Permit confirms new West Side warehouse to be for Amazon

Amazon will occupy a new warehouse built on Cleveland's
West Side to serve surrounding neighborhoods and Lake-
wood. The site will also employ hundreds of people,
according to a permit filed with the city (LoopNet).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A permit was filed June 10 with the City of Cleveland's Building & Housing Department for the retrofit of an existing warehouse, to be used as an Amazon distribution and delivery station at Madison Industrial Park on Cleveland's West Side. And based on additional information posted with the permit today, the facility will accommodate hundreds of new jobs.

The permit listing doesn't immediately give away information that the fit-out of the 168,750-square-foot building at 10801 Madison Ave. is for the E-commerce giant Amazon. But architectural drawings for the entire 21.6-acre site, added today as an attachment to the public record, certainly do give away the reason for the building permit.

Those drawings prominently display Amazon's name and logo. And it identifies the project as "DCL7." That is a code system used by Amazon to identify its delivery stations in Greater Cleveland. DCL is an abbreviation for "Delivery CLeveland."

For example, Amazon's delivery station at its Euclid Fulfillment Center uses the code DCL1, the North Randall Fulfillment Center is DCL2, North Jackson (near Canton) is DCL3, the Amazon Hub on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland is DCL4, and so on up to DCL7. Not all Amazon distribution centers, such as those in Akron or Twinsburg, have delivery stations.

This is the first page of architectural drawings for building
permits from the City of Cleveland. It doesn't hide the pur-
pose of the building retrofits and site improvements that
the city approved earlier this month (B&H).

A proposed Amazon delivery station near Cleveland's Slavic Village, for which NEOtrans broke the news earlier this month, was identified in architectural drawings as DCL6 with "Amazon" marked on the side of the documents. There will also be a DCL5 delivery station but its location is not yet known. Sites in Bedford Heights and Parma are rumored.

Under the DCL7 permit, the work being done at the Madison Industrial Park involves only the existing building constructed last year by the Weston Group in the hopes of landing a tenant in a hot market for new warehouses. The fit-out of that structure for Amazon has as estimated price tag of $8,757,482, according to the permit.

"The proposed facility is being designed for a package delivery service," according to a project description with the drawings. "It is anticipated that the facility will have two shifts working days and evenings. There may be a third shift added at peak season."

The number of jobs possible with this site isn't described in the documents and Weston officials have not returned phone calls and e-mails seeking more details. However, the building shows a maximum occupancy of more than 1,000 people although the total number of parking spaces is 669. The facility is also within walking distance of the West 117th/Madison Red Line rapid station and several bus lines.

Site plan for the investments that Weston
Group is making to the 21.6-acre site at
10801 Madison Ave. The most prominent
change is the addition of a mammoth new
parking lot south of a warehouse Weston
built last year (B&H). 

"Packages arriving at this facility are prepackaged in cardboard boxes and labeled for shipping within local neighborhoods and areas surrounding the facility," the project description continues. "The packages are brought into the facility via tractor-trailer trucks, who use designated loading dock positions.

"Once unloaded into the facility, the packages are sorted into more specific locations, put into bins and onto small mobile carts. These carts are rolled out to the loading area, from which the packages are loaded into vans for final delivery," the description concludes.

Included in that permit is the addition of an Amazon Hub staging area, interior offices, more bathrooms, numerous conveyors and massive new parking areas for trucks, vans and cars, the public documents show.

Plans show there will be eight truck docks and 96 spaces for delivery vans with 48 of those spaces covered by a planned canopy structure. Stretching all the way south to the railroad tracks and to a stormwater retention basin, between West 106th and West 110th streets, will be an employees parking lot for 482 cars.

This is the original site plan for Weston's
Madison Industrial Park. The site plan
(with north at the left side) shows three
buildings including the one that Weston
built last year (Weston).

Construction of that parking lot began this past week, starting with the installation of drainage systems. The parking lot is so big that it eliminates from further consideration a site plan by Weston that the city approved two years ago.

That site plan provided for two additional 115,000-square-foot light-industrial/warehouse-type buildings south of the one Weston built last year. With Amazon's parking needs, those buildings cannot be built unless the new parking spaces are moved someday to another site or put into a large deck. Both of those are unlikely to happen.

The existing building already has 187 parking spaces fronting Madison and Berea Road. The additional parking areas will bring the total to 669 spaces. When it constructed the 168,750-square-foot building last year, Weston anticipated that it could accommodate about 100 employees. But the addition of 482 spaces suggests that many more jobs will be in the offing. NEOtrans first reported in March that this site would likely be for Amazon.

Given the nature of the construction involved, it is probable that the retrofitting of the existing building and construction of the parking can be completed by the end of this year. The city will also contribute to the construction work by repaving West 106th which is lined with houses along its eastern side.

Construction began this week on retrofitting the existing ware-
house and surrounding site for Amazon. This view looks north
on West 110th Street towards the warehouse with its parking
lot expansion work on the right (KJP).

When Ward 11 Councilman Brian Mooney talked with Weston officials about the project, they said they were not allowed to reveal who their tenant is. But they noted that West 106th needed to be repaved with asphalt to accommodate delivery vans, not concrete to accommodate larger trucks. The bigger trucks will be kept to West 110th which is lined on both sides with industries.

"I've heard no confirmation about the end user although we all suspect who it might be," Mooney said. "Nothing has been publicly stated by the developer. When Weston said it would be delivery vans, that just confirmed for me that it (the tenant) was most likely Amazon. Weston can't say who it is because of a non-disclosure agreement."

In Weston's tax abatement application to the city two years ago, it estimated the first proposed building on the site could accommodate at least 100 jobs and provide $1.4 million in property tax revenues for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and nearly $900,000 in annual income tax revenue to the city.

Weston received in 2018 a 10-year property tax abatement from the city for the building at Madison Industrial Park with an estimated construction cost of $10 million. Abatement applies only to the buildings, not the land. A Weston affiliate acquired the entire 21.6-acre Madison Industrial Park site from the city of Cleveland in 2018 for $1.65 million.

Evidence of construction for Amazon is on the left, or west
side of West 106th Street with residences on the right. This
street will be repaved by the city later this year (KJP).

Previously, the city spent $5.3 million in local, state and federal money to clean up pollutants left by the prior owner, Midland Steel Products. That auto parts manufacturer went bankrupt and closed in 2003, laying off 223 workers. The massive factory was demolished the following year.

Mooney said he received complaints from nearby residents about "all of the trucks" traveling to and from the construction site. So he spent about a half-hour today watching the site to observe the truck traffic.

"There's definitely been a parade of trucks as well as a street cleaner around the site," Mooney said. "They've started on plumbing and site drainage work."

DiGeronimo Companies' Independence Construction LLC was the building contractor for the warehouse building that was built last year. Their vehicles are the same ones working on-site now. Curt Garrett, pre-development manager at Independence Construction, paid the city's permit fees according to public records, confirming their lead role in the construction work.

Tyler Kapusta contributed to this article.

END

Contestants emerging for Flats development

A concept for redeveloping 1250 Riverbed Street on the Flats'
West Bank into a smaller-scale project, possibly featuring a
boutique hotel, residential, a restaurant or a combination
of one or more of these land uses (DLR Group).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A new name has entered the mix for developing 1250 Riverbed St. on the Flats' West Bank. Joseph Shafran, Chairman/CEO of Paran Management Co. of Cleveland is considering options for redeveloping the site.

He joins others in vying for the property, including Cleveland-area developer Scott Wolstein and Washington DC-based Coloma River Capital. The property is owned by 1250 Riverbed Street LLC, an affiliate of a Rochester, NY-based ownership group led by Eliahu Adahan.

In a telephone interview, Shafran confirmed his interest in the site. And he noted that he envisions the the site's future differently from what Coloma River Capital had recently envisioned for the site which is adjacent to the 142-year-old Superior Viaduct.

"We're starting the process by asking the question 'what is the property's function in the ecosystem?'" Shafran said. "I want to figure out how does this building figure into its surroundings. The viaduct is the oldest kid on the block. It should be integrated into the project's program. It's not a big project but it is complicated."

That could include remaking the viaduct into a linear park similar to the High Line in New York City, as is being suggested by the Waterfront District Block Club. The viaduct is owned by the city and is at the halfway point of a revocable 40-year lease to an affiliate of the K&D Group that built the Stonebridge complex in the 2000s.

A small-scale, two-story addition to the roofs the existing
buildings at 1250 Riverbed St. could be in the offing as a
result of an emerging new ownership and development
 partnership involving the property (DLR Group).

A source said Wolstein is a prospective investor in the site but Shafran would not comment on that aspect. However, he complimented Wolstein for his other developments. "We're very lucky to have Scott Wolstein in Cleveland," he said.

When asked last month about his reported interest in the property, Wolstein replied "I really have no update at this time." It isn't clear if Wolstein is competing with Coloma River Capital for a chance to develop the site or joining them as a potential investor.

Paran Management owns and develops multiple properties in Ohio and surrounding states, including apartment buildings, retail properties and mixed-use developments. The Shafran family is prominent in Cleveland real estate and philanthropic circles and related to the similarly prominent Ratner and Miller families.

Although Coloma River Capital proposed a high-rise tower built atop the existing buildings at 1250 Riverbed, Shafran said he considered the proposed high-rise's design "ugly" and not respectful of the surroundings. It's too soon to know if the pair of existing buildings will be retained as part of his vision for the site.

Those pair of buildings are a four-story, 103-year-old structure and an attached six-story, 108-year-old building. Together, the two buildings total 50,000 square feet. They were converted from commercial uses to 28 residential units nearly 30 years ago and renamed the Left Bank Apartments. They are now mostly vacant.

A previous plan, including adding up to 16 floors to the tops
of the existing buildings at 1250 Riverbed, might still be
considered by another investor group (DLR Group).

Coloma River Capital's plan also envisioned 85 apartments and a 200-key boutique hotel -- identified as a Dream Hotel. But Dream Hotel has since announced it will build a 19-story tower on Euclid Avenue at East 36th Street.

One of the first plans considered for 1250 Riverbed was to redevelop the two historic buildings as a boutique Foundry Hotel with a two-story vertical addition for a restaurant/event space with elevated views of the Cuyahoga River and downtown Cleveland beyond.

Shafran wasn't prepared at this early stage to discuss a breakdown of potential uses for 1250 Riverbed, but his firm has experience in developing and owning boutique hotels including the Glidden House in University Circle.

Coloma River Capital had a purchase agreement to acquire the property and proposed to add up to 16 stories above the Left Bank Apartments. The high-rise addition was to be "suspended" over the two historic buildings using a pair of concrete cores built through the two buildings.

From those cores, the new floors would be suspended using a grid of Vierendeel trusses, according to plans by Omaha-Based DLR Group which acquired Cleveland-based Westlake Reed Leskosky. DLR Group is being retained by the new partnership to design the new vision.

The Superior Viaduct could be a spectacular public space if
was enhanced by removing much of its parking and adding
landscaping, outdoor furniture, interactive exhibits and
access points to the eastern end, including possibly
from a redeveloped 1250 Riverbed (KJP).

The property was listed for sale last year for 1250 Riverbed Street LLC at $3 million but Adahan was apparently willing to accept about $2.6 million, according to a source. Such an amount would demand a larger-scale development on the site to recoup the acquisition costs.

But the sale listing for 1250 Riverbed was removed in April. If the property is kept by Adahan and his partners, a smaller-scale project could result. The current ownership group bought the property in 2014 for $875,000, according to county records.

Coloma River Capital was unable to fill significant gaps in it capital stack to achieve its grand vision for the project. When it and DLR Group reached out to construction management firms to get pre-construction cost estimates for the high-rise, it reportedly asked the firms to contribute equity to the project, another source said.

Increased parking still needs to be considered as part of whatever is developed at 1250 Riverbed, at the Nautica properties for sale nearby, and if parking is to be removed from Superior Viaduct prior to converting it into a park. There is also a high-rise development proposed a short distance away at 2208-2210 Superior Viaduct.

END

Seeds & Sprouts VIII - Early intel on real estate projects

This is the Eighth 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.

Plans for a Korean BBQ restaurant and a Community Night
Market were submitted to the city of Cleveland for design-
review in the hopes of securing a building permit (B&H).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Korean BBQ, market planned for East 55th

A permit application was recently submitted to the City of Cleveland's Department of Building & Housing for Fiyah Korean BBQ Restaurant and Bin Mi carryout proposed to be located in a former light-industrial structure at 1253 E. 55th St. The site is just south of the lakefront where residential developments were built and more are planned.

The restaurant is proposed by Sreyleak Ny who already has a Cajun seafood restaurant The Boiler 65, 6410 Detroit Ave. For Fiyah Korean BBQ, she purchased a 7,210-square-foot building on just over 1 acre of land in January for $137,700. According to her filing with the city, she intends to renovate that building with a rooftop deck and enclosure, bringing the restaurant's total square footage to 12,759 square feet.

At the north end of the property, a Community Night Market area offering international foods and other merchandise is proposed, utilizing four market stalls/display stands to be available for lease, plans show. Ny's architect is Ubiquitous Design, Ltd. Architects of Shaker Heights.

In addition to the residential development area emerging near the lakefront area of East 55th, there also are several mixed-use development projects advancing along East 55th in the area of Chester, Euclid and Carnegie avenues.

Tyler Kapusta contributed to this article.

Aging industrial buildings on both side of Train Avenue were
acquired by a developer seeking to renovate them for entre-
preneurs. The building at right, 1901 Train, is home to two
business with a third on the way. The building at left, 1900
Train, to be called Innovo, is seeking financing (Google).

Investors engineer Train Ave development

Known in recent decades for freight trains and junkyards, the Walworth Run valley was actually one of Cleveland's first industrial districts 200 years ago. But investors are finding their way to properties along the valley and on Train Avenue which runs through it. The valley separates the booming Ohio City and Tremont neighborhoods.

Last year, NexGen Cleveland Development Group LLC has invested $497,000 to acquire 2 acres of land at the intersection of Train and Willey avenues and two buildings totaling 32,000 square feet. The smaller of the two buildings, 1901 Train located at the southwest corner, is being renovated for four businesses.

Two of those four businesses are already in place -- Modtempo LLC furniture manufacturing and distribution, plus The Shopp Flowers and Gifts. A third, Taps & Tails, Cleveland's first dog park bar, is due to open this summer and will complement its proximity to the Cleveland Animal Protective League, 1729 Willey.

Just off the northwest corner is the larger building in this development, 1900 Train, which is being marketed by NexGen as a co-working space called Innovo. The developer plans "an open floorplan office concept that will be suited for idea sharing and collaboration. The age group suited for this type of concept is likely between 25-40 years of age, attracting young entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses that are still growing," according to their business plan on The Opportunity Exchange.

NexGen, led by David Reamensnyder, is seeking a $2 million Opportunity Zone investment to renovate the Innovo building inside and out, as well as make site and parking improvements. Total estimated cost of the Innovo project is $3.5 million. But a building right at the northwest corner, 1880 Train, is used by Byrne Sign Supply and is not part of the redevelopment.

Additional developments are planned along Train including an unidentified future development at West 25th Street led by Solo Development, doing business as Sass Real Estate LLC. Multiple properties have already been acquired in this area for this project.

Farther west along Train at West 30th Street, another unidentified development is percolating. A source says a purchase agreement is in place to acquire a junkyard at that intersection. It would be removed as part of a larger development site extending south to Barber Avenue. Reportedly the buyer is Ben Beckman who led the redevelopment the former J. Spang Baking Co. into the 69-unit 2707 Barber Apartments.

Looking north, the Slavic Village Gateway development will
give new health to a neighborhood that hasn't recovered from
the loss of St. Alexis/Michaels Hospital 16 years ago or the
housing foreclosure crisis a decade ago (RDL).

Slavic Village Gateway groundbreaking is July 1

Construction is due to get underway in about two weeks on one of the largest single new-construction residential developments in Cleveland's Slavic Village in decades. Slavic Village Gateway, featuring 78 apartments in two four-story buildings and 10 townhomes, will rise at 5163 Broadway Ave.

According to the Dodge Reports, the target date for the start of construction of the $16 million project is July 1. NRP Group of Cleveland is the developer and general contractor. RDL Architects of Shaker Heights is the designer and GDP Group of Akron is the civil engineer.

On 20,000 square feet of the ground floor of the northernmost building will be the new home for the University Settlement, a nearly 100-year-old social service organization based at 4800 Broadway in Slavic Village. Their new site will offer double the space of the settlement's old site. The Gateway development will be built on the site of St. Alexis (later St. Michael) Hospital that closed in 2003 after 119 years.

While most of the 88 housing units are market rate, 23 units will be income-restricted. Trailside Slavic Village off Aetna Road was proposed in 2013 to be larger than Gateway by offering 95 homes, but only 16 have been built so far. Knez Homes is proposing to construct another 23 homes here.

It is hoped that the Gateway project will spur additional real estate investments in Slavic Village which is still recovering from the housing crisis of 2008-10. Back then, this neighborhood had the highest percentage of houses in foreclosure per census tract in the entire United States.

Tyler Kapusta contributed to this article.


END

Talks start for Cleveland's own High Line-type park

Superior Viaduct is an untapped public space. Today much of
it is used for parking while the rest isn't used at all. But the
Waterfront District Block Club is proposing to make it into
a smaller version of New York City's High Line park (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Above the Flats' West Bank, Cleveland could have its own scaled-down version of New York City's High Line park if early talks bear fruit.

The site is the Superior Viaduct that was completed in 1878 but closed to traffic in 1920. It's primary use over the past 20 years is as a parking lot for K&D Group's Stonebridge development that includes apartments, condominiums, restaurants, galleries and offices. The viaduct's former roadway deck, still hosting streetcar tracks from long ago, is largely barren.

But several major developments are in the works along the historic span and are prompting talks about higher uses for the sandstone-block viaduct than just a parking lot. The uses being discussed could feature more attractive settings, interpretive historical exhibits, recreational programming in addition to the existing, unique views of the downtown skyline, bridges and Cuyahoga River traffic.

Those talks were referenced at a meeting today of the Waterfront District Block Club at which conceptual plans for a 25-story apartment tower won support prior to review by the City Planning Commission. Nearly 40 people were in attendance at today's block club meeting.

Remaking Superior Viaduct into a more a spectacular setting
is getting some attention by stakeholders on the Flats' West
Bank. It could also dovetail into plans by Nautica Entertain-
ment LLC to build a large parking garage, at left, with a
green roof and ADA access to the ground (AoDK).

"We've just had some very early conversations about how to make the viaduct spectacular," said Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack.

"Provided that we have a project, yes we'd be excited to be a part of it (a viaduct park)," said Wayne Jatsek, representative of the development group pursuing the high-rise tower at 2208-2210 Superior Viaduct. Theirs was the first project reviewed by the relatively new block club and the first of several developments proposed in response to the city's new 250-foot height district for the Flats West Bank.

"I think it's a benefit to the entire city," said Scott Aylesworth, president of the block club. "The High Line in New York City is now the number-one tourist draw for all of New York City. Cleveland needs more parks and open space for people to enjoy. Realizing the dream of an activated outdoor space can only enhance the city and the Waterfront District Block Club is working to improve Cleveland for all Clevelanders."

The remaining portion of the Superior Viaduct is a little more than 1,000 feet long. The non-bridge roadway of Superior Viaduct continues west nearly 300 feet before it encounters its first intersection -- West 24th Street.

Parking uses dominate along the western half of the Superior
Viaduct which is leased by K&D Group from the city (KJP).

That one-quarter of a mile is quite a bit shorter than the 1.5-mile High Line that winds its way through the Chelsea section of Manhattan. The High Line was built in 1934 by the New York Central Railroad to service cargo docks and food warehouses along the Hudson River side of Manhattan. It was rebuilt starting in 2009 as a public park for $153 million and costs $3 million per year to maintain. The High Line has attracted $2 billion worth of development along it.

But the High Line is only 30-55 feet wide compared to Superior Viaduct's 60-foot width. The Superior Viaduct was replaced by the Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge in 1918. The old viaduct was closed in 1920 and its iron-built eastern approach and swing bridge over the Cuyahoga River were demolished in 1923. Three stone arches closest to the river were demolished in 1939 so the river channel could be widened.

"Using this space as a place for families to come and hang out will be a far better utilization than a parking lot," Aylesworth said. "We have seen how much of a success the East Bank development is and all of the residents who come out and enjoy the connection to the waterfront. With the new Wendy Park connector bridge nearing completion next year, the West Bank will hopefully become a vibrant community and another opportunity for residents to engage with the river and lake."

But K&D Group's CEO Doug E. Price III said that Superior Viaduct is fine the way it is. The westernmost 400 feet of the viaduct has about 140 parking spaces for Stonebridge residential, office and restaurant tenants while the eastern 600 feet is closed to vehicular traffic and open only to "pedestrians traffic and somewhat of a park," he said.

New York City's High Line linear park is a popular attraction
for tourists and a way to get above the street-level noise of
traffic in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. It also has
spurred billions of dollars in new development (KJP).

"We have a long-term lease with the city," Price said in an interview. "We renovated it (the viaduct) at our own expense probably about 20 years ago. We have a park at the end with the parking area to the west and that's the way it was set up."

The city's 40-year lease began in 2000 with K&D affiliate Stonebridge Phase One Ltd. which pays the city $1 per year. In 2040, the city and K&D can renew the lease every two years thereafter. K&D's affiliate must make the viaduct open to public/pedestrian access on a daily basis between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. It was also supposed to complete construction of improvements within two years and clean the stonework within three years.

The lease refers to the zoning code on how the viaduct was to be improved and used by K&D.

"Stonebridge Phase One Ltd. has proposed to lease the Old Superior Avenue Viaduct for the purpose of reconstructing, rehabilitating, preserving and maintaining the structure for use in connection with a planned residential and retail development to be constructed consistent with a Planned Unit Development Overlay District," the lease reads.

This was K&D's vision for Superior Viaduct nearly 20 years
ago -- showing no parking on the historic bridge (Corna).

The arrangement of land uses in planned unit development zoning is established by a site plan approved by the city. Price contends the current use conforms to that plan. NEOtrans has Stonebridge's site plan from 20 years ago but that site plan is silent on how the viaduct should be used (rendering is above, site plan is below). Aylesworth disputes Price, referring to a rendering K&D and its architect Bob Corna provided to the city 20 years ago.

The lease also says that the agreement should not be construed as a partnership between the city and K&D. It allows the city to walk away from the lease if a public purpose for the viaduct, such as a park, is identified.

"This lease may be terminated prior to its expiration by the director of public service should the city reasonably need the leased premises for public purposes," per the lease.

The block club encouraged removing parking from the viaduct and putting it into a proposed parking garage on Nautica's land. But that proposal has gotten mixed reviews depending on who you talk to.

K&D's Stonebridge site plan in the early 2000s was silent
on planned uses for the viaduct. It showed a never-built
phase 8 that was to have structured parking (Corna).

"We would be happy to talk to Kerry (McCormack) and the other (Flats West Bank) developers about it (the garage)," Jatsek said.

"I have no idea what the block club is," Price said. "And that tower is the craziest thing I've heard of, especially now (with the pandemic-induced economic slowdown)."

Aylesworth, a Stonebridge resident, acknowledged that he and Price have had some run-ins in the past regarding the development of Stonebridge. But he contends that his block club is serious about the park and has a fiscal agent with tax-deductible status so they can start receiving donations and other funding to work with a designer to develop concepts for the park.

He estimates that the park improvements could cost about $1 million although the High Line's repair, remediation and development costs were much more -- upwards of $10 million per tenth of a mile on average.

A refined proposal for 2208-2210
Superior Viaduct won support from
the Waterfront District Block Club
on June 15 (Dimit).

"The High Line bridges were in terrible condition and had serious environmental issues," he said.

The High Line is surrounded by new development and so might Superior Viaduct be someday, in addition to Stonebridge's buildings, including two 11-story mid-rises. Jatsek said that his group which oversees an Opportunity Zone fund could start construction a year from now.

Jatsek added that his group's high-rise tower was redesigned with input from the block club, including increasing the number of structured parking spaces from 128 to 161. The number of apartments was cut from 186 to 173.

Paul Glowacki of Lakewood-based Dimit Architects said the exterior of the tower was slimmed down through the upper eight floors and the exterior design used more exposed steel to give the building a more industrial look. Both were in response to public comments made at the last block club meeting, including one that said the building looked like something one might find in Miami.

Although the City Charter or ordinances don't require a block club's endorsement before a development project can be approved by City Planning Commission, McCormack encourages developers to get input from block clubs before submitting their projects for approval by the commission's Design-Review Committee.

END

NRP Group's Scranton Peninsula project delayed but alive

The Peninsula, NRP Group's large residential complex pro-
posed on Scranton Peninsula, is still a go but slow (BKV).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The first new-construction structural project on Scranton Peninsula, NRP Group's proposed residential complex, got slightly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic-related shutdowns of the economy. But sources at the Cleveland-based development company say the project, which could be one of the company's last market-rate offerings, is very much alive.

Last fall, when NRP Group won city approvals to build The Peninsula, company officials said they hoped they could start construction as early as July on the 330-unit residential development. The project is proposed to offer 315 apartments and 15 townhouses. Scranton Peninsula is located across the Cuyahoga River from downtown Cleveland's Tower City complex.

But a source at the company said the pandemic-related shutdowns, reductions in travel and the work-from-home mandate means that groundbreaking could be delayed until sometime early next year.

"We may be able to push it up a bit, but we saw a little delay with COVID," the source said.

NRP Group reportedly has every intention to exercise a contract 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.

Much of Scranton Peninsula is undeveloped land where a steel
mill stood until the early 1980s. The mill land was cleaned by
the city and is being marketed as the Thunderbird development
by a consortium of real estate firms (KJP). 

On that parcel, between Carter Road and the Flats Industrial Railroad, NRP Group would build a pair of five-story, U-shaped apartment buildings. Five townhouses would be built on Carter at the north end of the complex and, behind the two apartment buildings would be a two-level parking garage. The garage would be shrouded at the north and south ends with five townhouses each, according to city-approved plans.

The Flats Industrial Railroad is reportedly shutting down operations in July. There is no publicly available information yet as to what the company intends to do with its right of way which was the first operating railroad in Cleveland in 1849.

Although The Peninsula would be the first new-build structural work on Scranton Peninsula in many years, there is construction happening here. One is Cleveland Metroparks' work on the Towpath Trail, which is being extended along Scranton and Carter roads to the proposed Canal Basin Park on the Columbus Road Peninsula.

The other construction project is J-Roc's renovation of an abandoned, 27,000-square-foot commercial structure into offices called The Avian at Thunderbird, located at about 1950 Carter. Renovation work is due to be completed later this summer.

Once construction of The Peninsula is completed, another source at NRP Group says the company will take a different focus when it comes to residential real estate development.

As viewed along Carter Road, The Peninsula would add new
density and vibrancy to land that is largely devoid of human
activity despite it being a half-mile from Public Square (BKV). 

"After Thunderbird, we will be scaling back our market-rate developments across the country and focusing more on affordable housing," the second source said. "That doesn't mean we're done building. It just means you'll see more projects like Slavic Village and Metro North."

The Metro North project features 72 affordable apartments over ground-floor commercial at the corner of West 25th Street and Sackett Avenue. Metro South, one block south on West 25th, two buildings with 190 market-rate apartments will be developed by NRP Group.

NRP Group not only develops multi-family residential real estate projects, it also finances them and manages properties once they're completed. That includes the management of properties NRP Group didn't develop.

NEOtrans broke the story more than a year ago of NRP Group's decision to develop housing on Scranton Peninsula. And it first reported four months ago on NRP Group's interest in developing the Scrapcom property at Monroe Avenue and Fulton Road.

 END

Longhouse huts proposed for Ohio City's Hingetown

In Hingetown, where almost every block has seen new real
estate development built or planned since 2000, a cluster of
seven Quonset huts are proposed to give low-cost creative
spaces to residents, artists or businesses (Cleveland Draw).
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One of the hallmarks of the Hingetown section of Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood is that it is a place where new ideas and businesses can gain a foothold. When entrepreneur Graham Veysey and his wife Marika Shioiri-Clark, a social impact designer, set out to invest in then-rundown Hingetown a decade ago, they started by creating and inviting new businesses.

Finding new ways to foster creativity requires its own inspiration and embracing of new ideas. Their latest brainchild, the Longhouses of Hingetown, was inspired by a new development in Detroit, a project called True North.

On the northwest corner of Church Avenue and West 28th Street, the Longhouses of Hingetown is proposed to be a community of Quonset huts like True North. Unlike True North, which has 10 Quonset huts set like a remote outpost on a urban prairie on 16th Avenue near Grand River Avenue, the Longhouses would be shoe-horned into one of the few remaining undeveloped slices of land in booming Hingetown.

Each Quonset hut, or Longhouse, could be an individual interior space as small as 640 to 960 square feet or as large as 738 to 1,472 square feet -- roughly the size of a two- or three-bedroom apartment. That depends on if the tenant adds a maximum-sized mezzanine inside the hut.

The seven huts in the Longhouses of Hingetown
would be placed around a courtyard. Also part of
the development is a new facade for the Schaefer
Building at the southwest corner of West 28th
Street and Detroit Avenue (Cleveland Draw).

The seven Longhouses would be set on one-fourth of an acre and centered around a grassy courtyard. Each hut would be built with a small living space and/or a studio, workshop or display area. Veysey doesn't like calling them live-work spaces, however.

"They're creative spaces," he said. "They could be a living space or a work space or both. They're not quite a business incubator. They can be more for the visual arts if that's what someone wants."

Veysey hopes to start construction this fall with the Longhouses ready for move-in at the end of the year. The seven basic shells are estimated to cost a total of $600,000, according to documents filed with the city's Building Department. That cost includes a ground-floor kitchen and restroom in each hut but doesn't include the addition of a mezzanine or other personalized interior features.

City approvals have yet to be granted for the development. Veysey says no tenants have been identified because the Longhouses haven't been marketed yet. So no rent estimates are available.

The kinds of Quonset huts that are proposed for Hingetown can
come in different sizes. Some are tall enough for mezzanines to
be built into them while others are too short for them (Curbed).

"We're going to be pretty aggressive with the price per square foot," he said. "Rents will be determined once we get our certificate of occupancy as we're hoping to pass along the efficiencies of buildings directly to future occupants."

Interested parties should contact Veysey's and his wife's company at info@hingetown.com. The project also involves a facade renovation of the 1865-built Schaefer Building on the southwest corner of Detroit Avenue and West 28th.

"We're going to open that up to make it more inviting," Veysey said. "Michela Picchi's 'Flying Tiger' mural on the West 28th side of the building will be preserved."

Decades ago, the roughly 6,500-square-foot building was closed off and turned into a bunker whose biggest windows were made of glass block. That was when the neighborhood was known more for drug dealers and prostitutes and less for young professionals and gourmet coffee.

The Schaefer Building, at left in the top elevation, will have its
facade opened up with a glassy storefront or two as part of the
Longhouses development (Cleveland Draw).

Since Schaefer Printing relocated to Lakewood, its building will be turned into one or two storefronts. These retail spaces, the Longhouses and the 20,000 square feet of new retail spaces in the Church+State development are indicative of Veysey's confidence that the retail, restaurant, gallery and small-business sector will bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis that shut Ohio down in mid-March.

"The (small business) neighbors that we've been lucky to be involved with are all pivoting in this unique time to address a consumer interest," Veysey said. "Mid-March was the key time to convert people from prospects to tenants. It doesn't feel as firmly pressed down now. So we're having serious conversations (with potential tenants)."

Although he would not identify any potential retail tenants for the $60 million Church+State development next door, Veysey said that residential leasing activity is healthy for the 158 apartments. The six-story Church building is 50 percent leased with the first residents moving in June 19.

Residential move-in date for the larger, 11-story State building is tentatively scheduled for late August, thus leasing is farther behind for that building. The public atrium between the two buildings called Church+State Way will open to the public in the middle of July, Veysey said.

The northwest corner of Church Avenue and West 28th Street
(where the construction trailers for Church+State are located)
is where the seven Longhouses of Hingetown are proposed to
be built. The Church+State development towers behind (KJP).

Church+State is a partnership among Grammar Properties, Hemingway Development of Cleveland, Cedar Street Development of Chicago and Turner Construction.

That project is located near the intersection of Church and West 29th Street. West 29th was State Street before 1906 when Cleveland's north-south streets were given numerical names. Grammar Properties is a partnership between Veysey and his wife.

The 11-story State is the tallest building built in Ohio City since the 19-story Lakeview Tower, 2700 Washington Ave., was built in 1973. It is on the other side of the West Shoreway from Church + State. The 15-story Riverview Tower, 1795 West 25th, was built in 1964.

Tyler Kapusta contributed to this article.

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Rezonings follow, precede waves of lakefront housing

The Battery Park-Gordon Square area is a mix of old and new,
with more new housing spreading into more of the old indus-
trial areas. The city's zoning code is trying to catch up with
the change and even get in front it to prepare for the lake-
front residential areas of tomorrow (Google).
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As Cleveland City Council prepares to vote soon on rezoning more former industrial land to residential near Edgewater Park, there are fewer lakefront industrial areas on the west side. One of those may succumb to the inexorable march of residential expansion after another expected rezoning that could enable high-rise development.

As early as next week, council may rezone an area south of Edgewater Park from general industrial to a residential classification. This area is centered around West 70th-73rd where the Eveready Battery Co. plant once stood. Razed and remediated in the 2000s, the land was redeveloped with mostly housing and renamed Battery Park.

Council's vote is expected to follow action last week by the City Planning Commission to support rezoning former industrial land south of the Shoreway, north of Lake and Detroit avenues. Some of the zoning fixes extend as far west as West 78th Street, said Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone.

"It's consistent with a long community planning process," Zone said in an interview this week. "In 2015 and 2016, we did a Gordon Square Arts District masterplan that calls for transitioning the semi-industrial use to housing. So now we're just moving the legislation forward."

City Council could vote as early as next week on this pro-
posed zoning change that will reflect the development of
former industrial areas into residential ones (CPC).

Adam Davenport, neighborhood planner for the city, said the semi-industry zoning classification that was left over from the Eveready Battery plant was preventing residents of the new developments from getting home loans.

"The new zoning will be two-family," Davenport said. "That will allow people to get financing or refinancing from lenders."

Another change was to remove resident industry zoning near Detroit Avenue and replace it with a multi-family designation. Davenport said that "resident industry" is an archaic classification, dating from when offices and residential abutted industry and especially smaller tool and die shops that had low impacts from emissions or noise.

Zone said it took so long to get the rezoning in place because the City Planning Commission was overwhelmed with other work. That includes a new form-based zoning code pilot project. A form-based code is a new approach to zoning with an increased focus on walkability, predictability and mixed-use development.

One of three form-based code zoning pilots could be imple-
mented later this year in the Detroit-Shoreway-Cudell area.
The zoning change would not only support the continuance
of the lakefront industrial area at the top of this map, it
would also accommodate a growing market for more
housing along Cleveland's lakefront (DSCDO).

Immediately west of Battery Park and east of the Edgewater and Cudell neighborhoods is one of the last industrial areas left on the West Side's lakefront. Rezoning this area with a Euclidean, use-based zoning classification such as multi-family wasn't desired because it would force out active, viable businesses, Zone said.

But the use of a form-based code in this area would allow for either industrial or residential in this area, bounded by Detroit and Lake avenues, the Shoreway and West 78th, Davenport said.

"Form-based zoning can talk about industrial and residential," he said. "It's based on what you see."

This industrial area is the northern reach of a west-side pilot program to introduce form-based zoning to Cleveland's zoning code. Two east-side areas are also part of the city's pilot program -- the Opportunity Corridor and parts of Hough and Glenville. City officials said they hope to get a draft code in place by fall.

Redeveloping the lakefront industrial area with housing will
incur significant expenses. The only way developers could
recoup those costs is by building large-scale residential
structures such as these along Milwaukee's lakefront and
its Veterans Park near downtown (visitmilwaukee.org).

Although the industrial area included in the west-side form-based code pilot can stay industrial after the pilot starts, the expanding residential development nearby may ultimately move in. The form-based code would allow for that, too.

There are reportedly no proposals to uproot viable employers like Alcon Industries, Universal Grinding, Lowe Chemical or Mid-American Construction. Some of these companies' facilities are more than a century old, such as Lowe Chemical's well-maintained, three-story, 112-year-old brick structure at 8400 Baker Ave.

Yet others were built as recently as 2016 such as Alcon's 30,000-square-foot expansion at 7990 Baker, according to Cuyahoga County property records. Alcon is the largest employer in this neighborhood with roughly 175 employees.

The fates of these industrial properties could change in the coming years, however. For that to happen, it would require real estate investors and developers with deep pockets to afford buying, demolishing or converting and cleaning the industrial sites.

There is no high-rise housing along the lakefront providing
commanding views of Lake Erie between Hingetown and
Lakewood despite the presence of Edgewater Park, one of
 the largest lakefront parks in Ohio (Aerial Agents).

Given those expenses, the only type of residential development that might be justified for that area are large-scale buildings that produce lots of revenues so that developers could recoup their site acquisition and preparation costs -- in other words, high-rise housing.

"I don't know why it wouldn't be justified because that's on the bluff overlooking the lake and the park," Zone said. "Before that happens, we would have to engage the community."

A metamorphosis of the industrial area into new uses actually began in the 2000s with the conversion of the 1905-built Baker Electric Motor Vehicle Co. factory at 1300 W. 78th into the 78th Street Studios. Today it is the largest fine arts complex in Northeast Ohio, hosting 60 arts studios and galleries, an internet radio station and a theater.

"The writing is on the wall for the (lakefront) industrial area," Davenport said. "It's going to be quite the area for new construction."

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