Thursday, November 16, 2023

Now arriving: Woodhill Station East

A bird’s-eye view of the proposed Woodhill Station East in the foreground with
the first phase, a nearly completed Woodhill Station West, in the background
along Buckeye Road. This view looks northwest from the intersection of Buckeye
and Woodhill roads plus Shaker Boulevard. The light-rail “Rapid” station is just
out of view to the left (City Architecture). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A neighborhood-level design review panel today gave thumbs-up, with a few conditions, to conceptual plans for the next phase in the effort to replace the 83-year-old, 487-unit Woodhill Homes public housing in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood. Woodhill Station East, a 64-unit mixed-income apartment complex with ground-floor retail at 9615 Buckeye Rd., is proposed to be the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s (CMHA) third phase in its Woodhill Redevelopment efforts that would ultimately result in the construction of 640 mixed-income housing units on the city’s east side.

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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Dix & Eaton grows, buys St. Louis PR firm

Dix and Eaton’s new offices on the top floors of the Bulkley Building in
Downtown Cleveland’s Playhouse Square will include a mix of social
and work areas including this lounge (Van Auken Akin).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

With a new Downtown Cleveland headquarters in the works, Dix & Eaton will move into it as one of the largest, employee-owned communications companies in the United States. That change in status occurred on Nov. 1 when the 71-year-old strategic communications firm acquired Standing Partnership, a 32-year-old, St. Louis-based marketing communications consultancy. The acquisition was announced today by Dix & Eaton. Terms of the transaction between the two privately owned firms will not be disclosed.

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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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Monday, November 13, 2023

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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Saturday, November 11, 2023

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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Friday, November 10, 2023

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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Wednesday, November 8, 2023

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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