Cleveland seeks urban core tax-increment financing district

Officials and families gathered June 29, 2021 for the Wendy Park pedestrian-
bike bridge ribbon cutting ceremony. More urban core public infrastructure
projects like this could be afforded with the city’s proposed tax increment
financing district. But some are concerned that services and infrastructure
in neighborhoods away from downtown will be neglected (Cuyahoga
County). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland’s biggest source of tax base is its downtown which supports services and infrastructure in the rest of the city. City officials are seeking to leverage investments in its urban core to create a feedback loop to support downtown and other neighborhoods. But not everyone is convinced this is a good thing for the rest of the city and cynics are seeking more information and research before deciding.

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Blue Abyss lands next to NASA Glenn

An artist’s rendering of Blue Abyss’ proposed $250 million training and
research center in suburban Brook Park, next to NASA Glenn Research
Center, Cleveland Hopkins Airport and the Ohio Aerospace Institute
(Blue Abyss). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A Cornwall, UK-based company called Blue Abyss Diving Ltd., has acquired land in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park for a $250 million commercial astronaut training facility and hotel, according to public records and a press release from the company. According to an economic impact study commissioned from Kent State University, the British company’s investment here after 30 years could create or support up to 21,800 jobs, add $1.5 billion to residents’ incomes and increase total economic output by $3.6 billion.

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Cleveland, Berea construction firms unite

The Albert M. Higley Co. constructing firm, headquartered in Cleveland’s
Midtown neighborhood, merged with Berea-based T. Allen Inc. of Berea
to create a carpentry industry powerhouse for the Great Lakes-Northeast
region (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The Albert M. Higley Co., a Cleveland-based provider of construction contracting services since 1925, announced today it has merged operations with T. Allen Incorporated of Berea. The parties said that they consider this to be a strategic union which marks a pivotal moment, consolidating two esteemed companies into a formidable force within the carpentry industry.

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One of Cleveland’s largest lakefront sites is now in play

The Lake Shore Power Plant site that sold last month is outlined in red
and includes a long driveway access from East 55th Street in the back-
ground. East 72nd Street and Interstate 90 are in the foreground with
downtown Cleveland in the distance. At right left is where the
Cleveland Metroparks plans a $300 million lakefront recre-
ation area including a new island in Lake Erie (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Turns out the sale of a large Cleveland lakefront property could be good news for a more livable shoreline, after all. The 62-acre former Lake Shore Power Station site just east of Downtown Cleveland, along with the 167-acre Eastlake power plant property and another in Oregon, OH near Toledo were sold last month by Energy Harbor Generation LLC of Akron to a firm that specializes in cleaning up and redeveloping former coal-fired power plant sites.

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Glenville civil rights site may become homes, park

On the site of the former Stephen E. Howe Elementary School in Cleveland’s
Glenville neighborhood, a Texas-based developer is proposing to build 68
homes around a new, small park. The site was important in the fight for civil
rights in the 1960s (LDA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

When the Cleveland Metropolitan School District put 19 former school properties up for sale in 2021, some of them had school buildings on them. Even those that didn’t anymore still had historical value to them. One of those was the former site of the Stephen E. Howe Elementary School in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood which was the scene of a fatal incident in the fight for desegregation of the school district.

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Cleveland development: what to look for in 2024 — University Circle

In University Circle and its environs, the extent of investment and change in
recent years has been nothing short of remarkable. In this view along East
105th Street, older, substandard housing is giving way to modern, mixed-
use developments that offer quality, affordable housing, retail and ser-
vices that these neighborhoods haven’t had in decades (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Back when Cleveland was an industrial powerhouse, few wanted to live near its dirty, noisy industries. Today, its largest source of employment is the education and health services sector — a cleaner industry to which it’s attractive to live within a short walk or bike ride. It is centered in and near University Circle, surrounded by long-neglected neighborhoods. But investment has been coming into those places — Hough, Fairfax, Glenville, Cleveland Heights’ Top of the Hill, and East Cleveland’s Circle East — bolstering them as neighborhoods of choice.

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Cleveland development: what to look for in 2024 -- Downtown

Two high rises were under construction in Downtown Cleveland through 2023.
It is unlikely we'll see a new one start construction in 2024, but we may
learn of official plans for one or more high rises by the end of this
 year (Adam Greene). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

For many in the real estate investment community, 2023 was the year when few new big projects were financed. The projects that were already financed under better, prior market conditions saw their construction advance, making the real estate landscape appear rosier than it really was. Now, however, as we enter 2024, there is a light at the end of the tunnel with developers already reviving or making new plans.

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