City staffing shortage threatens some Cleveland projects

With the first phase of Intro (at left in a simplified blue massing) in Ohio
City being a phenomenal success, its developers are eager to construct
phase two (at right in yellow). But trying to get the project far enough along
before the city of Cleveland’s tax abatement policies change at the end
of the year are proving to be difficult due to the shortage of staffing in
departments that administer approvals for construction projects (GCP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

 

At the start of 2024, the city of Cleveland’s new tax abatement policy will go into effect. While the policy will remain basically unchanged for much of the city, it will become less supportive of developments in neighborhoods where construction has been most active — University Circle, Ohio City, Tremont and parts of downtown. So, in those areas, developers are trying to expedite the delivery of projects before the 15-year property tax abatement on new developments declines from 100 percent to 85 percent. But there’s something standing in the way of that acceleration: a lack of city staff to get projects approved in time.

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East Cleveland on track for $100M project

 The vacant, county-owned East Cleveland Adult Activity Center at Euclid and
Superior avenues awaits its next use, which could be as a grocery store and a
centerpiece to a potentially significant residential development between stations
on the HealthLine and Red Line rapid transit routes. The Red Line rail station is
visible in the background (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Cuyahoga County Council’s approval this week of a property sale to a New York City-based developer could lead the way toward a “significant” development in the heart of East Cleveland. The site, at Euclid and Superior avenues, is just one-half-mile from the eastern edge of University Circle and set between stations on the HealthLine bus and Red Line rail rapid transit routes.

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MLK Plaza bought by DC developer

The 88,000-square-foot Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza in Cleveland’s Hough
neighborhood was sold last week to a Washington DC-based developer
which seeks to redevelop the site with housing, commercial and live-
work spaces (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Continued redevelopment of Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood was put into play last week following the acquisition of 4.45 acres of property which has hosted the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, 9300 Wade Park Ave., since 1972. Purchasing the MLK Plaza on Feb. 6 for $2.75 million was an affiliate of Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures (NREUV), according to Cuyahoga County records.

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EY moving across downtown

Ernst & Young is leaving the trophy-class building that bears its name at Flats
East Bank along the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. Its offices will
 move across downtown to another building with a water view — North
Point Tower (LoopNet). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Although rumored for weeks, the announcement that EY (formerly Ernst & Young) is moving its offices out of one of only two trophy-class buildings in downtown Cleveland still came as a surprise to some longtime real estate executives. The 23-story office tower at 950 Main Ave. at Flats East Bank that bears Ernst & Young’s name has been one of downtown’s most expensive and successfully leased since it opened in 2013.

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Clinic unveils Innovation District buildings

Cedar Avenue, looking west from near East 105th Street, will have even
more large buildings along it in the coming years. This artist’s rendering
will soon be the view from the top floors of The Medley apartments, now
under construction with a ground-floor Meijer Fairfax Market grocery
store (HOK). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Two years ago, Gov. Mike DeWine announced hundreds of millions of dollars in state money to launch the Cleveland Innovation District — a program to advance health care, research and related activities in the Greater Cleveland area. This week, one of the largest and most visible outcomes of that initiative will be unveiled in the form of plans for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s next phase of its Global Center for Pathogen and Human Health Research at its Main Campus in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood.

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Bedrock lays out riverfront plan, steps

Nighttime view of Bedrock’s vision for the riverfront below Tower
City Center in downtown Cleveland (Adjaye Associates).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

At the City Planning Commission’s design-review meeting starting 9 a.m. Friday, representatives of Detroit-based Bedrock are scheduled to present more of its vision for downtown Cleveland’s riverfront below Tower City Center. In addition to showing renderings of the buildings and public spaces, Bedrock’s architectural team led by Adjaye Associates will lay out a schedule and a menu of items needed for building the infrastructural foundations to support the ambitious riverfront plan.

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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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