Biotech biz plans $12M investment in East Cleveland

The Mickey’s Building on Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland was sold by the
Cuyahoga Land Bank to a Boston-based biotech firm that plans to add more
than 100 jobs to the site. Still in question is whether a proposed ground-
floor café engaged in a legal battle with the land bank will open (RDL).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One week after the Cuyahoga Land Bank completed a $3.5 million renovation of the Mickey’s building, 12550 Euclid Ave., in East Cleveland, it announced the sale of the building to Verdynt Bio, a Boston-based science facility developer with strong ties to Ohio. Verdynt Bio’s operations partner, SKYLIIT Labs, said it plans to invest more than $12 million into the site to create 100 jobs in a state-of-the-art laboratory and office co-working space.

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West 73rd Apartments site on the market

This 1.78-acre site is surrounded by successful developments but, for whatever reason,
this one has had difficulty in getting shovels in its soil. Multiple developers have tried
and failed to build housing or mixed-use here in recent years. The land is back on the
market again (CBRE). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

In a move that came as a surprise to some members of its own development team, a New York-based developer has decided to sell one of the last-remaining open development sites in Cleveland’s hot Gordon Square neighborhood near Lake Erie. The offering of 1321-1357 W. 73rd St. comes after its owner, Joe Zagelbaum of Brooklyn, NY, went through a year-long process to get plans approved by the city for a 196-unit apartment complex.

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Slavic Village site chosen by a growing business

A couple of clicks from hitting the century mark, this decaying, 98-year-old office-
warehouse building on Broadway Avenue in Cleveland’s Slavic Village is in the
process of being bought by a growing business that’s seeking a long-term home
to keep on growing (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A new and growing business is seeking to move from its rented space in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood to put down stakes somewhere. And it found that somewhere in a faded brick building at 5363 Broadway Ave. in Slavic Village.

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Downtown Cleveland’s glimmers of hope

Downtown Cleveland Inc. reported that numerous metrics of office and residential
occupancy, foot traffic and other activities show Cleveland’s central business has
had one of its best months since the depths of the pandemic in 2020. This is the
food truck scene at Perk Park along East 12th Street, between Walnut and
Chester avenues (DCI). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

While it seems like foot traffic is up in Downtown Cleveland since the pandemic four years ago, different organizations that measure the city’s central business district’s economic performance have numbers backing up that perception. And that’s also reflective of increased numbers of workers returning to their offices and more residential conversions and occupancies as well. But those numbers are still far from robust.

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Erieview, Shoreway towers win financing

Redevelopment of the Erieview Tower got a big financial boost today when the Cleve-
land-Cuyahoga County Port Authority authorized up to $55 million in bond for the
$78 million conversion of the 40-story office building to Marriott-branded
luxury apartments (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Today, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s board approved $144 million worth of financing toward development projects with a combined price tag totaling $206.1 million. The projects include one new-construction residential tower near Edgewater Park, one renovated and converted Downtown Cleveland office tower, and a major expansion and renovation of middle school facilities in Shaker Heights.

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Cleveland Port’s bulk terminal gets $5M for rehab

On July 12, two ships were working at the Cleveland Bulk Terminal on Whiskey
Island, just west of Downtown Cleveland. Although different types of aggregates
can be loaded and unloaded here, iron ore is unloaded from larger ships through
a conveyor tunnel to smaller ships and then sent upriver to Cleveland Cliffs’
steel-making facilities. That conveyor has reached the end of its useful and
must be rebuilt (Lance Aerial). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Last month, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority awarded nearly $1 million for design work to reconstruct the iron ore conveyor system at the Cleveland Bulk Terminal on Whiskey Island. This month, the Port of Cleveland got a big chunk of the funding necessary to carry out the reconstruction work over the next two years.

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Cleveland’s Public Square gets $750K for improvements

Albeit a beautiful setting, Downtown Cleveland’s Public Square is often
a quiet setting outside of special events. Downtown Cleveland Inc. and LAND
Studio hope to change that by making Public Square more active more often
with new and more frequent programming that includes increased safety
to bring more people out (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The work to improve Cleveland’s centuries-old Public Square, a New England-style community commons, is never done. In the latest effort, Downtown Cleveland Inc. will receive $750,000 in funds from the Ohio legislature’s one-time Strategic Community Investment Fund for a more welcoming, engaging and inclusive Public Square for all.

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