Bedrock riverfront phase 1 uses ID’d

Bedrock Real Estate’s phase one of its Tower City Riverfront development
is becoming clearer. According to sources and other data, the buildings in
phase one are identified as (A) Cleveland Cavaliers’ practice facility, (B) a
hotel possibly Shinola brand, (C) office building likely for Rocket Mortgage,
and (D) a residential building,  possibly condominiums (Adjaye Associates).
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Plans for Bedrock Real Estate’s riverfront development alongside Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland are rapidly coming together after recent city approvals of its development masterplan. Those plans, albeit still at a conceptual stage, provide insights into Bedrock’s desires and thinking about what land uses it wants to include in its first phase. From those plans and other new information, it appears that the uses to be included are primarily ones that Bedrock’s owner Dan Gilbert can control.

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New company amassing Cleveland properties

Once the site of the Leisy Brewing Co. and known more recently as the
Caraustar recycling plant, this property at the northeast corner of Fulton
Road and Vega Avenue in Cleveland has sold to a new, enigmatic com-
pany called Sanctus Capital LLC that apparently has deep pockets. It is
one of many property acquisitions by Sanctus in the past year (Google).
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A deep-pocketed company less than two years old and based in suburban Westlake has been busily acquiring residential properties in Cleveland, primarily on the city’s West Side. And last week, the company, Sanctus Capital LLC, made its biggest purchase yet — a 5-acre parcel at 3400 Vega Ave. sold by Caraustar Recovered Fiber Group Inc. that was home to Leisy Brewing Co., once Cleveland’s largest independent brewery.

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Playhouse Square announces new projects

Playhouse Square Foundation announced projects it is undertaking in two
buildings it owns. The first, which NEOtrans reported about in March, is
the renovation and partial conversion of the Bulkley Building into apart-
ments. The Bulkley, immediately left of the chandelier, will also gain a
new office tenant. Across Euclid Avenue is the Hanna Building which
had its fourth floor converted to co-working spaces (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

First reported by NEOtrans more than two months ago, the Playhouse Square Foundation announced officially today that it will begin work in June on converting half of the Bulkley Building, 1501 Euclid Ave., in downtown Cleveland into market-rate apartments. Additionally, the nonprofit community development organization also said it has converted the fourth floor of the Hanna Building, across the street at 1422 Euclid, into co-working spaces called Backstage at PSQ.

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Getting Tower City on track

Used twice in the last 30 years during major track reconstruction work, the
former Shaker Rapid Station at Tower City could be modified by the Greater
Cleveland Regional Transit Authority as its permanent station. After 2026,
when it converts to an all-light-rail fleet, GCRTA will no longer need its
current, larger Tower City station in which the west half is used by heavy-
rail trains and the east half by light-rail trains. Instead, it could be re-
designed as Cleveland’s Amtrak and Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
station to better accommodate future service expansion and offer con-
nectivity with the central business district plus local and regional
 transit (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM asdf

When you have an opportunity to expend the same or similar effort and money that would achieve the better of two outcomes, why not pursue the better outcome? That’s the decision Greater Cleveland has yet to make when looking at a transportation ingredient to two major waterfront development masterplans. One is the downtown lakefront development led by the Haslam Sports Group. The other is the Tower City Riverfront development led by Bedrock Real Estate. Both are supported by civic organizations and all levels of government.

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Voss factory conversion comes into focus

Different variations of plans for remaking the former Voss Industries plant
on West 25th Street in Ohio City’s Market District have been considered by
developer MRN Ltd. But none have advanced to the point where financial
assistance  has been request from Cleveland City Council — until now
(LoopNet). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Legislation was introduced this week by several Cleveland City Council members to help finance the conversion of the abandoned Voss Industries plant, 2168 W. 25th St., in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood into a mixed-use complex. The projected price tag to carry out the redo is at least $62 million. While the property’s owner and developer MRN Ltd. has been kicking around various ideas for reusing the property for the last couple of years, none of those concepts have advanced as far as this stage of nailing down its financing for a specific program.

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Downtown project wins financing

An aerial view of the planned Residences at Bolivar with the Erie Street
Cemetery and Progressive Field beyond. Construction could start by mid-
summer on the market-rate apartment complex with ground-floor retail
spaces (Desmone). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

With financing now in hand, look for demolition and construction work to start this summer for the Residences at Bolivar, 1060-1124 Bolivar Rd., in downtown Cleveland’s Gateway neighborhood. The work was made possible by Chicago-based JLL Capital Markets arranging $38.5 million in construction financing and co-general partner equity in the project from an affiliate of another Chicago firm, Leopardo Companies. JLL Capital Markets announced the financing in a written statement this week.

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Brownhoist lifts a new future

Located just east of downtown on St. Clair Avenue, the 143-year-old
Brownhoist office building was actually built a block farther north and
later moved to this site during an expansion project of the company’s plant.
The building is hosting an open house this weekend. But if you miss it, you
can always schedule a tour (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Some buildings are just walls, floors and a roof. Others have architecture, history and modifications that encourage visitors and tenants to crane their head or to look around each corner as they listen to their buildings’ curators tell stories and experiences about them. Its setting is among the reasons why the Brownhoist Building, 4403 St. Clair Ave., in Cleveland’s St. Clair-Superior neighborhood has become an idea-generating co-working space for artists.

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