Circle Square, Ohio City, Van Aken District, Woodhill Station show what's possible

Putting more residents, jobs and services next to existing rapid
transit boosts Greater Cleveland's quality of life. More real es-
state developers are recognizing the value to them from invest-
ing next to transit, as well as the growing number of public in-
centives to make those investments. In 2019, Mayfield Station
Apartments was rising next to the new Little Italy-University
Circle Red Line rail station. More developments like this are
happening at more stations in Greater Cleveland (KJP).
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A few short steps away from a few rapid transit stations, thousands of housing units, millions of square feet of commercial space and a low-mileage lifestyle are rising in Greater Cleveland. And yet the work is just getting started.

There are many more developments coming to within steps of the region's 90 rapid transit stations. In the concept of Transit Oriented Development (TOD), the more doorways that are put closer to a transit stop, the better.

It's better for developers, the community and, of course, the transit agency. The developer/investor wins because structured parking in dense developments is costly to build and maintain, doesn't produce enough revenue to offset the costs, requires significant public subsidy and/or increases rents on tenants.

It's better for the community because all jobs, housing, shops and services are accessible to anyone regardless of whether they have a car. One in four Cleveland households have no car. For low-income households, car ownership often rivals housing as the largest expense.

The density of taxpayers plus utility/mail/public service customers, reduction of heat and stormwater runoff from smaller roofs and parking lots, plus less pollution and traffic from fewer vehicle-miles traveled by cars are all community benefits.

Aspen Place Apartments opened in 2019 next to the West 65th-
Ecovillage Red Line rail station, adding 40 units of affordable
housing that is steps away from a 38-mile rail system that ex-
tends the range of access to jobs and services (DSCDO).

TOD is better for the transit operator because the more transit-proximate doorways, be they to a residence, office, shop or community service, intuitively means more potential riders. And rather than extending the transit system farther out from the city in a costly pursuit of sprawl and ridership, the jobs, residents and services are brought to the existing transit system.

Adding more doorways near transit is a tangible result of TOD's overarching goal: "Successful TOD depends on access and density around the transit station," says the U.S. Department of Transportation, which offers numerous financial incentives for TOD.

But just because a development is built near a transit stop doesn't make it a TOD. If its design discourages pedestrian access by being set back from the street behind a big parking lot, has only one use in a low-density setting, and lacks doors and windows that don't give pedestrians easy access or a sense of security, then it probably isn't TOD.

There are far too many of these land uses around transit stops in Greater Cleveland, says the nonprofit rail and transit advocacy group All Aboard Ohio. They say the region needs more and larger TOD near rail stations. The absence of density and mixed uses around more stations is a major reason why Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's (GCRTA) rail system is one of the worst performing rail systems in the nation.

Meanwhile pro-business groups like the Greater Cleveland Partnership have yet to lead the region when it comes to TOD. Instead it has spoken more forcefully in urging GCRTA to expand outward to chase after jobs moving farther from the labor pool and into low-density settings where transit must travel long distances to capture fewer riders. It's a high-cost, low-yield endeavor.

Investing in Greater Cleveland's infrastructure is at
the heart of this scene from 2020. While crews have
installed new tracks and ballast for the Blue/Green
Lines, contractors construct bridges for the new
Opportunity Corridor Boulevard (GCRTA).

GCRTA's rail system represents a multi-billion-dollar asset for the region. GCRTA is in the midst of a major capital improvement program, seeking to reduce its state-of-good-repair backlog from more than $600 million in unfunded projects. That backlog has meant speed limits on rail lines, aging trains that break down and electrical systems that fail.

In just five years, GCRTA has halved its backlog to $300 million by either making necessary capital improvements or by identifying funding for them. Rebuilt tracks, modernized electrical systems and new trains are going to arrive despite a recent hiccup. More federal funding for transit infrastructure is contained in President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The Green and Blue lines linking Shaker Heights and downtown Cleveland are currently getting tracks rebuilt from the ground up and in affordable sections. The first section was rebuilt last year, from near East 55th Street to Buckeye-Woodhill Station for $10 million. This week, work started on rebuilding the portion from Woodhill to Shaker Square for $8 million. Construction will conclude in October.

Some of Ohio's largest developments are rising next to GCRTA stations on its rail and bus rapid transit lines. Of those, only Sherwin-Williams' new headquarters is larger than the Circle Square development north of Euclid Avenue and Stokes Boulevard in University Circle, directly served by GCRTA's HealthLine bus rapid transit.

In Circle Square, a second downtown is rising along Stokes Boule-
vard to the north of Euclid Avenue, route of the HealthLine bus
rapid transit. The scale of this massive development will be
eclipsed only by Sherwin Williams' new HQ (Bialosky).

At just over 1 million square feet among all phases, this second downtown for Cleveland led by Midwest Development Partners is adding mixed uses of residential or offices over retail and neighborhood services.

Construction on the 24-story Artisan tower is well underway with work just getting started on the 11-story Library Lofts. Several more towers will follow, representing a total investment of more than $300 million.

And Sherwin-Williams' new HQ downtown, whose first phase offers 1 million square feet in a 616-foot-tall tower, will bring another $300 million-plus investment. A second-phase tower could deliver an additional 300,000 square feet. Those towers will be just west of Public Square where all of Cleveland's rail and bus rapid transit lines come together. More than one-third of Sherwin-Williams HQ employees commute by transit.

Two major developments are adding much-needed density within a few steps of GCRTA's light-rail Blue Line -- Woodhill Station in Cleveland and the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. At GCRTA's Buckeye-Woodhill Station, abandonment is being reversed. At the Warrensville-Van Aken Station, car-dominant land uses are being remedied.

Construction is underway by Marous Brothers and the Community Builders Inc. on the first phase of Woodhill Station -- a roughly $40 million, 135,000-square-foot apartment building on the former site of the Buckeye-Woodland Elementary School, 9511 Buckeye Rd. The mixed-income, a 120-unit apartment building will offer 41 one-bedroom, 61 two-bedroom and 18 three-bedroom apartments.

Financing is coming together for the next phase of the Woodhill
Station development, to rise at the northwest corner of Buckeye
and Woodhill roads. Up to 300 people will soon live across
the street from the light-rail Blue/Green lines (OHFA). 

Financing is also coming together for the next phase of Woodhill Station -- a $25 million, 69-unit, mixed-income apartment building that will rise between the first phase and the northwest corner of Buckeye and Woodhill roads.

It will have a ground-floor retail/community space at the street corner to add street presence to the project. Together, the two buildings will place up to 300 new residents across Buckeye Road from a GCRTA light-rail station that was rehabilitated in 2013.

At the east end of the Blue Line, RMS Investment Group and its the Van Aken District are turning a tangle of roadways, post-war shopping plazas and their seas of surface parking into a walkable downtown for Shaker Heights. Pieces were already in place to create this downtown. Nearby is the 12-story Tower East office building and the 8-story Chelsea Condominiums.

Van Aken District's first phase opened two years ago, bringing a mix of retail, restaurants, residential, offices and public spaces. The next phase, approved by the city in June, will bring 225 market-rate apartments in an 18-story tower connected to a new 15-story tower.

Construction on both towers is due to start in early 2022. So is a new GCRTA rail and bus station plus public realm improvements that will support additional development in the southeast part of the Van Aken District.

Two new towers are due to see construction next year at the Van
Aken District -- a transit-oriented development at the east end of
the light-rail Blue Line (seen at left) in Shaker Heights (Bialosky).

That kind of density is desperately needed around more GCRTA rail stations that can be the central hubs of each neighborhood. And each of those neighborhoods can be a 15 Minute City where nearly all of a resident's daily needs, from working, shopping, education, health care and more can be accomplished within a 15 minute walk or bike trip.

One station that is seeing significant densification and diversification around it is the Red Line's Ohio City station. With the West Side Market plus offices and other employers nearby, it is already a destination station. But it's becoming a trip-origination station too, what with INTRO and Waterford Bluffs due to add up to 800 residents starting in 2022.

Within feet of the station, the first phase of Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors' INTRO will add 288 residential units and 35,000 square feet of commercial space. A second phase may soon follow, adding many more apartments.

In the other direction from the train station, Stoneleigh's Waterford Bluffs will deliver another 241 apartments next year. Additional developments are planned, including MRN Ltd.'s conversion of the 237,000-square-foot Voss Building on West 25th Street into a mixed-use complex, plus new-construction residential on the west side of West 26th Street. MRN also plans a joint-development with GCRTA next to the rail station.

Between the Waterford Bluffs development in the foreground and
the larger INTRO project in the background is the red clock tower
of the Red Line's Ohio City train station, seen at the base of the
red construction tower crane. These and other developments
will likely produce more accessibility to and from Greater
Cleveland's underutilized rail system (KJP).

One of the most active station-areas in the last five years has been the Little Italy-University Circle station which was built new for $15.6 million in 2015. It replaced a poorly sited and little-used station at Euclid-East 120th.

The new station's ridership grew by more than 100 percent just in the first year. Since then, Centric, Random Road Lofts, La Collina and Mayfield Station Apartments representing an investment of more than $100 million have followed.

New public funding could help stimulate more development along rapid transit lines, especially on polluted former industrial sites called brownfields. Ohio is making $350 million available to clean up these properties and another $150 million to aid in structural demolitions and revitalization of sites that aren't brownfields. Without these funds, developers and investors would be more likely to invest in duplicative communities at the urban fringe than reinvigorated ones closer in.

One of the most significant new public funding initiatives to support complex, large-scale developments in Ohio's largest cities is the Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credit. Eligible real estate developments will have a construction cost of at least $50 million, involving a building at least 15 stories tall or more than 350,000 square feet of connected buildings. Up to $100 million per year over the next four years will be available to qualifying projects.

If more developments of scale are located along rapid transit corridors, they will allow Greater Cleveland's to leverage more value from its existing infrastructure. That value includes linking more residents to accessible housing, jobs, shopping and services, reducing housing and transportation costs, while lessening costly car dependency, pollution and traffic thereby improving Greater Cleveland's quality of life.

And the region is just starting to open the door to more TOD.

END

Renaissance Hotel plans $80 million renovation

One of Cleveland's oldest hotels, built on the site of prior hotels and
lodges going back more than 200 years, will be renovated from top
to bottom over the next 14 months or so. The work will coincide
with construction that's due to start this winter on the 1-million-
square-foot Sherwin-Williams headquarters across Superior
Avenue. Site preparations for the new HQ were under-
way when this photo was taken last winter (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

More details are coming to light on the renovation of downtown's Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. And that light is revealing a project much larger in scale and value than what had previously been reported. According to information from a source close to the project who was not authorized to speak about it, the 103-year-old hotel will be renovated from top to bottom for up to $80 million.

Renovation work is already under way on the 431,352-square-foot structure. Additional work will begin later this year and be completed in Fall 2022. The work will include floor-to-ceiling repairs and updates of all hotel rooms, public spaces, 60,000 square feet of ballrooms/meeting spaces, restaurants and retail spaces. There will also be exterior repairs and improvements made, the source said.

"It's a significant renovation," the source said, speaking off the record. "There's a lot of good stories with the Renaissance (Hotel) project. There's a lot of historic interest in it. Since it's on Public Square, it's on our city's front door and it ties in with a lot of other projects including Sherwin-Williams' (new headquarters) across the street. It took a lot of time to put it (the financing) all together."

The source also said the project will keep the same number of rooms -- 491, including 50 suites. It will continue to be owned 50/50 by Skylight Investments of Toronto and an unidentified partner. Skylight, which bought the hotel in 2015, has a 20-year franchise agreement with Marriott and the hotel is managed by Aimbridge which manages over 300 hotels in the United States.

Despite changing ownership and undergoing renovations multiple
times in its 100-plus-year history, the Renaissance Cleveland
Hotel retains its historical charm and elegance (Wiki).

Initial reports in the media told of a project with a first phase valued at $20 million and focused only on the lower floors of the 12-story hotel. That was based on an application by Skylight Investments for a 25 percent Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit. 

But that application was not granted in the latest round of awards June 30. Winners of the next round will be announced at the end of September. State tax credits are highly competitive; they have no post-construction review or pull-back provisions if historic preservation and design standards are not met.

Instead, Skylight is pursuing federal historic tax credits which are not competitive and have a 20 percent income tax credit for qualified expenditures. But they trigger a post-construction review and credits can be pulled back if the building's renovation doesn't meet National Park Service standards and if the structure is changed in any way within five years.

The hotel, at 24 Public Square, has multiple funding sources. In addition to private sector loans, Skyline will also be pursuing tax-increment financing (TIF) that will not touch property taxes for the Cleveland Municipal School District, the source said. Approval of the TIF from city council and the mayor will be required.

Although no expansion of the hotel is under consideration at this
time, it was considered at one time. In 1994, shortly after the
Tower City Center project was completed, this 19-story
addition was contemplated at the triangular corner
of  West Superior and Prospect avenues (file).

There has been lodging on this corner of Public Square for more than 200 years. In 1815, Phinney Mowrey opened Mowrey's Tavern, selling it five years later to Donald MacIntosh who renamed it as the Cleveland House and then the City Hotel. It was heavily damaged by fire in 1845 and replaced by the Dunham House.

That hotel was enlarged in 1852 and operated as the Forest City House for the next 64 years until it was demolished for the current structure. Built in 1918 as Hotel Cleveland, it was originally a 1,000-room hotel. It was the first structure in the Cleveland Union Terminal Group, a city-within-a-city uniting passenger railroad and rapid transit station facilities under one roof with offices, shops, hotel, department store and central post office.

The terminal group, including the hotel, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the former railroad station was converted into a mixed-use complex called Tower City Center.

Skylight had considered selling the hotel two years ago, but the pandemic and then Sherwin-Williams choosing its new HQ site across the street changed that. Skylight spokesman Ibrahim Adam did not respond to an e-mail seeking more information prior to publication of this article.

END

Apartments planned at ex-elderly care facility in Ohio City

Dalad Group is proposing to redevelop this 19th-century mansion
turned-elderly care facility on Franklin Boulevard in Cleveland's
Ohio City neighborhood into 38 market-rate apartments (Gibbon).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

UPDATED AUG. 5, 2021

A first step in the approval process is starting Aug. 5 for a roughly $12 million redevelopment of a former elderly care facility into a market-rate apartment complex at 3105 Franklin Blvd. in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood.

Dalad Group of Independence is seeking conceptual approval from a neighborhood-level design-review committee of Franklin Yards. Its vision is to redevelop the former Vantage Place assisted living facility with 38 apartments.

Proposed are 26 one-bedroom apartments and 12 two-bedroom apartments spread among two buildings totaling 54,411 square feet. A third historic building previously used for storage and located on West 32nd Street has no definitive plan for re-use as yet, according to documents provided to the city and Ohio City Inc., a community development corporation.

Seven apartments would be located in what was originally a late-19th-century mansion. The rest would be in a building constructed in 1915 along West 31st Pl. as a women's residential center by the Young Women's Christian Association. The facility's former parking lot on the east side of West 31st would be reactivated to provide 42 of the proposed 48 parking spaces for Franklin Yards.

Site plan for the proposed Franklin Yards, 3105 Franklin Blvd. (Gibson).

"We like historic rehab projects," said Andrew Iarussi, president of construction at Dalad Construction and senior vice president of development at Dalad Group. "They present an opportunity to create something that you can’t quite accomplish by building new today."

He said Dalad was drawn to this location because of Ohio City's historic character. It's also close to shops, cafes and restaurants on West 25th Street and in Hingetown. And it's less than a quarter-mile walk to the Irishtown Bend Park and Lake Link Trail.

"We were also drawn to this particular property because of the large internal courtyard," Iarussi said. "It sets up nicely for a dynamic green space which is always a main component of our projects."

Plans show one-bedroom apartments would measure 558-673 square feet and two-bedroom units 900-1,052 square feet. In the 1915-built residential building, there would be eight basement units but all will have windows and one will have a sunken outdoor terrace on the west side of the building.

Proposed floor plans for the residential structures in the
Franklin Yards development (Gibbon).

Units will have access to several outdoor patios as part of the interior courtyard that would be opened up by demolishing a 1960-built, one-story common area for the former residential facility. Franklin Yards will also have a small fitness room, community living room and tenant storage areas, plans show.

The storage building on West 32nd, which dates to 1915 and measures just 2,172 square feet, may be renovated as a small office or possibly as a neighborhood retail space. The building cannot be demolished due to restrictions from Dalad Group receiving an historic tax credit of $1.9 million from the Ohio Development Services Agency. 

"Our project team is still working through the design development, and at the same time we’re exploring financing that will allow us to deliver a middle-market rate product," Iarussi explained.

He said the goal is to offer apartments that are affordable to a renter in the 80-120 percent range of the region's average median income. That would equate to rents for one- and two-bedroom units ranging from about $950 to $1950 per month. Ohio City Inc. Executive Director Tom McNair was not immediately available to comment today.

Site of Franklin Yards as seen in May from the southeast corner
of Franklin Boulevard and West 32nd Street (KJP).

"Over the past year, we have been working under a demolition permit to remove non-historic building elements and old mechanical systems," Iarussi said. "We hope to gain approvals and a construction permit to start the renovation work later this year."

NEOtrans broke the news on the sale of Vantage Place to Dalad Group in October 2018. The sale was closed two months later but a purchase price was not disclosed in county records. However, a Dalad Group affiliate created for acquiring the 1.376-acre property secured a $1.35 million mortgage to create a lien and security interest in the property. In 2018, the property was valued at $1.3 million by the county for tax purposes.

Sixty years ago, the property was purchased by the Sisters of the Humility of Mary as a residence for the Sisters teaching at Lourdes Academy first located across the street at 3007 Franklin and later moved to 4105 Bridge Ave., according to former resident Sister Mary Hurley, HM. It became a private healthcare facility starting in 1976 when the Coury family of the Aristocrat Berea Nursing Center purchased it.

Called Vantage Place since the late-1980s, the property went through other owners until it was acquired by Thomas Scheiman. Reportedly faced with federal budget cuts for elderly care facilities and his own retirement, Scheiman decided to sell the property to Dalad Group.

As many as 86 elderly residents, many with mental illnesses, were relocated to other care facilities in Greater Cleveland at the end of 2018 when Vantage Place was shut down. The property has been vacant ever since.

Tyler Kapusta contributed to this article.

END

Lakefront developments at East 55th alive again

The Landmark Companies' Shoreline apartments is, for the time being,
the only lakefront residential development east of downtown Cleve-
land to Bratenahl. That could soon change if two newly revived
developments are realized (Kyle Lanzer-Metroparks).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Two significant lakefront developments near Gordon Park were put on the back burner by their developers during the depths of the pandemic. But now, both developers are bringing their projects forward to get them cooking again.

Part of the reason is the Cleveland Metroparks is leading a comprehensive effort to improve the lakefront near its Gordon Park and East 55th Street Marina which is a popular recreational area.

One project is a mixed-use development sought by Knez Homes on the south side of Interstate 90 and just east of East 55th. Up to 150 market-rate residential units and 8,000 square feet of commercial space are proposed for the former site of a 12-story Howard Johnson's hotel razed in 2009.

The other project is a residential development by The Landmark Companies on the water's edge of Lake Erie, north of I-90 and just west of East 55th. Proposed is a five-story building with 212 market-rate apartments called The Shoreline Phase II.

Location of the two proposed developments at the interchange of
Interstate 90 and East 55th Street east of downtown (Google).

Bo Knez, founder and president of Knez Homes, said he has asked his development team to bring its project at 5700 South Marginal Rd. back to the fore. The site measures 4.24 acres of city-owned land which Knez has an option to buy.

"We're back on the drawing board for East 55th," Knez said in a phone interview. "We're giving RSA (Architects LLC) directions to move plans forward."

In February 2019, Knez proposed a conceptual plan with 50-60 townhouses including eight homes above commercial spaces such as restaurants, retail and/or offices along South Marginal. Tucked behind would be 90-100 apartments in a five-story building.

But back then, some City Planning Commission members said the project was too dense and not connected to the surrounding neighborhood. Knez, who was born in Slovenia and raised nearby in the East 55th-St. Clair Avenue neighborhood, said there's no immediate neighborhood within an easy walk. Instead, he would be creating one.

The most recent rendering of Knez Homes' East 55th development
that dates from 2019 will be refined prior to resubmittal to the
City Planning Commission for final approval (RSA).

RSA Architects will refine the plans in order to secure final approval, Knez added. But he said he did not know when those revised plans would be ready to be submitted to the city. 

On the other side of Interstate 90 and East 55th, The Landmark Companies began pursuing city approvals for Shoreline Phase II. It's the next phase after the former Nicholson Terminal warehouse was renovated into Quay 55 and 138 apartments in 2002. Landmark bought Quay 55 in 2017, renamed it The Shoreline and converted some of its indoor parking into 29 additional apartments.

Phase II would result in a second, five-story building just east of the first, bringing more apartments, a larger swimming pool and 322 more outdoor surface parking spaces plus 95 indoor spaces. In Phase I are 63 indoor and 67 outdoor parking spaces. Total parking would be 561 spaces. City Planning Commission approved the conceptual designs two years ago.

John M. Carney, a principal with Landmark Management said the project was delayed by the pandemic and by having to secure some additional property from the city. But, contrary to rumors that the project was dead, he said the project is most definitely active.

The Landmark Companies' Shoreline Phase II is proposed to add
more than 200 apartments to Cleveland's lakefront (Vocon).

"Right now, we're working it," Carney said in a brief phone interview. "The plan is to proceed per the plans that received preliminary approval from the city. We're working on a few things with the city of Cleveland on the east boundary."

Although Carney wouldn't specify exactly what is being pursued, there is a vacant piece of city-owned, waterfront land measuring just over 1 acre immediately east of the 10 acres Landmark owns. Of that 10 acres, phase two would rise on 4 acres of vacant land at 5455 North Marginal Road.

This area along the lakefront, from Burke Lakefront Airport east to the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve, is the subject of a multi-agency planning effort led by the Cleveland Metroparks. Called the Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Study (CHEERS), the goal is to accommodate dredge disposal, create additional aquatic and terrestrial habitat, protect existing highway infrastructure and enhance the lakefront.

Cleveland Metroparks plans a major expansion of Gordon Park
by using lake and river dredgings to extend the shoreline and
create an island. The development of more recreational and
public spaces along the lakefront could boost residential
development south of I-90 where FirstEnergy's
power plant stood until 2017 (Metroparks).

I-90 has been battered in recent years by storm-driven waves that pushed abnormally high lake levels onto the roadway and into a water inlet below the highway. Water from that inlet was used by the former FirstEnergy Lake Shore Power Plant until it was closed and demolished in 2017.  

With the power plant gone, there was no longer a reason for I-90 to be routed around it next to the lake. Some wanted to see I-90 moved south, through the former power plant's property. Instead, a less costly option was embraced by the CHEERS effort -- push the lake shore farther north, including the creation of a park island and a cove between it and the lake shore.

The Green Ribbon Coalition, which promotes an enhanced and more accessible lakefront, said the Metroparks' proposed improvements could lead to additional development and expansion of public spaces. That may include redeveloping much of the 62 acres of land on which the power plant sat. FirstEnergy said the site was cleaned of pollutants when it demolished the plant.

END

'Temporary', huge parking lot planned on downtown lakefront

An 18-acre swath of city-owned land is proposed to be developed
with a surface parking lot that would offer up to 2,000 spaces for
cars. But the plan is meeting early resistance (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

UPDATED AUG. 2, 2021

A parking lot with nearly 2,000 parking spaces is proposed to be built on 18 acres of downtown lakefront land, with parking spaces being placed right up next to the water's edge of Lake Erie. That's according to a building permit application submitted to the city this past week.

The application, drafted by Osborn Engineering, proposes to add 1,175 parking spaces to the 775 spaces that are already existing along and immediately north of Erieside Avenue and First Energy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns. The total number of parking spaces would be 1,950 if the application is approved by the city's Building Department.

Existing parking on the site is located more than 300 feet away from the water's edge and, for the most part, was used by a smattering of workers at the Port of Cleveland, stadium employees and visitors to North Coast Harbor. The existing and proposed parking lot land is owned by the City of Cleveland.

But most of the spaces were placed there for use by fans and workers attending eight regular season and one or two preseason Cleveland Browns football games per year. That is how the additional spaces are proposed to be used, too.

Site plan for the parking lot expansion north of First Energy Sta-
dium, seen at bottom. Lake Erie is on the top. Port of Cleve-
land property is on the left and the Steamship William G.
Mather Museum is at the right. This site plan was
spread across two pages that were combined
electronically for clarity (Osborne).

The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission was listed on the application as the sponsor. Meredith Painter, director of marketing and communications at the commission said they are not involved with the parking lot expansion.

"Unfortunately, our team is not involved in any development conversations regarding the land north of First Energy Stadium," Painter said. "During the 2021 NFL Draft in quarter one of this year, the city of Cleveland partnered with us to create a space for the NFL Draft and main stage, however, we have not been involved in any further conversations."

In the permit application to the city, Jon-Michael Lemon, director of civil engineering at Osborn Engineering, wrote "We are planning to restripe a large portion of the existing parking lot, north of Erieside."

But much of the site proposed for the additional parking spaces was never a parking lot. Until this winter, there were two vacant port warehouses on the city-owned land. They were demolished, their foundations removed and the site paved to host a temporary stage and support facilities for the National Football League's 2021 Draft to select eligible players to play professional football.

Osborn Engineering estimated the cost of adding the 1,175 parking spaces to the downtown lakefront at about $80,000, according to the permit application. The parking lot is proposed to be "temporary" as the Haslam family, owners of the Cleveland Browns, are proposing a major redevelopment of the lakefront. Osborn is part of the redevelopment team. The Haslam's Harbor Development Plan includes new housing, offices, hotels, restaurants, retail and public spaces.

In April, the National Football League erected this temporary
stage on the downtown lakefront where the proposed park-
ing lot is now proposed to go. The stage and its ancillary
structures were kept only briefly, used for the foot-
ball draft from April 29 to May 1 (NFL).

But some city officials and lakefront advocates said such plans are years away from being realized. Instead, they wondered why a temporary greenspace wasn't proposed instead of a temporary parking lot. Some vowed to fight the proposed parking expansion.

"Generally, using our waterfront for parking is a terrible idea," said Ward 3 City Councilman Kerry McCormack, whose ward includes downtown. "I would hope that we are trying to correct this type of use (surface parking) that we already have too much of in Cleveland."

Dick Clough, executive board chair of the Green Ribbon Coalition which promotes public access to and use of the lakefront, responded angrily to the idea of putting a parking lot on the downtown waterfront.

"It just amazes me that we would devote prime lakefront land for eight Browns dates versus developing a public park that could be enjoyed every day during three seasons," Clough said. "As usual, it's a complete lack of vision and a huge missed opportunity."

Proposed by the Haslam family, which owns the Cleveland Browns
football team, this Harbor Development Plan would transform
the downtown lakefront. But it will be years, at best, before
this plan can be realized. Thus any "temporary" changes
to the lakefront may remain for a long time (Browns).

He suggested that the city or the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission should partner with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) to encourage Browns fans to use public transportation to attend Browns games thereby reducing the parking needs.

Clough pointed out that the $80,000 proposed to be spent on expanding the parking lot with 1,175 parking could instead buy GCRTA day passes for 2,000 fans for eight Browns regular season home games. Or they could sell the passes at a discount and make them last for two or more seasons, he said.

"We could recreate the Donald Gray Gardens on that site," Clough added, referring to a public gardens that existing on the north side of the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium that stood where First Energy Stadium is now.

"A great lakefront does not include dedicating prime land with lake access for a giant parking lot used for a few hours on a few days," Clough said. "We're awaiting the implementation of the recently announced Browns Harbor Development Plan which is probably five or 10 years down the road. In the meantime, the only temporary thing we should be creating is a public green space on the real estate north of the stadium."

END

Higbee's Public Square façade to add outdoor gambling

The first floor of the JACK Cleveland Casino, formerly the Higbee's
department store downtown, is proposed to be opened up to create
an outdoor gaming patio. To the right of the casino's Ontario Street
 canopy (at left) and around to the front of the casino facing Public
Square (at right), windows will be removed and the lower part of
their openings will gain pre-cast concrete planters (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

For generations, from 1931-2002, many of us did what Ralphie Parker and his friends did in the movie "A Christmas Story." We fogged up the icy Public Square windows at Higbee's department store downtown while looking at the latest toys and gifts that were available inside.

Even today, as one-armed bandits and card games on green felt tables were played inside, the Higbee Building's Public Square windows of the JACK Cleveland Casino still displayed a holidays-themed motif featuring items from the 1983 movie for people strolling past.

If plans submitted by JACK Entertainment are approved by the city, those will no longer be seen on Cleveland's Public Square and a short section of the Ontario Street side. The reason is that the first floor of the casino facing the square will have its glass windows and front entrance removed to create an outdoor patio offering year-round gambling using electronic gaming terminals.

In front of and below the window openings will be concrete planters. Beyond that will be an open space which design documents called a moat to separate the gaming area from the cold and heat of Public Square and Ontario Street. Above and below the gaming area will be an extensive heating and cooling system.

The outdoor gaming patio will be isolated from the rest of the casino by glass and a vestibule. For patrons, the only access to the patio will be by entering through other parts of the casino first. However a direct exit from the outdoor gaming area to Public Square will be provided.

Ground floor plan for the JACK Casino Cleveland with Public
Square and the outdoor gaming patio (shaded area) seen at left.
Ontario Street is along the top, Prospect Avenue at right and
Tower City Center along the bottom (Cupkovic).

Entry to the casino from Public Square will be via the Tower City Center portico. However most patrons enter the casino via the skywalk over the intersection of Ontario Street and Prospect Avenue, from the casino's parking garage.

Aleksandra Breault, public relations and communications manager for JACK Entertainment, acknowledged the project was an expansion of the gaming floor of their Cleveland casino but was unable to provide additional details right now.

Ward 3 City Councilman Kerry McCormack, whose ward includes downtown, was generally supportive of the casino's new gaming concept although he had not seen the detailed plans yet.

"In general, I am supportive of patio usage as a way to support street life," McCormack said.

But a noted local preservationist and architect Steve McQuillin was not supportive of the plans that would salvage and put into storage historic storefronts, ceilings including the backlit ceiling clouds and lighting, and glass work. However, the former department store's canopies and awnings will remain, plans show.

This more detailed view shows the darkened area with the changes
to the ground floor plan associated with the outdoor gaming patio.
Tower City's Public Square portico is at the bottom (Cupkovic).

"These are pretty serious changes," he said. "The concept seems very disrespectful to historic preservation and to the downtown ambience. As you may recall those were originally display windows visible from both sides via an open air walkway. It's pretty terrible."

McCormack had not seen the plans because they do not require any design review by the City Planning Commission or City Council, even though the Higbee Department Store remains on the National Register of Historic Places. It was added to the register in 1976 when the entire Cleveland Union Terminal Group of buildings, including Terminal Tower, was designated.

That changed when the National Park Service, which oversees the historic register, rejected plans for the skywalk over the Ontario/Prospect intersection. The skywalk could still move forward, but the casino had to give back historic credits it received to renovate the casino in 2013. Thus, future renovations no longer required anything more than a building permit from the city's Building Department. 

"Since the casino gave back the tax credits because of their overhead walkway, there is no longer any preservation review," McQuillin said. "All they need to do is get the city’s okay and that’s basically routine."

END

Library Lofts high-rise construction starting soon

Although site work on the first new tower at Circle Square in Uni-
versity Circle began three months ago, a formal groundbreaking
ceremony was held July 29 for the 24-story Artisan apartment
building. Site preparation work is due to start next week for
the next tower at Circle Square - the 11-story Library Lofts
offering apartments over a new library (Chris Ronayne).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Here comes another major construction project that will produce a tower crane in the sky over Cleveland, and over University Circle in particular. And we're just getting warmed up, Cleveland.

Site preparation work is scheduled to start on or about Aug. 2 for Library Lofts -- the next phase of the massive Circle Square development. A tower crane for this project will likely arrive on the site well before Thanksgiving. And with all of the construction happening in Cleveland, there will be a lot for which to be thankful.

Chris Ronayne, president of the neighborhood development corporation University Circle Inc., confirmed to NEOtrans about the start of construction work for Library Lofts, 10541 Euclid Ave.

Cleveland-based Midwest Development Partners' roughly $55 million, 11-story building will feature 207 market-rate apartments above a new, two-story Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Branch of the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) -- hence the name Library Lofts.

It will be the second of as many as six towers to rise in the $300+ million Circle Square development, bounded by Euclid, East 105th Street, Chester Avenue and MLK Drive.

Designed to look like bookshelves, the 11-story Library Lofts will
provide round-the-clock source of customers to retailers and restau-
rants in a growing University Circle (Bialosky, SO-IL/JKURTZ).

It is near the location of where a dense, vibrant neighborhood called Doan's Corners stood. It was Cleveland's second downtown. But its theaters, shops and residential hotels declined starting in the 1950s and, except for the 13-story Fenway Manor, was completely demolished by 1990.

Work began in early April for the Artisan, 10600 Chester, a 24-story, 267-foot-tall residential-over-retail tower that will be the tallest building in University Circle. Artisan will have 298 market-rate apartments and 287 parking spaces over 14,005 square feet of ground-floor retail. It will overtake One University Circle which held the title as University Circle's tallest since 2018.

"University Circle was Cleveland's second downtown a century ago. And it is again thanks to investments like Circle Square," said Ronayne, who announced nearly a month ago he is running for the office of Cuyahoga County Executive.

The MLK Branch Library will remain open during construction. Once the new library is opened, the existing one, built in 1970, will be demolished for a future phase in the Circle Square development. Plans show a residential tower or possibly a hotel could rise on the old library site.

After the city approved Library Lofts' final design May 21, general contractor Panzica Construction set up a construction timetable for the project. That schedule shows, starting about Aug. 2, Chicago-based Power Construction will build 50 temporary library parking spaces on the east side of Stokes Boulevard and add traffic control measures. Fencing and signage around the building site will follow a week or so later.

Site plan for the huge Circle Square development which includes
"squaring off" the corners at several intersections to slow down
vehicular traffic to make the area safer for pedestrians (MDP).

Site preparations and foundation work for the two-story concrete podium containing the new library will begin on or about Aug. 17. Construction of a 488-space public parking garage, between Library Lofts and Artisan, is due to start in March 2022 with garage work taking about nine months. Artisan and Library Lofts are expected to be completed in spring 2023.

Power Construction is the general contractor for Chicago-based White Oak Realty Partners which is building Artisan next door. These first two Circle Square towers, plus the new public parking garage, are being coordinated between multiple project partners.

"In partnership with CPL, Midwest (Development Partners), White Oak Realty, (architect) Bialosky and the Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council, we'll have a library-centered neighborhood of more than a thousand new units in a buzzing, pedestrian friendly and transit-connected urban center," Ronayne added. "The future of the city is here."

It certainly is where most of Cleveland's major-new construction work is happening and will likely continue for some time. In addition to the Artisan and Library Lofts, four other major projects are due to start in University Circle in the coming months -- all of which may warrant a construction crane.

Those four are also all associated with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). Three of them are directly led by the CCF -- a 400,000-plus-square-foot new Neurological Institute, a 100,000-square-foot expansion of the Cole Eye Institute and a 400,000-square-foot new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health.

At the front-center is the historic Fenway Manor apartments. To the
left of it is Library Lofts. In any other era, that would be one of the
largest towers to rise in University Circle. Not this era. In the rear-
center, the 24-story Artisan is already under construction. It may
be eclipsed in height by another apartment tower to the right-rear
and a new office building at front-right (Bialosky).

For the fourth project, the Clinic is working with a private developer, Fairmount Properties, to jointly develop hundreds of thousands of square feet of mixed uses in phases, just south of Cedar Avenue and west of East 105th.

A decade ago, 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. Sources said financing for the project is still coming together.

Knez Homes, which is building hundreds of new housing units around University Circle, said the number of new jobs coming to that area over the next decade could create a demand for up to 10,000 new housing units.

Future phases of Circle Square may include a residential tower possibly taller than Artisan, making its altitudinal reign over University Circle possibly as brief as One University Circle's. Also planned is a second new parking garage plus an office building approximately 13-15 stories high that could also approach 300 feet in height.

END