3231

The tax credits allow you to turn the apartments in condos in 5-6 years.

i feel that there are certain buzz words register as positives or negatives in many residents minds. Architect: Do you want greenspace in the development? Resident: YES, GREENSPACE IS GOOD. I have the print edition of Crains. To anwser w28th's worry, it is not a neo-classical design.

???

NCB is rebuildng at the corner of 107 and Euclid. I am not sure what the final design is going to be like. They have gone through a bunch of different designs. Last I heard, the new bank will be built on the back corner of the parcel (corner of E.107/Deering) so that a taller residential building could be built on Euclid some day.

^Both. From what I understand, the site plan is sort of like a figure 8. The two buildings are connected in the middle by a three story connector. I just don't like the brick fence part. We'll see. I guess its not really that bad. Its not like there are a bunch of storefront buildings on this stretch of Detroit.

CMA has the second largest endowment of any art museum in the country. Its kind of hard to compete.

OK, then how's this: I understand what the cop is saying. I work downtown. If I have to walk one block, I expect to get mugged once. If I have to walk three blocks to a meeting, I usually get mugged three times. Now, I may get mugged one time at block A, none at block B, and twice at block C. You see, its not always one mugging per each block, but it always averages out. ;)

I understand what the cop is saying. I work downtown. If I have to walk one block, I expect to get mugged once. If I have to walk three blocks to a meeting, I usually get mugged three times. Now, I may get mugged one time at block A, none at block B, and twice at block C. You see, its not always one mugging per each block, but it always averages out.

They do face Lorain. From the looks of them, they would probably need to be rebuilt, not renovated. I hope this guy gets his financing soon. This would improve an important gateway into the OC.

I think its a little bit of both.

w28th, i agree with you about the site plan, but i'm fine with the design. I tried to blow up the image and I don't really see any neoclassical elements. The thing that gets me is that the neighborhood requested the openness and courtyards. I'd rather have the building up to the sidewalk. All in all, this would be a huge improvement for Detroit and hopefully would be the first of many midrises on this street.

Good lord, Dan. You've really gone off the deep end. I run into people all the time in Ohio City. Why are you insinuating that it never happens in Cleveland?

That's fantastic! Amenities like this will really draw in more people to Tremont. Wish we had one of those in Ohio City.

You are correct. I believe its footprint stretches from the surface lots all the way to the corner.

Does it have anything to do with Morgana Run?

and here is the second one Real estate brokers hope to bring $15M condominium complex to Detroit Avenue By STAN BULLARD 6:00 am, March 12, 2007 Two former corporate real estate consultants who have carved a niche as investment property brokers want to add development to their profiles with a proposed, $15 million condominium project in Ohio City. Dubbed One Charter Place, the project would consist of a six-story building and a connected four-story building at 3107 Detroit Ave. that would offer 55 condominiums for sale. The project would exploit views of Lake Erie that existing low-rise commercial buildings on that stretch of Detroit leave untapped. “Knowing the Shoreway will be calmed to improve pedestrian access to the lake is a huge part of our decision to develop here,” said Brian Cook, who is a partner in the proposed development with Brian Koch and a silent investor the two declined to identify. The city of Cleveland is studying a plan to transform the West Shoreway to a smaller four-lane boulevard with traffic lights allowing for more pedestrian access and lakefront development. Joseph Mazzola, executive director of the nonprofit Ohio City Near West Development Corp., said he is excited about the plan. “What’s really great about this project is that it is not just this project,” he said. “A whole stretch of Detroit has lake views.” If Charter Plaza flies, it could open the door for other mid-rise development on the street, Mr. Mazzola suggested, although he and his board want to retain existing businesses. The project gained an OK Dec. 7 from Ohio City Near West’s Design Review Committee. The developers plan to seek Cleveland City Landmarks and City Planning Commission approvals this spring. “We would like to be in the ground this summer and hope to deliver units by the summer of 2008,” Mr. Koch said. They have not taken the plan to the city yet because they are obtaining final construction cost estimates. Neither would put an estimate on the price of two-bedroom and two-bedroom-and-office flats. Being good neighbors Through Ohio City Development Partners — the development group that includes Messrs. Cook and Koch — the partners shelled out $655,000 last July for the former Cleveland Yacht & Supply Co. building, according to Cuyahoga County land records. They also have commissioned drawings by Berardi Partners, a Columbus architecture firm, and have worked extensively with neighborhood groups. “We talked to the neighborhood before we drew a line on paper,” Mr. Koch said. Those talks account for much of the project’s form: Neighbors opposed a monolithic building blocking their lake views. The result was a two-building complex with a three-story connector at ground level, a stepped design as it goes upward and courtyards on Detroit and Church Street. Councilman Joe Cimperman, whose Ward 13 includes that section of Ohio City, said Messrs. Cook and Koch worked closely with Ohio City Near West and the Franklin-Clinton Block Club and proved they want to be good neighbors. “They got phenomenal feedback that made the design better,” Mr. Cimperman said. The proposed development is an adjunct to Mr. Koch and Mr. Cook’s primary endeavor, a boutique brokerage called Bridge Partners in Brecksville. The brokerage sells commercial investment property, particularly smaller apartment buildings in the $1 million to $5 million price range, although Bridge also has sold some two-family homes and four-suite apartments. “That’s what pays the bills,” Mr. Koch said. As for the name of the Detroit Avenue project, it stems from the shared predilection of Messrs. Koch and Cook for double-entendres. Mr. Koch is the son of Charles J.”Bud” Koch, chairman of Charter One Bank and a board member of its corporate owner, Citizens Financial Group Inc. of Providence, R.I.

Crains has two good news articles for Ohio City today: Reach for a rebound Architect hoping revitalizion of Near West Side extends to area where he's purchased five buildings By STAN BULLARD 6:00 am, March 12, 2007 Architect David Ellison was upset that demolition crews might raze a boarded-up, two-story brick commercial building erected sometime in the 1860s on the southwest corner of Lorain Avenue and West 41st Street. So, the free-spirited operator of D.H. Ellison Co., an architectural firm specializing in providing historic detailing for new mansions, recently shelled out $110,000 to buy the building and four desolate, beat-up wooden frame buildings that came with it. Mr. Ellison is betting on a section of Lorain that has yet to see a rebound that other parts of the lengthy street are experiencing. However, as Joe Mazzola, executive director of the nonprofit Ohio City Near West Development Corp., rides west past West 32nd Street on Lorain, he says, “This is next.” Mr. Ellison plans to refurbish the main building’s architectural details, from arched windows to tooth-like bricks next to the roof, to use part of it for the office of his four-person firm, which now is in a storefront at 6403 Detroit Ave. next to Cleveland Public Theater. “I want to walk to work,” Mr. Ellison said, as the site is just blocks from his Carroll Avenue home in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Such a deal is striking for Lorain west of West 32nd Street. In his memoir “Hollywood Animal,” screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who grew up in the neighborhood, described the buildings Mr. Ellison just bought as being in a “strudel ghetto” of Hungarian residents. The gritty, tough street has gone downhill since. However, the area north of Lorain in Ohio City now is home to astonishing restored Victorian homes and a plethora of tony townhomes. South of Lorain, the Ohio City Townhomes a few years ago transformed part of West 41st Street near Mr. Ellison’s buildings. In between, Lorain Avenue itself west of West 32nd Street remains desolate. There are stretches of boarded-up buildings and bumper-to-bumper used car lots. An occasional antique store or hardy small business punctuates some blocks. Urban renewal Mr. Ellison’s purchase of the buildings from Ohio City Near West indicates a change could be afoot. So, too, Mr. Mazzola said, do rumors about speculative purchases of buildings not yet visible in the public record plus plans for a nearly $2 million townhouse complex on the north side of Lorain near West 47th Street. Most of all, there’s the benefit of two recent projects in the area. One is the Cleveland Environmental Center, a $2 million conversion of the landmark former Cleveland Trust bank building at 3500 Lorain as offices for multiple “green” nonprofits. Defining the other end of that segment of the street is Urban Community School’s new $12 million campus at 4909 Lorain. Mr. Ellison’s project sits in the middle. Ironically, Mr. Ellison’s plans call for demolishing the four frame buildings surrounding the brick building he wants to save. Demolishing the frame buildings will provide room for parking and landscaping and give prominence to the surviving building, Mr. Ellison said. The Ohio City Near West Design Review Board and the Cleveland City Design Review Board have approved Mr. Ellison’s plans. Councilman Joe Santiago, whose Ward 14 includes Mr. Ellison’s project, said he supports Mr. Ellison’s intentions. He notes five prior plans to redo the corner fell through. “That is known as a highly drug-infested area,” Mr. Santiago said. He said he hopes the new investment, plans to convert West 41st and West 44th streets to two-way streets from one-way streets, and attention to the area by Ohio City Near West’s security coordinator and police can help remake lower Lorain. Mr. Ellison estimates he needs to spend about $500,000 for his project. He said he hopes to land tenants for the first-floor storefront and part of the 2,100-square-foot second floor, or simply gain more word-of-mouth design work, to help swing financing. If he cannot, Mr. Ellison vowed to finance the work by selling his house and moving into a loft on the second floor next to his proposed office. Sprucing up the corridor Another breakaway project for the street that has won local design review and city approvals is Courtyard Homes, a nine-townhouse development at West 47th Street and Lorain by Robert T. Boothe Co., a shopping center development consultant and custom home builder in Gates Mills. Robert Boothe, president of the namesake firm, said he hopes to build a model home in late spring or early summer for a model. His plans call for nine, three-bedroom brownstones each costing upwards of $185,000. He currently is negotiating for financing. “It’s raw, but there are successful housing projects nearby,” Mr. Boothe said. “It’s not a 100-unit project, but it will mean something for the Lorain corridor.”

"^ love the place, but it was always so smokey. Are they enforcing the ban?" No smoking at the Angle.

Sounds like they might be looking at the Maximum Independent Living site. Its a 4-story non-descript red brick building that UCI/CWRU is looking to demo. I believe its a non-profit care center for seriously disabled folk. They are pretty much broke and need to make over a million dollars in upgrades to come up to code. They had asked UCI to help them look for a new site. At that point, Case saw the opportunity to add them to the Uptown project. (that's what I had heard about a year ago).

Its another ranking that paints the entire metro region as if it were the central city of Cleveland. Of course things are going to look rosier for the metro governments versus cities like Cleveland. I'm not saying things are great for the black man in Cleveland, but its not as bad as the stats say.

I had my first "Old Angle" experience last night and very much enjoyed the Irish band that was playing.

^Its Lakewood. I don't think it really qualifies as 'urban pioneering'. Still, a small plaza surounded by pavement on all four sides is not quaint.

could you post the original version? It is really a great article.

ah you bum! I was excited to see the town that I lived in from 02 til 05. :)

you can check out the website at www.rockportsquare.com Its a nice project, but I think that Battery Park offers so much more. Heck, if my wife and I weren't planning on having 2-3 more kids, we'd seriously look at Battery Park (we need more living space than would be available at BP). Also, you'd save A LOT of money on taxes if you chose Battery Park over Rockport.