Downtown Cleveland’s recovery accelerated in 2023

Downtown Cleveland is where Greater Clevelanders converge to enjoy
festivals and big events like Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day parade which,
according to TheIrishRoadTrip.com, is America’s fifth-largest. At Su-
perior Avenue and East 21st Street, the parade assembled yesterday
for its 182nd annual march through downtown (The GBX Group).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In a data-heavy report released today, Downtown Cleveland, Inc. (DCI) outlined its achievements in continuing the recovery of Cleveland’s business and hospitality center and one of Cuyahoga County’s fastest-growing residential areas. The data, contained in the 2023 Downtown Cleveland Economic Development Report, says the recovery of Cleveland’s central business district is outpacing that of its peer cities in Ohio and the Great Lakes region.

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Flats On Pearl OK’d, Row On Garden tabled

Landmarks Commission members approved this updated design of the Flats
On Pearl, a new-construction apartments-over-retail building next to the 134-
year-old, to-be-renovated Kerns Building at the corner of West 25th Street and
Garden Avenue. Behind the Kerns office building are four houses in varying
degrees of decay that developer Kostas Almiroudis plans to demolish (Brandt).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A next step for developer Kostas Almiroudis went forward when the Cleveland Landmarks Commission approved plans for the mixed-use Flats On Pearl. But the commission didn’t take as many steps forward as Almiroudis wanted, in requesting the demolition of four neighboring, decayed houses and a small townhouse development that would replace them.

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New design for Cleveland Shoreway tower OK’d

The developer of a planned residential tower overlooking Edgewater Park
redesigned it based on market analysis and a need to control costs. The end
result was a new design that won more praise and support from the Cleve-
land Landmarks Commission. This view looks southeast from above upper
Edgewater Park (EAO). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A desire to make a proposed residential tower overlooking Cleveland’s Edgewater Park more viable produced a design that won for it more praise from a city review panel. The proposed 13-story Shoreway tower grew from 95 apartments to 112 and shrunk its floorspace from 204,400 square feet to 140,000. In so doing, its grid-like exterior gained an intentionally distorted and sculpted appearance that earned it unanimous praise.

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Hamilton Brown, Niro to lead St. Clair-Superior CDC

The St. Clair-Superior neighborhood of Cleveland is located near the Lake
Erie shore east of downtown to the Glenville neighborhood. This view looks
 west above St. Clair Avenue from East 60s toward downtown (SCSDC).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A well-known name in Cleveland development circles this week has lost the “interim” prefix to her job title as executive director of the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation (SCSDC) in Cleveland. Not only did Terri Hamilton Brown become the Cleveland neighborhood’s new permanent director, Michael Niro was named chair of the development corporation’s board by unanimous board votes, announced today.

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Cleveland’s new Bridgeworks plan takes next steps

In Cleveland’s Hingetown section of Ohio City, Bridgeworks’ new design will
likely make a return to city review boards starting next week with an eye
toward demolition work and possibly construction later this year. The
proposed development would rise at the northeast corner of West
25th Street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge (GLSD).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Bridgeworks, a mixed-use development proposed in Cleveland’s Hingetown section of Ohio City and that’s gone through several iterations, will be back in front of city design-review panels this month in the hopes of getting construction started this year. If approvals are granted, demolition of existing buildings at the northeast corner of West 25th Street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge could start in the coming months.

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Streetcar deck of Detroit-Superior Bridge wins $7 million for bike/ped path

Cuyahoga County won $7 million in funds to plan for the reactivation of the
long-closed streetcar subway deck of the Detroit-Superior Veterans Memorial
Bridge over the Cuyahoga River, between Downtown Cleveland and Ohio
City. The subway deck may be permanently reopened for used by pede-
strians and cyclists (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cuyahoga County won $7 million in federal funds today for the reactivation of the streetcar deck of Detroit-Superior Veterans Memorial Bridge linking Downtown Cleveland and Ohio City. But instead of bringing back streetcars for the first time in 70 years, the funding would start planning for permanently reopen the deck as a pedestrian-bike path protected from rain, snow and fast-moving cars, trucks and buses on the roadway deck above.

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Cleveland, other climate havens win Bloomberg bucks

Cleveland and other Great Lakes cities are considered to be climate havens in an
era of rapid change. Not only is Cleveland’s climate moderating, but its low
property insurance rates and nearly unlimited access to fresh water make
it climate-safe and affordable place to live (ClevelandWater.com).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland was selected today by Bloomberg Philanthropies as one of 25 U.S. cities to join Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities (BASC) and be the recipient of $200 million divided roughly equally among them. BASC is a three-year initiative designed to leverage historic levels of federal funding to incubate and implement transformative local solutions to build low-carbon, resilient, and economically thriving communities.

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