CRE industry lauds Bibb’s construction permit overhaul

In looking for more construction cranes over the city, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb
signed an executive order today to simplify the building permitting process at City
Hall. (x.com @JustinMBibb). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Commercial real estate and construction interests hailed Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s signing of an executive order today to simplify and speed up the construction permitting process at City Hall. Bibb was quick to point out that this reform will affect small projects by homeowners as well as downtown skyscrapers. However, it could take up to a year before all of the approved changes are implemented.

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Bridgeworks design evolves again – minus hotel

View of the proposed Bridgeworks development from the corner of West 25th Street
and the Detroit-Superior Bridge with Downtown Cleveland in the background. The
development is planned on the former Cuyahoga County Engineer’s headquarters
(GLSD). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

An ever-changing lending market has caused designs to change again for the proposed Bridgeworks development, 2429 W. Superior in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Some things were noticeably different in the plans — no hotel, no retail/restaurants, a big increase in the number of apartments, and a variety of colors and materials in the façade which, at first glance, makes the long building look like five or six structures.

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Cleveland Kitchen wins $10M in tax credits

The East 70s section of Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland has seen a lot of investment in
recent years and more is coming. Cleveland Kitchen expects to increase the number
of jobs threefold at its Midtown Cleveland food hub as a result of $10 million tax
credit financing from the Cleveland Development Advisors (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland Development Advisors (CDA) has allocated $10 million in federal New Markets Tax Credits to Cleveland Kitchen, originally Cleveland Kraut, to consolidate and expand its production facility in the Central Kitchen Food Hub. The hub is a food incubator and accelerator on Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood.

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Welleon gets an ‘A’ in testing Cleveland’s market

Located in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood west of downtown, the newly
built, market-rate, mixed-use Welleon is almost fully leased after opening less than
a year ago (Welleon.com). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

It used to be rare to see a newly constructed Cleveland apartment building filling out at rents of more than $2 per square foot and leasing out in less than two years. But those were the old days — “way back” in the 2010s. Today, it’s common to see luxury buildings, even those that are not downtown skyscrapers, rent out in a year or less. But not at the rents Welleon just commanded.

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EPA gives Greater Cleveland $129.4M for five solar arrays, reforestation

After a regional partnership won a large federal grant, five sites in Greater
Cleveland could soon be gaining solar arrays to generate electricity. More
than 60 megawatts of electricity could soon be cleanly generated for the
Cuyahoga County’s new microgrid Cuyahoga Green Energy plus Cleve-
land Public Power and Painesville Muni Electric (EPA-APPA).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) today awarded $129.4 million in federal funding to the Greater Cleveland area to produce cheaper, more competitive, cleaner electricity locally. The funded work includes constructing five solar arrays in up to five communities, closing a coal-fired power plant in Painesville and supporting reforestation efforts in a community once called the Forest City.

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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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