announced $500,000 for conceptual-level planning for the cross-county Lake Erie Trail along more than 30 miles of the county's shoreline.

Funding will come from the county, the Cleveland Metroparks, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency's (NOACA) Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative, the Cleveland Foundation and others.

The model for this program is the City of Euclid's waterfront improvements plan. Like most of Cuyahoga County, Euclid has two basic problems involving Lake Erie: lack of public access to the lake and an ongoing shoreline erosion challenge.

Lakewood is another Cleveland suburb that has invested in its
lakefront, including the Solstice Steps and Promenade seen
here at Lakewood Park (Environmental Design Group).

Only 6 percent of Euclid's shoreline is publicly accessible. Most of it is owned privately, usually by single-family households which are perched atop 20-foot-high cliffs above the eroding shoreline.

To protect those properties and to increase their values, the City of Euclid is investing up to $19 million to construct a 10-foot-wide lakefront trail to link several high-rise apartment complexes with the Kenneth J. Sims Park. The trail is aligned behind an erosion-resistant barricade comprised of two-ton limestone boulders and concrete retaining walls.

But Euclid's portion is only two-thirds of a mile long and will cost nearly $13 million, including beaches, fishing piers, access points and replacing cliffs with more gentle slopes covered with native vegetation to prevent erosion.

Construction on the first phases of Euclid's waterfront improve-
ment project got underway in November 2018 (City of Euclid).

To offer the same shoreline treatments along the entire northern edge of the county where breakwalls or trails do not already exist could cost several hundred million dollars. Again, however, Euclid showed how it could be funded.

Euclid used a mix of local tax-increment financing from the higher property values, Cuyahoga County Casino Revenue Funds and Federal Emergency Management Agency grants through a pre-disaster mitigation program.

The participation of the Cleveland Metroparks, NOACA and Cleveland Foundation presumably would bring more funding resources into play. The effort could also spur private sector investments from real estate developers attracted to a more accessible, erosion-resistant lakefront.

There are already five miles of publicly accessible, dedicated trails along Cuyahoga County's lakefront, located at Huntington Park, Lakewood Park, Edgewater Park, Gordon Park and the new Lakefront Bikeway along the West Shoreway.

It doesn't include the unimproved, non-dedicated (not traffic-separated) Lakefront Bikeway in North Marginal Road along the East Shoreway, or other locations lacking non-dedicated biking/hiking infrastructure.

Once completed, the cross-county planning effort will prioritize investments based on costs-benefits and provide guidance for the next steps -- namely, more detailed engineering and environmental documentation.

END

Scranton Peninsula's first major project gets a little denser

NRP Group's revised plan for developing a residential
complex along Carter Road on Scranton Peninsula in
the Flats (BKV). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Cleveland-based NRP Group has submitted to the city revised plans for its Scranton Peninsula development, after an earlier version was rejected by the City Planning Commission as having too much surface parking and looking too suburban.

The new plan features 315 apartments in two buildings plus 15 townhomes. The site plan reduces the amount of surface parking while preserving the total number of spaces by providing a two-level parking deck. It also offers the semblance of a street grid, removes gated entrances and puts buildings up close to the street.

A source said that as Scranton Peninsula develops, the NRP site can be rearranged a bit and tied in with surrounding developments. NRP Group has an option to buy 7.44 acres of land from the so-called Thunderbird development site led by Fred Geis, East-West Alliance and J-Roc Development.

Site plan for NRP Group's Scranton Peninsula development,
showing the apartment buildings in dark orange, the town-
houses in light orange, the parking garage in light gray,
and the surface parking/driveways in dark gray (BKV).

Another 8 acres of the 22-acre site was sold in 2018 to Great Lakes Brewing Co. for an undefined project. And, earlier this year, the first phase of construction began with J-Roc's redevelopment of an abandoned, 27,000-square-foot commercial structure into offices called The Avian at Thunderbird, located at about 1950 Carter Rd.

NRP Group added so much parking at Scranton Peninsula because of their experience in providing so little parking at The Edison At Gordon Square, 6060 Father Caruso Dr. That development, which opened in 2017, has fewer than one parking space for each of the 306 apartments.

The source said that residents complain about the lack of parking and the frequency of car break-ins. NRP Group reportedly is concerned the development won't be successful without the parking since Scranton Peninsula is even more isolated and less walkable than the north end of Gordon Square where The Edison is located.

Although Scranton Peninsula currently lacks other develop-
ments (aside from The Avian), uses or activities, NRP Group
is proposing to build five-story apartment buildings in anti-
cipation of additional surrounding development (BKV).

It is likely that Scranton Peninsula will be more walkable as it develops, but it is literally a blank slate at this point with nothing else within a comfortable walk of the proposed NRP apartment complex.

NEOtrans first broke the story in May of NRP Group seeking to acquire land and proposing to build several hundred apartments on Scranton Peninsula. NRP has shelved plans for building a 323-unit phase two of the Edison on the south side of Breakwater Avenue in Gordon Square.

NRP officials also reportedly considered developing one of several sites on Cleveland's near-West Side. But those were too close to The Edison and might have put NRP in competition with itself for residents. Scranton Peninsula was considered a unique setting for NRP's latest housing products in Cleveland.

In June, NRP announced it is partnering with MetroHealth Medical Center on developing a $60 million, 250-unit residential development near the hospital along West 25th Street in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood.

END