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Cleveland: St. Clair-Superior (non-Asiatown): Development and News

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"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

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  • Decided to make a pitstop before Goldhorn. Sterles from today. Just like the playhouse, please be mindful sharing these out.    It's like they closed and nothing changed- there's still a men

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@KJP ^This will fit better in the area. The previous design was adventurous but probably better for an area like Waterloo.

Cleveland's first apartment complex made from shipping containers is 'right on schedule'

 

WRJ Developers is aiming for a summer 2021 groundbreaking for its 64-unit apartment complex made from shipping containers on E. 72nd Street in Cleveland.

 

WRJ Developers Inc. in Cleveland is in the process of getting zoning variances for setbacks on the property.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cleveland/news/2021/02/11/arkitainer-apartment-complex-right-on-schedule.html

 

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"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

  • 3 weeks later...

Posted at LinkedIn......

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-singleton-826065169_blackdevelopers-activity-6771193413015519232-QNSf

 

Richard Singleton 2ndGreenSource | WRJ Developers | VP Global Ops at PNC

 

Purchased our first of many containers. Bringing Ohio it’s first container homes community.
We are making Black History and a legacy all can be proud of.
#blackdevelopers
www.wrjdevelopers.com

 

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"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

46 minutes ago, KJP said:

Posted at LinkedIn......

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-singleton-826065169_blackdevelopers-activity-6771193413015519232-QNSf

 

Richard Singleton 2ndGreenSource | WRJ Developers | VP Global Ops at PNC

 

Purchased our first of many containers. Bringing Ohio it’s first container homes community.
We are making Black History and a legacy all can be proud of.
#blackdevelopers
www.wrjdevelopers.com

 

1614378311338?e=1617840000&v=beta&t=_uoh

 

1614378310663?e=1617840000&v=beta&t=KbYR

 

1614378310997?e=1617840000&v=beta&t=ztpH

 

1614378311105?e=1617840000&v=beta&t=6TSR

 

1614378310802?e=1617840000&v=beta&t=oEop

I can’t wait to see how these come out. I’m fascinated 

  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

'Cinema City' movie studio being planned for Cleveland's east side by Los Angeles filmmaker now back home

 

This sounds fun, "near East 79th Street, north of St. Clair Avenue ." 

 

From the article:

" “Cinema City” – a campus anchored by four sound stages. Built in phases, the campus would also include housing, retail and space for e-sports and artists."

"Cinema City envisions a 150,000 square-foot studio that will hold four soundstages. Williams’ team believes Cinema City could generate 1,000 good-paying jobs in the first five years."

  • 2 weeks later...

Cleveland neighborhood landmark Sterle's may be bought by Famicos Foundation

Stan Bullard - Crain's Cleveland Business - June 10, 2021

 

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"Although Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Emily Hagan has not acted on the motion, Famicos was the sole bidder for the old Slovenian eatery, and its nearly 2-acre site, at a court-ordered online auction on May 28. The nonprofit made the minimum bid of $187,334 for the old 14,000-square-foot restaurant and massive parking lot, according to Columbus auctioneer Barry Baker's report to the court. At prior sales, there were no bidders. ... Khrys Shefton, Famicos real estate development director, said on the same call with Anoliefo that Famicos is launching a planning process for that area and would conduct discussions with neighboring residents and others this summer."

^ There's something very tragic about that place going so cheaply and to a sole bidder. 

1 minute ago, surfohio said:

^ There's something very tragic about that place going so cheaply and to a sole bidder. 

I assume in this situation it was also the minimum bid?   Otherwise I'm sure the winning bidder is kicking themselves!  

 

 

so sad -- many good times at frankie sterles. 

 

i hope something good comes of the site eventually.

  • 4 months later...

Vision for new Hitchcock Women's Center edges closer to reality, even as major roadblocks remain

Ronald Kisner - TheLand - Nov. 2, 2021

 

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"A $23 million plan to update the Hitchcock Women’s Center in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood is $7 million from becoming a game-changing reality. The center, located inside the former St. Mary’s Seminary on Ansel Road, would be — with renovation — the only facility in Cuyahoga County housing women and families with substance abuse issues. Despite showing its age and lack of many modern amenities, the 1929 building occupied by Hitchcock since 1992 continues to provide comprehensive services to women battling addiction but who also may be homeless or unemployed. ... At the moment, the financial ball is in the hands of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. County Councilwoman Yvonne Conwell, a strong advocate for the Hitchcock initiative, said the county does not want to contribute more funds than the city."

  • 6 months later...
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  • 2 months later...

Can't miss this spot:

 

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Nice reno! I wrote about the plans a while ago and am glad it looks pretty close to the attractive drawings.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

  • 1 month later...

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

This is awesome! This neighborhood has lost a lot of these over the past few years. Nice to see one being saved!

 

The old "Bonna hookups & variety store". It's nice to see, but my old neighborhood has miles to go. My family knows someone who was shot right there, my cousins still live a few houses down towards St. Clair.

I ride past that building on Bonna and 60th once a week and have admired it every time. This is a sturdy looking gem and the homes around it are still pretty solid looking and densely packed. This is great for that neighborhood.

 

That said, Famous Foundation has done nothing positive with the old Sterles building just down the street on Bonna & 55th. In fact, they've clearly not secured it properly allowing it to get broken into repeatedly with multiple open windows and scrappers appear to have gutted the HVAC system on the roof. It broke my heart when the restaurant was shuttered, but it makes me mad to see the uniquely beautiful building being neglected and ravaged. 

Not to defend Famicos, but before they took it over a lot of the damage was already done. Not sure where I saw it posted (maybe here?) but I feel like for a while there there were a lot of urbex photos and whatnot of the old restaurant. I haven't gone by there in a hot minute so maybe its worse today than it was, but I think the damage has been more of a slow burn than anything.

2 hours ago, NapsFan said:

I ride past that building on Bonna and 60th once a week and have admired it every time. This is a sturdy looking gem and the homes around it are still pretty solid looking and densely packed. This is great for that neighborhood.

 

That said, Famous Foundation has done nothing positive with the old Sterles building just down the street on Bonna & 55th. In fact, they've clearly not secured it properly allowing it to get broken into repeatedly with multiple open windows and scrappers appear to have gutted the HVAC system on the roof. It broke my heart when the restaurant was shuttered, but it makes me mad to see the uniquely beautiful building being neglected and ravaged. 

 

It's really hard to completely secure a vacant building if people really want to get into it.  You can call them and they will send someone out to resecure any doors or window boards to at least keep out casual intruders.

  • 1 month later...

@mjarboe from Crains is reporting the Richman Brothers building has been sold to a NY interest affiliated with CMI Developers. It mentions mixed use as a possible outcome.

1 hour ago, freethink said:

@mjarboe from Crains is reporting the Richman Brothers building has been sold to a NY interest affiliated with CMI Developers. It mentions mixed use as a possible outcome.

 

dont get your hopes up -- i looked it up and its a nothing address deep in hasidic brooklyn. who knows, but property flippers likely.

1 hour ago, mrnyc said:

 

dont get your hopes up -- i looked it up and its a nothing address deep in hasidic brooklyn. who knows, but property flippers likely.

 

Kensington? 

  • 1 month later...

That's a pretty cool building to see. But, from what I remember, it is already a live/work space. I've been to small gallery openings there and have visited friends living there. Probably just not an advertised live/work space. 

Edited by scg80

5 hours ago, scg80 said:

That's a pretty cool building to see. But, from what I remember, it is already a live/work space. I've been to small gallery openings there and have visited friends living there. Probably just not an advertised live/work space. 

Not currently. It's only office space except for the cider brewery in the basement run by the current owner. Most of the office tenants are lawyers, and only a few want to stay if the building sells.

I had a close look at that building. The amount of needed brick tuckpointing is going to be extensive. Roof seems new and well done though.

 

East of town is all that's affordable and close for artists, though up to E 55th is elevated with speculation already.

  • 3 weeks later...

Discuss memories, changes in restaurant market, etc in the restaurant thread (click on the post quote below to reach that thread). Famicos owns this site, soon to be vacated for redevelopment. Anyone want it? What should be done with it?

 

Just now, KJP said:

Sterles-012423-KJP-2s.jpg

 

Sterle’s to be demolished

By Ken Prendergast / January 25, 2023

 

If the demolition permit application filed Jan. 20 with the city wasn’t enough of an indication, the heavy equipment in the parking lot of Frank Sterle’s Slovenian Country House is.

 

A longtime ethnic and cultural institution, not only for the neighborhood but for the entire metro area, is coming down. And that breaks the hearts of Slovenians, Croats and others who grew up in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood. Among those is Joe Cimperman, president of the pro-immigration economic development organization Global Cleveland and a former Cleveland city councilman. He grew up nearby on East 74th Street near St. Clair Avenue.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2023/01/25/sterles-to-be-demolished/

 

 

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

I remember when that group bought the site in 2012 and they had such exciting plans for the whole area, including the Lake Shore bank building across the street. Hard not to be pessimistic after this news. On one hand the neighborhood seems primed to benefit from spill over redevelopment from downtown/Asiatown; but you have to wonder how many more years a lot of prominent structures in this neighborhood have left. 

1 hour ago, bumsquare said:

I remember when that group bought the site in 2012 and they had such exciting plans for the whole area, including the Lake Shore bank building across the street. 

The original Hofbrauhaus is gone.  Sokolowski's is gone. Many establishments in Slavic Village are gone. And now Sterle's.   Very sad.  Well, at least they opened a new Hofbrauhaus downtown (which I have not been to yet).

 

Edited by LibertyBlvd

1 hour ago, LibertyBlvd said:

The original Hofbrauhaus is gone.  Sokolowski's is gone. Many establishments in Slavic Village are gone. And now Sterle's.   Very sad.  Well, at least they opened a new Hofbrauhaus downtown (which I have not been to yet).

 

Lol New? That place is like 10 years old, what have you been waiting for?

1 hour ago, LibertyBlvd said:

The original Hofbrauhaus is gone.  Sokolowski's is gone. Many establishments in Slavic Village are gone. And now Sterle's.   Very sad.  Well, at least they opened a new Hofbrauhaus downtown (which I have not been to yet).

 

 

Hopefully Cleveland gets lucky and catches the attention of a rich Slovenian / Eastern European entrepreneur who feels moved by the stories of what once was here and builds another one of these magnificent halls. One can dream anyway. 

Let's not forget that the Richman Brothers building just sold to a New York-based investment group. No one seems to know what they have in mind for this property including another across the street so let's just wait and see.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

I happened to drive by Richman's the other day, and it looked really beaten up.  I hope it is salvageable.  Where did the 700 fussy tailors end up?  

46 minutes ago, urb-a-saurus said:

I happened to drive by Richman's the other day, and it looked really beaten up.  I hope it is salvageable.  Where did the 700 fussy tailors end up?  

Bangledesh?

4 hours ago, LibertyBlvd said:

The original Hofbrauhaus is gone.  Sokolowski's is gone. Many establishments in Slavic Village are gone. And now Sterle's.   Very sad.  Well, at least they opened a new Hofbrauhaus downtown (which I have not been to yet).

 

This is indeed sad.  When we moved back to Cleveland, these places are what excited us about making the move.  Visitors from out of town were amazed at the extent of the Eastern European fabric that was still here with these institutions which are not found in many other cities. 

We also lost Balaton in Shaker Square, even though they are supposed to reopen in Bainbridge, its Bainbridge….

Edited by willyboy

Fortunately you can find new places in Parma. But for many of the ethnic groups that have been in Cleveland for a long time without new immigrants are being assimilated and have lost their desire for  authentic ethnic restaurants and other places that are institutions of their culture. Finding a British restaurant is impossible. A French restaurant is difficult. Many German restaurants have disappeared. Irish restaurants are fewer, but quite a few are still around yet how many still have Irish music? Italian restaurants still seems to hold strong but you can't find as many Italian-American or Sons of Italy clubs. Ditto for Polish-American clubs. Or Slavic, Czech and so on. There are lots of Albanian, Mexican, Vietnamese, Indian and of course Chinese restaurants. They are Cleveland's newest immigrants. Someday they may fade away too.

 

I do think that there's a good chance we'll see more development activity on East 55th in the coming years. The development of the Superior Arts District is going to push more artists out this way. The Richman Brothers redevelopment, the development around the Euclid-Carnegie intersections, the food industry cluster farther south, etc. The St. Clair-Superior neighborhood near East 55th was a fascinating white enclave in a mostly black east side post-1960. It's changing again. 

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

2 hours ago, KJP said:

But for many of the ethnic groups that have been in Cleveland for a long time without new immigrants are being assimilated and have lost their desire for  authentic ethnic restaurants and other places that are institutions of their culture. . . . There are lots of Albanian, Mexican, Vietnamese, Indian and of course Chinese restaurants. They are Cleveland's newest immigrants. Someday they may fade away too.

Cleveland could really boost its fortunes with a robust and well-organized immigrant-assistance program that encouraged immigrants to come to Cleveland (and live in and rehab older neighborhoods).  Hard work, but it would pay off in the long run -- new small businesses, rehabilitated neighborhoods, increased diversity of ideas.

 

I won’t hold my breath. Famicos has a few projects that they are supposed to be starting that haven’t broken ground yet, most notably the senior housing on East 125th and Superior. We will see what happens with the apartments on Chester (Chester 81?). My point is they aren’t that large so I don’t think they are capable of juggling so many projects.


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Decided to make a pitstop before Goldhorn. Sterles from today. Just like the playhouse, please be mindful sharing these out. 

 

It's like they closed and nothing changed- there's still a menu on the kitchen whiteboard, notes, menus, etc. . The most damage is in the kitchen and area above it. What a bummer. 

 

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Any sign of the culprit?

On 1/25/2023 at 2:24 PM, KJP said:

The St. Clair-Superior neighborhood near East 55th was a fascinating white enclave in a mostly black east side post-1960. It's changing again. 

I live in the neighborhood, east of 55th, coincidentally next to one of the very, very few Slovenian-Americans who hasn't left yet, (though he still threatens it regularly.) He's a trumpy former Union Dem, with the expected racial attitudes, (comfortable with my White self,) but we "don't talk politics" anymore after I challenged his typical trumpy FOX News BS. Otherwise we get along fine. He's happy I rescued the house.

 

For another perspective, I'll recount my encounter with Councilwoman Howse at an LMM rehab, (several more LMM projects are also going on,) where I was waiting to greet her and introduce myself. She hadn't visibly seen me as she was engaged with a young Black man who, though I didn't hear exactly what he said, seemed to express concerns about being north of Superior. What I did hear clearly was her response which was, "Don't worry. This is our neighborhood now."

I thought to myself, "how sad" that race still figures so much into the dynamics of this city, in a neighborhood abandoned by anyone of any race, (excepting the terrible suburban-style new homes south of Superior,) that could afford to get out. Nevertheless I said hello, and that "I just moved here," and she was perfectly pleasant, not expressing any surprise or inquiring further.

 

Yes, these euro-ethnic restaurants are certainly gone from St Clair-Superior, and I just learned that Empress Taytu is for sale, which was also troubling.

 

St Martin De Porres sure seems to think this neighborhood is worth the investment.

 

I think what bothers me the most is the absence of the young folks that I knew who accepted the challenge and similar "Boomer terror" of the Near West side, such as Ohio City and Tremont. I was one of those who rehabbed a house there with very limited funds and a willingness to hurt myself. I sold out and moved here, which in my opinion is an even more valuable location with a better chance at doing it right, but still, young kids seem terrified of the east side. I even know a young Black couple who grew up in Hough, thought I was nuts, and now live in Tremont.

 

I don't know what's going to break the patterns, but come on: halfway between Downtown and University Circle is the place to be.

  • 2 months later...

The land bank is trying to save a diamond in the rough. 

 

 

This seems like a beautiful building at a critical intersection. A quality adaptive reuse will do wonders for the neighborhood! 

I've been inside. It's a mess. Built as a bank, I believe. No idea what could be done with it.

  • 1 month later...

Brownhoist-050623-KJP-1s.jpg

 

Brownhoist lifts a new future
By Ken Prendergast / May 25, 2023

 

Some buildings are just walls, floors and a roof. Others have architecture, history and modifications that encourage visitors and tenants to crane their head or to look around each corner as they listen to their buildings’ curators tell stories and experiences about them. Its setting is among the reasons why the Brownhoist Building, 4403 St. Clair Ave., in Cleveland’s St. Clair-Superior neighborhood has become an idea-generating co-working space for artists.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2023/05/25/brownhoist-lifts-a-new-future/

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

Brownhoist-050623-KJP-1s.jpg
 
Brownhoist lifts a new future
By Ken Prendergast / May 25, 2023
 
Some buildings are just walls, floors and a roof. Others have architecture, history and modifications that encourage visitors and tenants to crane their head or to look around each corner as they listen to their buildings’ curators tell stories and experiences about them. Its setting is among the reasons why the Brownhoist Building, 4403 St. Clair Ave., in Cleveland’s St. Clair-Superior neighborhood has become an idea-generating co-working space for artists.
 
MORE:
https://neo-trans.blog/2023/05/25/brownhoist-lifts-a-new-future/

Since Artist are moving in this will be the next hot area based on trends


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11 hours ago, MyPhoneDead said:


Since Artist are moving in this will be the next hot area based on trends


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

That's often a pretty good leading indicator. 

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

Another portion of the Brown Hoist complex was this building designed by J. Milton Dyer (Cleveland City Hall, Cleveland Athletic Club, Coast Guard Station, Tavern Club, etc.). Although it's currently used only as a warehouse, which fortunately means it's being maintained and not decaying, I wonder if this migration from the Art Craft Bldg. can provide as a catalyst in transforming this very impressive structure as well. Hamilton Ave. is a dense, narrow street that, although tattered and rough looking now, has great potential.

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BROWN HOIST.jpg

Edited by Barneyboy

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