Two new Lakewood developments proposed

 

Lakewood's Ss. Cyril and Methodius Catholic School, as seen from
the west or Alameda Avenue side, sold last week to an affiliate owned
by Bo Knez of Knez Homes. But rather than pursue a residential con-
version, Knez seeks to remodel the building as offices. The convent
at far left will remain with the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland (KJP).

Two recent property acquisitions are the first signs indicating that a pair of proposed new Lakewood developments may be on the horizon. Both properties are located on the city's primary business corridors on the east end of Lakewood.

First is the Sept. 16 acquisition of Saints Cyril and Methodius Catholic School, 1639 Alameda Ave.; the property's parking lot faces Madison Avenue in the city's Birdtown neighborhood. Purchasing it for $125,000 was Nascent Land Development LLC which is owned by Bo Knez, founder of Painesville-based Knez Homes, one of Greater Cleveland's largest homebuilders.

However, Knez doesn't plan to convert the long-closed school into residential. Instead he has submitted building permits to the city to remodel the 27,000-square-foot, 1955-built structure into for-lease offices.

In an interview this week, Knez said he doesn't have an office tenant lined up. He will soon advertise the property on the open market. In other words, he's developing this as office on speculation that a tenant will emerge. Knez seemed to dismiss the impacts of the pandemic on the office market, even as office tenants are scaling back their space needs due to remote working and a general economic downturn.

"We feel there's a need for this (office use) in the area," Knez said. "We do offices as well. It's one of the of five spokes to our wheel."

The Madison Avenue side of Ss. Cyril & Methodius School (KJP).

In addition to residential, Knez provides general contracting services, development of land for local and national buiders, excavation services and rental activities. The rental and general contracting activities are the roles Knez will play in the conversion and marketing of the school as offices.

Because the work being done to the building is limited to remodeling, it won't require going to the city's Planning Commission before securing a building permit. For that reason, Knez said he hopes to start work by the end of this year or, more likely, early next year.

"The building needs a lot of work," he added.

He also noted that the parking lot facing Madison will continue to be used for parking -- but its use won't be limited to his office building. He said he has a shared parking easement with the Ss. Cyril & Methodius Church, a grand 90-year-old structure established by a parish of Slovak immigrants nearly 120 years ago.

Knez said he will not be acquiring the church's convent located just north of the school on Alameda; it will continue to be owned by Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. Declining enrollment at the school forced its closure at the end of the 2009-10 school year. It was merged with Cleveland’s St. Rose of Lima into the Transfiguration Parish whose school is at Lakewood Catholic Academy, 14808 Lake Ave.

Birdtown is seeing increased development activity. Conversion of the school into offices will start at roughly about the same time work is due to begin on the $4 million redevelopment of the former "Bi-Rite Building" at 12501 Madison into 18 apartments over ground-floor retail, called The Nest. The Silhouette School of Dance and Lakewood Slovak Civic Club were tenants of the building.

The National Tire & Battery car repair, 11801 Detroit Ave., closed
in early Fall 2019. This photo was taken in August 2020 (KJP).

Forest City Shuffleboard owner Jim Miketo bought 12501 Madison in October 2019. Although their Lakewood developments are unrelated, he and Knez are partnering on the redevelopment of the former Hough Bakery property in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood.

For the second new development on Lakewood's East End, fewer details are known about it because the deal hasn't closed yet. However, two sources said Kertesz Enterprises of Beachwood has the former National Tire & Battery (NTB) property under a purchase agreement. NTB, 11801 Detroit Ave., shut down in Fall 2019 and consolidated business at its Westlake location.

"I'd rather not discuss anything at this point," said Ronnie Kertesz, vice president of Kertesz Group, when asked about the purchase and closing date of the deal.

The sources said Kertesz reportedly wants to add to their apartment inventory in Lakewood. Since 1988, the family has owned the neighboring Colonial Club Apartments, 1437 Newman Ave., a 60-unit, three-story residential complex built in 1963, public records show.

Kertesz, who runs Kertesz Enterprises with his brother Randy Kertesz, would not say if their proposed apartment building would include accessory uses on the ground floor, such as a restaurant, shop or other commercial activity. The sources were unaware if the potential development would contain mixed use.

Before it was NTB, it was Jackshaw Pontiac. Before 1962, it was West
Side Pontiac. This is the property about 1960 (Yesterday's Lakewood).

The property measures 1.09 acres and the building on the site totals just under 15,000 square feet. Prior to its use as NTB, it was operated as a car dealership. The property was developed in 1948 for West Side Pontiac, then sold in 1962 to Stephen A. Jackshaw who operated it as Jackshaw Pontiac. He sold it 1992 and the dealership operated for several more years until it was closed and sold in 1999, public records show.

All of Lakewood's car dealerships have either closed or relocated to highway interchanges in outer suburbs at the urging of car manufacturers to increase visibility. Most of those now-closed dealerships have found new lives as existing or planned mixed-use or housing-only developments.

The current owner is the Niki Group of San Diego, CA which has properties nationwide. It put the building on the market shortly after NTB closed last year, listing it with Howard Hanna Commercial. The property no longer appears in for-sale listings.

Daniel Budish, one of the principals involved in the redevelopment of the Phantasy Theater complex and Mack Industries across Detroit Avenue into Studio West 117, reportedly was bidding against Kertesz to acquire the NTB property.

"Sorry," Budish said in an e-mail. "I wish that we could confirm this as true, but we cannot."

Niki Group bought the NTB property in 2016 for nearly $1.2 million, county records show. But after filing a Board of Revision complaint in 2018, the property was revalued at $650,900 for tax purposes.

END

Biotech firm Abeona to expand Cleveland production facilities

 

Abeona Therapeutices is located on the top two floors of the
MidTown Tech Park Building No. 3, 6555 Carnegie Ave., seen
at left. Abeona's name adorns the upper-right corner of the
building. The firm will expand into the building at right -- Mid-
Town Tech Park Building No. 1, 6700 Euclid Ave. (Google).

A young, growing biotechnology company is expanding its presence again in Cleveland. Abeona Therapeutics LLC is adding to its production facilities by leasing and modifying 12,000 square feet at the MidTown Tech Park Building No. 1, 6700 Euclid Ave.

That brings the publicly traded company's (Nasdaq: ABEO) Cleveland presence to 38,000 square feet. It currently has 65 employees in Cleveland -- more than triple the employment the firm had here just three years ago. Abeona is a clinical stage company developing gene therapy and plasma-based therapies for severe and life-threatening rare genetic diseases.

With this latest expansion, a company spokesman said Abeona will hire additional people for its Cleveland facilities although exact employment numbers weren't provided. The firm recently hired a talent acquisition specialist based in Cleveland. The 90-employee company is headquarted in New York City. It also has a small office in Madrid, Spain.

Abeona's local presence began in the MidTown Tech Park Building No. 3, 6555 Carnegie Ave., which is only about 150 feet away from where Abeona soon will be expanding. An allifiate of Geis Companies which developed and manages the entire MidTown Tech Park submitted permit applications to the city last week for the modification of Building No. 1. For reference, Building No. 2 in the MidTown Tech Park is at 7000 Euclid.

MidTown Tech Park Building No. 1, 6700 Euclid Ave., was built
in 2011 by Geis Companies. Abeona will fit-out the second-floor
of the building closest to the camera. This view looks east on Euc-
lid Avenue, across from the Dunham Tavern Museum (Google). 

"This planned expansion would support the advancement of our clinical programs and commercial manufacturing of our gene and cell therapies we’re developing for the treatment of serious rare diseases," said Scott Santiamo, Abeona's director of corporate communications.

Conrad Geis, director and managing partner of Geis Companies, was unable to return a message seeking comment prior to publication of this article.

In May 2018, Abeona opened the 6,000-square-foot Elisa Linton Center for Rare Disease Therapies at 6555 Carnegie, built in 1929. It is named for Elisa Linton, a woman born with Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes fatal brain damage. The facility was expanded by 20,000 square feet in the same building in 2019.

This latest expansion comes only several months after Abeona significantly scaled back its operations here as a precaution, from March to June, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the USA. But Abeona had to get back to work as it has several treatments in clinical trials. The most advanced of these is a Phase 3 VIITAL study of EB-101, an investigational gene-corrected cell therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), Santiamo said.

RDEB is a rare connective tissue disorder characterized by severe skin wounds that cause pain and can lead to systemic complications impacting the length and quality of life. People with RDEB have a defect in the COL7A1 gene, leaving them unable to produce functioning type VII collagen, which is necessary to anchor the dermal and epidermal layers of the skin. There is currently no approved treatment for RDEB. Abeona's Cleveland team is manufacturing EB-101 for the study.

View of MidTown Tech Park Building No. 3 as seen from Carnegie
Avenue. Schaffer Partners Inc., 6545 Carnegie, is at left (Google).

Also, Santiamo said Abeona is enrolling three Phase 1/2 studies across the firm's single-dose gene therapy clinical programs for Sanfilippo syndrome types A and B (MPS IIIA and MPS IIIB).

Children with MPS IIIA and IIIB suffer from progressive language and cognitive decline and behavioral abnormalities. MPS IIIA and IIIB are caused by genetic mutations that lead to a deficiency in bodily enzymes responsible for breaking down glycosaminoglycans which accumulate in cells throughout the body resulting in rapid health decline associated with the disorder.

Abeona's therapies use virus technology to deliver functional copies of the affected genes to cells in the body. Their Cleveland team and facility are equipped to manufacture drugs and the virus used for the studies. The company can also scale up to meet clinical and future commercial demand, Santiamo said. 

"We're obviously excited that they're continuing to expand in the neighborhood," said Jeff Epstein, Executive Director of MidTown Cleveland Inc., a community development corporation. "They're a great company. They chose a location that's proximate to our health care institutions and like-minded companies clustered together. There's an availability of high-quality work spaces here in MidTown."

This is part of Abeona Therapeutics' office/lab on the top floor of
MidTown Tech Park Building No. 3, 6555 Carnegie Ave (Geis).

He noted that there are about 180 health-technology and high-technology employers in the city's Health Tech Corridor which runs along and between Cedar and Chester avenues, from University Circle to the Campus District near St. Vincent Charity Hospital. Fifty of those firms are in MidTown proper. No public incentives have been requested to support Abeona's expansion, Epstein added.

Abeona's expansion will be on the northwest side of the second floor of MidTown Tech Park Building No. 1 that was built in 2011, according to plans submitted to the city's Buidling and Housing Department.

Work will consist of removing walls to create an open "White Box" space for fit-out and the roof will be reinforced to add rooftop equipment. A stairwell that's closest to 6555 Carnegie will also be modified. Santiamo would not speculate on the timing of the renovations and opening of their expanded facilities.

"We are in the design stage for developing additional manufacturing facilities within existing space at 6700 Euclid Ave.," Santiamo said. "Occupancy and other goals will come into focus as we advance the project."

Abeona was started in 2013 by former CEO Tim Miller. It grew to only four employees by the time it went public in 2015. The company generates annual revenue of about $3 million per year. Its market capitalization currently stands at about $186 million as ABEO opened at $2.20 per share on Sept. 18, according to its Nasdaq listing.

END

Sherwin-William HQ+R&D project restarts; development team announced

 

This is only a massing of the potential Sherwin-Williams global
headquarters in downtown Cleveland. With the team of architects
announced and development work restarting after a months-long
pause, the public could learn in a few months a more refined
design of the new HQ complex (WKYC).

UPDATED WITH PRESS RELEASE INFO

Reports are coming out today that Sherwin-Williams (SHW) has restarted the development of its global headquarters plus research and development facilities (HQ+R&D). But the months-long pause has pushed back the project's completion from 2023 to 2024. The reason is the global pandemic and the economic disruption that it is causing.

The information came in an e-mail sent to company employees today, with a formal public announcement posted later at SHW's HQ+R&D website. Additional information is also being publicized, including the names of the HQ+R&D development team, some of whom NEOtrans reported nearly a year ago.

SHW announced earlier this year that the new HQ will be located on the west side of Public Square in downtown Cleveland on a 7-acre swath of parking lots it later acquired for $49 million, public records show. The R&D facility will be located on the city-owned site of the former Veterans Administration Hospital at Interstate 77 and Miller Road Brecksville, now being redeveloped by DiGeronimo Companies.

In its e-mail, SHW executives reminded employees that most of the project's planning had been paused since March. Only the most critical HQ+R&D planning activities were allowed to continue.

This is the site where Sherwin-Williams plans to build its global
headquarters. The global coatings firm acquired this 7-acre swath
of parking lots earlier this year for $49 million, demonstrating its
commitment to the project and to downtown Cleveland (Google).

"We are now beginning to move forward again with the project," SHW Chairman John Morikis said in his internal e-mail. "I am pleased to share with you that we have selected our key external project partners. They will play a critical role in supporting our goal of creating a next generation workplace designed to serve our customers at the highest level, retaining and attracting top talent, and igniting creativity, collaboration and industry-leading innovation."

The design architect for the global headquarters is Pickard Chilton Architects, Inc., an international firm known for designing signature buildings. Meanwhile the base building architect for the global headquarters and the design, base and interior architect for the R&D facility is HGA Architects and Engineers, LLC of Minneapolis -- home of Valspar Co. which SHW acquired in 2017. Vocon Partners, LLC of Cleveland is the interior architect for the global headquarters.

SHW's construction manager is a new partnership, Welty Gilbane, formed last year by Welty-Testa Builders, LLC of Akron and the Gilbane Building Co., a global firm with offices in Cleveland. Mark G. Anderson Consultants, Inc. of Washington DC is the project manager, responsible for project controls and will be the owner's representative.

CBRE Inc., a global firm with Cleveland offices, is the real estate and economic development advisor while Columbus-based Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP is the project's legal and economic development counsel. Vorys has an office in Cleveland. Another law firm brought on to assist is San Francisco-based Hanson Bridgett LLP. Rounding out the team is inSITE Advisory Group which serves as the project's economic development advisor. It has an office in the Akron suburb of Fairlawn.

Sites for Sherwin-Williams' new global headquarters
plus research and development facilities (SHW).

If there were any concerns about SHW scaling back its headquarters component because of pandemic-induced interest in remotely working from home, Morikis put those concerns to rest.

"We recognize that the development, engagement and sense of community our employees share has been essential to our success for more than 150 years and would be difficult to sustain over the long-term with a remote-based workforce," he said in newly released press statement.

The HQ will measure about 1 million square feet (not including structured parking), with insiders estimating the main building will tower 45-55 stories high, rivaling the height of the three other Public Square skyscraper -- Key Tower (57 stories), Terminal Tower (52 stories) and 200 Public Square (46 stories). Those three are the city's tallest. Key Tower is the tallest building in the USA between Chicago and the East Coast.

The R&D facility will measure about 500,000 square feet and be part of a mixed-use development called Valor Acres in Brecksville. The R&D facility's construction is estimated to generate about 3,000 jobs while the HQ is projected to create 4,000 construction jobs, SHW says. Permanent jobs are estimated to be more than 3,500 jobs at the HQ with about 500 at the R&D center with room to accommodate future growth, the SHW e-mail reads.

END

Glenville: massive rebuilding reaches nearly "every block"

Jan. 31, 2020 was almost like a rebirthday party for Glenville. It was
the day that the city celebrated the grand opening of the CircleNorth
Apartments and a ground-floor GlenVillage retail incubator. Both were
built by the Finch Group and a result of Mayor Frank Jackson's Neigh-
borhood Transformation Initiative. But the rebirth of Glenville began
years before. Now it is kicking into another gear with developments
on almost every block (Ian Meadows).

Case Western Reserve University student and NEOtrans contributor Tyler Kapusta has been working for the U.S. Census Bureau in recent weeks. Much of his work has him walking the streets of Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood surveying residents. And what he's seeing is remarkable.

While Downtown development gets most of the media attention, Cleveland neighborhoods are getting increasing amounts of real estate investors' dollars. Although not all of it is adding value, most of it is. And yes, most of it is happening in West Side hot spots like Ohio City, Tremont and Detroit-Shoreway. But it's also now happening on the East Side, and not just in the University Circle-Little Italy area.

Increasingly, it's spilling over into Fairfax, Hough and especially into Glenville -- a neighborhood rich with amazing architecture in its historic but long-neglected housing stock. That neglect appears to be coming to an end.

"I've been working for the Census and a lot of the time I've been in this Circle North area" of Glenville, Kapusta said. "You can't even walk a block without seeing at least one renovation, construction or sign for future construction."

One Knez Homes' many developments in Glenville is the Ashbury
Pointe townhomes. Located on Ashbury Avenue at East 120th
Street, the development will offer 19 market-rate townhouses
at full build-out (Tyler Kapusta).

Hundreds of single-family homes, townhouses and apartments are recently completed, under construction/renovation or planned in the Glenville neighborhood that began growing before Cleveland annexed it in 1904.

Jewish immigrants built up Glenville in the early 20th century, comprising 90 percent of the population until the 1950s. That's when African-Americans moved in from the Central neighborhood and the southern states and have been the dominant demographic here ever since. It's the birthplace of pop-culture icons like Superman and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and football stars from Benny Friedman to Troy Smith.

Today, it's being buoyed by its proximity to boomtown University Circle, Lake Erie and the linear Cleveland Cultural Gardens between them. Glenville is also being aided by home buying and renovation programs like Greater Circle Living (GCL) and the city of Cleveland's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI).

Since 2008, GCL provides to employees of Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Judson at University Circle and nearby nonprofit employers up to $30,000 in forgivable loans for the purchase of a home at a 0 percent interest rate. Or, they can get up to $8,000 for exterior home renovations. Applicants should inquire of their employer’s Web site or benefits/human resources department for specific eligibility requirements.

One of 26 homes being built in Glenville by The Orlean
Co. This one was recently completed at 10618 Lee Ave.
and is listed for sale at nearly $270,000 (Tyler Kapusta).

Alternatively NTI began offering in 2017 up to $20,000 in down payment assistance to anyone seeking to buy a house in an NTI-designated neighborhood, including Glenville, Buckeye-Woodhill, East 79th Street corridor or Clark-Fulton.

NTI also has a Senior Home Repair Program in which seniors enrolled in the Homestead program can access up to $17,000 to make home repairs. An applicant cannot tap both the GLC and NTI programs at the same property, however.

Briana Butler, an economic development specialist at the city, has said NTI was Mayor Frank Jackson's intiative to build financial security through home ownership among low-income and minority residents. But it won't be limited to the Circle North area near University Circle.

"We're starting in phases from south of Superior and our plan is to move up, north of St. Clair," said Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell.

A 36-unit Wade Park Townhomes to be built next to the Red
Line rapid transit tracks at Wade Park Avenue and Lakeview
Road evokes a classic design to look like many of Cleveland's
industrial-to-housing conversions. It is across the street from
another Knez development that will be an industrial conver-
sion -- the Hough Bakery complex (CPC).

That is manifesting itself through visible changes in Glenville's landscape. And those changes are many.

As measured by the number of housing units, the biggest developer in Glenville is Knez Homes. Enabled by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, tax abatement and other incentives, Knez is building 30 "infill" homes on vacant lots in Glenville in partnership with the Famicos Foundation. So far, 20 have been built but many more are in the works.

"We probably have a couple hundred (Glenville homes) planned," said Bo Knez, founder and president of Knez Homes. "We were introduced to Glenville through the mayor's initiative (NTI). When we look for development opportunities, one thing we always look for is an economic engine nearby and University Circle is an economic engine. About 38 percent of Glenville's properties are vacant. We thought of it as a great opportunity to bring a quality product here at an affordable price."

In addition to the hundreds of affordable infill homes, Knez is also pursuing several large market-rate developments in the Circle North area. Circle North refers to the southern portion of Glenville. It borders University Circle and Case Western Reserve University, enabling successful development to build off of the anchor institutions.

One of the biggest developments in Glenville may be the redeve-
lopment of the Hough Bakery complex and surrounding parcels
that would bring the total development site to 5+ acres -- a huge
tract of land for an urban site. Knez's Wade Park Townhomes
are proposed to rise at right (Google).

One of Knez's first market-rate investments in the Circle North area was a five-home development, built last year in the 19000 block of Wade Park Avenue -- a section that had as many vacant homes and lots than occupied ones. They listed for $250,000+ and all of them sold before construction was done.

That encouraged Knez to build more. Next up is the 19-unit Ashbury Pointe townhouses, located at East 120th Street and Ashbury Avenue. Four units are under construction now with sale prices above $300,000.

Another Knez project is the Wade Park Townhomes at Wade Park Avenue and Lakeview Road, approved by City Planning Commission in July. The 36-unit market-rate development will be built in two rows on the parking lot for the former Hough Bakery next to the elevated Red Line rapid transit tracks.

Speaking of the old Hough Bakery plant, 1519 Lakeview, Knez is joining forces with Forest City Shuffleboard owner Jim Miketo to develop the 5-acre site, plus numerous adjoining parcels some of which extend into East Cleveland. Knez said he is near to releasing a preliminary plan for redeveloping the bakery which closed in 1992. But he's not ready to reveal potential uses for the large site, yet.

These quadplexes at 1442-1446 East 115th Street are called the
Circle North Apartments @ 115th St. They were acquired and
renovated by Plum Tree Realty of West Chester near Cincinnati
in 2019 and managed by Wright-Cummins Property Manage-
ment LLC of East Cleveland (Tyler Kapusta).

"We're going to be redeveloping the whole block," Knez said. "The city is supportive and the banks are very aggressive in Glenville."

Knez may be the largest developer in the area but it's certainly not the only active one. Another that's busy building homes is The Orlean Co. It is building 26 infill homes on vacant lots throughout Glenville. All of them should be completed next year. Famicos Foundation is also rehabilitating 11 long-vacant homes and putting them back on the market.

Between the public and the private sectors, hundreds of millions of dollars are being pumped into housing, workforce development and entrepreneurship programs in Glenville. Private sector funding is being attracted to the neighborhood by the city's NTI and by Opportunity Zone program funds.

Workforce and entrepreneurship programs are being nurtured by the Cleveland Citywide Development Corp. which offers a subsidized rent structure and technical assistance programming to entrepreneurs housed in an NTI retail incubator called GlenVillage.

Ground is due to be broken in June 2021 for the first phase of
NRP Group's Churchill Gateway Apartments, 10700 Churchill
Ave. The first phase will offer 52 housing units and a Univer-
sity Hospitals outreach center (NRP Group).

This incubator occupies 4,000 square feet within the first floor of the NTI’s first mixed-use real estate development -- Finch Group's $15 million CircleNorth Apartments, 1400 E. 105th St. Interested entrepreneurs can apply for technical assistance training and enter a "pitch competition" where finalists will be selected.

The CircleNorth Apartments opened Jan. 31 with 63 affordable apartments and 13,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Next door, at East 105th and Ashbury, a long-closed gas station was cleared out, the soil cleaned and an attractive public park/commons was constructed by the Cuyahoga Land Bank.

"The stretch goal for University Circle was development activity that would catalyze adjacent markets," said University Circle Inc. President Chris Ronayne. "The strength of our market coupled with innovative programs like GCL and NTI have brought investor confidence back to legacy neighborhoods. The result is a complete Greater Circle community of historic rehabs and new infill construction. It's a win-win."

Glenville is leveraging its proximity to the many health care institutions in University Circle in other ways, too. The Greater Cleveland Fisher House last year opened a 32-unit housing development for the families of veterans receiving treatment in the nearby Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Administration Hospital. This $12 million development was built at East 105th at Orrville Avenue, a block north of the VA Hospital.

An $800,000 renovation is underway of a once-condemned apart-
ment building at 11310 Itasca Ave. by New Frontiers Develop-
ment Group of Cleveland (Tyler Kapusta).

Across Orrville, NRP Group's Churchill Gateway Apartments, 10700 Churchill Ave., are on track for a June 2021 groundbreaking. The $13.5 million first phase will be a four-story apartment building with 48 workforce apartments, four townhomes and a ground-floor University Hospitals outreach center. It will be built on the site of the Harry E. Davis Elementary School that closed in 2006. Phase two will be built on the north side of the lot.

A small apartment building with even smaller apartments was built earlier this year by Rick Maron at 11427 Ashbury. Eight micro-unit apartments measuring about 457 square feet leased out with rents of $1,500 per month. They are furnished and the rent includes parking and utilities.

Farther north, across the street from the St. Clair-Superior Neighborhood, WRJ Developers LLC are planning a 70-unit apartment development called ArkiTainer on 72nd. This would be the first apartment buildings in Cleveland built from repurposed shipping containers.

The $13.8 million, 70-unit residential development would replace several abandoned apartment blocks and vacant lots with three, four-story buildings totaling 51,200 square feet. The developers have acquired four parcels and have options on three others, 887-915 E. 72nd, totaling about 1 acre. The development site is located in the Glenville-Rockefeller Park Innovation District -- a designated Opportunity Zone. 

Front and back views of the condemned Switzer Apartments,
1285 E. 101st St., that overlook the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.
Tax credits were awarded last month to renovate this 98-year-
old apartment building (B&H).

"We are seeking Opportunity Zone Equity and private equity investors to raise 25 percent equity for project financing," WRJ Developers said in a written statement. "WRJ Investment Fund, LLC is prepared to accommodate all Opportunity Zone investors."

"Along with our committed community partners, we collectively express our excitement to help provide new housing and public spaces in this great neighborhood," said City Architecture in a written statement. The Cleveland-based firm has designed many of the improvements in Glenville. "Through the tireless dedication of Famicos, The Finch Group, The Orlean Co., Knez Homes, New Frontiers Development Group and many others, these transformative investments are building community and changing lives."

But it's not just new apartments getting planned and built. Historic walk-up buildings made of brick that faced the wrecking ball are instead getting bought up and renovated throughout Glenville. More are planned.

Through an affiliate, Collinwood resident Abigail Searles recently acquired the 98-year-old Switzer Apartments, 1285 E. 101st St., that overlook the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. She submitted plans to the city this month to renovate the condemned three-story, 15,201-square-foot building with 12 apartments. The $1,043,097 project won $100,000 in tax credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency last month.

There is amazing architecture and history still waiting to be redis-
covered and renovated in Glenville. Many buildings are getting a
second lease on life, be they single-family homes and "Cleveland
Doubles," at left, or the 105-year-old Gothic Revival Notre Dame
Academy, 1325 Ansel Ave., that was spared from the wrecking
ball and renovated into apartments in 2016 (Google).

New Frontiers Development Group, founded by Kevin Alin who relocated to Cleveland from the California Bay Area, is renovating a formerly condemned, three-story, walk-up brick apartment building at 11310 Itasca Ave. with 16 suites for $800,000, according to a city permit. New Frontiers bought the 100-year-old, 17,208-square-foot building for $40,000, public records show.

Those Glenville apartment rescue projects were preceded by even larger, individual efforts by Famicos every couple of years during the 2010s. Starting in 2012, Famicos thoroughly renovated the 1904-built Doan Elementary School for $13 million into the Doan Classroom Apartments, 1350 E. 105th.

Two years later, the 1958-built, nine-story University Towers Apartments, 1575 East Blvd were renovated for $27 million. Then, in 2016, the Notre Dame Apartments, 1325 Ansel Rd., was throroughly renovated for $10.6 milion.

In addition to those affordable housing redevelopment projects, Famicos renovated 13 historic former duplexes into the single-family homes called the Heritage Lane Homes on East 105th between Wade Park and Ashbury. Once complete in 2016, the homes sold for upwards of $300,000.

END

One-million-square-foot mixed-use project planned next to I-271

Cannata Companies is proposing a massive development in
Warrensville Heights on Richmond Road next to Interstate
271. The development would feature offices in blue, plus
residential/hotel in orange, surface and structured parking
in gray and ground-floor retail/restaurants in red (HSB).

Cleveland-area real estate developer Cannata Companies is making a major play at a 14.5-acre site next to Interstate 271 in Warrensville Heights. Envisioned is a 1-million-square-foot, $87-million mixed-use development called SilverPoint.

According to a SilverPoint presentation, the Dodge Reports and information from a preliminary massing graphic, the development could have structures potentially rising from four to 11 stories high for apartments, hotel, offices and ground-floor retail/restaurants.

Through an affiliate Saint-Servan Centre Ltd., Cannata acquired the site from the Little Sisters of the Poor in 2015 for $2.2 million, public records show. Company founder Sam Cannata tends to sit on properties until he or the market determines a use for them.

A 227,640-square-foot 60-year-old building on the site will be demolished by winter. This past February, Saint-Servan Centre secured a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfield assessment and $1 million loan through the Cuyahoga County Department of Development to remediate lead and asbestos-containing materials.

In a written statement, Cannata said the I-271 corridor and especially the Chagrin Highlands area needs more Class A office development. It hasn't seen new office space added in two years since Pinecrest opened on the other side of I-271. The sub-market continues to have low vacancy rates despite the pandemic.

This conceptual site plan appeared in a presentation about
the proposed 1-million-square-foot development. An 11-
story hotel/residential building over a parking garage is
proposed at the top and right next to I-271 with offices
throughout much of the rest of the property (HSB).

"Cleveland’s eastern suburbs accounted for most of the market activity this quarter with the Chagrin Corridor posting a positive net absorption of 89,719 square feet and 110,431 square feet for the year," Colliers International's second-quarter 2020 office market report noted. The vacancy rate in the corridor was 9.4 percent.

"Nestled in our thriving business corridor, our plan is to expand development down Richmond Road to feature Class A office space, retail, and high-end residential housing," said Warrensville Heights Mayor Brad Sellers. "It will be exciting to see the transformation, expansion and new additions to the Friendly City in the near future."

Cannata has developed the mixed-use Greens of Aurora, office/industrial at 23590 Commerce Parkway in Beachwood, Vista Way mixed use and the Southside Corporate Centre in Garfield Heights, plus the Hillbrook Estates townhomes in Brecksville.

In 2016, Cannata's Saint-Servan Centre acquired the St. Peter Chanel High School, 480 Northfield Rd. in Bedford, for $700,000 to lease it out for multi-tenant use and sports programs. The school closed in 2013 due to declining enrollment.

But that seemed to be more of an emotional play for Cannata, a former St. Ignatius High School student who played memorable football games against Chanel. Only two years later, Cannata sold Chanel High School to the Bedford school district for $1.4 million which worked with the Cuyahoga Land Bank to demolish the school. Demolition began July 29 of this year.

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Bridgeworks project likely to retain historic Engineers buildings

 

The Cuyahoga County Engineers' property is outlined in white
in the above image. It is the proposed site of a mixed-use deve-
lopment called Bridgeworks, the programming for which is not
yet finalized by its development team (Google). 

Developers of a proposed mixed-use real estate project at West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue are taking actions that show they are increasingly likely to preserve the three existing historic buildings on the site. But it isn't yet certain how the buildings will be repurposed.

The buildings are the former Cuyahoga County Engineers' laboratory-office building, a maintenance garage, plus an entrance to a station on the long-closed streetcar subway in the lower level of the 1917-built Detroit-Superior Veterans Memorial Bridge.

The city nominated the buildings for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. To be registered would require a recommendation by the Cleveland Landmarks Commission. That recommendation was given at today's commission meeting.

The nomination form was filled out by Cleveland-based LDA Architects Inc. which reportedly was hired by Bridgeworks LLC, a joint venture led by developers Michael Panzica and Graham Veysey. Today's Landmarks Commission's recommendation will be forwarded to Ohio's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to list the buildings on the national register.

"The nomination is based on the broad patterns of our history and of Cleveland's transportation history," said commission Secretary Donald Petit. "The (Detroit-Superior) bridge is already on the national historic register."

Most of the county engineers buildings are visible in this aerial
view looking north with the Detroit-Superior Veterans Memorial
Bridge visible at the bottom. The lab building is at the right, the
maintenance garage in the center, and a portion of the subway
station entrance building is at the left in the trees (Allegro).

During the Landmarks meeting, commission Chair Julie Trott questioned why the lab-office building was included in the nomination.

"I do think it's got an association with the bridge," Petit replied, adding that the lab building is also more than 50 years old, thereby making it eligible for federal and/or state historic tax credits.

Getting listed on the national register will also aid Bridgeworks' efforts to secure historic tax credits for the renovation of the historic structures. The credits would be added to the still-emerging capital stack for the development of the overall 2-acre county property, according to two sources familiar with the project but were not authorized to speak on the record.

Also still emerging is the programming for the development site. An apartment building up to 10 stories tall is reportedly being considered that could also include other uses in that building, a separate new building or in the historic structures. The ancillary uses could offer a mix of a boutique hotel, ground-floor retail/restaurants or possibly other commercial space.

According to the zoning code, the height district for the development is a "Five" meaning that buildings up to 250 feet tall can be built here. United Community Developers is taking advantage of that change to pursue construction of a 27-story apartment tower called The Viaduct across Superior Viaduct from the Bridgeworks site. The city recently changed the height district here from a "Three" which allowed buildings up to 115 feet high.

The tallest building on the county engineers' property is the former
materials testing laboratory and office building. It is connected to
the older maintenance garage at right. This view looks south from
Superior Viaduct, a street that may soon see a 27-story apartment
tower rise behind the view of the photographer (Google).

With Bridgeworks' programming still undetermined, the site plan is also in a state of flux. As recently as last month, the developers considered demolishing the three former county buildings and starting fresh with a blank slate.

"They're still working through their proposed programming and design," Petit said.

Keeping and renovating the historic buildings have their own challenges. Constructing new buildings that physically touch the historic structures could raise the ire of the SHPO and put historic tax credits in jeopardy. So the development team's challenge may be to conjure a plan that integrates new structures with the existing buildings without physical contact, the sources said.

Neither Panzica or Veysey would comment on the Landmarks Commission's action or how they plan to repurpose the three former county engineers' buildings. 

Bridgeworks won a 2019 bid from the county to acquire the county's property. NEOtrans broke the story about the property becoming available and, later, that a partnership led by Panzica won the bid. Title to the property has yet to transfer to Bridgeworks LLC or an affiliate however the former Superior Viaduct street right of way through the site was vacated last year, public records show.

This is the county engineers' maintenance garage. Above the
center of the Art Moderne-designed building is an engraving
that reads "1941 Cuyahoga County" (Google).

In total, the three buildings offer 21,616 square feet of usable space, county records show. The three-story, 1964-built county engineers' materials testing laboratory is the tallest building. Petit said the maintenance garage was designed in the Art Moderne style and built in 1941. And the subway station entrance building originally dates to 1917 but was updated in 1939. It opens up another world of potential opportunities.

"The subway connection will remain," Petit said.

The streetcar subway was closed to rail traffic in January 1954 when the Madison Avenue line out to Riverside Drive in Lakewood via Bridge Avenue was the last streetcar route in Greater Cleveland to be converted to bus operation. That left the four-track subway deck (with enough room for two more tracks) without a public purpose -- other than structurally supporting the overhead roadway deck.

After the Detroit-Superior bridge was rebuilt for the city's bicentennial in 1996, the subway deck was re-opened at least once a year for public, self-guided walking tours, historical displays and interactive art exhibitions. To the south of the bridge, properties and funding are being amassed for the $100 million Irishtown Bend Park and hill stabilization effort.

The Bridgeworks site is between two development hotbeds. One is Hingetown where a development built or planned since 2000 occupies nearly every block. The other hotbed is Flats West Bank where high rises, riverfront development and public spaces are under active planning and development.

END

Little Italy demolition OK'd, development plan tabled

At the center of the image is a proposed new restaurant at 12115
Mayfield Rd. in Cleveland's Little Italy. An existing structure on
the site was approved for demolition but its proposed replacement
was deemed too tall by the Landmarks Commission (RWBA/CPC).

It's not Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa, but La Barberia University Spa, 12115 Mayfield Rd. in Cleveland's Little Italy, has an obvious eastward lean to it. In fact, the only things keeping the 126-plus-year-old building from tipping into the Tavern of Little Italy next door are some support posts and an enclosure for an automated teller machine.

Earlier today, Cleveland's Landmarks Commission unanimously approved demolition of the spa building but tabled the property owner's development plans for the skinny site. Owner Fatmir Hajrullahi proposes a restaurant with a party room on the top floor due to the success of his restaurant and party room at Maxi's Bisto next door, said Travis Logsdon of Blatchford Architects in Cleveland Heights.

"There really isn't a great opportunity to save the building," Logsdon said. "It's in really bad shape. The owner is proposing a new restaurant in this location with a party room above. He has a similar set up at Maxi's. He's always booked for events."

Chief City Planner Maurice Ruelens agreed that the building is in poor condition. In addition to it leaning, the building has water infiltration in the basement and a leaking roof. The building was substantially renovated in 1962, eliminating much of its original architectural character.

"The building is leaning and partially held up by the ATM enclosure," he said.

The age of the building is in question because no original permit was filed prior to its construction. The earliest reference to the building was in the newspapers which reported that a stabbing murder had occurred there in 1894 when it was a restaurant-bar, Ruelens added. In the 1940s, the building was a laundromat when it was bombed -- apparently during a mob dispute.

12115 Mayfield is seen in this
view from 1954 when it was
the home of a travel agency,
shortly after the building was
bombed and before it was
remodeled in 1962 (CPC).

Public records show this and multiple other properties nearby were owned by the D'Agostino family for decades until 2011. The D'Agostino family acquired properties in Little Italy starting in the mid-1930s from Frank Milano, one of founding members of the Mayfield Road Mob.

"The building unfortunately has suffered greatly over the years," said commission member Stephen Harrison. "Maybe one more bomb blast and it would be gone."

"There's a real pitch to the floors on the upper stories," commission Secretary Donald Petit concurred. "Posts were added in the alley to keep it from falling into the building to the east. It's really tough to make a case to restore this building. I don't think it's architecturally significant. It's been altered. It seems like the conditions really belie a restoration in this case."

Ray Kristosik, executive director at Little Italy Redevelopment Corp., said the neighborhood design review committee not only approved the building's demolition but also the development plan for the new restaurant. The first draft of the proposed building was one story taller than the plan later approved by the neighborhood committee and referred to the Landmarks Commission.

"The other one looked like a rocket ship," Kristosik said, referring to the original building plan.

But commission members requested further reductions in the new building's height which is four feet taller than the two immediately neighboring structures.

View of 12115 Mayfield, at center, in September 2019 (Google).

"It's a part of a streetscape that has a rhythm," Harrison said. "This (existing) building fits in like the piece of a puzzle."

Another feature of the new restaurant that raised concerns by the commission was the glassy exterior facing Mayfield. Commission member Michele Anderson said it was inconsistent with the design on the rest of the street. But Logsdon showed a rendering of what the new building could look like at night, showing that neighboring buildings also put a lot of light on the street.

"The desire is to get a lot of lighting into the building and at night it would be a beacon at the end of Murray Hill Road," Logsdon said.

Blatchford Architects also designed the renovations at Mia Bella restaurant, 12200 Mayfield, located at the southeast corner of the intersection with Murray Hill -- across the street from the proposed restaurant.

The new building is proposed to be 14 feet longer than the existing building and have a basement deeper than the current one which is only six feet deep. That will require reinforcing foundations for the neighboring buildings before excavating. Demolition of the existing building will have to be done carefully as well so as not to damage the neighboring structures only inches away.

Logsdon said the demolition will start in the back and disassemble the building going toward Mayfield. At the request of the commission, interior elements of the building will be preserved including a tin ceiling at the front of the first level. Also, the commission urged that sandstone blocks from the basement be incorporated into the design of the building somehow, such as in the courtyard or perhaps an interior feature.

Proposed statue and setting for Cleveland Indians baseball legend
Rocky Colavito. Because he was not inducted into the baseball
hall of fame in Cooperstown, NY, his statue cannot be installed
at a major league ballpark such as Progressive Field. Instead,
the statue is proposed for Anthony Brescia (Tony Brush)
Park in Little Italy (HSB-CPC).

In other Landmarks Commission news involving Little Italy, the commission approved a statue commemorating Cleveland Indians baseball legend Rocky Colavito. The statue would be installed at Anthony Brescia (Tony Brush) Park, 12002 Mayfield.

The statue's setting was designed by HSB Architects and the sculptor will be David Deming. It will be maintained by the Italian-American Brotherhood Club, based across Mayfield from the park.

Matthew Gambatese, member of the statue's fundraising committee, said Colavito is supportive of the statue. Colavito, born in 1933, was a right-outfielder for the Indians from 1955-59. He played for 14 seasons but was traded at the height of his career after the 1959 season -- the last time the Indians were in a pennant race until the mid-1990s.

The trade was called the "Curse of Rocky Colavito." He lives today in Florida. The goal is to start work on the statue in the spring. To help with fundraising for the statue, contact the committee at its Web site.

END