Was at an event this weekend where UCI prez Chris Ronayne said 1 University Circle is on target to go before Planning Commission (Landmarks? Design Review? BZA?) by the end of August.

First look: One University Circle high-rise apartments to start rising in January

 

Hoping to benefit from sky-high occupancy rates and rising rents, local developers expect to start construction early next year on a 20-story luxury apartment building in the city's University Circle neighborhood.

 

The first apartments at One University Circle might open in October 2017, with the remainder trickling onto the market through the following spring. The $112 million project is slated for a 1.3-acre site south of Euclid Avenue, at Stearns Road, where the Children's Museum of Cleveland plans to close in early January to make way for new development.

 

First Interstate Properties and Petros Development Corp. filed plans with the city Thursday for the project, which will have its first public vettings next week.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/08/first_look_luxury_apartment_hi.html

 

 

Dimit is everwhere nowadays. Very clever design considering the oddly shaped parcel. Most residential high rises tend to look busy and this is no different.

 

The phase 2 site is right at the corner of stokes and Euclid. Good place for some ground floor retail.

It kind of reminds me of the Juvenile Court building on Quincy Ave.

It has an "institutional" quality; it could be the Clinic-esque base of the building. But overall I think I'm liking it.

It's a more conservative design than before, but I'm glad to see the curving building.

 

It looks like about 18 stories, or one story taller than Crittenden Court on St. Clair at West 10th that opened in 1996. So how is this the first residential high-rise in the city since the 1970s?

^Michelle's article states 20 stories

So 3 stories is the difference between high-rise and not? I just think it's a bit disingenuous to say there's been no new-construction residential high rises since the 1970s. In fact I remember when Crittenden was built, the news articles at the time said "This is the first new residential high rise in the city since the 1970s"! That's all.

Crittenden Court is just under 200 feet, and depending on who you ask, the term 'high rise' does/doesn't apply.

I generally go with the definition put out by the Coucil on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats which is 12 stories. That's the official number they use so it's good enough for me.

 

This building will be a nice addition to that side of town. Dimit does great work so I'm glad to see more prominent projects hiring them.

 

I generally go with the definition put out by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats which is 12 stories. That's the official number they use so it's good enough for me.

 

 

This building will be a nice addition to that side of town. Dimit does great work so I'm glad to see more prominent projects hiring them.

 

 

 

 

Will this be the tallest building in University Circle? I too like the design!

Will this be the tallest building in University Circle? I too like the design!

 

I'd imagine so. The old Commodore Hotel building is only 12-13 stories and the Lerner Tower at UH is 155 feet.

 

Here's Emporis' list of buildings in University Circle. Looks like the tallest is W.O. Walker Center at 208'

 

http://www.emporis.com/borough/101521/university-cleveland/1

Great news for University Circle and, of course, Cleveland.  No matter what one may think about First Interstate (cough, the Wal Mart-anchored Oakwood Commons in South Euclid, cough), Mitchell Schneider is a pretty reliable developer.  He usually follows through on his words.  If he thinks he can get $2.20 per SF in this building, I believe it.  Hopefully, FI hits the October 2017 opening date, too.  That implies a pretty aggressive construction schedule and it will be great to see another crane going up in UC before the end of the year.

 

Reading between the lines of MJF's article, it sounds like the lenders are true believers in this project as well.  Aside from the 15-year tax abatement (which applies to all new construction in CLE city limits), this project is getting done without public money.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these apartments fill up fast and there's a long waiting list.  If so, it could be the start of a true residential boom in what is already a culturally world class neighborhood.

I find the curving portion just okay, and the rear portion—which is not curved at all (?!)—extremely disappointing. Wish I'd never seen the original rendering ... that thing was taut and sexy, almost like 333 Wacker Dr. in Chicago.

 

333 Wacker is sleek and sexy - perfect for an office building, but I wouldn't want to live in something like that. One University Circle looks much more live-able (or should I say lease-able, which may be more important...).

^ yes--based on the Emporis link above and Michelle's article, at 234 feet, it would be the tallest bldg in UC---26 feet taller than the WO Walker Bldg at 105 & Euclid.

 

I think the design would work a little better if had a little more height--even 6-7 more stories--then it would feel more balanced.

Interesting... Crain's has a completely different rendering unless this is the backside and it will be flat:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150828/NEWS/150829811/plans-submitted-for-luxury-residential-high-rise-in-university-circle?X-IgnoreUserAgent=1

Interesting... Crain's has a completely different rendering unless this is the backside and it will be flat:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150828/NEWS/150829811/plans-submitted-for-luxury-residential-high-rise-in-university-circle?X-IgnoreUserAgent=1

 

Michelle had that rendering in her article as well. It's the south face of the building.

I'm a little disappointed the sleeker, more cylindrical 28-story earlier rendering won't be built.  This shorter building, while not terrible, seems a tad on the boxy, squat side.  I actually like the flat backside of the building better than the curved front.  Still, this building will be a major plus not only to U. Circle, but to the East Side in general.  Compared to other similar-sized/similar character cities, Cleveland is on the light side with regard to high rise/near high-rise residential buildings.  Quite obviously, the ones we have are mainly bunched in Lakewood's Gold Coast just across the Cleveland border.

 

One Uni Circle will be a welcome addition which soon, hopefully, will spawn similar (dimension) neighbors.

Interesting... Crain's has a completely different rendering unless this is the backside and it will be flat:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150828/NEWS/150829811/plans-submitted-for-luxury-residential-high-rise-in-university-circle?X-IgnoreUserAgent=1

 

Michelle had that rendering in her article as well. It's the south face of the building.

 

I like the back of it better. It just looks more livable to me.

Compared to other similar-sized/similar character cities, Cleveland is on the light side with regard to high rise/near high-rise residential buildings.  Quite obviously, the ones we have are mainly bunched in Lakewood's Gold Coast just across the Cleveland border.

 

 

We sure are. I'm working on a project involving Canada and it always strikes me how many residential high-rises they have in cities smaller than Cleveland. London, Hamilton, Kitchener etc. all have a tremendous number of high-rises.

Canada somehow made highrise living sexy to far more groups of the population than we have. It's how you wind up with cities like Vancouver that are loaded to the brim with residential highrises, even in their suburbs. It's how you wind up with cities like Toronto that have suburbs the size of Columbus (Mississauga) with their own impressive skylines. It's amazing how different Canadian cities have become visually from their American peer cities as the highrise living trend has taken off there. When you look at many of their cities the most dominant building type Downtown is the blue/clear glass residential tower. The only American cities that can really say the same are maybe the areas around Miami and random districts within cities that are booming now, but none are on the same level as Toronto or Vancouver.

It kind of reminds me of the Juvenile Court building on Quincy Ave.

 

Exactly.. you beat me to the punch.

Compared to other similar-sized/similar character cities, Cleveland is on the light side with regard to high rise/near high-rise residential buildings.  Quite obviously, the ones we have are mainly bunched in Lakewood's Gold Coast just across the Cleveland border.

 

We sure are. I'm working on a project involving Canada and it always strikes me how many residential high-rises they have in cities smaller than Cleveland. London, Hamilton, Kitchener etc. all have a tremendous number of high-rises.

 

 

Some cities are just more low rise in nature, residentially.  Cleveland is one of them... Surprisingly Philadelphia, despite being several times bigger and denser than Cleveland, is another.  Only over the last 10-15 years have residential high rises been sprouting up ... almost exclusively in Center City.  Before that, rowhouses, twins, brownstones and small apartment buildings were, and still are, the dominant residential housing type.  This in a city (proper) of 1.5M.

 

 

Compared to other similar-sized/similar character cities, Cleveland is on the light side with regard to high rise/near high-rise residential buildings.  Quite obviously, the ones we have are mainly bunched in Lakewood's Gold Coast just across the Cleveland border.

 

We sure are. I'm working on a project involving Canada and it always strikes me how many residential high-rises they have in cities smaller than Cleveland. London, Hamilton, Kitchener etc. all have a tremendous number of high-rises.

 

 

Some cities are just more low rise in nature, residentially.  Cleveland is one of them... Surprisingly Philadelphia, despite being several times bigger and denser than Cleveland, is another.  Only over the last 10-15 years have residential high rises been sprouting up ... almost exclusively in Center City.  Before that, rowhouses, twins, brownstones and small apartment buildings were, and still are, the dominant residential housing type.  This in a city (proper) of 1.5M.

 

 

I'm not absolutely certain, but I think for years Philadelphia had a law that no building could be higher than City Hall, which of course is at the exact center of downtown.

^ Didn't Cleveland used to have a similar law, but with Terminal Tower?

This building should have some terrific views of University Circle, the tree canopy of the Heights, and Downtown.

 

The design looks fine to me. I think this site is set slightly back from the Euclid Ave sidewalk, so the stakes for even the ground level design may not be that high. Really, it's a shame there are so many immovable blights on the pedestrian landscape in the blocks just west of this, because this really could have been a nice tight cluster of high density residences, retail, and medical office space if the Clinic weren't so indifferent to its surroundings.

Compared to other similar-sized/similar character cities, Cleveland is on the light side with regard to high rise/near high-rise residential buildings.  Quite obviously, the ones we have are mainly bunched in Lakewood's Gold Coast just across the Cleveland border.

 

 

We sure are. I'm working on a project involving Canada and it always strikes me how many residential high-rises they have in cities smaller than Cleveland. London, Hamilton, Kitchener etc. all have a tremendous number of high-rises.

 

 

Some cities are just more low rise in nature, residentially.  Cleveland is one of them... Surprisingly Philadelphia, despite being several times bigger and denser than Cleveland, is another.  Only over the last 10-15 years have residential high rises been sprouting up ... almost exclusively in Center City.  Before that, rowhouses, twins, brownstones and small apartment buildings were, and still are, the dominant residential housing type.  This in a city (proper) of 1.5M.

 

 

I'm not absolutely certain, but I think for years Philadelphia had a law that no building could be higher than City Hall, which of course is at the exact center of downtown.

 

You are correct ... Still, that's about 25 stories tall IIRC -- a pretty substantial height for a residential building.  Once the City Hall height restriction was trashed in the late 1980s, Center City Philly sprouted increasingly upward, with the Comcast building surpassing our Key Bank in terms of tallest building between New York and Chicago (and Comcast is erecting a + 100-story structure just 1 block away from its first skyscraper).  But Philly just didn't building many apartments or condos over 5-6 stories tall.  The city's great population and density comes from those miles and miles of rowhouses on generally narrow streets... Similarly Cleveland has traditionally been a wood-frame detached house city accented by duplexes, wood-frame 2-flats (aka: 2-families or Cleveland Doubles) and small walkup brownstone apartment buildings.  Apartment buildings over 3-4 stories here, even from the early 20th century, were rare here.  Despite this though, from the 1920s-50s, there was nearly 1 million people within Cleveland's 77 square miles, so we were packing them in somewhere (largely in the Hough, Glenville and Shaker Square areas, among others).

Compared to other similar-sized/similar character cities, Cleveland is on the light side with regard to high rise/near high-rise residential buildings.  Quite obviously, the ones we have are mainly bunched in Lakewood's Gold Coast just across the Cleveland border.

 

We sure are. I'm working on a project involving Canada and it always strikes me how many residential high-rises they have in cities smaller than Cleveland. London, Hamilton, Kitchener etc. all have a tremendous number of high-rises.

 

 

Some cities are just more low rise in nature, residentially.  Cleveland is one of them... Surprisingly Philadelphia, despite being several times bigger and denser than Cleveland, is another.  Only over the last 10-15 years have residential high rises been sprouting up ... almost exclusively in Center City.  Before that, rowhouses, twins, brownstones and small apartment buildings were, and still are, the dominant residential housing type.  This in a city (proper) of 1.5M.

 

 

I'm not absolutely certain, but I think for years Philadelphia had a law that no building could be higher than City Hall, which of course is at the exact center of downtown.

 

It wasn't a law, but an honored tradition, that nothing would be built which would block William Penn's view of his woods

Luxury high rise in University Circle set to break ground in January

KARIN CONNELLY | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

 

Construction is slated to begin in January on a 20-floor luxury apartment building at Euclid Avenue and Stokes Boulevard in University Circle. The new high rise would add another high-end residential option in this booming, popular community.

 

One University Circle, at 10730 Euclid Ave., should be ready for occupancy by January 2018. The 280-unit building will include 268 units averaging about 1,000 square feet, 12 additional penthouses, a four-story parking garage, outdoor grilling area, fitness room and yoga studio. The building also will have a café and market, business center and residents’ lounge.

 

Dimit Architects designed the building, which includes a window wall and terracotta panel system for the exterior of the building. All of the units will have floor-to-ceiling glass, and some of them will have balconies or patios.

 

MORE:

http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/OneUniversityCircle083115.aspx

One University Circle apartment tower gets early design approvals

By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer

on September 05, 2015 at 2:49 PM

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/09/one_university_circle_apartmen.html#incart_m-rpt-1

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A 20-story apartment tower planned for the city's University Circle neighborhood received early design approvals this week, in the first public step toward starting construction early next year.

 

A city design-review committee gave a thumbs-up Thursday to schematic designs for One University Circle, a 280-unit, high-end complex set to replace the Children's Museum of Cleveland on Stearns Road south of Euclid Avenue. The committee also granted conceptual approval – a preliminary benchmark – to site plans for the project, which would occupy a 1.3-acre site owned by nonprofit group University Circle Inc.

 

Design-review members also were curious about what Petros and Schneider envision on the remainder of the site, 0.6 acres just northwest of the tower footprint. The developers have earmarked that property for a second phase, but they haven't elaborated. On Thursday, Schneider said that site could support a slimmer, taller building. But he didn't commit to anything firm.

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2015/10162015/index.php

 

City Planning Commission

Agenda for October 16, 2015

 

EUCLID CORRIDOR DESIGN REVIEW

EC2015-031 –  One University Circle: Seeking Final Approval (except Signage: Seeking Conceptual Approval)

Project Location: 10730 Euclid Avenue

Project Representative: Chris Goodson, First Interstate Properties

This project received Schematic Design Approval on September 4, 2015.

From Michelle's twitter feed:

Michelle Jarboe ‏mjarboe[/member]  51m51 minutes ago

#CLE City Planning Commission gives final design OK for One University Circle apartments. Breaking ground early next year. @CLEcityplanning

 

Michelle Jarboe ‏mjarboe[/member]  58m58 minutes ago

One University Circle apartment tower will have a bicycle-storage room and a dog-grooming room, developer tells @CLEcityplanning commission.

 

Michelle Jarboe ‏mjarboe[/member]  1h1 hour ago

One University Circle developer Mitchell Schneider adjusts timing a tad. "We'll be under construction not later than Feb. of 2016," he says.

 

She also mentions that the Children's Musuem will be moving January 6th, 2016 and that an apartment tower is planned for that property. Also, the developer's long term plan is to maintain the building as rental, no condo conversion planned. The building will also house a bike storage facility and dog grooming room.

 

Below is a landscape plan and updated renderings:

 

I'll bet that big SOB is going to lease out before it's even finished. I'll also bet the developer appears before CPC by 2018 to seek approvals for Phase 2.

Those top floors are gonna have one helluva view of the downtown skyline

This will certainly make a major residential statement in UC.  Glad to see it moving forward.

Those top floors are gonna have one helluva view of the downtown skyline

Somebody's going to have to let MayDay up there to snap some pictures.

Add this in with the Clinic towers and the UC City Center buildings that are planned, and Cleveland is starting to build itself a second skyline :)

Clinic towers? What project is that? I hope they DO continue this and fill in the vacent land with more tall buildings around the area because the placement of One University Circle seems odd IMO and would look better with more density.

Oh, no new projects from the Clinic that I'm aware of unfortunately, just speaking of their existing highrises.

 

Clinic towers? What project is that? I hope they DO continue this and fill in the vacent land with more tall buildings around the area because the placement of One University Circle seems odd IMO and would look better with more density.

I mean you do have the W.O Walker building to the side of it on stokes and the high rise next to MLK library across on stokes as well so that's something.

This isn't really news, from the Zoning Appeals Agenda for November 2nd:

 

"9:30 Ward 6

Calendar No. 15-219: 10730 Euclid Avenue Mamie J. Mitchell

6 Notices

University Circle Inc., owner, proposes to construct a 533,070 square foot 20 story 280 units

residential building with a 4 story parking garage and surface parking lot on a 1.79 acre parcel in an

E4 General Retail Business District. The owner appeals for relief from the following sections of the

Cleveland Codified Ordinances:

1. Section 355.04(b) which states that in an “E” Area District the maximum gross floor area

cannot exceed one and one-half times the lot area. A 77,972, maximum square foot building is

permitted and 533,070 square feet are proposed.

2. Section 353.01 and 353.02 which states that the maximum height of the building cannot

exceed 175 feet. However, this section states that the building height can be exceeded by four

feet for every foot of setback from required yard area up to 260 feet. The proposed building

exceeds permissible height by 35 feet to 11feet in side, front and rear yard setbacks.

3. Section 357.08(b)(2) which states that a rear yard of no less than one-half the height of the

building is required and no rear yard is proposed.

4. Section 357.09(b)(2)© which states that interior side yards must be equal to ¼ the height of

the building, or in this case 58.5 feet where 5 feet to 10 feet are proposed. (Filed September

30, 2015)"

 

 

Port authority board approves financing to aid University Circle apartment building

 

Construction of the 20-story One University Circle apartment building moved a step closer as the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority on Thursday, Feb. 11, approved issuing as much as $80 million in revenue bonds to help finance the proposed $115 million project.

 

The project, planned for a site on the former home of the Children’s Museum of Cleveland, 10730 Euclid Ave. in University Circle, is designed to house 280 apartments as well as a floor of retail space.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20160211/NEWS/160219962/port-authority-board-approves-financing-to-aid-university-circle

 

 

 

Michelle Jarboe ‏mjarboe[/member]  1h1 hour ago

One University Circle developer Mitchell Schneider adjusts timing a tad. "We'll be under construction not later than Feb. of 2016," he says.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

EDIT: from that Crain's piece: "Schneider, whose team handled presentations to the port board, said the developers expect to close the financing package in mid-March."

 

So I'll cross my fingers specifically for that.

 

Also, Michell's coverage: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/02/one_university_circle_apartmen_1.html

Anyone else notice that construction fencing is up?!  :clap:

Y

Anyone else notice that construction fencing is up?!  :clap:

 

Yeah, I think they put it up last Wednesday or Thursday.  Certainly exciting to see. 

Needless to say, great to hear.

 

It seems this project has moved forward from announcement to shovels so much faster than most other projects we discuss on this board (cough, cough...Intesa or what ever it is called now...but really, even many other smaller developments).  I wonder what the secret was?  It is not like it was an easy project to put together (or cheap), especially with the need for the museum relocation.

Maybe the single purpose element of the project made securing financing/permits/variances/etc a bit easier. Just a guess

This is awesome. This will be the tallest apartment building built within the city since the Reserve?