Cleveland tops in U.S. for best home-buying power

Moving to Cleveland from 'superstar' cities has saved new arrivals
an average of nearly $200,000 in the value of their housing, a new
analysis shows. That's one result of the Great Reshuffling that's
allowing people to get more bang for their buck by working re-
motely in amenity-laden cities like Cleveland (alliecarr.com).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Once again, Greater Cleveland is No. 1 -- and this time it's a good No. 1 ranking, one that shows home buyers from other metro areas have more buying power here than in any other metro. The ranking also is a metric used to measure which metro areas may have benefitted most from the "Great Reshuffling."

The Great Reshuffling is a confluence of social, demographic and economic factors causing high demand for housing as Americans rethink where they live. A big driver of that change is Americans seeking to decouple their home location from their office location as telework opportunities grow.

According to an analysis by the web-based realty company Zillow.com, that has caused many Americans to look for larger homes in more affordable markets. Greater Cleveland is one of those affordable markets, yet continues to maintain big-city amenities originally provided when the city's and metro area's populations ranked in the top 10, nationally.

That's a motivating factor behind why Cleveland, one of the nation's most affordable markets, was able to attract residents from much more expensive markets. And that put Cleveland at #1 in Zillow's ranking for the greatest shift of movers from expensive to affordable cities. 

Cleveland ranks No. 1 among major metro areas in buying power as
measured by the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). The online real
estate firm calls it a smoothed, seasonally adjusted measure of the
typical home value and market changes across a given region and
housing type. It reflects the typical value for homes in the
35th to 65th percentile range (Zillow).

That is reflected in the average reduction in the values of homes in the market they moved to versus where they moved from:

1. Cleveland, OH -$197,369
2. Oklahoma City, OK -$187,063
3. Miami, FL -$144,164
4. Pittsburgh, PA -$143,326
5. Buffalo, NY -$140,212

"In 2020, movers to these five metro areas could expect much lower local home values, on average, than the areas they moved from," the Zillow report said. "For example, the typical home value in areas movers relocated to in Cleveland was $197,369 lower on average, than in the areas they moved from."

Nationwide, the average long-distance mover relocated to a ZIP code with home values nearly $27,000 less than where they came from last year. At the same time, U.S. movers in 2020 relocated to ZIP codes with homes 33 square feet larger than where they came from, on average.

The Cleveland data can be taken in one of two ways. On the negative side, Cleveland's low housing values are a reflection of low demand and low growth in the past. On the positive side, the fact that Cleveland is attracting people from much more expensive, growing cities is a good sign.

On the other hand, if you're moving to these five West Coast
metro areas, you're purchasing power was the worst in the
nation in 2020. More people moved from these cities
than moved to them in the Great Reshuffling (Zillow).

"Many movers can now move toward more-affordable locales, either seeking to save money or get more bang for their housing buck," wrote Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow.

"Cleveland is attractive to buyers currently living in larger and more prominent cities because we offer many of the same benefits and amenities they might have but at a more affordable cost of living," said Allie Carr, a real estate agent at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Cleveland. 

Tucker added that, over the longer term, this trend could contribute to homes prices leveling out across the nation, as people move away from the priciest cities and toward more-affordable areas. It may also spread out some of the spending and wealth-accumulation which had been increasingly concentrated in "superstar cities" over the last few decades.

"I think what it comes down to is that Cleveland is a bit of a well-kept secret," Carr added. "Prices have been increasing rapidly since the pandemic with buyers selecting to move here from larger cities as well as young professional renters living here (and) choosing to put down roots here. In spite of the price spike, we still offer tremendous value in comparison to larger cities with higher costs of living and similar amenities."

With new arrivals finding housing bargains in Greater Cleveland
compared to the more expensive cities they came from, Zillow
says housing prices across the country could level out. Others
 caution the housing market may return to normal with the
pandemic and government stimulus ending (Zillow).

In May 2021, Realtor.com reported the median list price of homes in Cleveland, OH was $109,000. That's a stunning increase of 21.2 percent vs. May 2020. The median listing price per square foot was $69. The median sale price was $125,000.

But realtor Emmanuel (Mike) Skantzos at Howard Hanna in Rocky River cautioned that it's too soon to know the long-term impacts of the Great Reshuffling on Greater Cleveland and if it will last much beyond the pandemic.

"Short term, yes it's positive," he said. "I don't know about the long term. The market's so crazy, who knows what's going to happen tomorrow? The market is slowing down a tiny bit but I expect it to slow down more next month. It's still going to be busy but not as busy."

He noted that the big run up in sale prices over the past year are topping out, buyer morale is running low due to the difficulty in finding what they want and for-sale inventory is increasing. And with federal stimulus benefits running out, there will be fewer incentives to support the real estate market.

Skantzos said he is curious to see how long it will take for property sellers to be convinced to reduce prices when the time comes. He also said it will be interesting to learn what will the market be like after people return from the summer vacations they've delayed since last year. Will there be more inventory by then, more people back in the office, fewer government incentives and less financial resources for buyers? 

END

George files development plan for Irishtown Bend land

On May 10, at a building at the southeast corner of West 25th Street
and the Detroit-Superior Bridge, crews paint over graffiti including
obscenities directed at the property owner Bobby George. With the
clock ticking down on sale negotiations with the city, George has
submitted a development plan for the site (Freethink).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

UPDATED JUNE 9, 2021

As protracted negotiations with the City of Cleveland drag on toward a possible impasse over a critical piece of land, developer and restaurateur Bobby George on June 7 submitted development plans for that property. Interestingly, those plans were drafted more than a year ago.

The 0.41-acre property is located at 1435 W. 25th St., at the southeast corner of the Detroit-Superior Bridge in the booming Hingetown section of Ohio City. Set on that land is a decrepit, sometimes-graffiti-tagged small building and a really big billboard above it.

City officials have been trying to acquire the property for the 23-acre Irishtown Bend Park. All other properties for the park have been acquired or have purchase agreements except this one. And structures on all but one of those acquired parcels were demolished earlier this spring. Once the remaining residents are relocated from the old Front Steps, 1545 W. 25th​, it too will be demolished. A new Front Steps, called St. Joseph Commons, opened at 2554 W. 25th.

That leaves in the way of Irishtown Bend Park only a decayed, 15,689-square-foot structure and an apparently profitable billboard perched atop it. As the city was trying to acquire that property several years ago, it was instead snapped up by George via his Mortgage Investment Group LLC in 2018 for $248,200, according to county records.

Plans for Irishtown Bend Park would remove all existing structures
as they are located on an unstable hillside. Work to stabilize the
hillside, due to start later this year, cannot be completed until
the structures are removed (CMG Landscape Architecture).

Now, according to two sources close to the negotiations, George is asking the city to buy the property for $4.2 million. City officials have made several alternative proposals to George for a land swap as well as different locations for establishing electronic billboards. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.

One of the properties George sought from the city was the former 100th Bomb Group restaurant across Brookpark Road from Hopkins Airport. But the city had already leased it to a joint venture seeking to open a business called the Aviator Event Center.

With the city running out of options and time to appease George before the matter becomes an eminent domain case in probate court, the developer yesterday submitted plans to the city for a $4 million "wellness center." But those plans raise more questions than they answer, sources said.

First, a programming plan for the wellness center drawn up by Richard L. Bowen & Associates was dated April 10, 2019. And renderings by the same architectural firm were dated March 8, 2020. The plans apparently were not shared publicly until yesterday.

A proposal for a wellness center on West 25th Street (at lower left)
shows a 22-space parking lot on land owned by the West Creek
Conservancy which is acquiring land here not for development
or parking, but for the Irishtown Bend Park (Bowen).

David Bowen, the son of the founder of the architectural firm and one of its principals is also one of the two contacts listed on George's application to the city. Bowen is also chair of the City Planning Commission where he has served since 1997.

Neither Bowen or the firm's Director of Design Kyle Hulewat, listed as the other contact on George's zoning review application, responded substantively to an e-mail by NEOtrans seeking more information about the proposed wellness center project and its timing. However, Bowen did acknowledge receiving the e-mail which also asked its recipients if they could put NEOtrans in touch with George.

NEOtrans has yet to hear from George to learn more about the project, his progress in securing financing for it, and when he intends to start building repairs and renovations. That includes shoring up the foundation on a failing hillside that could collapse into the Cuyahoga River and block maritime traffic, according to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.

Sources estimate that stabilizing a small portion of hillside at a cost of about $5 million would be necessary before George's property could be redeveloped. Total cost of stabilizing the entire Irishtown Bend slope is about $44 million. After that work is done, construction on the park can begin.

Programming plan drawn in 2019 and submitted this week for
a building located at 1435 W. 25th St. in Ohio City (Bowen).

The city reportedly will not give George a building permit until the hillside is stabilized. The same sources said that the existing building would have to be demolished first to construct caissons necessary to stabilize the slope. In other words, the sources said George's building cannot be developed or saved.

Even if the building could be saved, the property cannot be developed due to parking. George's property is not large enough to accommodate the number of parking spaces to meet building and zoning code requirements. George would have to secure a variance from the city to offer less parking than the code allows. A variance is unlikely considering the city's adopted land use plan for that site is a park.

It is not clear what the property's proposed use would be classified as -- as retail, office or possibly a clinic/health/medical center. Those different uses require different amounts of parking spaces. The existing building is proposed to be redeveloped with 17,473 square feet of usable space.

Proposed uses include a yoga/flex room, juice bar/retail space, education corner, meeting room, treatment rooms, cryogenic therapy room, light therapy room, float tanks room, steam/sauna, co-working space, kitchenette, outdoor patio and rooftop deck, per documents Bowen submitted to the city.

George is co-founder of a popular wellness center nearby called LYV The Wellness Space, 1870 W. 25th. A source familiar with his businesses said the popularity of LYV has prompted George to seek expansion on the near West Side, downtown and other locations that are growing in population and income.

Renderings of a conceptual development located at the southeast
corner of West 25th Street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge. The
renderings were drawn more than a year ago according to the
date on the lower-right corner of the image (Bowen).

According to the city's building code, if the proposed use is considered office/co-working space, George would need to provide 35 parking spaces. If a retail use, 70 spaces would be needed. And if it's a clinic/health/medical center, George would have to provide 87 parking spaces.

A site plan shows 12 parking spaces on land George owns. A rendering shows 22 spaces on land George doesn't own. But that wouldn't be the first time George has offered parking at this location on land he doesn't own, the sources said.

After food hall/business incubator Ohio City Galley opened in October 2018, the business leased land across West 25th from George for parking. Unfortunately, George didn't own the land on which he leased out via a written agreement. Ohio City Galley closed in February 2020.

Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack, Ohio City Inc. Executive Director Tom McNair and LANDstudio Executive Director Gregory Peckham were all contacted for comment on this situation but none responded to NEOtrans' requests.

END

Sherwin-Williams' HQ tower's height edges upward

Featuring a sloping roofline approaching 600 feet above Superior
Avenue and West 3rd Street, the new Sherwin-Williams HQ tower
will join Terminal Tower, 200 Public Square and Key Tower as
the city's four tallest buildings and will be four of the six tallest
structures in the state of Ohio (Ian McDaniel).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

By 2024, Cleveland's four tallest buildings will surround Public Square.

Barring an unlikely dramatic change in the tower's programming and design, Sherwin-Williams' (SHW) new global headquarters is nearing its final form. While some plans of the HQ may be submitted to the city this month, some interior designs may not be finalized by SHW's Build Our Future committee until after site preparation work gets under way this coming winter on the west side of downtown Cleveland's Public Square.

The biggest news is that HQ's tower final form will approach and possibly reach the 600 foot level above the northwest corner of Superior Avenue and West 3rd Street, according to sources on the HQ design team. Those sources also gave NEOtrans enough details to allow our graphics expert Ian McDaniel to sketch a rough massing of what the tower could look like and how it might appear contextually in the city's skyline.

As we have seen, the HQ's features have changed over time as the design process has moved along and outward from the tower's elevator/stairwell core. More changes could occur. However, the changes are becoming less dramatic as SHW gets ready to submit its first batch of blueprints to the City Planning Commission for review.

How Sherwin-Williams' new HQ tower will appear in the downtown
Cleveland skyline as viewed from Lake Erie. It is assumed that the new
tower's sloping roofline will angle up to Public Square (Ian McDaniel).

In addition to being about 600 feet tall, the HQ tower also would feature nearly 40 floors. The number of floors would equal that of the dark-green Erieview Tower on East 9th Street. But the physical height will exceed Erieview's 529 feet and put it firmly in fourth place among downtown Cleveland skyscrapers. Exceeding it will be three of its Public Square neighbors -- 200 Public Square (45 stories, 658 feet), Terminal Tower (52 stories, 708 feet), and Key Tower (57 stories, 948 feet).

The reason is that the top of SHW's HQ will reportedly have a sloping roofline that reduces the size of the floorplates on the upper floors and tops off the structure with a decorative feature. The effect is similar to that of the much shorter Atria office complex in North York, suburban Toronto. It not only gives the building a soaring appearance, it can also differentiate it from other buildings, as a principal of SHW HQ architect Pickard Chilton recently explained.

At the 2017 grand opening of another tower with a sloping roofline, 609 Main in Houston also designed by Pickard Chilton, developer Gerald Hines urged Jon Pickard to "Tell them about the top of the building -- why it’s not a flat top!”

“Well, we thought that a flat top gets a little bit lost in the skyline,” Picard explained to the audience, including PaperCityMag.com. “If we could create a silhouette that is memorable, then wherever you are. . . you see that slope, then you know the building.”

The sloping roofline of SHW's new HQ will reportedly be very
similar to that of one of the Atria II or III office buildings in
North York, Ontario, in suburban Toronto (Google).

Even though the SHW HQ architect also designed 609 Main and both buildings will feature glass-curtain-wall exteriors, design team sources cautioned that SHW's HQ will have a different form. SHW's 1-million-square-foot HQ tower will be more boxy and angular below the sloping roofline. Floorplates will likely average about 25,000 to 27,000 square feet. That and large windows will allow natural light to penetrate deep into the office building.

And the tower will likely have indents in the exterior, including an outdoor terrace cut into the lower midsection of the building overlooking Public Square. While it won't be open to the public, the terrace will offer a unique corporate amenity space for employees, suppliers and clients.

The feature offers a similar "terrace with a view" as that which is notched into the exterior of Ernst & Young Tower, 950 Main Ave., although it faces toward Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. Such a space can also offer a place for employees to think, grasp a bigger picture and recharge their creativity.

"The key partners we have selected are aligned with our vision of creating a next-generation workplace that supports serving our customers at the highest level, retaining and attracting top talent and igniting creativity, collaboration and industry-leading innovation," said SHW Chairman and CEO John Morikis in a written statement last fall.

SHW HQ architect Pickard Chilton has designed
glass-curtain-wall office towers with sloping rooflines
before, like 609 Main in Houston. However, the SHW
HQ will reportedly be more boxy (HarveyCleary).

Sources said there's a possibility that SHW's HQ development team, notably general contractor Gilbane Co., will get started started on site work before Pickard Chilton and the interior architect, Vocon Partners LLC, submit their full package to the city for review. The design team is in no rush to finalize everything, especially the interior details.

Supplier sources indicate that the high cost of construction materials, namely steel but others as well, has pushed SHW's HQ construction estimates well above the minimum projected expenditure of $600 million. SHW HQ suppliers may wish to wait a few months before they start to place materials orders. Ratings agency Fitch Solutions estimates that steel prices will fall from the present record high of $883 per metric ton to $600 per metric ton in 2022.

In the meantime, SHW is soliciting employees to "Find their color" in the HQ's interior design and layout. And with over 1,700 SHW paint colors, "there's a perfect color for every mood, every space and every project," to quote a certain paint company's ads.

To that end, SHW has put mock-ups of proposed office designs on the second floor of the Midland Building -- one of the 91-year-old Landmark Office Buildings at 101 W. Prospect Ave. that the 155-year-old company has called home since they were built.

From a Public Square view, the new SHW HQ may appear more
boxy but also will likely show its tallest side, reaching about 600
feet above the street. It will also have a terrace facing the square.
This imposing façade will fill a void in Public Square's street scene
 for the first time in more than 30 years when two smaller office
 buildings were demolished for an unbuilt tower (Ian McDaniel). 

After July 12, when all employees have returned to the office on a hybrid schedule of three days a week, they will have the opportunity to take a walk through their potential future workspaces and give their feedback to members of the design team. Only managers have toured the mock-ups so far.

Among the proposed work spaces are smaller cubes and collaboration rooms. There is a more open floor layout of cubes, more seating areas to do ad hoc meetings or to take one-off calls. SHW considers its current HQ as antiquated and not meeting the work needs of today. Up to 3,500 people will work in the new building.

"A new space was developed on 2-Midland to provide employees a peek into what the new workplace experience will be in our future HQ," according to a notice distributed to SHW employees in the first week of June.

"Last week," it continued, "we kicked-off guided tours for employees. HQ, BTC (Breen Technology Center) and WTC (Warrensville Technology Center) employees will be invited to attend a tour over the next few months. Be on the lookout for your invite between June and August. Beginning in September, self-guided tours will be available during regular office hours."

As viewed from the south side of downtown Cleveland, the new
SHW HQ tower will fill a wide gap in the city's skyline west of
Public Square with a significant skyscraper (Ian McDaniel).

SHW is putting extra effort into the interior design details after getting some pushback earlier this year from some members of the design team. Those members criticized the C-Suite-level Build Our Future committee on open-floor designs as well as a design concept of having employees work from any cubicle or workstation.

While the HQ will rise one block west of Public Square, SHW continues to plan for its new Center of Excellence (CofE) fronting the square. The CofE will be three stories tall and serve as a learning center and amenity space, as noted on SHW's official site plans.

The structure will reportedly offer up to 80,000 square feet of conference facilities for employee training and corporate functions, a small company museum for touring new recruits and VIPs, plus a rooftop lounge for after-work cocktail parties.

The CofE will be used as SHW's talent recruitment venue, sources said. It is proposed to be connected to the HQ via a skybridge above West 3rd. The HQ, in turn, will be connected to a large parking garage via a skybridge above Frankfort Avenue.

The new parking garage will have a liner building along West 3rd to comply with the city's building code. That liner building must hide the parking deck along its entire street frontage with at least 70 percent of that building comprised of active uses such as retailers, restaurants, hotel lobbies, residences, cultural amenities or recreational spaces.

Official Sherwin-Williams headquarters site plan (SHW).

Sources continue to say that no public uses will be provided along Frankfort or in the interior of the HQ tower. Instead, there will be a loading dock for the HQ tower on Frankfort, shown as a notch on the official site plan. However, the tower may be angled to open up a larger sidewalk area at the corner of West 3rd and Superior where a sidewalk café or other public space could be provided.

SHW will not use all of the land it acquired last year for the HQ. Instead, it is opening up its property along West 6th, St. Clair and Frankfort for development in order to expand mixed uses from the Warehouse District into the HQ campus area.

That could allow some public uses along Frankfort immediately east of West 6th or be held for future HQ expansions. However, none of those potential uses or activities have been identified thus far.

Way back in October 2018, NEOtrans was the first to report that SHW was pursuing a new HQ. We were also first to report the hiring of many of SHW's HQ project partners in 2019 as well as the selection of the west side of Public Square as the site of the new HQ.

The company had also hoped to build its new research and development facility on Scranton Peninsula near downtown but apparently couldn't get landowner Scranton Averell Inc. to return phone calls. NEOtrans noted that Brecksville's ex-VA Hospital site was in the running; SHW ultimately chose it for the R&D facility.

END

Cleveland-Cliffs seeks new HQ, but where?

Cleveland-Cliffs’ logo may not be on the façade of 200 Public
Square in downtown Cleveland for much longer. In several
years, the HQ of the Fortune 500 firm will reportedly be else-
where. But where? And will it be in a new or existing building?
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

According to several sources, a newly expanded Cleveland-Cliffs is actively looking for a new location for its headquarters. Similar to when NEOtrans was first to report 2 1/2 years ago of Sherwin-Williams (SHW) seeking a new HQ, Cliffs’ search efforts are also in the early stages. Unlike Sherwin-Williams, Cliffs apparently hopes to move more quickly in its search.

To read the rest of this story, see NEOtrans' new site at https://neo-trans.blog/

Gordon Square apartment project may fill visible corner

The Krueger Group would like to build this 27-unit market-rate apartment
building on the southwest corner of West 58th Street and Breakwater
Avenue in the Gordon Square area. This rendering view is from appro-
ximately the front door of the Parkview Nite Club (Dimit). 

 

A Cleveland-based developer and construction contractor is broadening its horizons by getting involved in more multi-family buildings. To that end, The Krueger Group proposes to build a 27-unit, market-rate apartment building at the southwest corner of West 58th Street and Breakwater Avenue in the Gordon Square area.

To read the rest of this story, see NEOtrans' new site at https://neo-trans.blog/

Forgotten Triangle forgotten no more

All phases of the Woodhill Homes redevelopment can proceed now that the program has received the maximum $35 million grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Only phases one and two had the green light and are now under construction (HUD).

Cleveland received the best news possible today for the redevelopment of one of the city’s oldest public housing sites. The Woodhill Homes redevelopment won the largest possible federal grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Last year the project was a finalist for HUD’s $35 million Choice Neighborhoods grant but came up just short.

To read the rest of this story, see NEOtrans' new site at https://neo-trans.blog/

Millionaire’s Row mansion down to the 11th hour

City Planning Commission is due to hear a demolition request in June
for the historic Allen-Sullivan mansion, 7218 Euclid Ave. In its place,
  Signet LLC of Akron proposes to build a 160-unit residential complex on
6 acres extending south to Carnegie Avenue (ClevelandHistorical.org).

Unless someone with deep pockets comes through in this 11th hour, the 134-year-old Allen-Sullivan mansion, 7218 Euclid Ave., will be the subject of a demolition request next month. According to a city official who did not want to be named publicly, a demolition permit application submitted on behalf of Signet Real Estate Group is scheduled to be heard June 4 by the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee....

To read the rest of this article, see NEOtrans' new site at: https://neo-trans.blog/