Here we go.... Forest City has a buyer for Tower City Center including the Avenue (retail area): a Turkish construction and investment company named Rasen.  http://rasen.com/

Interesting...they do an awful lot of work in Moscow. A lot of office and residential construction it seems.

This is perplexing to me; They seem hyper focused on construction rather than property management.

The Turks - they build like ants, just incredibly so, but how will this fit with what's needed at T.C.?  I'm looking forward to more info soon.

^Is there a link to a story, or are you breaking it now with more details to come?

 

No article. Leasing office is updating tenants' paperwork as needed. When asked why, the leasing office said Tower City is being sold. When one tenant inquired further, the leasing office said the buyer's name was "Rasen Investment & Parking." When I heard it, I thought the person said "Raisin" but nothing showed up on a Google search. Rasen appears to be the most likely spelling of all the options I tried. I am surprised the PD hasn't heard about since they are a tenant -- but either their paperwork didn't need updating/refining or they are actually a tenant of the Skylight Office Tower which Hertz is seeking to buy.

Oh OK. Keep snooping.

^Is there a link to a story, or are you breaking it now with more details to come?

 

No article. Leasing office is updating tenants' paperwork as needed. When asked why, the leasing office said Tower City is being sold. When one tenant inquired further, the leasing office said the buyer's name was "Rasen Investment & Parking." When I heard it, I thought the person said "Raisin" but nothing showed up on a Google search. Rasen appears to be the most likely spelling of all the options I tried. I am surprised the PD hasn't heard about since they are a tenant -- but either their paperwork didn't need updating/refining or they are actually a tenant of the Skylight Office Tower which Hertz is seeking to buy.

 

Yes, Plain Dealer's office spaces are in the Skylight Tower, which is being sold to a different buyer.

If Rasen truly is more of a construction-type outfit, what would they really be "allowed" to do with Tower City?

 

What type of restrictions are currently in place given its historic nature and use as a terminal facility?

oh good - tower city can get a mavi jeans shop:

 

http://us.mavi.com/

 

 

and a simit sarayi:

 

http://www.simitsarayi.com/en_US/her-yerdeyiz/yurt-disi

 

 

and a simit & smith:

 

http://www.simitandsmith.com/

 

 

If Rasen truly is more of a construction-type outfit, what would they really be "allowed" to do with Tower City?

 

What type of restrictions are currently in place given its historic nature and use as a terminal facility?

 

That's my question as well. From KJP's description, it doesn't sound to me like they're going to keep things as-is and just put in new/different stores.

Re: the comments above ...

 

The Plain Dealer is a tenant in Skylight Office Tower, not the mall at Tower City. They are separate parcels.

 

I've been keeping an eye on this situation but won't/can't report anything until I have solid information. So far, it's mostly rumors - about a range of potential buyers.

 

Michelle

^As always, thank you!!

Latest word from leasing office is that prospect buyer Rasen (still not sure if I got their spelling correct) has requested leasing information regarding all tenants at Tower City Center including Tower City Avenue LLC. Buyer has 90 days to conduct its due diligence and make decision but could make it much sooner. Then if sale proceeds, the transaction would take about 60 days thereafter. So no sale has occurred. But if this is Rasen, the firm's primary focus on construction vs investment has folks intrigued.

That makes a lot more sense. Had Tower City already been in contract, pretty sure securities regs would require FC to publicly disclose it.

Since you asked ...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/09/buyer_emerges_for_avenue_mall.html

Demo everything and turn it into parking.

Good article, mjarboe[/member]. Glad you found the correct spelling of Raisin and the full corporate names. Interesting that Marc Feldman is the attorney for the potential buyer. He's also the attorney for several of the companies under Midwest Development Partners seeking to develop UC3. Wonder if this is part of a larger move on real estate acquisitions/development in Cleveland?

KJP[/member] I'm just trying to keep up with you guys!  :wink: Nice sleuthing on your end, as always. /m

Thanks mjarboe[/member]. We learn alot from each other!

OK, that seemed like a fast transaction....

Forest City sells Skylight Office Tower at Tower City for $35.4 million

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,4266.msg772514.html#msg772514

For whatever it's worth McDonalds is closing on Thursday. While talking to the manager apparently a Wendy's is taking its place. Small news but news regardless.

That McDonalds is always very busy. It's usually the busiest vendor in the food court. Wonder why they're being replaced?

For whatever it's worth McDonalds is closing on Thursday. While talking to the manager apparently a Wendy's is taking its place. Small news but news regardless.

 

That would be an upgrade.

 

That McDonalds is always very busy. It's usually the busiest vendor in the food court. Wonder why they're being replaced?

Rents were getting raised. The owner told the workers that Tower City wanted them down there still but the new rent cost weren't acceptable with how much revenue they bring in.

Was this the only McDonalds downtown?

Was this the only McDonalds downtown?

 

Yep, next closest is at 30th and Carnegie. I'd love a Wendy's though, if that's true.

McDonald's is a suffering franchise if the franchisees are to be believed. Franchisees are shuttering many locations they view as not worth their time. But also apparently not being forced to give up the rights to those locations as far as I can discern.

Yes, McDonald's has been seeing plenty of red ink lately and it seems there's been some movement toward, at least, a partial re-imaging -- it has been leaving other downtown areas in recent years, including thriving ones, like Philly's Center City, where there is 1, maybe 2 left... while Mickey-D's has exited similarly seemingly thriving locations in Center City, like 30th Street Station, Suburban Station and the Gallery Mall (which is being remade, anyway). 

Another interesting thing to keep an eye on is that the manager I spoke to said when the owner talked to them about what's happening they mentioned new mall ownership. He mentioned that they are the ones raising rents. I don't know how true that is but since we've heard rumors about Tower City being for sale it's something to keep an eye on.

McDonald's is now officially closed.

I see the Cleveland sourvenir shop is now gone, too.  There's still the one at Euclid and Fourth, besides a few away from downtown.

One more recent closing: Go! Games, Toys, Books, & Calendars is now gone. It was the store between Champs & Dunkin Donuts

Could these closings be signs of something coming or just reflective of a still non-competitive retail space?

I know from my experiences in other malls that the Go! Calendar stores are usually seasonal, so I wouldn't read too much into that one closing.

I know from my experiences in other malls that the Go! Calendar stores are usually seasonal, so I wouldn't read too much into that one closing.

 

This one had been there for quite some time though

Could these closings be signs of something coming or just reflective of a still non-competitive retail space?

That could be a reason, I find it slightly odd that these stores are closing one behind the other. I feel like they may be freeing up retail space.

Someone just bought the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the offices directly below it....

 

8 parcels at 0 West 3rd, 1515 West 3rd, 0 Prospect and 0 Tower City Center transferred on Feb. 29 with this sale:

 

Sales Date 2/29/2016

Amount $12,100,000

Buyer RHA 250, LLC

Seller ROCK OHIO CAESARS HOTEL, LLC

Property Regional shopping center

 

RHA 250, LLC was incorporated on June 22, 2015 by an attorney at Calfee, Halter and Griswold named Mara Cushwa. Six days earlier she created a company "RITZ HOTEL ACQUISITIONS LLC" which is already a dead corporation. Also on June 16, 2015 she incorporated "SKYLINE PROPERTY PARTNERS, LLC."

 

And....

 

3 more parcels at 0 Prospect, 0 Huron and  250 Huron-Tower City transferred on Feb. 29 with this sale:

 

Sales Date 2/29/2016

Amount $4,100,000

Buyer SKYLINE PROPERTY PARTNERS, LLC

Seller ROCK OHIO CAESARS HOTEL LLC

Property Regional shopping center

 

A couple of articles about 250 Huron....

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/rock_ohio_caesars_to_buy_cleve.html33

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20120806/FREE/120809901/bizdom-opens-cleveland-headquarters-at-250-w-huron-road

So correct me if I'm wrong but this means the casino no longer owns the Ritz? So no more room comps? I have a contact at the Ritz and they've been planning a very extensive remodel/renovation project for the interior and exterior of the hotel. It keeps getting delayed, and perhaps this is why.

 

So correct me if I'm wrong but this means the casino no longer owns the Ritz? So no more room comps? I have a contact at the Ritz and they've been planning a very extensive remodel/renovation project for the interior and exterior of the hotel. It keeps getting delayed, and perhaps this is why.

 

Well I guess I have my answer haha:

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/03/clevelands_ritz-carlton_hotel.html#incart_river_home

 

"Ritz-Carlton Cleveland, offices set for "significant renovations" as ownership entity shifts"

JACK Cleveland Casino sounds so tacky...YUCK!

According to a source, the Tower City mall management transition is happening tomorrow, yes March 17, St Patricks Day, the day the mall is overrun with drunk high school kids, and it closes at 2pm.  There will be a 30 day transition where Forest City will be involved in training the new ownership, and there will be no little fanfare or announcements.

When did the mall sell?

There has to be SOMETHING announced...? Someone knows something. This is a big change if it's really happening

I have heard from a good source that the buyer is exactly who we all think it is...they just had to work out contract issues between the many different ownership entities of the various sections of tower city

Remember this?

 

A towering real estate move might be in the offing

“Tower City Shops LLC” is the head-turning name of a foreign corporation registered Jan. 9 with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.

The moniker immediately brings to mind The Avenue at Tower City Center, the downtown shopping center that Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. came close to selling last summer.

Adding to the intrigue: The filing was by lawyer Howard N. Luckoff of Detroit, whose name also appears on legal documents associated with property deals that Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s Rock Gaming has executed for Horseshoe Cleveland Casino.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150131/FREE/150139976/a-towering-real-estate-move-might-be-in-the-offing

I just want to know if they plan to DO anything. Renovations? Restructuring of stores? This will be interesting. New management could turn TC around... Unless they come in and run things exactly as they were before

No, I don't remember that. But more importantly, has an actual sale taken place? I could form a company called Tower City Shops. Doesn’t mean I could afford to buy The Avenue.

:-)

Nice. Such creativity here!

As has been discussed many times.... it is now official:

 

 

Dan Gilbert buys the Avenue shopping mall at Tower City in downtown Cleveland

 

Twenty-six years after Forest City Enterprises turned a transit hub into a high-end shopping mall, the company has sold the ailing Avenue at Tower City Center to a relatively new mega-player in downtown Cleveland real estate.

 

Companies tied to Michigan billionaire Dan Gilbert, the founder of Quicken Loans and majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, bought the mall at Tower City and the parking underneath it Tuesday. The purchase price was not immediately disclosed.

 

The sale could bring some clarity about the future of the 367,000-square-foot shopping center, originally lined with lofty tenants and now home to a motley mix of local shops, blank storefronts and the rare national retailer.

 

And the transaction marks the end of a long dance between Cleveland-based Forest City, now called Forest City Realty Trust, and Gilbert's Bedrock Real Estate Services. The parties came close to concluding their deal a handful of times over the last six months but, for one reason or another, stalled out just short of the finish line.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/03/dan_gilbert_buys_the_avenue_sh.html

There are some cool construction photos in the slideshow that I have never seen before

Not without worry, I'm pretty eager to hear what Gilbert's team comes up with as a plan. I hope it includes some physical changes that blast away the failed mall taint.