Seeds & Sprouts XVII - Cavs team shop to get facelift, Minute Men HQ & EDEN townhomes

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

The Cleveland Cavaliers team shop in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
in October 2010, shortly after it was completely renovated. It is
about to be renovated again with a fresh new look prior to
the 2022 NBA All-Start Game (OnyxCreative).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Cleveland Cavaliers team shop to get facelift

With the National Basketball Association's All-Star Game coming to Cleveland Feb. 20, 2022, work is about to get underway on giving a fresh new look to the Cleveland Cavaliers team shop at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in downtown Cleveland.

Permit applications were submitted to the city last week by Van Auken Akins Architects, LLC of Cleveland on behalf of the Cavaliers Operating Company LLC. Initially, this round of work will be for removing all furnishings, lighting and decorative features to create a white box space in which to put an updated retail operation. Estimated cost of the interior demolition work is $40,000, according to the permit.

"We will be submitting a series of applications over the next few months for the Cleveland Cavaliers Team Shop Renovation project," wrote John Kaminski, Van Auken Akins' senior project manager/architect in his application to the city. "This first submission is for demolition work within the space only."

Interior of the Cleveland Cavaliers team shop showing the 2010-
added mezzanine and ceiling-hung scoreboard that is linked
electronically to the main scoreboard (OnyxCreative).

The team shop is on the East 6th Street side of the arena. It wasn't touched by a $185 million renovation of Quicken Loans Arena into the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in 2019. The last time the team shop was renovated was in 2010. That $4 million update included adding a second floor and expanding the shop to nearly 6,000 square feet to ease crowding in the store during games.

Although details of the renovation were not readily available, it is unlikely to be as significant as the last one with the inserted mezzanine. Other work done in 2010 included a new canted exterior glass wall entrance, polished stained concrete floors, plus a ceiling-hung scoreboard electrically interconnected to the arena’s main scoreboard.

The Cavaliers Operating Company hired the Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. as its the construction manager. In addition to architect Van Auken Akins, the design consultant is Snarkitecture, Inc. of Long Island City, NY. McHenry & Associates Inc. of Warrensville Heights will be the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer.

Minute Men Staffing proposes to more than double the size of its
existing HQ on Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland's MidTown (AODK).

Minute Men Staffing publicly releases HQ expansion plans

In submitting its headquarters expansion plans to the city, Minute Men Staffing revealed designs for an addition that would more than double the size of its MidTown Cleveland HQ. Minute Men, which provides temporary and long-term staffing to client employers, is located at 3740 Carnegie Ave.

Plans show a glassy, 45,000-square-foot, three-story office building and associated site improvements including a larger parking area. The addition will be connected by a dual-floor, enclosed walkway to Minute Men's 39,000-square-foot HQ which ranges from one to three stories tall.

Minute Men's HQ site was expanded June 8 to 3.5 acres when the staffing firm acquired the Refuge Baptist Church, 3713 Cedar Ave., and its quarter-acre parcel for $170,000, according to county records. The 91-year-old church and fraternal hall, measuring nearly 10,000 square feet, would be demolished to expand parking, site plans show.

The proposed HQ expansion site plan for the 3.5-acre Minute
Men Center's property has Carnegie Avenue to the north or top
of the image and Cedar Avenue at the bottom. The HQ addition
will be constructed on the west side of the property (AODK). 

Although the number of employees working at the HQ is unknown, its square footage suggests it has about 200 employees, not including thousands of temporary workers dispatched from that location. Those numbers could double with the planned expansion having an estimated cost of at least $10 million.

Minute Men has hired AODK Architecture of Lakewood as its project architect, Independence Construction of Independence as its general contractor and Osborne Engineering of Cleveland as its civil engineer, according to documents submitted to the city.  

The fast-growing employment firm, which is expanding nationwide, has annual revenues of more than $300 million. Minute Men was founded in 1968 by Samuel G. Lucarelli who passed away in 2013. His son Jay Lucarelli runs the company today. Their existing HQ was originally built in 1935 as the HQ of the National Dairy Products Corp. (doing business as Sealtest) and expanded by 9,310 square feet in 1997.

Elevations of the four connected townhomes along Madison
Avenue that will be made available for rent to low-income
persons with disabilities (HD+S).

Two townhouse projects planned, east and west

The Emerald Development and Economic Network Inc. (EDEN) has submitted construction permit applications to the city for two supportive townhouse developments. One would be on the city's west side and the other on the east side. Together, the $1.5 million investment represents the first phase of what EDEN hopes will be additional phases of townhomes citywide to provide housing for low-income people with disabilities.

The larger of the two rental developments will be on the west side at 7915-19 Madison Ave., across the street from EDEN's offices, 7812 Madison. The site is in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Here, five townhomes costing $1.1 million will be built on vacant land owned by EDEN that extends south to Guthrie Avenue, according to documents submitted to the city.

Along Madison will be four connected two-story townhomes. Three of them will have two bedrooms and the fourth will have three bedrooms. A fifth townhome will be a disabled-accessible, one-story structure next to Guthrie. These townhouses will have off-street parking to conform with the city's urban form overlay district zoning.

A five-unit townhouse development on Madison Avenue in
Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood is planned and
due to be joined by a two-unit townhome project on East 162nd
Street in the South Collinwood neighborhood (HD+S).

The two east-side townhomes will be located on vacant, EDEN-owned land at 701 E. 162nd St. One will have two bedrooms and the other three bedrooms. All seven townhomes will range in size from 953 to 1,250 square feet and be available only to residents whose income is 30 percent or less of the Greater Cleveland area's median gross income (AMGI). The exception is the three-bedroom unit that will be available to residents whose income is 60 percent or less of the AMGI.

Both east- and west-side projects will provide durable and energy efficient materials and systems including conformity to Enterprise Green Community standards for rental housing development, according to a summary submitted to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency which provided subsidies to the project.

For 30 years, EDEN has offered many different programs designed to help persons with disabilities and/or coming from homelessness to realize their potential. The nonprofit organization, which is a contract agency of Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County, owns and operates 12 permanent supportive housing complexes with 738 units and more than 200 units of scattered-site housing.

END

600 feet above the street: Sherwin-Williams sets HQ height

Sherwin-Williams' new global headquarters tower will be a signi-
ficant presence in downtown Cleveland's skyline. At just over
600 feet tall, only SHW's three neighbors on Public Square
will be taller than SHW's HQ (Ian McDaniel).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

An executive-level committee at Sherwin-Williams (SHW) has made a critical decision -- the final height of its new headquarters tower just west of downtown Cleveland's Public Square. According to sources on the HQ design team, the height decided by SHW's Building Our Future Committee is 600 feet.

The tower's height may actually be a few feet over 600, depending on the size of rooftop fixtures and other related structures ordered. The number of floors also approaches 40 stories, but the number isn't easy to specify since there are planned lobby mezzanines and penthouse levels that can be counted or discounted based on preference.

Over the past few months, the SHW HQ design team digitally stretched and manipulated diagrams of the proposed 1-million-square-foot tower. They made floorplates larger or smaller, added or subtracted indents and terraces in the exterior, and altered the roofline in various ways. Each of those myriad of options was presented to the committee for review and elimination until only one was left.

Work crews were doing site preparation work last week in
advance of a winter groundbreaking for the new SHW
HQ that will join Cleveland's three tallest skyscrapers
seen here. From left, they are Key Tower, 200 Public
Square and Terminal Tower. SHW's HQ will be
 slightly shorter than 200 Public Square (KJP).

NEOtrans has asked for a copy of the rendering that was selected but sources are very concerned about being discovered. SHW has threatened to prosecute anyone who leaks information to media and others outside a designated inner circle. So only word descriptions and some briefing documents have been provided so far. NEOtrans is not sharing scans of the briefing documents at the request of sources.

With a final conceptual design selected, the design team will compose detailed blueprints of each floor and the exterior based on that concept and submit them to the city for approval. But it should be noted that the City Planning Commission and Building Department have been directly involved in the HQ's design.

So even though it will still be a month or two before those designs are publicly released, the city's review and approval process should move along very quickly. The city and SHW's design team have been in constant communication so neither is expecting any surprises from each other.

BOK Park Plaza tower in Oklahoma City, also designed by SHW
architect Pickard Chilton, has some similarities to what is envi-
sioned for SHW's HQ. This would be similar to the view look-
ing south on West 3rd Street from Frankfort Avenue. The park-
ing deck is at right, connected to the HQ tower by a skywalk
over an alley like Frankfort. In Oklahoma City, that low-rise
building at left is an auditorium designed by Pickard Chilton
for Devon Energy's HQ. It would be similar to but smaller
than SHW's proposed learning center (Google).

Here is an updated and thorough word description of SHW's new HQ complex:

• The site plan (first revealed here on NEOtrans in January a month before the public release) continues to be divided into four basic parts: HQ office tower, learning center, parking deck and future development sites.
• HQ office tower at 600+ feet tall will have an ultraviolet filter glass curtain wall exterior, square floorplates, and angled roofline similar to that of the twin Atria II or III office buildings in North York, Ontario, in suburban Toronto.
• The office building will have two outdoor terraces (NEOtrans previously reported it would have only one) in the lower mid-section of the the tower, with one terrace overlooking Public Square and the other looking in the opposite, westerly direction.
• The westerly terrace suggests no neighboring tower is anticipated by SHW in the foreseeable future as it would block views from the terrace.
• Ultra-modern, efficient and environmentally benign design of HQ is a goal so that a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification can be sought from the U.S. Green Building Council.
• High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration system to be provided.
• A small café will be on each floor and there will be a larger gym for employees.
• SHW logos atop the tower will face east and west.
• There will be no public uses on the ground floor of the office tower, only a lobby for employees and persons having business with SHW employees.
• So far, the only public uses on SHW-owned properties will be leasable commercial spaces along the West 3rd Street side of the parking deck.
• Frankfort Avenue, between the parking deck and tower, will be a service lane and loading zone for the SHW HQ. The city will vacate Frankfort, making it the property of SHW.
• Overhead walkways from the tower, over Frankfort to the parking deck and over West 3rd Street to the learning center, remain in the plans.
• Roughly 2.8 acres of SHW-owned land held for "future development" along West 6th Street and St. Clair Avenue will be used for trailers, equipment and materials staging during HQ construction. Afterwards it will return to use as surface parking and held for future expansion unless a developer or developers make worthwhile offers to SHW.
• The learning center on Public Square will be two stories tall. It will be comprised of conference and training facilities plus a new Center of Excellence relocated from the existing HQ in the Landmark Office Building, 101 W. Prospect Ave.

One of many mock-ups of SHW's proposed HQ
office interiors set up inside the SHW's existing
HQ building on Prospect Avenue. The biggest
difference here is that the new HQ will have
floor-to-ceiling windows (contributed).

SHW hired Pickard Chilton to be the lead architect for the HQ including the exteriors. Vocon Partners LLC was chosen to design the new HQ's interiors. HGA Architects and Engineers, LLC is the base building architect for the HQ.

At a few feet over 600, SHW's new HQ will overtake Erieview Tower as the fourth tallest building in Cleveland. It will also be the sixth-tallest tower in the state of Ohio. According to WikiPedia, here are the tallest buildings in Ohio (not including antennas):

1. Key Tower, Cleveland -- 947 feet -- 57 stories -- 1991;
2. Terminal Tower, Cleveland -- 771 feet -- 52 stories -- 1930;
3. Great American Tower, Cincinnati -- 665 feet -- 41 stories -- 2011;
4. 200 Public Square, Cleveland -- 658 feet -- 45 stories -- 1985;
5. Rhodes State Office Tower, Columbus -- 629 feet -- 45 stories -- 1973;
6. Sherwin-Williams HQ, Cleveland -- 600+ feet -- 38-40 stories -- 2024.

Every floor in SHW's new HQ tower will have
a café for employees. Plus, there will be work-
stations for every employee, huddle rooms,
video conference booths, call rooms and
other contemporary features (contributed).

Sources on the design team continue to expect shovels will go into the ground this winter for SHW's new $300+ million global HQ complex. However, contractors were already on site last week and will continue to do work over the next few months relocating utilities and doing other site preparation work for the new HQ.

SHW employees this month also began touring mock-ups of potential offices in the new HQ to provide input on conceptual interior designs, lighting, furniture, paint and artwork. After employees tour the mock-ups, located inside the existing HQ, the HQ design team will send out surveys to employees for their feedback.

Some employees at the Breen Technology Center on Canal Road and the Warrensville Technology Center on Warrensville Center Road in Warrensville Heights will relocate to the new HQ. Also relocating will be all employees (about 25) at SHW's Chicago Metro District Office in suburban Schaumburg.

With those relocations and a corporate growth factor of 8 percent, the new HQ is being designed to accommodate about 3,500 employees, according to design team members who spoke to NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity.

END

Megaprojects tax credit doubles in size, duration

State lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a compromise two-year
budget bill tonight that included a provision to double the dollar
amount and duration of a new tax credit program to boost real
estate megaprojects in Ohio's largest urbanized areas (file photo).
CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM

UPDATED JUNE 29, 2021

Extension of a new tax credit program intended to boost major real estate developments primarily in Ohio's largest cities was included in the biennial budget bill passed by state lawmakers tonight. The extension was confirmed by Senator Kirk Schuring (R-29, Canton) who sponsored the original bill that created the tax credit. 

The provision was included in a two-year, $74 billion state budget bill hashed out by a six-person conference committee comprised of four Republicans and two Democrats. Both the Ohio Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 110 by significant, bipartisan margins.

The new Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) tax credit program offers up to $100 million per year in tax credits over four years to offset as much as 10 percent of a real estate project's capital costs. Only projects of $50 million or more and that meet other conditions are eligible; no project can win more $40 million in tax credits.

The TMUD program was created by an earlier bill, Senate Bill 39 sponsored by Senator Kirk Schuring (R-29, Canton). It was passed and signed into law last December. That law, which took three years to pass, offered four years of tax credits, from 2020-23. With Ohio's fiscal year running from July 1 to June 30, the state's 2020 fiscal year was already over by the time the TMUD law was passed, leaving only three years of tax credits.

Stark Enterprises sought the TMUD tax credit program to boost
its nuCLEus development as well as other new-construction
projects in Cleveland's urban core. With the program maxi-
mized per tonight's vote by the Ohio General Assembly,
it remains to be seen in what form this long-discussed
project will be submitted for tax credits (Stark).

But in May, NEOtrans broke the news that rulemaking to implement the TMUD program would not be completed by the administering agency, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, in time to award fiscal year 2021's tax credits. That would leave only two years and half of the $400 million in tax credits remaining in the program.

In other words, up to $2 billion worth of complicated, costly yet beneficial real estate projects that couldn't proceed without the TMUD probably wouldn't happen -- unless the law was amended. The new state budget bill passed tonight shifted the four authorized years of the program as starting in Ohio fiscal year 2022 which begins July 1, 2021. The final year of the program is 2025 which ends June 30, 2025.

"We expect the (TMUD) program will launch in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022," said Todd Walker, chief communications officer for the Ohio Development Services Agency.

If that holds true, TMUD applications will probably start to be accepted by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority sometime between July and September. There are potentially dozens of projects just in Greater Cleveland that could be submitted for TMUD credits with dozens more statewide.

The 16-story Bridgeworks development in Cleveland's Ohio City
neighborhood is a likely candidate for a TMUD credit. Capital
resources for the large, transformative project don't yet cover all
of the construction costs, according to sources (Mass/LDA).

"So we now fulfilled the original goal of the original bill (Senate Bill 39) by offering the four years of credits," Schuring said in an interview with NEOtrans. "The very nature of it is that it's a new model, a new paradigm. It's a partnership with business. Government should receive a return on its investment."

The extension was hailed by real estate industry officials who said meeting the as-yet insatiable demand for urban core housing in Cleveland calls for access to the maximum amount of TMUD credits. This public funding will help investors and builders overcome Greater Cleveland's relatively high construction costs and low rents.

"A lot of projects need to bridge gaps in their capital stacks," said Zak Baris, president of Comprehensive Zoning Services, a real estate due-diligence firm. "There are investors sitting on the fence waiting for the chance to win a TMUD credit. More will have a better chance to win credits with the program extended to 2025."

He noted that a number of major downtown Cleveland projects are more likely to happen with the expanded TMUD program. That includes nuCLEus whose developer, Stark Enterprises, came up with the idea for the TMUD tax credits several years ago and was based on the historic tax credit that allowed obsolete office buildings to be renovated with housing, hotels and retail.

"This (historic tax credit) program has encouraged our urban areas to preserve their historic buildings, which is what gave our cities their character, and now we need to complement that character with a program that will allow our cities to set the stage for their futures,” said Steve Coven, Stark Enterprises’ vice president of real estate development.

Even some historic renovation projects like The Centennial at
925 Euclid are candidates for the TMUD program. The massive
scale of this project and its large amount of space that cannot
produce revenues makes it difficult for private lenders to fi-
nance. Yet its redevelopment with 868 workforce housing
units, retail and office space would be transformative
for downtown Cleveland (Millennia).

The TMUD program will also help developers overcome Cleveland's already high construction costs, made worse by recent rises in materials costs, namely lumber but especially steel.

"In Cleveland, as well as many Ohio communities, financial feasibility is typically difficult to achieve with our current lease/rent levels," said Tim Jackson, director of Integra Realty Resources – Cleveland. "Add in the rise in construction costs and it's really a double whammy for Northeast Ohio. These types of megaprojects can be a catalyst for surrounding development and really help improve the immediate area."

Another provision that would help redevelopment of polluted land, called "Brownfields," was included in the state's budget. It has $350 million for clean up of vacant industrial properties in urban areas like Cleveland. Without the funding to clean up brownfield sites, developers might simply look to develop clean-and-green land at the outer edge of metro areas instead.

State Senators Sandra Williams (D-21, Cleveland) and Michael Rulli (R-33, Salem) were sponsors of the Brownfields funding. Similarly, the budget bill passed by both the Senate and House has $150 million for demolishing blighted or nuisance buildings in Ohio. 

The state budget bill now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. The governor has line-item veto power but he is not expected to remove the TMUD, Brownfields or demolitions provisions as they have enjoyed broad and bipartisan support.

END 

City Club Apartments tower sees delays

CBD Cleveland, a high-rise tower planned by Michigan-based
City Club Apartments, is reportedly having difficulties getting
shovels in the ground more than 10 months after it won city
approvals to secure building permits. The developer has
yet to apply for the permits or get site control (Vocon).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A 23-story apartment tower proposed to rise on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland has seen potential groundbreaking dates come and go, delayed by several factors. While most of the factors are largely beyond the control of Farmington Hills, MI-based City Club Apartments (CCA), some of the delays are reportedly the developer's fault.

It's been more than 10 months since City Planning Commission gave approval to final designs for CCA's planned 240-foot-tall tower called CBD Cleveland. The 300-unit apartment tower with ground-floor retailers/restaurants would rise at 720 Euclid Ave.

Currently a parking lot, the site prior to 1981 was the location of the Hippodrome Building that contained the famous Hippodrome Theater. Next door is the 1901-built City Club of Cleveland which coincidentally has a name similar to that of the planned apartment building.

Since the city's Aug. 21, 2020 approval of the apartment tower's design, major construction bidding publications like the Dodge Reports have posted groundbreaking dates of May 1 and again for June 1 for CBD Cleveland, only to see those dates come and go with few visible signs of progress.

On May 7, city crews completed work to relocate utilities from
below the sidewalk to under Euclid Avenue so that a construc-
tion tower crane for the planned City Club Apartments could
be placed on the sidewalk (Ian Meadows).

So far, the only signs of work were done by the city. In February, crews began relocating utilities from below Euclid's south-side sidewalk so the construction tower crane pad could be located there. That work was completed in early May, lending credence to the notion that construction on the tower was imminent.

But as of today, no construction permit applications have been filed with the city for the affected parcel. A search of permit requests under the names of City Club Apartments, its project-specific affiliate CCA CBD Cleveland, LLC or even the current property owner David Goldberg, doing business as GSK 720 Euclid, LLC, revealed no permit applications.

Even more troubling is that no property transfer or long-term leases were recorded by the county as of today for the affected parcel. CCA does not have site control at this time. Once CCA gets it, construction permit applications could be filed.

The half-acre plat on which the new tower is proposed to rise was carved out of a 2-acre property last November. Goldberg's original parcel extended from Euclid south to Prospect Avenue and includes a six-level, 540-space parking garage in the middle of the property.

Ground floor uses in the proposed CBD Cleveland offer a more
 activated street scene along Euclid Avenue, including a res-
taurant proposed to be called The Hippodrome, named
after a building that stood here until 1981 (Vocon). 

"The effect of the plat is to consolidate the 10 historical parcels and to split the approximately one-half acre parcel fronting on Euclid Avenue for sale to and development by CCA CBD Cleveland, LLC of the City Club Apartments project," wrote Mara Cushwa, partner and chair of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP's Real Estate practice group, in a Nov. 18, 2020 letter to the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office Department.

However, sources close to the project say CCA is pursuing a 99-year lease with Goldberg to gain the necessary site control. Those same sources say that CCA's founder, chairman and CEO Jonathan Holtzman has been extremely demanding and difficult to work with in getting deals done.

"He has unrealistic price expectations to the point where they've now selected non-union small-trades contractors and are trying to dumb-down the design to fit within the budget," said a source close to the project, but who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Designs being changed are interiors which presumably would not require the developer to submit revised plans to the planning commission which should help limit further delays. Instead, the developer reportedly is demanding interior furnishings and subcontractor outcomes based on cost formulas that are applied from project to project, city to city.

Other sources said that some subcontractors who were selected by general contractor Cleveland Construction Inc. are having trouble keeping up on their existing work demands. This is happening industry-wide, not just in Cleveland, according to subcontractors. They expect to be busy for the foreseeable future but are hiring to get more work done so new projects can begin.

Additional geotech drilling to gather core samples was conducted
by Frontz Drilling Inc. of Wooster at the request of GSK 720
 Euclid LLC, not by City Club Apartments or its contractors.
This work was done on March 2 below a parking lot at 720
Euclid Ave., site of the planned tower (Clifton Haworth).

Another factor redefining or delaying major construction projects nationwide is record-high steel prices. Yet, sources close to the CCA project have not specifically brought those up as a direct cause of delay for the Cleveland tower, even though the project has a tight budget estimated by Dodge Reports at $92.5 million.

That price tag is less than two other recent downtown Cleveland high-rise apartment developments -- The Beacon, a $95 million 19-story addition to the top of a 9-story parking garage and The Lumen, a $135 million 34-story apartment tower with a 540-space parking garage. Like The Beacon, CCA's parking will be availed by a nearby parking garage that is typically full during the day but underutilized at night.

Holzman could not be reached for comment and Cleveland Construction representatives did not respond to inquiries seeking clarification and more information.

Other sources who have discussed the CBD Cleveland tower directly with Holtzman said the third-generation real estate developer remains upbeat and optimistic about the prospects for delivering the Cleveland project.

CCA currently has four major projects in development, including the one in Cleveland. The others are a 17-story project in Chicago called the Lakeview, a six-story building in Detroit called the Midtown, and a 31-story redevelopment of the historic Union Central tower in Cincinnati. The first three projects involve new construction.

END

Public Square's north side may be artists' canvas

A sample of what a light painting on the Old Stone Church could
look like. The program including music could run for up to four
evenings per week and for about 20-30 minutes several times
during each of those evenings. Downtown Cleveland Residents
is sponsoring the effort and looking for financial and volunteer
contributions to make the project happen by this time next
year, in time for FRONT International's Cleveland Tri-
ennial for Contemporary Art (Xavier de Richemont).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Two significant art installations could turn the north side of downtown Cleveland's Public Square into a bright, uplifting and active canvas. The canvas would be two historic buildings that may come alive with stories about Cleveland using not only imagery, but also light and sound on select nights.

Those two buildings are the Old Stone Church and the blank backside of The Standard apartment tower. The feature-less south side of The Standard, 99 W. St. Clair Ave. has cried out to be finished since the terra cotta structure was built in 1923.

Its 21-story wall was to have another building constructed next to and south of it but it never happened. Instead, it has gazed with a blank stare on Cleveland's geographic heart and central commons for nearly a century.

If anything, that empty canvas has only made the Old Stone Church (home to the 200-year-old First Presbyterian Society of Cleveland congregation) more noticeable to visitors. The 166-year-old Romanesque-style church is the oldest structure standing on Public Square.

Behind Mayor Tom Johnson (1901-09) stands the Old
Stone Church and The Standard, as well as 75 Public
Square which is undergoing renovations and conver-
sion from offices to apartments (KJP).

Together, the pair of historic structures could become a dynamic duo of contemporary art that tells Cleveland's historical, cultural and economic story, said Alan O'Connell, president of the nonprofit Downtown Cleveland Residents, a municipally recognized community relations board.

"I saw The Saga in San Antonio, Texas on a trip with my family and thought about how cool it would be to have something like that here in Cleveland," O'Connell said. "Then Ian (Meadows, assistant city planner at City Architecture) posted something online about activating that big blank wall behind the church. I connected with him, and we started down this road to make it happen."

O'Connell calls The Saga laser-light show and others like it a "light painting." The program in San Antonio lasts 24 minutes, is accompanied by music and is free to the public on the city's historic Main Plaza. It is projected onto San Angelo Cathedral which opened in 1750 and is one of the oldest continually operating cathedrals in the USA. Founded by a congregation at the urging of King Phillip V of Spain, its structure is 105 years older than Cleveland's Old Stone Church.

Leadership at both Old Stone Church and the First Presbyterian Society granted permission for the light painting project to appear on their church's façade, O'Connell said. Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack also reportedly supports the project. Next up, Downtown Cleveland Residents will seek approvals from the city's Group Plan Commission which oversees Public Square. That is where display equipment would have to be permanently installed.

Part of an ever-changing, 24-minute laser-light painting of the
270-year-old San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, TX,
that is accompanied by music (Wind Walk Travel Videos).

Xavier de Richemont, the artist who worked on the San Antonio project, has been engaged for the Cleveland project as well. He provided several mock-ups of what the light painting on Old Stone Church could look like.

O'Connell says the French artist fully immerses himself into the history and culture of a city before composing the artwork. Local musicians, including the Cleveland Orchestra, are desired. During the six-month to one-year development process, he would take several trips to Cleveland.

Based on O'Connell's conversations with the Main Plaza Conservancy, the San Antonio organization that oversees The Saga, the upfront costs for Cleveland's light painting will be somewhere around $1.25 million. Annual costs to run the show four days per week with three shows in each of those nights is about $25,000 per year.

In San Antonio, The Saga was funded almost entirely by local business owners and philanthropic organizations. The ongoing maintenance costs are paid for with tax dollars from the city and county.

A mock-up of what the Old Stone Church
could look like during a laser-light paint-
ing show (Xavier de Richemont).

The timing of Downtown Cleveland Residents' light painting project is desired to coincide with that of FRONT International's Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. The inaugural festival, held in 2018, featured 345 works by 129 global artists at 25 Northeast Ohio venues attracted 227,000 visitors. The $5 million project was funded mostly through private sources.

FRONT's next installment was originally scheduled to be held again this year. But in 2020, with uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, the festival was postponed until July 16-Oct. 2, 2022.

A significant piece of that festival involves installation of a permanent mural on the blank south façade of The Standard. FRONT has reportedly engaged an international artist to compose the mural but their identity remains unknown. Ed Winstead, FRONT's director and cultural counsel did not respond to an e-mail from NEOtrans seeking more information prior to publication of this article.

"The postponement will allow us to present the best version of FRONT that we can -- something we hope will serve as a beacon of hope at the end of this difficult time," said FRONT Executive Director and CEO Fred Bidwell in a written statement.

Another view of a possible scene in a laser-light painting of the
Old Stone Church and The Standard (Xavier de Richemont). 

FRONT partners in the Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art include the Akron Art Museum, Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, Cleveland Institute of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Public Library, moCa Cleveland, Spaces and Transformer Station.

"We're still working out the details of the large blank wall behind Old Stone Church," O'Connell added. "I know there was a mural planned to go there and we are hoping to coordinate that mural with the light show somehow. Ideally it would be a beautiful mural during the day that acts as a sort of "stage" for certain scenes of the light painting show at night."

To help with fundraising and volunteering for the light painting effort, contact Alan O'Connell at 440-417-3807 or by e-mail at president@downtownresidents.org.

"I think this will be a really incredible, world-class attraction that all Clevelanders can be proud of," he said.

END

Kalina House gets early OK for Fairfax site

Kalina House is proposed to help people transition to a new life
after suffering the loss of limbs. Making that transition means
finding new housing, learning how to move around, and be
independent takes an enormous effort. Kalina House is
the place where that journey will begin (AODK).
CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES

Cleveland's City Planning Commission unanimously approved conceptual designs for a transitional housing facility for people who have recently lost limbs or the temporary or permanent use of their limbs. The facility, called Kalina House, is proposed to be located at 2055 E. 79th St., between Euclid and Carnegie avenues in Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood.

Although the proposed building is small, the need is huge, said project backer Mark Kalina, Jr. who lost both of his legs and a pinky in a train-pedestrian accident in Columbus in October 2012. His story is told here by MetroHealth Medical System where he works as a senior analyst in The Center for Health Resilience and helps others adjust to a new life of independence without the use of their limbs.

When Kalina sees people in the hospital who have recently lost their limbs, he sees himself from nearly a decade ago. He also sees their challenges ahead -- independently living, moving about and working. Kalina realizes he was relatively lucky because he had a strong support group who helped him make the biggest adjustment of his life.

Located on the east side of East 79th Street, next to a CVS
Pharmacy and between Euclid and Carnegie avenues, the
Kalina House will be near major medical institutions
including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals,
St. Vincent Charity Hospital and MetroHealth
Medical Center (AODK).

"Over the last six years we have been developing a housing project to address a gap between hospital and home," Kalina told planning commission members on June 18. "Some individuals face tremendous obstacles in their recovery. This (new facility) is how we plan to fix that."

Kalina House is proposed to have 19 accessible housing units in a roughly 15,000-square-foot, single-floor building with offices, lounge and rehabilitation spaces for physical and occupational therapy personnel and resident activities, said project architect Greg Ernst of AODK Architecture in Lakewood.

"The middle of the building has an outdoor courtyard to bring more light into the units and to give a place to go outside," he said.

Just being around others recovering from a similar traumatic situation helps with one of the biggest challenges -- a feeling of isolation and loneliness. Residents will be able to see and talk with others going through the same challenges they are and thus provide an all-important support group.

This conceptual site plan and associated renderings were
unanimously approved by the City Planning Commission
on June 18. Now, more detailed designs will be drawn
and submitted to the city in the coming weeks (AODK).

"This is my neighborhood and it's nice to see that the missing teeth are starting to be filled in and obviously, the commitment to be in Cleveland goes without saying," said planning commission member August Fluker.

Kalina also started the Mark Kalina Jr. Foundation to offer a source of funding to help people acquire prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and other costly necessities that help people return to some semblance of a normal life. So not only will those experiencing life-altering trauma have a place to stay while they learn how to cope, they will be given the physical and emotional tools to adjust.

Helping with the real estate aspects of building Kalina House is David Grunenwald, vice president of development at Jacobs Investments, Inc. Jacobs developed much of the Flats West Bank along the river, including the FirstEnergy Powerhouse and Nautica Stage.

View looking north from Carnegie Avenue where a new Bank
of America branch is starting construction (AODK).

"You can't help but be inspired by a young fella whose life changes in a blink of an eye," Grunenwald said of Kalina in a recent online interview. "But he wants to help others."

Grunenwald of Hudson came to know Kalina, a Twinsburg native, through a neighbor who is related to Kalina. Together they toured potential properties located on the HealthLine bus rapid transit route and near Cleveland's largest medical facilities. 

"Sometimes you're just drawn to an area that makes sense," Grunenwald said. "That was true in this case. Eventually we came up with what I believe is a very good program, a very workable program. The facility works and it's in a good location. The city has been cooperative, contributing land from the land bank."

Another view of the Kalina House, looking northeasterly from
East 79th Street. The goal is to make the new facility feel
like a comfortable new home to patients who are trying
to recover from life-altering trauma (AODK).

Grunenwald said the project received a financing commitment from an organization that wanted to be involved in "impactful real estate." However he would not identify that organization.

"I had the easy part," he added. "Real estate is easy. Building buildings is easy. Making it work, making it do what Mark wanted, making it feel like home, that's the hard part. So we're getting there."

A more detailed level of drawings, called schematic design, will be presented to planning commission next. Any refinements will be added to the final design for the commission to approve, possibly by the end of summer. Construction could begin by the end of the year and be completed in a year or less. 

END

Cleveland Clinic advances its 'Big 3' projects

The Big 3 Cleveland Clinic developments include
the new Neurological Institute, expansion of the
Cole Eye Institute and the new Global Center for
Pathogen Research & Human Health. Those are
just the medical facilities. The Clinic jointly de-
veloping a mixed-use project with Fairmount
Properties near the pathogen center (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENARLGE THEM

Cleveland's largest employer is about to get even larger. While Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) is officially mum on expansion details, NEOtrans is hearing rumors from sources that one or more of their "Big 3" projects may be bigger than originally anticipated.

The Clinic's Big 3 are the new Neurological Institute, expansion of the Cole Eye Institute and the new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health. Combined they will add 1 million or more square feet of new medical, research and office facilities to University Circle, Ohio's fourth-largest employment district. And that's just the medical stuff CCF is pursuing.

Recently, CCF made some moves to advance those three projects. The Cole Eye Institute expansion and the new Neurological Institute are farther along in the development process than the new pathology center. The latest news is that the Clinic responded to bids from prospective construction managers for the Cole Eye and Neurological buildings and chose who will oversee their construction.

"Whiting-Turner Contracting will provide construction management services on our Cole Eye Institute building and Turner Construction will provide construction management services on our Neurological Institute building," said Alicia Reale Cooney, CCF's senior manager of corporate communications.

The building at left is a conceptual sketch of the Cleveland Clinic's
new Neurological Institute, looking east from East 96th Street with
the Intercontinental Hotel at right and the Crile Building standing
at the end of the greenspace. The Neurological Center may
wrap around the East Mount Zion Baptist Church (CCF).

But Cooney wasn't prepared to disclose the size of those buildings even though CCF had previously released those parameters. Preliminary space needs were estimated at about 400,000 square feet for the new Neurological Institute at 9606 Euclid Ave. and 100,000 square feet for expansion of the 130,000-square-foot Cole Eye Institute at about 2030 E. 105th Street.

Rumors are swirling that one or both of those buildings may be larger than those early estimates, adding hundreds of additional jobs to Cleveland that weren't anticipated when they were first proposed.

"The design and pre-construction process are still underway," she said, not willing to disclose if any changes were being considered. "Additional information will be shared once more details are available."

The two new CCF buildings are due to see construction start this winter. Architects, civil engineers, construction subcontractors and others are being brought on board to conduct design and programming.

Last month, CCF issued a request for proposals for the third of its Big 3 new buildings -- the new pathogen center which is a result of the launch of the Cleveland Innovation District and was given priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. The RFP contained a couple of specifics, such as an anticipated Spring 2022 groundbreaking, but also had some ambiguities.

East 105th Street at Cedar Avenue is likely going to look quite a
bit different in a few years as two big projects, the new pathogen
center as well as a planned mixed-use joint development with
Fairmount Properties, are in the works here (Google).

"Planning is in (the) early stages but Cleveland Clinic’s Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health, part of the Cleveland Innovation District, will include approximately 400,000 square feet of additional research space to be located along Cedar Ave. for the growth of research operations and training and innovations," Cooney told NEOtrans shortly after the RFP was issued.

She could not identify a cross street along Cedar but said a general location would be in the area of "Cedar Avenue near Cleveland Clinic's main campus." Sources close to the project say the pathogen center would likely be near East 105th Street because CCF wants the pathogen center to connect to their existing research buildings in that area.

And those are "just" the medical buildings CCF is pursuing. The Clinic is also working with Fairmount Properties to jointly develop hundreds of thousands of square feet of mixed uses in phases, south of Cedar near East 105th.

In the 2000s, Fairmount joined with the Wolstein Group to develop Flats East Bank downtown. It then joined with DiGeronimo Companies to build Pinecrest in Orange Village which opened in 2018.

In the first phase of its partnership with CCF, Fairmount envisions 300 micro-unit apartments, several dozen townhomes and a 40,000-square-foot Meijer grocery store rising 5-10 stories above the southwest corner of East 105th and Cedar. A second phase of roughly equal size could follow immediately west of it. Financing for the project is still coming together, sources said.

END