Developers, investors making big plays on Flats' West Bank

Four individual development sites are in play between the
Cuyahoga River and Ohio City's Hingetown on the Flats'
West Bank. All are large-scale proposed projects because
they are 20+ stories tall, they cover a large area, or may
offer both (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Despite the economic slowdown, several prominent local and national developers and investors are making big real estate plays on the Flats' West Bank, across the Cuyahoga River from downtown Cleveland. The end result could be a mix of buildings with mostly residential offerings and at least two of the developments possibly rising to 20 stories or higher.

As one real estate insider said, "That area might be the next hotspot after Hingetown." He's referring to the northeast corner of Ohio City, adjoining Flats' West Bank, where just about every block since 2000 has had a development project built, underway or planned. It's about time, as the Flats' West Bank sat out Cleveland's redevelopment boom of the 2010s.

That insider, plus a few others who also spoke off the record because they were not authorized to speak publicly, revealed four potential projects emerging on the West Bank. All four of the projects could be impressive in their scale and only one remains a closely guarded secret. Details are emerging about the other two projects. And the fourth is fairly well known, but still early in its project development process.

One instigator of the Flats' West Bank developments is the recent and ongoing infrastructure investments, namely several all-purpose trails. They include the Lakefront Bikeway Connector to Battery Park and Edgewater Park, the Centennial Lake Link Trail along and west of Center Street, and an extension of the Towpath Trail onto Columbus Road peninsula.

Plus, construction is well underway on the Wendy Park Bridge over the busy Norfolk Southern railroad tracks to connect the Flats West Bank to the lakefront. In the other direction is the site of the future, massive Irishtown Bend Park where hillside stabilization efforts are progressing.

This unofficial rendering shows the potential scale of a 23-story
building sought for 2208 Superior Viaduct between the Flats'
West Bank and Ohio City's Hingetown neighborhood (KJP).

Two real estate development projects for which details are emerging still have many unknowns. But what is known is that a 23-story apartment building and a 20-story apartment building over a possible hotel are planned along the riverfront.

The 23-story apartment building is proposed to rise at 2208 Superior Viaduct, on a 0.3-acre parcel that's listed for sale at $1.5 million. The listing shows a sale is pending. According to two sources, that buyer is Wayne Jatsek. If that name doesn't ring a bell with you, you're not alone.

He and several of his family members are involved in everything from home renovations to heavy highway construction locally. Currently, he is serving as the frontman for a 24-unit luxury townhouse development in Westlake called Hillsborough Point on Center Ridge Road.

Jatsek, the two sources said, is also a frontman in this case, too. He is the lead investor for a group of people with much deeper pockets, and at least one of them is reportedly from out of town. A phone message left for Jatsek at his Walton Hills residence was not returned prior to publication.

In fact, the investor group's pockets are apparently deep enough that the only thing keeping them from building higher than 23 stories is the height district in the city's zoning code. On this site, structures as tall as 250 feet can be built unless a variance is requested from the city's Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).

The two-story white building, sandwiched between two four-
story buildings, is 2208-2210 Superior Viaduct -- as seen from
the Washington Avenue side. It is under a purchase agreement
and would be torn down for a 23-story residential tower (KJP).

Cleveland's BZA hasn't met since March due to the pandemic and isn't scheduled to meet again, albeit virtually, until late June.

However, sources said plans for the apartment tower were developed by Dimit Architects and submitted to the City Planning Commission for review. The project could appear on the city's Design-Review Committee docket as early as June. Design-Review began meeting virtually this month.

Plans include demolishing the existing 120-year-old, 16,462-square-foot light-industrial building on the property and digging subterranean parking for the tower above.

The property abuts the west end of 142-year-old Superior Viaduct. The bridge, originally built with 10 sandstone arches, was the main route for pedestrians, horse carriages and streetcars linking downtown to the west side of the city until 1920. It was replaced two years earlier by the Detroit-Superior Bridge. Three of the old viaduct's arches were later removed so the river could be widened.

At the east end of the remaining viaduct is the site of another remarkable, proposed development -- 1250 Riverbed St. Here, two historic buildings are proposed to be retained, renovated and vertically expanded to create a 20-story apartment and possibly hotel structure.

One of the most stunning and imaginative proposed projects
on Flats' West Bank is a 20-story tower at 1250 Riverbed St.
A 16-story addition would be "suspended" over two existing
 historic buildings using a pair of concrete cores built through
the two buildings. From those cores, the new floors would be
suspended using a grid of Vierendeel trusses (Coloma River).

Up to 16 stories are proposed to be added to a four-story, 103-year-old building and an attached six-story, 108-year-old building. Together, the two buildings total 50,000 square feet. They were converted from commercial uses to 28 residential units in the 1980s and renamed the Left Bank Apartments.

An adult lifestyle nightspot called Club Eros moved out of the ground floor of the six-story building more than a month ago. Only a couple of apartments remain occupied between the two buildings, a source said.

Washington DC-based Coloma River Capital has a purchase agreement to acquire the building but the deal hasn't closed yet. The seller is 1250 Riverbed Street LLC whose managing members are two Rochester, NY men, Eliahu Adahan and Peter R. Hungerford, according to Cuyahoga County records. Contact information for Hungerford couldn't be located. Abahan didn't reply to an e-mail before publication.

The requested sale price wasn't publicized but, according to another source, 1250 Riverbed Street LLC wanted $3 million for the valuable riverfront property. The seller reportedly accepted about $2.6 million, the source said. The for-sale listing for 1250 Riverbed was removed last month.

E-mails sent to Coloma River Capital's Managing Partner Charles Paret, to a general e-mail address for the company, and to a public contact form on the firm's Web site weren't returned prior to publication.

An earlier proposal for repurposing the Left Bank Apartments
into a hotel was scrapped due to the property's high sale price
and the need to generate more revenue to offset the purchase
price. So a project of larger scale is planned (Coloma River).

However, NEOtrans was able to secure two marketing pieces from Coloma River Capital about the project. One is a January 2019 marketing brochure. Last year, the project originally was limited to adding only two stories of small-floorplate restaurant/event space to the top of the building and converting the property to a 102-room Dream Hotel.

"Coloma River Capital has assembled a 'best in class' team to reposition and re-brand the property into an upscale luxury boutique hotel to open by June of 2020," the brochure noted. "Immediately upon closing of the property, the team will begin planning for a renovation of all rooms, public spaces, adding a spa, and various creative spaces."

Since then, Coloma River Capital reportedly repositioned the project to one with a larger scale. The smaller-scale project and an already softening hotel market wouldn't generate enough revenue to offset the high purchase price. So a 16-story addition was proposed and more investors were secured. Their identities remain unknown at this time.

Omaha-based DLR Group was hired for design and engineering services to renovate and expand the historic, timber-framed buildings into a 20-story structure comprised of 85 apartments and 200-key hotel, according to a draft presentation from earlier this year. It is possible that the hotel may be scaled back or removed altogether given the deepening weakness in the lodging market.

DLR Group proposed a unique approach to support the 16-story addition over the historic building -- a building that could scarcely support the previously proposed two-story addition. Suggested are two thick concrete, vertical cores through the interior of the two historic buildings from which Vierendeel trusses (rigidly-jointed frames) would support each floor. In effect, the addition would be suspended above the existing buildings.

A mixed-use development called Bridgeworks will rise
on highly visible land being purchased by a partnership
of Michael Panzica and Graham Veysey from Cuyahoga
County. But the extent of each mixed use -- residential,
commercial, parking -- is under review in these uncer-
tain times (Cuyahoga County/Allegro).

"On the front of the building you're looking right at the water where you can go kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding," said Coby Socher, Keller Williams broker who represented Coloma River Capital, in a Vimeo video about the project. "There's just all these cool things you could be doing right outside your door. Whether it's in the middle of the day on Tuesday or nightlife on a Saturday night there's always something happening."

Heading back west on Superior Viaduct to where it intersects with West 25th Street is the former Cuyahoga County Engineer's property. Not only did NEOtrans break the story in late-2018 that the county was disposing of the property, NEOtrans also broke the story in June 2019 that developer Mike Panzica and his team won the bid to acquire it.

At the time, Panzica was perhaps known best as a principal of Hemingway Development. He is wrapping up work there while starting up his own company M. Panzica Development and working in a partnership with Hingetown investor Graham Veysey called Bridgeworks LLC. Bridgeworks is acquiring the 2-acre county property for $4.15 million.

Originally, Bridgeworks was proposed to be a one- or two-building development offering about 200 apartments and ground-floor retail. Given the size of the property, the development probably would not exceed 10 stories in height and might even be a few stories shorter. But the pandemic and resultant economic slowdown has forced the partners to adjust their plans.

"We're still moving forward but slowly," Panzica said in an interview earlier this week. "We've shifted some of the programming to reflect the changed environment we're now in. Graham (Veysey) and I will be in a position to reveal more in a couple of months."

An interested party has reportedly stepped up to buy some or
all of three for-sale properties in the Nautica Waterfront Dis-
trict despite the steep asking price and a national economy in
turmoil. But investors and developers are making real estate
 plays for a new Cleveland that emerges from the global emer-
gency. The for-sale parcels are located on the lower-right side
of this conceptual rendering. The tallest building and the two
identical riverfront buildings are concepts for using the pro-
perties that Jeff Jacobs has put on the market (LoopNet).

The biggest parcel of land in play right now on the Flats' West Bank is cloaked in the most secrecy. Two sources say a buyer has emerged for some or all of Jeff Jacobs' Nautica Entertainment LLC-owned 5.6 acres of land. But the real estate broker who has the listing -- Terry Coyne of Newmark Knight Frank -- isn't talking. And that's newsworthy right there.

"He is not talking which is akin to a unicorn sighting," joked one of the two sources.

Coyne either likes to chat about properties he's promoting or enjoys waxing lyrical about big sales he's achieved. So if he's not talking, it may be because there's something afoot but not yet signed, sealed and delivered.

Coyne didn't respond to a personal message on Twitter seeking more information about a possible buyer and development on the listed properties.

The list price for the Nautica riverfront parcels is a steep $17.5 million. Even if the site is sold in pieces near the divisible asking price, it will still likely require a significant development to generate enough revenue to achieve a decent return on the investment. That's a tall order at any time in low-rent Cleveland, least of all during a national emergency.

But it is a waterfront property and it's in a height district where buildings up to 250 feet tall can be built. Lastly, it's increasingly surrounded by significant real estate plays and public infrastructure investments that are making the Flats' West Bank more attractive after a decade that developmentally passed it by.

END

Sherwin-Williams HQ may be city's fourth-tallest tower

Sources say Sherwin-Williams' new headquarters tower, to rise

on the parking lot on the other side of West 3rd Street seen here

in the foreground, could rival the height of 200 Public Square.

That's the pinkish tower in the middle of this setting around

Public Square. Key Tower, Ohio's tallest, is on the left side

(north) of the square and Terminal Tower on the right.

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Sherwin-Williams' (SHW) proposed headquarters tower on Cleveland's Public Square may be a little taller than previously reported. In fact, it could end up being the city's fourth-tallest skyscraper. It's still unlikely to be a supertall approaching 1,000 feet or even Terminal Tower's height, however.

According to two sources, they told NEOtrans that SHW's new HQ on the west side of Public Square will rival 200 Public Square on the opposite side of downtown Cleveland's central commons. That tower is 45 stories and 658 feet tall. It is Cleveland's third-tallest building.

The former Sohio/BP America headquarters is nearly filled by other corporate tenants today including the fast-growing law firm Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff and the recently merged Cleveland Cliffs-AK Steel headquarters that will reportedly add up to 1,000 new jobs to 200 Public Square.

This tower is eclipsed only by two of its Public Square neighbors. One is Key Tower, Ohio's tallest skyscraper at 948 feet (to the top of the spire, although 888 feet to the top of the building's crown) and 57 stories. The other is the grand dame of Cleveland 'scapers, the 708-foot-tall, 52-story, 92-year-old Terminal Tower, according to Clevelandskyscrapers.com.

 A block farther west from the first photograph
and about 10 stories up in the Rockefeller Build-
ing offer this birdseye view of the Sherwin-Will-
iams headquarters site. The location for the new
tower is the distant parking whereas the parking
lot in the foreground is a likely location for the
headquarters' parking deck (Garfield12323).

After 200 Public Square, we have to go over to East 9th Street to find the city's fourth-tallest, the 529-foot, 40-story-tall Erieview Tower. When built in 1964, Erieview was Cleveland's second-tallest. By 2023, it could be relegated to fifth place by SHW's new HQ.

The reason isn't really a big secret, even though SHW executives seem to think they're guarding some matter of national security when it comes to their HQ project. Considering how many of their employees tell us they read NEOtrans, it's clear that they like to know what's going on with their own company -- and where. Nature abhors a vacuum.

SHW has stated publicly that it will build a 1-million-square-foot headquarters on nearly 8 acres of land on the west side of Public Square. Based on a preliminary massing (see second image below), most of the offices are likely to be in a tower on the former 1.17-acre property formerly owned by the Jacobs Group and bounded by Public Square's West Roadway, Superior Avenue, West 3rd Street and Frankfort Avenue.

A massive, multi-level parking structure, possibly designed so future offices can be built on top of it or next to it, will likely rise on much of the 6.8-acre Superblock of parking lots formerly owned by the Weston Group. It is bounded by Superior, West 3rd, St. Clair Avenue and West 6th Street.

Sherwin-William's new headquarters, shown in yellow, could
include a tower on Public Square that might rise to as high as
shown in this unofficial massing. It could also include several
shorter structures to the west of it on the Superblock, mainly
comprised of structured parking facilities (Geowizical).

This is interesting news considering that other sources said SHW was considering a different approach just last November. Back then, it was becoming increasingly apparent that SHW had chosen the sea of parking lots owned by the Jacobs Group and the Weston Group and it might spread itself out horizontally rather than vertically among that big expanse.

SHW executives were looking at possibly keeping the height of the HQ tower to about 30 stories to reduce construction costs. They could always go back to that approach to save money during the worst pandemic in more than a century. But they would use up more of the land it just acquired in the heart of a major city's central business district that should be saved for future expansion in the coming decades.

Back to the 1.17-acre parcel on Public Square. Yes, this plot of land measures just over 50,000 square feet. Although the first 5-10 floors will probably be broader than the tower's upper floors, the lowest floors aren't likely to be anywhere nearly as large as 50,000 square feet. And there will probably be wider sidewalks around the tower's base as well as a plaza fronting Public Square and/or Superior.

An office building's average floorplates are usually under 25,000 square feet and, in many cases under 20,000 square feet. Consider downtown Cleveland's newest office tower -- the 2013-built, 21-story, 330-foot-tall Ernst & Young Tower has 25,800-square-foot floorplates.

This may be an official, albeit early massing for the Sherwin-
Williams headquarters showing a tower on Public Square and
a parking deck along West 6th Street as well as future phases
shown in red and yellow (WKYC).

Previously, the 1992-built, 27-story, 446-foot-tall Fifth Third Tower had floorplates averaging 19,000 square feet. Key Tower has floorplates averaging 22,000 square feet. The proposed One nuCLEus Place has office floorplates measuring 19,500 square feet.

One million square feet divided by an average of 25,000 square feet per floorplate is a 40-story building. Divide it by an average of 20,000 square feet per floorplate and SHW's tower rises to 50 stories.

Sources say SHW's HQ tower probably won't get that tall -- even though SHW still hasn't hired an architect to design the building's exterior. As has been previously reported here, Cleveland-based Vocon Partners LLC is identifying the programming and designing the interiors for SHW. The new facilities will be developed by a joint venture between Welty Building Co. and Gilbane Building Co. that was incorporated as Welty/Gilbane JV, LLC last October.

If smaller floorplates are desired, such as to let in more natural light and reduce SHW's electric bills, it's possible that SHW may push 10 or more floors of offices to the west side of West 3rd. Those additional offices or training facilities could be put atop SHW's multi-level parking deck or be built around it to hide it from the street.

As for the tower's height in feet, let's first consider that average floor heights are 16.5 feet in Fifth Third Tower, 15.7 feet in Ernst & Young Tower, 15.5 feet in Key Tower and 14 feet proposed in One nuCLEus Place.

In addition to building a new headquarters west of Public
Square in downtown Cleveland, Sherwin-Williams will
build a new research facility in Brecksville (SHW).

At 40 stories, SHW's new HQ could range from 560 feet tall to 660 feet tall. Almost everything in that range would put SHW's HQ as the city's fourth-tallest except for the top end. At the top end, the new tower could tie for third-tallest at 658 feet and barely eclipse it at 660 feet.

And, although the coronavirus pandemic may influence some of the tower's design, don't expect it to be a dramatic influence for several reasons. First, there's still so much we don't know about the virus itself or how the pandemic will shape work settings three years from now, let alone 30 years from now. Will SHW need more office space to allow for social distancing or less for more remote work-from-home employees? Might both happen and cancel each other out?

SHW is a conservative company which isn't going to make snap judgments. It also isn't going to abandon the project. As company officials have said, the reasons for consolidating its scattered offices into a single building existed before the pandemic and they'll exist after the pandemic. SHW's HQ has been in the Landmark Building, 101 W. Prospect Ave., since 1930. It has five other locations with offices or training facilities in Greater Cleveland.

Lastly, while no one likes to incur more debt, now is a good time to finance a major capital investment with interest rates so low. SHW is sensitive to its debt situation after incurring $11.3 billion of long-term obligations to acquire rival Valspar of Minneapolis. It has paid off about $3 billion of that debt.

But as long as earnings remain strong, SHW can pay down its debt. SHW is steadily getting out from under the shadow of that debt. Another reason for not delaying action on the HQ project: construction costs are also low, coinciding with low oil prices. Those low oil prices are also saving SHW money in the manufacture of many of its coatings products.

END

Chester75 concept OK'd by city design-review

Chester75, at the northwest corner of Chester Avenue and
East 75th Street, is intended to help introduce University
Circle-area workers and students to Cleveland's Hough
neighborhood and future home ownership (Famicos).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

UPDATED MAY 14, 2020 WITH NEW RENDERINGS

Conceptual designs for a new 57-unit, market-rate apartment development in the Hough neighborhood were approved by the City of Cleveland's Euclid Corridor Design Review Committee. It was the first design-review meeting held since the start of the coronavirus crisis two months ago.

This and the restart of City Planning Commission meetings, albeit virtually, are helping to ease the most significant pandemic-related barrier to new construction in Cleveland. Developers and their financiers, who are still able to access capital, say they continue to see strong interest in new housing to address a shortage of quality residential units in Cleveland.

Chester75, located on the northwest corner of its namesake streets Chester Avenue and East 75th Street, won near-unanimous approval April 30 from the city's local design review committee. There were two abstentions. The meeting was not publicized in advance on the City Planning Commission's Web site.

Developer of the project is the Famicos Foundation, a nonprofit community development corporation. Famicos solicited requests for proposals from three unidentified construction management firms. None has been selected yet, said Khrys Shefton, Famicos' director of real estate development.

The northwest corner of Chester Avenue and East 75th Street
as it looked in June 2019 (Google).

"This is attempting to drive development further into the neighborhoods," Shefton said. "We call it a workforce building but it's in support of further development in Hough that's not so adjacent to the institutions in and near University Circle."

Apartment rents are skyrocketing in fast-growing University Circle. A 2019 report by Rent.com showed University Circle led the way in Cleveland with a 44 percent increase in rents. There, a one-bedroom apartment's rent now averages $1,853.

Rent pressures in University Circle spilled over into neighboring Hough, long a national symbol of urban decay, where average rents went up last year 7.74 percent to an average of $1,415 for a one-bedroom apartment, according to Rent.com.

"This building (Chester75) will be presented at an affordable price point with rents starting at $1,100 per month," Shefton said, or $1.75 per square foot.

Chester75 is several miles east of downtown Cleveland but
less than one mile west of Cleveland Clinic's massive cam-
pus and two miles from Case Western Reserve University,
University Hospitals plus other big institutions (Famicos).

In conceptual plans, Chester75 is proposed to offer 11 studios, 37 one-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units, two live-work units, three townhouses and one "hoteling" unit. It will feature modern amenities such as Amazon delivery lockers, WiFi and lots of electrical outlets in each unit.

A key issue was offering a low price point without involving an income restriction that comes with public funding for affordable housing.

The principal financier of the project is AES Management Corp. and its President Vanessa Whiting, Shefton said. AES is the owner and operator of 15 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen franchises in the Cleveland-Akron area. AES also supports local affordable housing developments.

Whiting's son, Tony Smith II, is working collaboratively on the project, Shefton added. He is a former Famicos intern, now a development associate with First Interstate Properties which recently developed the luxury 20-story One University Circle apartment tower on Euclid Avenue at Stokes Boulevard. That firm is currently undertaking site preparations for a $20 million, 88-unit, mid-market apartment building up the hill from University Circle called 121 Larchmere.

Site of potential housing developments along Chester Avenue
near East 75th Street near Cleveland Clinic (Ward 7 Observer).

But University Circle-area housing developments are also spreading into Hough. Market-rate apartment developments built, underway and planned in Hough include Upper Chester/Innova, Axis at Ansel Avenue, Paradigm near Wade Park Avenue in the East 60s and the East 90th Street Apartments, just north of Chester.

"The more the merrier," Shefton added. "As the CDC (community development corporation), we love to see more private development come into the neighborhoods. The CDC comes in when no one else is there. The more folks who come to start development will get the neighborhood turned around faster."

University Circle has been growing at a rate of 1,000 new jobs per year since 2000. But the neighborhoods surrounding University Circle have poverty rates as high as 40 percent. Numerous Cleveland-area governmental entities, corporations, institutions and foundations have embraced a vision called the Greater University Circle Initiative to improve social conditions.

"The housing that surrounds University Circle is some of the least healthy in the city," Shefton said. "We want to reverse that trend. And how is someone who is 25 years supposed to be introduced to Hough? We hope this building starts to help answer that question in a positive way."

Chester75, seen here in a late-evening rendering, is one of
many new residential offerings popping up along and north
of Chester Avenue in the Hough neighborhood (Famicos).

That's also why this four-story, 56,700-square-foot, multi-family building isn't proposed to be built on the south side of Chester, where larger buildings exist. The south side of Chester is Midtown to the west and Fairfax to the east. To the north of Chester is Hough, with mostly single-family homes. Famicos wants this apartment building built in Hough.

At a public meeting last fall, nearby residents said they wanted townhomes built on the site, previously owned by JW Congregation Support Inc. of Ulster County, New York and used by the Cedar Congregation of Jehovah Witnesses. Famicos acquired the 0.84-acre site on May 10, 2019 from  for $300,000, according to a deed transfer filed a week later with the Cuyahoga County Recorder.

Cleveland Planning Director Freddie Collier reportedly told Famicos to not only look at the northwest corner of the Chester-East 75th intersection, but at all four corners. That's where new townhouses are proposed to be developed.

Site plan for Chester75, including 50 surface parking
spaces to the north side of the proposed, 57-unit
apartment building (City Architecture).

But Shefton said the site was occupied by a multi-family apartment building before it was razed for a church. The new apartment building will be marketed as workforce housing.

"We're reintroducing what was on the site," she said. "In a conversations with the community, they want townhomes. But we saw this as an opportunity to introduce people to the neighborhood with rental."

The reason for the rentals is because the largest generation in history -- Millennials -- is having a harder time in making the transition from renters to homeowners. This project and the future townhouses are intended to help address that, Shefton added.

END

Cuyahoga River's last grain mill to close; mill's fate uncertain

The Grain Craft Inc. flour mill located on the Cuyahoga River
and next to the Detroit-Superior Bridge is due to close in July,
leaving two dozen workers and the mill's fate in doubt (NPS).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

The last grain mill left on the Cuyahoga River is due to close in July, leaving 24 workers to wonder about their employment future and the fate of the mill property. Those lost jobs include seven trucking and two railroad jobs who serve a mill that's stood in the 1600 block of Merwin Avenue for more than 150 years.

According to an article published at World-Grain.com, Chattanooga, TN-based Grain Craft Inc., the largest independent flour miller in the nation, informed employees on April 22 that it will close its Cleveland operation at mid-year. The mill primarily grinds hard winter and spring wheat. Company officials said the mill has seen its business decline in recent years.

Grain Craft, which will no longer have any flour mills east of the Mississippi River and north of Tennessee/North Carolina, blamed the closure on "challenging market dynamics and long-term supply chain obstacles," the World Grain article noted.

Specifically, the company said access to the mill has become difficult. A source close to the situation but who was not authorized to speak publicly about it said Flats Industrial Railroad notified Grain Craft that it will no longer serve the flour mill after July.

The flour mill is the last of a dozen grain mills and one of the
few remaining large industries still operating along the north-
ern part of the Flats near downtown Cleveland. The surround-
ing areas are being redeveloped with housing, restaurants and
active sports and recreational facilities (KJP).

But there may still be a glimmer of hope for the mill, the source said. Grain Craft representatives reportedly reached out to the Ohio Rail Development Commission for assistance in keeping the railroad operational.

Since railroads are a public service industry, similar to a utility, they operate under state or federal certificates of convenience and necessity. Thus a railroad is legally obligated to provide service if a customer requests it. A railroad cannot legally withdraw an unprofitable service on its own. However, railroads sometimes intentionally provide such bad service that a shipper closes or turns to trucks.

Flats Industrial Railroad provides grain in bulk and at a lower cost than trucks can provide it. Without railroad service and with declining business, the mill would no longer be cost-effective to operate, the source said.

Also, the rail access relies on significant, aging infrastructure including a massive, 72-year-old movable steel bridge over the Cuyahoga River, linking the Scranton and Columbus Road peninsulas. The latter is where the flour mill is located.

Looking west on Merwin Avenue, the Grain Craft mill at right
and its offices at left cover several city blocks (Google).

The flour mill is the railroad's dominant customer. The Flats Industrial Railroad also operates a sand transloading facility on Scranton Peninsula as a side business to switching cars to and from the flour mill.

If the mill closure goes through, the company said it will provide financial assistance and outplacement services for employees affected by the closing. The Cleveland mill has a daily processing capacity of 476 tons of flour, according to World Grain, but is producing far less.

The mill is located on a site with remnants of an 1856 buhrstone mill. A rounded buhrstone has "teeth" carved into it to aid in crushing grains into fine powder. This mill facility has been operating since the 1870s although the oldest existing structure, a seven-story brick building, dates to 1882 according to a 2013 National Register of Historic Places filing. The 5x9 concrete grain elevators built in 1937 are about 155 feet tall, equal to a 14- to 15-story-tall building.

The entire Columbus Road peninsula was registered as an historic place. It was originally envisioned 200 years ago as a mixed residential and mercantile development called Cleveland Centre. Today it is the site of increased real estate investment and redevelopment activity centered around active sports including indoor and river rowing as well as a skate park.

Flats Industrial Railroad lift bridge over the Cuyahoga River,
located along Columbus Road in the Flats (Google).

According to the World Grain article, an important chapter in the mill’s history took place in 1972 when it was purchased by Fred Merrill from International Multifoods Corp. The Cleveland mill was Merrill's starting point for the launch of Cereal Food Processors, Inc. (CFP) which eventually grew to become the fourth-largest milling company in the United States. CFP was bought in 2014 by Milner Milling and Pendleton Flour Mills and renamed Grain Craft.

Flats Industrial Railroad was started in 1996 by shipping investor Arthur Fournier Jr. of South Portland, ME. He acquired a former mainline track that became surplus under Consolidated Rail Corp. (Conrail). Previously, it was owned by Penn-Central Co., then New York Central Lines, which acquired the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis (Big Four) Railway.

The right of way, which runs from the Flats and through Walworth Run to the southwest, was Cleveland's first railroad. Its development was shepherded by Cleveland's first village president, Alfred Kelley who was also the father of the Ohio & Erie Canal. The canal established Cleveland as a major port city on the Great Lakes.

Map of Cleveland Centre in 1835 (WRHS).

But Kelley saw the future was in railroads and in 1847 he helped hand-build a stretch of railroad in Walworth Run in order to retain a state franchise charter for the proposed railroad that began operation in 1849.

Today, that same line serves as an industrial switching operation for major railroad Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS). Flats Industrial Railroad owns and/or operates 2.5 miles of track but owns another 2 miles of unused right of way that parallels a busy NS freight line to the southwest side of the city, near to West 91st Street and north of the Clinton Avenue industrial area.

Flats Industrial Railroad founder Fournier passed away in 2013. Three years later, ownership of the railroad in the form of stock went to his widow and four children. One of his children won a lawsuit in a Maine court in 2018 to affirm his standing in determining the value of his ownership interest in the railroad.

END

Sherwin-Williams HQ can get state aid by reviving the past

Downtown Cleveland's largest parking crater is the site of the
new Sherwin-Williams global headquarters. A roughly 40-
story tower is proposed for square-shaped parking lot at
right, fronting Public Square. But what will be built on
the Superblock in the foreground and how will it re-
late to rest of the Warehouse District? (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Some of Cleveland's most ornate architecture succumbed to the almighty car in a large plot of land called the Superblock. The Superblock is located in downtown's Warehouse District which, aside from the narrow river- and lakeside dock areas, was Cleveland's first central business district starting in the early-1800s.

But as Victorian-era architecture was frowned upon in the Modernist era after World War II and streetcars gave way to buses and cars, buildings in the Warehouse District and especially in the Superblock began to fall.

Today, the Superblock, bounded by Superior Avenue, West 3rd Street, St. Clair Avenue and West 6th Street, has only one building remaining -- a heavily modernized Gilman Building, 1350 W. 3rd. It is one of several in this block designed by famous architect John H. Edelman. Now, the Superblock is a mostly lifeless, windswept, 5.8-acre parking lot. It is downtown's largest parking crater.

Because of the new Sherwin-Williams (SHW) headquarters that will tower above several blocks west of Public Square, there is now a realistic opportunity to cover most of the Superblock with more than just asphalt for the first time in more than a half-century.

Seeing structures rise where only one remains will be a good thing for the Warehouse District. How those buildings are designed could be a great thing -- or a missed opportunity, said historic preservation consultant Steven McQuillin.

The Gilman Building, 182-184 Seneca St. (now
1350 W. 3rd St.), as seen circa 1900. It is the
only building still standing in the Superblock,
albeit covered in 1960s-era steel cladding
(McQuillin collection). Below is the same
building and how it looks today (Google).

"The Gilman's preservation will enhance the adjacent Warehouse District, and if combined with some innovative re-interpretations of lost landmarks by Edelman on the vast parking lots that comprise the balance of the site, could help make this new headquarters project highly innovative on a national level," he said.

McQuillin noted that SHW could attract many millions of dollars in state aid if the global coatings company acquired the Gilman and pursued an historic renovation of the building -- and borrowed from its architectural guidance.

Furthermore, he said SHW could raise much more state assistance if it built new buildings around the parking structures to look like the historic structures that were demolished decades ago. That could include a reproduction of Edelman's stunning Blackstone Building that stood just south of the Gilman until the early 1960s. He said original blueprints for the Blackstone are on file at the Western Reserve Historical Society.

"Retaining and rehabbing the Gilman could add millions in state funds," he said. "Reconstructing the Blackstone Building might be an innovative demonstration project that could qualify for state preservation funds. Then selling air rights for apartments or a hotel above the office tower might be a lucrative move and lessen the need for public funding. You can get a federal income tax deduction for donating air rights."

Those resources could be a way for SHW to make up for a $70 million state loan that the Ohio Development Services Agency put on hold a month ago due to revenue concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

McQuillin proposes restoring the Gilman Building to its former
glory and wrapping Sherwin-William's headquarters parking
decks with buildings designed like the architecture lost from
the Superblock decades ago. The purpose isn't merely senti-
mental or to respect the historical context of the surroundings
in the Warehouse District. There are financial incentives from
the state for pursuing this approach. An unsolicited site plan
for the Sherwin-Williams HQ appears below (McQuillin). 

Although much of SHW's new construction on the Superblock will likely be for a multi-level parking structure for potentially thousands of cars, there may be demands by the City Planning Commission to wrap parking structures in buildings or least facades that are designed to be respectful of their historic surroundings.

There is also the possibility that SHW may design the parking decks in such a way that will allow the company to more easily expand its headquarters in the future. The parking decks could be built atop caissons or on thick concrete pads so that taller buildings could be added atop the parking decks. Or the parking structure may be built in the center of the Superblock so that current and future buildings could be built around some or all of its perimeter.

The principal building for SHW's headquarters will rise on the former Jacobs Group-owned between Public Square's West Roadway, Superior and Frankfort avenues and West 3rd. As has been reported multiple times here on NEOtrans, while this 1-million-square-foot building may exceed 30 stories, it isn't likely to exceed the height of any of downtown's three tallest skyscrapers, all of which are located on Public Square.

Realife Real Estate Group is the latest owner of the Gilman. Realife bought it in 2018 from Stark Enterprises which had its headquarters there since 2004. The two parties got into a legal dispute earlier this year over nonpayment on a mortgage that Stark provided to Realife but the matter was resolved out of court.

The Blackstone Building, named after Sir William Blackstone,
a famous English jurist of the 18th century, was located at West
3rd Street and Frankfort Avenue from 1881 to 1961. It was one
of architect John Edelman's finest works but was demolished
for a parking lot. The blueprints for the building remain on
file at the Western Reserve Historic Society (WRHS).

The five-story Gilman Building with 14,632 square feet of office space and a 2,565-square-foot ground-floor retail space remains listed for lease with real estate brokerage Cresco, a division of Cushman & Wakefield.

The Gilman, built in 1882-83, is the only building still standing that was designed by Edelman. The structure was built at 182-184 Seneca Street for the A.S. Gilman Printing Co., publisher of the popular weekly American Sportsman.

The surrounding area was a veritable "printers row" including the offices and printing presses of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Press and other publishing and printing companies, according to 100-plus-year-old Sanborn Fire Insurance maps.

In the early 20th century, the Gilman Printing Co. moved to a larger building at East 9th Street and St. Clair before relocating to the suburbs in the 1970s. It last building downtown was razed for the Bond Court office tower, now the AECOM Building, McQuillin said.

Downtown Cleveland and the Warehouse District, at right,
in the early 1950s (above, KJP collection) and as seen from
approximately the same angle today (below, Google).

The Gilman was modernized with steel cladding in the 1960s, as were other Victorian-era buildings in downtown Cleveland, like the Schofield Building at East 9th and Euclid Avenue. But the recent renovations of the Schofield and other buildings show that they can be restored to their former grandeur.

Edelman's fame among architects is a result of his service as mentor to Louis Sullivan, the Prairie School architect in Chicago who is known as the father of the skyscraper. Sullivan also coined the phrase "form ever follows function." His life and works are extolled in the book "Louis Sullivan and His Mentor: John Herman Edelman, Architect" by Charles E. Gregersen. Sullivan, in turn, was a mentor to 'starchitect' Frank Lloyd Wright.

Edelman, an avowed socialist and accused anarchist, designed other beautiful buildings in the Warehouse District. One of his most celebrated works was the Blackstone Building which was an office building for professional services, namely architects and lawyers. But development of the Superblock should start with saving the Gilman, McQuillin urged.

Realife Chief Executive Officer Yaron Kandelker could not be reached for comment. Historic Warehouse District Executive Director Tom Yablonksy did not return an e-mail and phone seeking comment.

END

Seeds & Sprouts VI - Early intel on real estate projects

This is the Sixth edition of Seeds & Sprouts - Early intelligence on Cleveland-area real estate projects. Because these projects are very early in their process of development or just a long-range plan, a lot can and probably will change their final shape, use and outcome.

Work is reportedly about to get
underway soon on converting
Cleveland's fourth-tallest build-
ing into 200+ apartments and
possibly even a hotel (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Erieview Tower conversion may be getting close

According to a high-level executive at Dollar Bank which has its headquarters in the Galleria at Erieview, work is about to start on the renovation and conversion of the 40-story office tower into residences and possibly a hotel. The bank executive said his firm was notified by Kassouf Company, lead partner of a group that recently bought the property.

However, no building permits have been filed with the city to confirm this development. A message left for James Kassouf through his Web site was not returned prior to publication of this article.

The only publicly filed document relating to the renovation of Erieview was a notice of commencement filed with Cuyahoga County by Scalish Design Build LLC for the renovation of Suite 1200 for tenant Alexander Mann Solutions. The designer of that work was Dimit Architects, the same firm that designed the apartments for Kassouf's partial building conversion.

The bank executive, who asked not to be named publicly, said he was aware that renovations are due to start shortly on the tower's lobby to create separate entrances for the office, residential and hotel uses. There will also be fountains in the lobbies and three separate elevator banks -- one for each building use, he said.

Kassouf in 2018 bought the 1964-built Erieview Tower and its associated 1987-built Galleria shopping mall/office condos property for $17.7 million, according to county records. Last year, Kassouf got plans approved by the city to convert the tower's upper 12 floors into 220 luxury apartment units.

Additional features include converting the closed Stouffers Cafeteria below the Galleria into 90 additional parking spaces. That would increase the number of parking spaces below the complex to accommodate more than 500 cars.

Dollar Bank relocated its headquarters to the Galleria in 2008, increasing its office presence there to 50,000 square feet in a two-story glass structure at the corner of East 9th Street and St. Clair Avenue. Dollar Bank also has a private banking center and a training facility on-site.

Schofield Building to get new & renewed ground-floor uses

According to a source close to the situation, Citizens Bank will open a branch location on the ground-floor of the historic Schofield Building. Despite the high-profile location at the southwest corner of East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue, also dubbed "Main and Main," the corner retail space has remained largely vacant ever since the renovated 1902-built structure reopened in 2016.

The new Citizens Bank branch will reportedly not affect the next-closest Citizens Bank branch, several blocks away at Superior Avenue and East 12th Street. That branch is on the ground floor of Citizens Bank's regional headquarters building. Citizens Bank's main headquarters is in Providence, RI.

Since 2016, the Schofield's corner space has hosted only a Christmas store at the end of each year and other special-event retail and displays. Like many downtown retail spaces, this was spot was over-priced for mom-n-pop merchants. Only national chains could afford them, but most chains want to see a downtown population above 20,000 -- a threshold downtown Cleveland is approaching but not yet reached.

Also, Parkers Downtown restaurant is reportedly getting a minor facelift during the downtime forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to serving fine food and drinks to the general public, it is the hotel restaurant for the Kimpton Schofield Hotel, which also temporarily closed during the crisis. The 128-room hotel is on the lower seven floors of the building while 52 apartments are on the upper seven floors.

The 14-story Schofield Building was renovated from 2011-16 that included the removal of 1960s-era steel cladding in attempt to modernize the building that was designed by noted architect Levi Schofield. The cladding covered up and damaged much of the building's original terra cotta ornamental fixtures which were repaired or rebuilt during the recent renovation.

75 Public Square renovation to start in May

Last November, NEOtrans broke the story that Millennia Companies would start work in early 2020 on renovating 75 Public Square into Public Square North -- a 119-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail. Now, NEOtrans can report that Millennia and its general contractor Cleveland Construction Inc. will commence renovations within 30 days.

The 15-story building, built in 1915 as the headquarters of the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., will be rehabbed for $40 million. Cleveland Construction has experience in renovating historic structures, including the Schofield Building (see previous story). The same firm also is being tapped for the construction of One nuCLEus Place which could start in summer (see the story that NEOtrans broke here and a followup story).

Located on the northwest corner of Public Square, the historic Public Square North building also features two commercial spaces available for lease on the ground floor -- one measuring 1,200 square feet and the other 3,000 square feet. A newsstand and restaurant have operated in those spaces at various times in the past.

Lastly, because Millennia also owns Key Tower located nearby on the northeast corner of Public Square, residents of Public Square North will be able to use amenities in Ohio's tallest skyscraper. Those includes the new fitness center Vedas Fitness and Key Tower's underground parking, according to promotional materials.

END

Cleveland city meetings to resume, construction industry cheers

City Planning Commission meetings are due to resume in May
but not at Cleveland City Hall. Instead, they will do so digitally
with live public viewing and public input by e-mail (WKSU).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

After a 40- to 90-day hiatus forced by the COVID-19 crisis, Cleveland's City Council and City Planning Commission meetings are due to restart. The first meetings are likely to be held in May.

That's good news for Greater Cleveland's real estate and construction industry whose projects and thousands of local jobs often depend on city reviews and the approval of incentives before they can proceed.

Although Cleveland's City Planning Commission hasn't announced anything formally, City Council members and local offices of architectural firms said they were aware of the city's plans to restart the planning meetings virtually. City Council will also begin meeting live virtually via Zoom as well as by other public media.

"The goal is to have council meetings running next week or the week following," said Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack. "It will be broadcasted live on other platforms as well."

"It will be broadcast live and it will be public," Ward 12 Councilman Anthony Brancatelli said.

Similarly, the goal is for Planning Commission to start meeting remotely by mid-May.

"That's my understanding," said Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone.

Cleveland City Planning Commission Web page (CPC).

However it is taking longer to set up a virtual meeting process for the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) and Board of Building Standards (BBS) because of legal issues of having to swear-in witnesses and stakeholders. For that reason, BZA and BBS meetings may not re-start until mid-June.

Getting the meetings, and thus new construction projects restarted is critical for the region's economy. Cleveland accounts for more than one-fourth to one-third of all new residential units built each year in Cuyahoga County, according to a recent housing study.

Major projects still awaiting planning review include a roughly 40-story Sherwin-Williams headquarters tower on Public Square, the 24-story Circle Square tower at 10600 Chester Ave. (the parking deck was already approved), the 25-story One nuCLEus Place downtown, Azure on Cleveland's lakefront, the first phase of Chester75 in Hough, Bridgeworks in Ohio City plus numerous not-yet-announced projects awaiting property sales to close.

Developers say the residential projects are needed to address a housing shortage in the city. Office developments are needed for growing companies that continue to need more office space long-term, despite the pandemic. All are on hold without the city's planning meetings.

"We are just hoping it starts as soon as possible," said Bo Knez, founder and president of Knez Homes, one of the largest residential developers in Greater Cleveland. "We have a lot of projects in the pipeline that are sitting and waiting."

In Miami, Florida, a city commission meeting proceeds as
scheduled on March 25 despite some commissioners self-
isolating. That was because the City of Miami had already
used technology to simplify permitting and enhance public
access by live-streaming city meetings (Mike Sarasti).

"It’s a good thing," said Dan Whalen, vice president of design and development at Chicago-based Harbor Bay Realty Advisors LLC. His firm is building the $175 million Market Square development at Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street in Ohio City.

"They want to keep things moving as much as possible during this abnormal time," Whalen said. "Presentations are given via PowerPoint presentation anyway, so there’s no reason not to try and accomplish things remotely, so long as everyone gets a chance to state their case."

Although the technological method of citizen and stakeholder participation at these meetings is not yet known, other cities and public agencies have used e-mail as their choice of input. That required having a deadline for e-mail submissions several hours before the meeting so that the e-mails could be received and presented for inclusion in the public record.

Cleveland Planning Director Freddie Collier didn't respond to questions e-mailed to him prior to publication of this article.

Some building permits that do not require new or additional design/zoning/building code reviews or appeals can be obtained through Cleveland's online portal. Also, rental registrations and certificates of disclosure/occupancies for residential properties can be obtained by contacting the city, by mailing them to the city, or by dropping off applications (not checks/money) at the drop boxes at the front/rear entrances to City Hall, 601 Lakeside Ave.

Virtual meetings by city council, boards and commissions offer some positives and negatives.

City of Miami's multi-media desk for managing the live-
stream of public meetings as well as communications so the
public can interact with those meetings (Mike Sarasti).

"I bet we will have many more viewers (for upcoming city meetings) than we normally would, which is good," McCormack said.

Last month, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) held its first-ever virtual meeting via Facebook with public comments e-mailed beforehand. A total of 1,213 people viewed some or all of the live GCRTA board meeting, according to Facebook's statistics.

GCRTA board member Justin Bibb said that's many more people than the agency could have fit in the transit authority's board room at 1240 W. 6th St. in downtown Cleveland. That's also far more people than could fit in their schedules to attend the meeting, even under normal circumstances.

But virtual meetings also have their drawbacks.

"I remember nothing beat the democracy of live citizen engagement at the Planning and Landmarks commissions and the BZA," said Chris Ronayne who was the city planning director under Mayor Jane Campbell in the early 2000s. He has served as president of University Circle Inc. since 2005.

"When a crowd lined up outside the door of the commission board room, at least you knew where the community stood," he said. "I'll never forget the drama of petitions stacked up to save important places like Whiskey Island or the Coast Guard Station."

Cleveland City Hall, where Planning Commission meetings
are normally held on the fifth floor. For the foreseeable fu-
ture, meetings will be held digitally (ThisIsCleveland). 

Ronayne acknowledged that virtual meetings are a necessary course of business to keep government going now amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said nuances can get lost in the digital world. That includes losing the tone and tenor of community opinion in each case, or even the chance to touch and feel the texture of proposed building materials.

"Access to digital public meetings is a double-edged sword," Ronayne said. "For some it's easier and more convenient. For others there's a digital divide (due to a lack of Internet access at home). For now digital meetings are the best we have. But I do look forward to the return of face-to-face planning meetings."

The last City Council meeting was held on March 23, when council approved city incentives for the Sherwin-Williams headquarters development. Council meetings are normally held weekly. March 23 was also the last BZA meeting which are held weekly, too. BBS meetings are scheduled every two weeks; BBS last met March 18.

March 12 was the last Landmarks Commission meeting, which are typically held every other week. So are Planning Commission meetings, but it's last meeting was March 6. Neighborhood-level design-review committees are held on an as-needed basis, and most of them had their last meetings in early- to mid-March.

"I do believe planning is still a people business, best conducted between people face-to-face who are able to bounce thoughts off of each other and improve our communities through the live iterative exchange of ideas," Ronayne added. "Innovation happens in proximity more so than in distance."

END