Downtown Lakewood back to drawing board

Called ‘Building A’ in the Downtown Lakewood redevelopment site
plans, this proposed four-story building at Detroit and Belle avenues
would have housed the offices of Roundstone Insurance. But after
two years of seemingly endless civic deliberations around the project,
the fast-growing insurance company has decided to not only leave the
project but leave the city. That has put the project back on the drawing
board, including to turn this structure into a five-story apartment
building (Dimit). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

After two years of seemingly endless meetings surrounding the redevelopment of Lakewood’s former hospital site, Roundstone Insurance has not only left the development project but decided to leave the inner-ring suburb entirely. Currently located in the former First Church of Christ Scientist, 15422 Detroit Ave., the headquarters of this fast-growing insurance firm with up to 240 employees and $17.5 million in annual payroll is due to leave Lakewood in April 2024, according to Mayor Meghan George’s administration.

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Oracle/Cerner to open Cleveland training center

A 50,000-square-foot building at 3121 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland’s Midtown
is proposed to be renovated into a data processing training center for Oracle’s
Cerner healthcare software division. The facility is proposed to accommodate
up to 704 trainees simultaneously plus dozens of instructors and other
staff (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cerner Corp., a healthcare division of software giant Oracle, is planning to open a training center at 3121 Euclid Ave. near downtown Cleveland that could accommodate hundreds of people in classrooms simultaneously. The proposed training center speaks to Oracle/Cerner’s growing presence in Greater Cleveland and the addition of another major healthcare employer to the region’s economy.

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Ohio, planning orgs plan Amtrak expansions

Amtrak’s new Airo trains could show up on new services converging
at a passenger rail mini-hub in downtown Cleveland. That will depend
on whether the Federal Railroad Administration will award planning
money to the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Northeast
Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency to measure the costs and
 benefits of various service levels along those routes (Amtrak).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

While Gov. Mike DeWine made the big news this week about Ohio seeking federal money to plan for and pursue Amtrak passenger rail expansion on two Cleveland-based routes, those aren’t the only routes that will be pursued. The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) also confirmed today that it will be seeking funds for similar plans but for several other routes ending in Cleveland. If realized, the services that could result from those expansions would turn downtown Cleveland into a mini-hub for Amtrak.

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Seeds & Sprouts XXVI – UC tech building, EOC going downtown, Tech Ready Mix buys land

CedarTech and Cumberland Development are joining forces on updating a
six-story, 67-year-old office building at 10900 Carnegie Ave. in Cleveland’s
University Circle district. The renovations include enclosing a driveway
under the building and removing a pedestrian entrance facing Carnegie
(Dimit). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

CedarTech and Cumberland Development reveal office building plans. The Cleveland chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization is opening an office downtown. And concrete wholesaler Tech Ready Mix is acquiring a large property in Kinsman for what may be a new production facility.

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Lakewood site prepped for development

The size of the former National Tire and Battery site is best appreciated
from the east side of the building, The entire structure is about to be demo-
lished. In place of the NTB building, a temporary parking lot is proposed
until the property owner can move forward with plans to build a multi-story
 apartment building that includes a parking garage on the entire site seen
here (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Fences went up yesterday at Lakewood’s East End around a former National Tire & Battery (NTB) store and its parking lot at the southwest corner of Detroit and Coutant avenues. In the coming days, the NTB store will come down while hydraulic lifts in the building’s vehicle repair shop will be removed and possibly some of the soil surrounding the lifts, too. Those are just some of the activities that will prepare the site for the next phase of the Studio West 117 development.

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Downtown’s next high-rise to turn residential

While not one of East 9th Street’s tallest office towers, Ohio Savings Plaza’s
three-story podium makes it one of its most unique. That podium could figure
strongly into how a buyer and development team for the property might rede-
velop it or its sister building facing Perk Park with residential (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Downtown Cleveland’s next office-to-residential conversion project appears to be in the works. But this one might not be a total changeover to a new use. Ohio Savings Plaza, with more than a half-million square feet divided among two buildings has something big going for it — it’s half-filled with office tenants. Or, half-empty if you’re a pessimist.

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Why the LaSalle Theater is for sale

Marquee of the LaSalle Theater on East 185th Street in Cleveland’s
Collinwood neighborhood. The theater is on the market and the rea-
sons why were confirmed by the owner (David Schwartz Photography
for LaSalle Theater). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Earlier this month, NEOtrans broke the story that a Collinwood landmark, the LaSalle Theater, 823 E. 185th St., had hit the market after 14 years of ownership by the Northeast Shores Development Corporation (NSDC). But with the building stabilized and the NSDC ending its service to the Cleveland neighborhood, officials from the community development corporation said it was time to sell.

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