Next round of Brownfield grants starts Dec. 5

Just south of downtown Cleveland, the Scranton Peninsula site of a former
Republic Steel mill that manufactured chrome-plated nuts and bolts will
soon become home to about 1,000 residents in more than 600 apartments
roughly equally split among two developments. One of those is the NRP
Group’s The Peninsula, in the center-foreground, which won a $6 million
Brownfield grant from the state last year for site clean up (Adam Greene).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Several things have long slowed Cleveland’s post-industrial transition to embrace new economic drivers. One of the biggest is the lack of large, clean properties near existing labor. The city recently announced a $50 million land assembly program that could be boosted to $100 million with other funding. While some of that funding could come from the private sector, another source may well come from a new round of state funding to aid redevelopment, announced today.

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Greyhound, Barons may offer downtown, west-side stops

The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center near Cleveland State University is
a relatively quiet place after years of service cuts by the Greater Cleveland
Regional Transit Authority. But it may soon see renewed activity if the transit
agency is able to reach a deal with Barons Bus Inc. for use of its downtown
station plus the Red Line rail stop at Puritas-West 150th (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

With the clock ticking down to an eventual departure from the 75-year-old Greyhound station in Downtown Cleveland, the operator of long-distance bus services is seeking new stations to serve area travelers. After an earlier plan to relocate Cleveland’s station to the Triskett Red Line rapid transit station on the west side met civic resistance, Barons Bus Inc. is pursuing two stations locally. Cleveland-based Barons operates bus service under a license with Greyhound.

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Hawthorne School conversion starts Monday

A rebirth of Hawthorne Elementary School starts Nov. 13 as construction
workers will descend upon the site on that date following the closing this
past week of financing to convert the 106-year-old building into apart-
ments (Bialosky). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

While classes aren’t starting on Monday morning at Hawthorne Elementary School, 3575 W. 130th St., in Cleveland Jefferson neighborhood, that is when Sustainable Community Associates (SCA) is going to school. The Cleveland-based real estate development firm has repurposed many an old Cleveland building into apartments, some with shops or restaurants. But this is SCA’s first lesson in converting a school to apartments.

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Sherwin-Williams may advance 2nd tower in 2024

This may not be the last time we see a building under construction from this
angle, looking east from the Rockefeller Building at West 6th Street, north
of Superior Avenue. Between the new Sherwin-Williams headquarters
tower and West 6th, another building may rise to accommodate additional
Sherwin-Williams employees, suppliers and corporate partners (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One year from now, as Sherwin-Williams employees are scheduled to begin moving into their new, 616-foot headquarters tower in Downtown Cleveland, there are renewed rumblings that the global coatings giant will pursue the development of the west half of its HQ site. The HQ site is west of Public Square and the west half of the HQ site is along West 6th Street, between Superior and St. Clair avenues. That’s where Sherwin-Williams has proposed a second office tower and a row of low-rise, mixed use buildings extending around the corner of St. Clair to partially wrap its five-level, 920-space parking garage. And based on the company’s employment growth, it’s already outgrown its new headquarters.

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Ohio Savings Plaza has a buyer, plans

Ohio Savings Plaza, seen as the black and white building in the middle of the
image, has a little brother hiding around the corner and both buildings repor-
tedly have a buyer. The structure visible here at East 9th Street and Chester
Avenue in Downtown Cleveland reportedly will be converted from office
to residential with the ground-floor retail remaining (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

NEOtrans has learned that the two-structure Ohio Savings Plaza in Downtown Cleveland has a buyer who has put the property under contract while its real estate team does its due diligence. NEOtrans has also learned that the buyer intends to partially convert the half-full, 500,000-square-foot. two-building property to residential. The larger of the two buildings, an 18-story tower at 1801 E. 9th St., is tentatively to be converted to apartments. The smaller building, called Park Plaza at 1111 Chester Ave. that faces Perk Park, will likely remain an office building.

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Nela Park may add residential

From the air looking west into the sun setting next to distant Downtown
Cleveland, Nela Park looks much smaller than it does from the ground.
Three commercial buildings on the former campus of General Electric’s
Lighting Division could be converted to residential by its new owner
Phoenix Investors (LoopNet). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Many Greater Clevelanders have at least some familiarity with a place that could soon become home to many Greater Clevelanders. The owner of the former General Electric Lighting headquarters, 1975 Noble Rd. in East Cleveland, is preparing plans to convert several office buildings within the 94-acre Nela Park Campus into apartments and make those intentions known at a meeting of local stakeholders, possibly as early as this month, according to a source familiar with the project.

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Courthouse proposals are on trial

The Justice Center’s courthouse tower is in the center of this view. But one
of the options for replacing the tower is to build a new courthouse where
approximately this view was taken — from just north of the intersection
of Lakeside Avenue and West 6th Street. This view is from the elevated
Shoreway highway which may not be here much longer. In front of the
current courthouse tower and slightly to the left is a Cuyahoga
County office building called Courthouse Square that is also
in play (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In local real estate parlance, a “whale” is a development project whose total floorspace measures 1 million square feet or more. Not only are they big, they’re tough to get. But there are two Cleveland entities who were able to do what Capt. Ahab could not — catch the whale. Two whales are under construction right now — Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters tower downtown and Cleveland Clinic’s new Neurological Institute in the Fairfax neighborhood, near University Circle. A third whale is in the early stages of the chase, a stage where things are most fluid and thus, very intriguing.

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