Cleveland’s Central-Fairfax: the next hot zone?

This is where Cleveland’s Central and Fairfax neighborhoods meet, at Norfolk
Southern’s elevated railroad tracks near East 71st Street and Quincy Avenue.
The railroad was once a four-track line and had many industries clustered along
it. Now the area is largely devoid of employers and poverty is far above the
national average. City, county and private leaders are working to assembly and
clean properties to market them for redevelopment (Site Readiness Fund).

Cleveland’s Central and Fairfax neighborhoods haven’t been a hot zone for new real estate development since the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 30s. Back then, streets like Cedar, Central and Quincy were hopping with jazz clubs, speakeasies, flappers and gangsters. Aside the many night spots were factories that hummed with tens of thousands of jobs during the daytime hours. Most were tightly clustered along the four-tracked Pennsylvania Railroad that was elevated in 1915 to reduce traffic congestion.

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Downtown’s next crane may be MIA for a while

It may look like Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters tower and a potential con-
cept for a phase two tower in Downtown Cleveland. But it’s actually the Texas
Tower in Downtown Houston. Perhaps Sherwin-Williams could build a similar
tower for its expected second phase to handle its growing office employment
(Comprehensive Zoning Services). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

While the nation’s employment is high and incomes are rising, in many respects, the slowdown in new real estate construction projects is the worst the nation has seen since the credit crunch of 2008-10. Back then, everything stopped. Nothing new was getting built. Things aren’t too different now unless you’re building new data centers, warehouses or small housing projects.

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New Downtown Lakewood plan, grocery store announced

Downtown Lakewood’s redevelopment of the 6-acre site of a former hospital com-
plex has gone through multiple iterations since Lakewood Hospital closed eight
years ago. The latest plan proposes a sequence of construction like what was an-
nnounced last fall but with a new boutique grocery store tenant that may hopefully
make this project move forward. This view is looking southwest with Detroit
Avenue on the right of the site (Dimit). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Sitting dormant since Lakewood Hospital was closed in 2016 and demolished in 2019, a 6-acre city-owned site in Downtown Lakewood has a fresh strategy and a new tenant to potentially and finally reactivate it. While that strategy and a new tenant, a neighborhood grocery store, was enthusiastically received by City Council members at a committee meeting tonight, it remains to be seen whether it can overcome financing hurdles affecting it and all other projects nationwide.

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Tower City’s Astro lifts off tomorrow

Astro Boy, Groot and Darth Vader guide down (or up) the stairs to the restrooms
at Astro Restaurant at Tower City Center in Downtown Cleveland. They’re just
some of the characters that liven up the family-friendly restaurant (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Yes, a new restaurant at Tower City Center in Downtown Cleveland really is out of this world. And The Astro Restaurant is going to lift off at 11 a.m. tomorrow, one block from the neighboring RocketMortage offices. But since the restaurant will be open only for dinner, it may prove to be popular for people attending evening events at the RocketMortgage FieldHouse just down the street.

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Sherwin-Williams: already outgrown its new HQ

With Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters parking garage accommodating
fewer than one-third of the building’s employees, the company is developing
a parking and transportation plan to handle commuters for its new HQ and
possibly its HQ2 (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

With the completion of Sherwin-Williams’ new Downtown Cleveland headquarters tower delayed well into next year, the global coatings giant has a some extra time to consider its options on how to handle various aspects of its unanticipated growth. Since the company has already outgrown its new HQ before it is finished, that means weighing a second HQ tower, expanding remote work, as well as addressing parking and commuting options.

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Cleveland Museum of Art’s $8M lobby reno starts May 1

After a $320 million renovation and expansion that concluded in 2013, the
Cleveland Museum of Art is more popular than ever. But that has led to over-
crowding in its three lobbies. Those will be renovated from May to October to
allow for a more efficient movement of crowds, tour groups and special event
registrations (Iryna Tkachenko). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Increasingly crowded with students, tour groups and attendees of special events, three lobbies at Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) are about to be renovated thanks to $8 million worth of donations. Those gifts will help make those gathering locations in one of Cleveland’s most popular museums a place to enjoy rather than deal with.

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Downtown: Huron may close for street market

A recent study by Downtown Cleveland Inc. identified Huron Road near Euclid
Avenue as one of the best places in the central business district to try to provide
a street market of pop-up vendors and artists. The site is between Playhouse
Square and the Gateway District sports complexes and has many
residential and office buildings nearby (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Although early in the process, Playhouse Square Foundation is leading an effort in Downtown Cleveland that could result in the closure of Huron Road to vehicles. The goal is to effectively expand US Bank Plaza and create a venue for a street market of pop-up vendors and artists. The potential closure to cars and trucks could affect a short stretch of Huron that’s closest to Euclid Avenue.

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