Harbor Group International buys 10-story parking garage in downtown Cleveland

 

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,3198.msg580014.html#msg580014

Wasn't sure where to put this.

 

Crowne Plaza in downtown Cleveland sold; Optima, Sage plan $64 million overhaul as a Westin hotel

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Downtown Cleveland's second-largest hotel will close next month and be converted into a four-star Westin.

An investor group closed a deal late Wednesday to buy the Crowne Plaza Cleveland City Centre from defunct financial-services giant Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

 

Optima Ventures and Sage Hospitality paid $9 million cash for the 472-room hotel and parking garage, at 777. St. Clair Ave. In November, the partners will start a $64.5 million overhaul of the building, a money-losing property in need of dramatic renovations.

 

The Westin would open in mid-2013, with a new exterior, a new roof, 481 remodeled hotel rooms, a restaurant, a fitness center and - possibly - a spa. The buyers hope to connect the hotel to Cleveland's historic Public Auditorium, creating an indoor pathway to a new convention center and medical mart complex set to open in fall 2013.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/10/crowne_plaza_in_downtown_cleve.html

Great...some news to discuss at last.

 

When I first saw the post it hit me that this meant that a Westin was not going to go into the John Hartness Brown Buildings on the north side of Euclid as suggested a while back in that thread.  Then I saw that the very extensive article (towards the end) indicates that Starwood is now talking to those developers about putting in a Le Meridian brand instead, of which there are only 7 in the US.  While still in the talking stage this could be double good news.

Great project! I would like to see a facade!

 

One thing scared me though....

 

"Optima and Sage are still debating between an overhead bridge and an underground walkway between the hotel and the historic buildings"

 

They better not f$&king put a bridge into the side of the Public Auditorium.

Cleveland's Amtrak station on track for needed changes: Road Rant

 

Katie Hagan eventually found Cleveland's tucked-away Amtrak station after searching and circling at 4 a.m. on a recent Saturday. It did not turn out to be a hidden gem. Amtrak told Road Rant it intends to upgrade the downtown site that Hagan described -- quite accurately, by the way -- as depressing, dank and dreary. Interior renovations should transform the ticket counter and restrooms inside the South Marginal Road building set behind and below City Hall.

 

Check back next year, though: Things could be different.

 

Interesting is the 19% increase in traffic between 2008 and 2010.

 

Read the rest here: http://www.cleveland.com/roadrant/index.ssf/2011/10/clevelands_amtrak_station_on_t.html

Optima....Since 2008' date=' the company has been on a Cleveland buying spree, snapping up the Penton Media Building, next to the Crowne Plaza; One Cleveland Center; the Huntington Building on Euclid Avenue; and 55 Public Square.[/quote']

 

interesting. of course, we don't too many major buildings in the hands of one single owner.... but its good to see someone willing to put money in town.

 

The Westin Hotel is good news. I hope the Le Meridien deal happens as well.

Great project! I would like to see a facade!

 

One thing scared me though....

 

"Optima and Sage are still debating between an overhead bridge and an underground walkway between the hotel and the historic buildings"

 

They better not f$&king put a bridge into the side of the Public Auditorium.

 

Both Westins had been mentioned for a while and I never understood why they would put 2 westins in Downtown Cleveland (with the Crown Plaza possibility being mentioned first).  But his would make sense...  a Le Meridian...  Would be another good option. 

 

Again, I don't see how or why an overhead bridge would be approved for this site (I think they are being extremely presumptuous in saying that). 

 

Plus,a while back it was mentioned on here that there was already an underground connection, which I was never really sure about. 

Can you also post this in the Amtrak thread?

 

 

Cleveland's Amtrak station on track for needed changes: Road Rant

 

Katie Hagan eventually found Cleveland's tucked-away Amtrak station after searching and circling at 4 a.m. on a recent Saturday. It did not turn out to be a hidden gem. Amtrak told Road Rant it intends to upgrade the downtown site that Hagan described -- quite accurately, by the way -- as depressing, dank and dreary. Interior renovations should transform the ticket counter and restrooms inside the South Marginal Road building set behind and below City Hall.

 

Check back next year, though: Things could be different.

 

Interesting is the 19% increase in traffic between 2008 and 2010.

 

Read the rest here: http://www.cleveland.com/roadrant/index.ssf/2011/10/clevelands_amtrak_station_on_t.html

Alright guys, I got a (small) random development to announce - I just purchased this building on Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights right near Melt.  I am going to replace the storefronts and gut the inside.  There are two storefronts - one is about 1,000 sf the other is about 2,500 sf.  I am having a "commercial garage sale" this weekend to get rid of the stuff that was left inside.  I don't have tenants yet, so please let me know if you know of anyone looking for space in CH.  Here is the link for the garage sale:

 

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/gms/2331889603.html

 

 

Any updates on the building?

With the recent changes going on at Crowne Plaza, it made me realize of another possible development in that area of East 9th block.  Crown Plaza is getting a complete new facade, what happened with the federal building on 9th getting a new facade?  Was that suppose to start soon, or sometime in 2012?

^work at the Federal Bldg is already underway.

^work at the Federal Bldg is already underway.

 

Really? I pass by it everyday and havent noticed anything

^work at the Federal Bldg is already underway.

 

Thanks.  Being 1200 miles away, I can't exactly walk down East 9th like I use to and be able to see progress.  I don't mean to press the issue, but is there a timeline to completion?

To pick everyone's brain (and hopefully I haven't missed it in another thread): I was downtown and the parking lot on the north side of Prospect beside E. 8th (google maps says approximate address 616 Prospect) is being dug up...anyone heard anything about or seen this? I was driving so I wasn't able to stop and see if there were any signs.  I've google searched and went to the city website, but cannot find anything.

Maybe it's Jimmy Hoffa?

There are banners up in the old Sushi 86 place for a Southern Cuisine place.  They indicate opening in Fall 2011, but I have yet to see any actual work besides the banners. 

Wow, Southern Cuisine places suddenly seem to be all the rage......

Since I haven't seen anything I'm assuming I'm looking in the wrong place (search for "coast guard" doesn't bring up anything recent and relevant).  Does anyone know whats being built at the coast guard station?

^ The new Coast Guard Station...

 

http://greatlakes.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2010/11/groundbreaking-a-new-day-for-clevelands-coast-guard-facilities/

Here's a rendering

Cool. Thank you both.

To pick everyone's brain (and hopefully I haven't missed it in another thread): I was downtown and the parking lot on the north side of Prospect beside E. 8th (google maps says approximate address 616 Prospect) is being dug up...anyone heard anything about or seen this? I was driving so I wasn't able to stop and see if there were any signs.  I've google searched and went to the city website, but cannot find anything.

 

I think they are just repairing the side wall on the 668-attached garage.  A section has been removed for a while now and they are putting in replacement cinder blocks today.

 

Unrelated - I wouldn't be suprised if someone plowed into it, damaging it.  While living there and parking in the garage, we once saw a car shear itself practically in half because the driver accelerated forward from their parking spot into the split middle section. Madness.

I'll have to walk by this weekend...It's been nothing but overtime the last two weeks, so no pics or walking around.

Basically the tiny little article(found it in the paper), says that they acquired a 120 unit apartment complex in Euclid which is their fourth acquisition since the last quarter in 2010. It goes on to say they hope to add 1,000 units to their portfolio of about 13,000 units in NEO. And the company expects to close on a 270 unit project in downtown Cleveland by September.

 

I want to know what ever happened with this.

Cleveland left holding hundreds of bike grips after Gateway art project dies

CLEVELAND, Ohio --

The fear of lawsuits has won out over public art in the Gateway district, leaving the city holding $23,000 worth of customized bike grips and no place to put them.

 

Plans to bond nearly 600 of the handles, each with a lime-green streamer, above the city's slick, new bike station are dead.

 

The reason - the Bike Rack on East Fourth Street is on the ground floor of a Gateway garage now owned by Rock Ohio Caesars Cleveland, LLC.

 

Developers of the nearby casino don't want the risk that comes with some yahoo using the eye-catching handles to climb the side of the garage.

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/10/cleveland_left_holding_23000_w.html

Long-vacant Tops supermarket box in Cleveland gets restocked with a Save-A-Lot, Forman Mills

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Five years after Tops pulled out, the grocery store in Cleveland's Glenville-Forest Hills neighborhood sits empty - yet another vacant box.

 

That's about to change, as real estate companies here and across the country seek creative ways to remake tired retail space.

 

A developer expects to start construction Saturday on a $1.25 million makeover of the 65,000-square-foot building, at 11905 Superior Ave.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/10/long-vacant_tops_supermarket_b.html

Just read an article on Cleveland.com about Stouffer's Top of the Town, and it got me wondering: what is the current status of the former restaurant area of Erieview Tower?? Is it sitting vacant or was the kitchen and restaurant disassembled? Wish it could return in some form... I wish I could've experienced it!

Not sure where to put this, so feel free to move it, but another article about the housing bust in the NYT focusing on Cleveland.  I realize it happens here, but why not focus on Pittsburgh or Buffalo or any other town once in a while?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/suburban-poverty-surge-challenges-communities.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

Just read an article on Cleveland.com about Stouffer's Top of the Town, and it got me wondering: what is the current status of the former restaurant area of Erieview Tower?? Is it sitting vacant or was the kitchen and restaurant disassembled? Wish it could return in some form... I wish I could've experienced it!

It was turned into offices shortly after the restaurant closed, if I remember correctly

Not sure where to put this, so feel free to move it, but another article about the housing bust in the NYT focusing on Cleveland.  I realize it happens here, but why not focus on Pittsburgh or Buffalo or any other town once in a while?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/suburban-poverty-surge-challenges-communities.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

 

They have some idea about the general socioeconomic and geographic layout here.  Probably one of their key reporters is from here.

Anyone have any idea what Marous Bros. is building at the corner of Neff and Bella in Collinwood?

 

Nobody?  Lots of earth neing moved here.  Doesn't seem like a resurfacing.  The structure immediately to the NW is now an ethnic (slovenean?) based assisted living facility and I believe they tore down the two houses beteen that and Save-a-lot to create a more *dramatic* entrance with ample parking in the front.  Hopefully, that opened the lot formerly used as parking for a better purpose?

 

Signage is now up.  It is an expansion of the Slovenian Home, building over the old surface lot to the south.

Cleveland will tap endowment to fix historic cemeteries

Published: Monday, October 31, 2011, 5:51 AM

Thomas Ott, The Plain Dealer By Thomas Ott, The Plain Dealer

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Voices -- not of the dead but for the dead -- have persuaded Cleveland to sink money into three aged municipal cemeteries filled with prominent historical figures.

 

The city will withdraw $2.3 million from a cemetery endowment fund, more than a third of the principal, largely to fix three old graveyards: Erie, off downtown's East Ninth Street; Woodland, located on Woodland Avenue between East 66th and East 71st streets; and Monroe Street in the West Side's Ohio City neighborhood.

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/10/cleveland_will_tap_endowment_t.html

Another blow to Urban areas by Governor Kasich

 

Brownfield grant programs may lapse

 

Two state economic development grant programs that help businesses and communities resurrect distressed properties may expire in the next eight months, and the Kasich administration so far has no plan in place to continue them.

 

Both programs — the Clean Ohio Fund and the Job Ready Sites program — have strong support statewide, particularly in urban areas that have little or no undeveloped land. With outright grants, the programs help cover part of the cost of cleaning up chemically contaminated land or vacant, asbestos-filled buildings.

 

“It was supposed to end June 2014, but word out of Columbus is it will end sooner,” said one observer who asked not to be identified because he's shepherding brownfield projects still under review. “I'm very concerned about them pulling the rug out from under us.”

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20111107/SUB1/311079984

 

Another blow to Urban areas by Governor Kasich

 

Brownfield grant programs may lapse

 

Two state economic development grant programs that help businesses and communities resurrect distressed properties may expire in the next eight months, and the Kasich administration so far has no plan in place to continue them.

 

Both programs the Clean Ohio Fund and the Job Ready Sites program have strong support statewide, particularly in urban areas that have little or no undeveloped land. With outright grants, the programs help cover part of the cost of cleaning up chemically contaminated land or vacant, asbestos-filled buildings.

 

It was supposed to end June 2014, but word out of Columbus is it will end sooner, said one observer who asked not to be identified because he's shepherding brownfield projects still under review. I'm very concerned about them pulling the rug out from under us.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20111107/SUB1/311079984

 

 

Any solution to the brownfields issue needs to be federal, ideally some sort of waiver for new businesses in areas with high unemployment.  It's simply less potential hassle to build in a greenfield.

^Yes, but these properties are upside down from a financial sense. You need more than an environmental waiver, you need dollars to get the land cleared and cleaned to a condition comparable to a greenfield.

Let's keep the politics in the politics threads.  I hate to see that crap on a perfectly good development thread.

 

Cleveland: New Collinwood rec center shines

 

CLEVELAND -- Saturday will be a landmark day in Collinwood history.

 

Officials will cut a ribbon and a new recreation center will open in the community after a 20-year battle to pick a location and get it built. 

 

It's the city's first new rec center in 14 years.

 

http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/214642/3/Cleveland-New-Collinwood-rec-center-shines

Nothing huge but quite a visible change in the skyline; Fifth Third Center signage is getting switched from the old:

 

 

To the new - or for those of us font geeks, from Optima Bold to Copperplate Gothic:

Another change to an existing downtown office building. This is cross-posted from "Cleveland: converting downtown office towers into residential"....

 

From: http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16543565/1717-East-9th-St-Cleveland-OH/

 

Auction 3/4: 346,500 sqft High-Rise Office

1717 East 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114

 

 

Price:N/A

Building Size:346,500 SF

Property Type:Office

Property Sub-type:Office Building

Property Use Type:Vacant/Owner-User

Auction:Yes

No. Stories:21

Building Class:A

Year Built:1958

 

Description

 

REDC and Jones Lang LaSalle are proud to auction this vacant 21-story office tower that contains approximately 346,500 square feet of office, retail and storage space, and an attached 7-story, 545-stall parking garage. Designed by Emery Roth & Sons and completed in 1959, 1717 East 9th Street became the headquarters for the East Ohio Gas Company and was known as the East Ohio Building until 2004.

 

It is an ideal candidate for large users to purchase or lease. The building's efficient floor plates are also well suited to small and mid-sized tenants, making multi-tenancy an attractive option. The building is also a strong candidate for conversion to hotel and/or residential uses.

 

The Property' s large parking garage offers a parking ratio of 1.6 spaces per 1,000 square feet, one of the highest garage parking ratios of any office building in downtown Cleveland. The deck serves parking needs for several of the surrounding buildings and reflects the strong overall location.

 

The property is situated in the heart of Cleveland' s financial district. Located at the Southeast corner of Superior Avenue and East 9th Street, the Property offers convenient access to most of the significant destinations in the central business district. Just one block east of the Property, along East 12th Street is The Avenue District, a recently developed residential community which includes for lease and sale units, along with unique retail boutiques and coffee shops. The Property is within three blocks of the East 4th neighborhood, a vibrant mixed-use entertainment district with over 220 apartments.

 

 

Well, so much for a residential conversion. Looks like they're going to renovate this building for offices.....

 

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Profile/Profile.aspx?LID=14076412&SRID=2181207857&StepID=101&LinkCode=20280

 

1717 East Ninth Street Building

1717 E 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114-2806

 

Total Space Available:266,666 SF

Rental Rate:$23 /SF/Year

Min. Divisible:884 SF

Max. Contiguous:16,500 SF

Property Type:Office

Property Sub-type:Office Building

Building Size:346,500 SF

Building Class:B

Year Built:1959

No. Parking Spaces:0

Zoning Description:Office

 

 

Description

24 hrs 7 day access & security. Two(2) Conference Centers, Complete Renovation planned, including new exterior, Ample parking is available in the atached 540 space covered garage. 6,918 sq ft basement storage.; Loss Factor: 6

 

The building is located in the heart of the Central Business District at E. 9th st & Superior Ave

^I am confused.  Who is doing the complete renovation?

Another change to an existing downtown office building. This is cross-posted from "Cleveland: converting downtown office towers into residential"....

 

From: http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16543565/1717-East-9th-St-Cleveland-OH/

 

Auction 3/4: 346,500 sqft High-Rise Office

1717 East 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114

 

 

Price:N/A

Building Size:346,500 SF

Property Type:Office

Property Sub-type:Office Building

Property Use Type:Vacant/Owner-User

Auction:Yes

No. Stories:21

Building Class:A

Year Built:1958

 

Description

 

REDC and Jones Lang LaSalle are proud to auction this vacant 21-story office tower that contains approximately 346,500 square feet of office, retail and storage space, and an attached 7-story, 545-stall parking garage. Designed by Emery Roth & Sons and completed in 1959, 1717 East 9th Street became the headquarters for the East Ohio Gas Company and was known as the East Ohio Building until 2004.

 

It is an ideal candidate for large users to purchase or lease. The building's efficient floor plates are also well suited to small and mid-sized tenants, making multi-tenancy an attractive option. The building is also a strong candidate for conversion to hotel and/or residential uses.

 

The Property' s large parking garage offers a parking ratio of 1.6 spaces per 1,000 square feet, one of the highest garage parking ratios of any office building in downtown Cleveland. The deck serves parking needs for several of the surrounding buildings and reflects the strong overall location.

 

The property is situated in the heart of Cleveland' s financial district. Located at the Southeast corner of Superior Avenue and East 9th Street, the Property offers convenient access to most of the significant destinations in the central business district. Just one block east of the Property, along East 12th Street is The Avenue District, a recently developed residential community which includes for lease and sale units, along with unique retail boutiques and coffee shops. The Property is within three blocks of the East 4th neighborhood, a vibrant mixed-use entertainment district with over 220 apartments.

 

 

Well, so much for a residential conversion. Looks like they're going to renovate this building for offices.....

 

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Profile/Profile.aspx?LID=14076412&SRID=2181207857&StepID=101&LinkCode=20280

 

1717 East Ninth Street Building

1717 E 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114-2806

 

Total Space Available:266,666 SF

Rental Rate:$23 /SF/Year

Min. Divisible:884 SF

Max. Contiguous:16,500 SF

Property Type:Office

Property Sub-type:Office Building

Building Size:346,500 SF

Building Class:B

Year Built:1959

No. Parking Spaces:0

Zoning Description:Office

 

 

Description

24 hrs 7 day access & security. Two(2) Conference Centers, Complete Renovation planned, including new exterior, Ample parking is available in the atached 540 space covered garage. 6,918 sq ft basement storage.; Loss Factor: 6

 

The building is located in the heart of the Central Business District at E. 9th st & Superior Ave

 

Well this is excellent news, I wonder if they have any prospective tenants. That Corner of Superior has been vacant for so long it turned into the hobo-hangout, I am glad to see it finally redeveloped.

Description

24 hrs 7 day access & security. Two(2) Conference Centers, Complete Renovation planned, including new exterior, Ample parking is available in the atached 540 space covered garage. 6,918 sq ft basement storage.; Loss Factor: 6

Read more: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,3594.msg587450/topicseen.html#new#ixzz1dteku5rJ

 

 

What's "Loss Factor" mean?

 

 

It's used to convert rentable square feet to usable square feet.  It accounts for the common areas of the building.  So if a space is 5,000 rentable square feet in that building, it is actually only 4,700 usable square feet.  You pay rent on rentable square feet.  6% is pretty low.   

 

You also have add-on factor which converts usable to rentable.  So in the above situation, the add-on factor would be 6.38%.  200 Public Square probably has the highest add-on factor in Cleveland - it is north of 20% last I heard.

 

 

Description

24 hrs 7 day access & security. Two(2) Conference Centers, Complete Renovation planned, including new exterior, Ample parking is available in the atached 540 space covered garage. 6,918 sq ft basement storage.; Loss Factor: 6

 

The building is located in the heart of the Central Business District at E. 9th st & Superior Ave

 

I hope they don't change the exterior too much, this is my favorite of Cleveland's "glass box" modern skyscrapers.

^ Thats funny, its my least!

Wasn't the 1717 E 9th St Bldg up for auction a year or two ago, but there were no bidders?

Wasn't the 1717 E 9th St Bldg up for auction a year or two ago, but there were no bidders?

 

Yes, it went up for Internet auction in March 2011. There were no takers, so the owner 1717 E. 9TH Street LLC (owned in turn by Sovereign Partners of New York, NY) made some kind of ownership change by itself the following month. I don't understand it, but it involved a change to its plat deed, according to auditor records.

 

The building is for sale. (old Ohio Edison?) I have been in contact with the group in New York. We're going to do some window makeovers on it. At least some of it. Stay tuned.

 

The building is for sale. (old Ohio Edison?)

 

East Ohio Gas.

Even if you have rents high enough and development costs that are low enough for downtown office or housing construction (which downtown still seems to lacks), there's still the financing side. So even if downtown became an average investment, the chances of getting financing still aren't great. Why? Read......

 

Lending is back for big-ticket property

But preference goes to newer commercial sites with low vacancy

By STAN BULLARD

4:30 am, November 21, 2011

 

Commercial real estate lending in Northeast Ohio has begun its journey down the comeback trail, though obstacles remain for developers and property buyers that are keeping the path to loans from being as smooth as it was prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

 

Two recent deals are illustrative of recovery — at least in the Class A, or high, end of the commercial market.

 

First Interstate Properties Ltd., through an affiliate, secured a $5 million mortgage Oct. 18 from Huntington Bank for the last phase of the acquisition of Oakwood Country Club, which straddles the border of Cleveland Heights and South Euclid. First Interstate plans to turn the property into a big-box shopping center in South Euclid and an age-restricted residential and continuing care community in Cleveland Heights.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20111121/SUB1/311219952

 

(requires subscription, but as we all know, there's a way around it)

 

 

This paragraph is worth noting:

However, the road to a rebound has potholes: Lenders want only prime deals involving attractive properties with creditworthy developers or owners. If properties are older, poorly located or have vacancy issues, loans remain tough to secure.