Shaker Square sees $4.5M in updates, more planned

Making improvements to Cleveland’s Shaker Square is essential to keeping it vibrant
and attractive as a commercial and transportation center for sustaining the surrounding
neighborhoods as well. The new owners of the square are working to address deferred
maintenance there and so far have made about $4.6 million worth of repairs and
improvements (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Two years ago this month, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) and Burten, Bell, Carr, Inc. (BBC) acquired Cleveland’s historic but faded Shaker Square mixed-use district. Today, the new owners outlined what they considered to be significant work and investment in making capital improvements to the property and carrying out a retail strategy to restore vibrancy to the square.

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Bedrock starts Downtown Riverfront phase one

Site preparation is underway for the first phase of Bedrock’s Downtown Cleveland
Riverfront development. This view is looking north from the Lorain-Carnegie Hope
Memorial Bridge. At left is West 3rd Street and the former CSX railroad right of
way at right. Also visible are two bridges that will be demolished soon — the
Eagle Avenue lift bridge at left and the Stones Levee Road bridge over the
CSX tracks (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Construction permit applications were filed this week with the city of Cleveland’s Building Department so contractors can start digging and installing foundations for the first phase of Bedrock’s Downtown Riverfront development. That first phase is the Cleveland Clinic/Cleveland Cavaliers Global Peak Performance Center, touted as one of the world’s largest training facilities.

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Last round of megaproject tax credits opens

The fourth and final round of the Transformational Mixed Use Development tax credits
is now available and could help realize large building projects in Ohio’s largest cities
or their nearest suburbs (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Developers looking to transform their Ohio communities can now apply for funding opportunities through the Ohio Department of Development’s Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) program that awards up to $100 million in tax credits per round.

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The Arch at St. Michael gets underway

A sample of Gothic architecture in Cleveland can be found on Scranton Road at the
old St. Michael School, which is now in the process of being converted into senior
apartments called The Arch at St. Michael. The start of renovations yesterday co-
incided with the 50th anniversary of the funding program that helped make the
renovations possible (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Renovation work for The Arch at St. Michael is a day old. The funding program to pay for the renovations is 50 years old. And the Gothic Revival beauty located in Cleveland’s South Tremont neighborhood that will gain new life from the work is 118 years old. Combined, the milestones involved a lot of celebrating.

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Stella Maris buys Flats site to expand

Highlighted in red, the property at 2208 Superior Viaduct was acquired by
Stella Maris to allow for its expansion. The second floor will become
administrative offices and the first floor will be for storage and warehousing,
 including donated items (Cresco). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

After nearly eight years on and off the market, a small parcel at 2208-2210 Superior Viaduct at the west edge of Cleveland’s Flats District has sold to a growing stakeholder in the neighborhood. Addiction treatment center Stella Maris Inc. acquired the property last week and proposes to renovate an historic building on the site to expand the scope of its services. The site was twice proposed for a residential tower but neither advanced past the conceptual stage.

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Market District Lofts in Ohio City to expand

The 25-unit Market District Lofts in Cleveland’s Ohio City could soon add another
17 apartments by converting another floor of offices at the United Bank Building
at Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street (Market Districts Lofts).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

On most other plots of land, adding 17 homes to it would be noticeable from the street. But if a proposed expansion of the Market District Lofts in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood happens, it might be the most below-the-radar residential development in the urban core since The Residences at The Guardian condominiums opened downtown. And the same developer is involved in both.

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Downtown property owner penalized for tax credit ‘double-dipping’

The Garfield on Euclid Avenue in Downtown Cleveland was built in 1895 as an 11-story
office building. In 2016, while it was getting renovated as apartments, its owner claimed
a $22.6 million tax deduction on the property for not building a 34-story addition above
it. That apparently improper deduction may prove costly to the owner (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A U.S. Tax Court judge in Washington D.C. has agreed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in disallowing a $22.6 million tax deduction claimed by Corning Place Ohio, LLC for not building a 34-story vertical addition on top of its 19th-century Garfield Building, 1965 E. 6th St., in Downtown Cleveland. Senior Judge Albert George Lauber also sustained the IRS commissioner’s imposition of a 40 percent penalty for a “gross valuation misstatement” in seeking the deduction.

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