Townhouse project will bring Japanese flair to Ohio City

 

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Corwin A. Thomas

www.PlainDealer.com Reporter

 

For decades Michael Chesler either lived in or traveled to Tokyo. Now the first-time residential developer plans to bring some of Tokyo to Cleveland through a townhouse project in Ohio City. Chesler, founder of the Chesler Group, Cleveland, which restores and converts older buildings into office space, expects to break ground next March. The $5 million project, which is being called the Dexter, will be situated between West 28th Street and Dexter Place and bordered on the south by Franklin Avenue. There will be 10 to 14 townhouses of 1,500 square feet to 3,500 square feet with prices ranging from mid-$200,000 to high-$400,000. Chesler said four units have been sold.

 

For more information, click the above link.

Interesting, to say the least. The colors are bad though.

I think on the aesthetic level that this will be one of those 'wait and see' projects. The renderings look so-so but they could end up much better in reality.

 

In theory it sounds great and in the grand scheme I think areas like downtown, Ohio City, Tremont, etc. have historic buildings in abundance so adding some ultra-modern pockets could really jazz things up a bit. The area in question isn't really conducive to things like front-stoop patios/gardens nor ground level retail (that's better suited for 3 blocks east on West 25th). It's like others have said about Tillman Park (the green, yellow and pink townhomes) 'it's not very 'Cleveland', to which I say "that's the point" :D

 

ps - zaceman, glad to see you follow cleveland.com forums as well ;)

oh yes, however people on there are either way too dramatic or way too cynical about the city

^Yeah, I wish they'd have local moderators so they could weed out the trolls. Ah well, that's just more opportunity to send people to better sites (i.e. urbanohio).

Eh..better than grass and pavement.

What's the deal on these things?  Marous doesn't list them on their site (which has some cool stuff, BTW):

 

http://www.marousbrothers.com/index.html

 

check out http://www.cheslergroup.com/projects.htm

 

Waiting to find out when the ground breaking will be...  probably the best location in OHio City...

^ Ah, thanks.

anyone have the down lo on this project? Rumormill has it that it could be a bust...  The feedback I am personally getting from both developer and builder (or rather tha lack of) leads me to believe some of the hype of the possible bust?..

 

anyone?

From the May 16th agenda for the Cleveland BZA :

 

9:30   Ward 14

Calendar No. 05-17: 1545 Dexter Place Nelson Cintron - 10 Notices

 

Urban Properties LLC, owner, and John Williams, agent, appeal to erect 14 townhouse units in 2 buildings consisting of 9 attached units proposed along the north side of Dexter Place and 5 attached units along the west side of West 28th Street, situated in a B1 Two-Family District on a through lot that encompasses land between Dexter Place and West 28th Street at 1545 Dexter Place; the proposed two multi-unit townhouse structures are contrary to Section 337.03 and are first allowed in a Multi-Family District; the height of 40’ exceeds the 35’ limit in Section 353.01 for a “1” Height District; and contrary to Section 355.04, an approximate 27,942 s/f is proposed in the “B” Area District where one-half the lot area equals 11,200 s/f; and a 5.2’ front yard setback is proposed, instead of the required 15% of the lot depth required in Section 357.04(a); and the total interior side yards are 7’ instead of the required 8’ according to Section 357.09(b)(2)© of the Codified Ordinances. (Filed 1-24-05)

..............

 

Methinks if it's listed on the BZA agenda as recently as May 16th, it ain't a bust  :-)

anyone have the down lo on this project? Rumormill has it that it could be a bust... The feedback I am personally getting from both developer and builder (or rather tha lack of) leads me to believe some of the hype of the possible bust?..

 

anyone?

 

I picked up the phone and called.  Ground breaking is "currently" scheduled for late August/Early September. 

 

I hope they don't make a liar out of me!   :|

I spoke to Joe Mazzola of Ohio City Near West Development Corp during the Ohio City Home Tour over the weekend, and he seemed to believe the project was still on. I walked by the site on Saturday evening, and saw a "coming soon"-type sign on West 28th. But, of course, that doesn't mean anything...District Park had a sign too (and gee, it was much bigger...!).

 

KJP

thats great!!..  man...  so much going on in Cleveland..  This is almost, "too good to be true"... 

 

kudos to all of the developers, builders, and dedicated urban pioneers transforming these buildings, old factory sites, old steel mills.. wow..  I can actually keep on naming them...  thats amazing..  go C-Town!

Recently brought up in another thread and the subject of a conversation I had a few days ago, it doesn't appear that anything has happened with this project in recent history.  Let's throw out some lines and see who can come up with the dirt!

Another victim of sluggish pre-sales?

Really, if you walk around Ohio City there already seems to be a glut of houses for sale. Newer construction, especially, seems to be selling at a snail's pace (Orchard Place, the Townhomes of Ohio City, the 80s-style townhouses around Fulton and Mabel, a newish house at Fulton and Bunnell). I would guess demand isn't strong enough in the neighborhood to support another new residential project.

I love Asian culture...I say onward march with these kinds of projects.

I say plop this project in E30ish/payne/superior area. It just seems to fit better there, and help boost up chinatown neighborhood with new construction

Oooh, good idea!

 

 

I picked up the phone and called.  Ground breaking is "currently" scheduled for late August/Early September. 

 

I hope they don't make a liar out of me!   :|

 

looks like I'm a liar!  :cry:

From the mouth of Peter Rubin...this project is dead.  Also, the additional phases of the Ohio City Townhomes are dead.  Big blow to Ohio City??? Nope.  The Coral Company is going to build 30 townhomes on the land where the two previously mentioned projects were supposed to be built.  Look for an announcement soon.

Too bad still.  I was looking forward to having some Japanese flair in OC.  But great to hear about the other townhouse projects.  I wonder what he will do different though that makes him think he can pull it off.  Maybe a more conservative design and lower prices?

According to Rubin, its all about rooftop decks that capture views of Lake Erie and downtown.  (and he also mentioned the importance of cutting edge toliets!) 

Although it's sad to see that the site will be undeveloped for the near-term, I'm glad to see that an experienced developer will be handling the project. Coral has had quite a bit of success with their other projects.

Bummer about the Japan-influenced design- I was looking forward to seeing it take shape.  Coral definitely has a bigger track record but I don't think the Chesler Group was a total neophyte- I am a little surprised.

From the sound of it, the Townhomes of Ohio City site met its demise in the hands of an inexperienced developer.  The Dexter plan was maybe a little out of place in the OC, but Rubin made several comments about the importance of doing things that haven't been done here and about staying ahead of the market.

 

I agree that it is comforting/exciting to see an established developer taking over these two sites.

 

I wouldn't expect to hear any news for another three months or so...

From the mouth of Peter Rubin...this project is dead. The Coral Company is going to build 30 townhomes on the land where the two previously mentioned projects were supposed to be built.  Look for an announcement soon.

 

Any follow-up on this? Will Coral be making an announcement about these sites?  Is there another thread that I don't know about? 

 

I've seen a Coral sign on Clinton, between 32nd and 28th, but I've not heard any more formal announcement.

yeah, that's about it.  They tried marketing the old Dexter site and gave up in favor of the Clinton one after about a month or two early in the summer.  I haven't heard anything about their progress, but this stretch of Clinton is a real hotbed right now.  See the Ohio City thread here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9289.0

I am just picking up this thread.  I saw the Dexter Place townhouses on www.livingcleveland.nhlink.net.  I liked the buildings and looked here but it seems that particular project is dead.  There was mention however, of another project going in the same area.  Anyone know of any updates to this?

 

Thanks!

This project died. Then Coral purchased an option on the land and proposed some more condos. They dropped the project before it ever had a chance to get off the ground. This land will get developed in the coming years. The Franklin-Clinton area has so much momentum and developable land. Just have a little patience.

 

By the way, I received a tour of a house on Franklin that borders Franklin Circle. Its the first house on the northern side of Franklin. It is an absolute masterpiece. I'll talk a little bit more about it on the OC thread. Let's just say that the investment is close to one million on this property.

This should be in the dead projects section.