Can't wait to see the article... born and bred in Lakewood, I'm excited to see the Rockport Square project moving along.

 

Now that there are residents moving into a couple of the units and the buildings look bout completed, I can't say I'm stunned with the first phase, a little heavy-handed design-wise (and I hear there have been structural problems to clean up, as well e.g. cantilever) but it does create the urban-massing on the street (no vacant lots  :-D) and a continuous streetscape on Detroit that we've been looking forward to. Can't wait until retail spaces are put on the street!

 

Besides the old Chevy lot that Rockport is building on, and the lot Rosewood is taking, I have my eyes on the other car dealerships marching westward along Detroit Avenue...

My eye is on the vacated Delorean Cadillac dealership at West 117th and Madison. That property, plus the Burger King and the dumpy stores right at the corner need to get the hell out of there. For the past six months or so, I've been hearing rumblings about that site, but nothing more than that. The whole area cries out for very high density development, being right next to the Rapid station that's under redevelopment. If they build it, and I can afford it, I would definitely consider moving to it.

The City was trying to market the Delorean site at a recent real estate conference as I read recently.

I agree about the site - its probably the space in that neighborhood I'd most like to see  occupied.

 

BTW, maybe its a good thing that that block wasn't developed years ago as speculated - it was once proposed as a set back shopping strip like that at Marc's in Lakewood or Church Square in Fairfax from what I can recall (before the New Urbanist bug caught on).

If the project gets beyond rumblings KJP, maybe I'll be a neighbor of yours in a few years.

Wouldn't Rysar be the perfect developer for it?  They've been very active along the W. 117th corridor and into both Cleveland and Lakewood... 

My bad -- the live-work loft apartments (for sale, starting at $180,000) building will be on the south side of Detroit, between Hopkins and Winchester avenues. The building will have 11,000 square feet of ground floor retail along the Detroit Avenue sidewalk and two levels of parking (one of which will be below street level). I didn't count the number of housing units, but I can if requested. The penthouses will be two-story units with patios. The building is slated to open in Fall 2007. Here are a few graphics...

 

 

 

Cool!  I've been anxiously awaiting the retail part.  Too bad it doesn't open until 2007.  Here's keeping my fingers crossed for a bookstore...

I would prefer to see less retail in this sort of project.  Lakewood has enough retail as it is.  Increased housing in the area would help support the existing retail and fill up some of the vacancies.  I am not saying that there shouldn't be any retail, but I know that this project will cause some other storefronts to go vacant in the area.

Even with the increased residents and higher incomes this will bring to the neighborhood?

It takes a lot of residents to support retail of any sort.  It is unlikely that the increase in residents that this project will create will be enough to support any additional retail operations.  It will help the retailers that are present already, of course.

I can see how a Starbucks would want to locate in the area.  I can also see how that could hurt the area's other coffee shops. 

If there is some retail development, I would hope that it would be a sort of "third place" like a coffeehouse, bookstore, or other space where people could actually congregate and build up a nice little community feeling.  Of course, it'd be awfully nice if it would be a local entrepreneur rather than a national chain, but I'm sure the developer's pushing for a chain.  Much safer investment.

 

Now if only some of those vacant storefronts on Madison could fill up ...

 

 

Speaking of store fronts on Madison....I may be the last to know this, but I was told by the bartender last night that the tavern right there on Madison and Warren was closing down in June because they are going to rip the WHOLE building down to build yet ANOTHER Walgreens!  How many freaking drug stores do we need in this area! 

Speaking of store fronts on Madison....I may be the last to know this, but I was told by the bartender last night that the tavern right there on Madison and Warren was closing down in June because they are going to rip the WHOLE building down to build yet ANOTHER Walgreens!  How many freaking drug stores do we need in this area! 

 

Yeah, not the greatest of news.  At least they are going to build it up to the sidewalk like they did with the one on W. 117th.  But that will still leave a lot of asphalt in back.

Glad to hear they will at least front the sidewalk...are there any other things going in with it?  And I KNOW this is getting off the subject....but are the proposed stores off of 117th near I-90 (Target?) going to front the sidewalk as well?  and/or be multi level like other ventures I have seen? Top of 6th..Tribe 7 White Sux 1

That's The Warren Tavern.  One of my favorites.  They had one of Cleveland's best selection of beers, and at good prices.  There was no atmosphere, but hey, if the beer is good then to hell with the rest.  They aren't closing, though.  They are moving to Bufu, Egypt.  Or Brunswick or someplace like that.

Glad to hear they will at least front the sidewalk...are there any other things going in with it?  And I KNOW this is getting off the subject....but are the proposed stores off of 117th near I-90 (Target?) going to front the sidewalk as well?  and/or be multi level like other ventures I have seen? Top of 6th..Tribe 7 White Sux 1

 

Target and a relocation of the Giant Eagle at West 116th and Clifton will not front the sidewalk at I-90 and West 117th, much to the dismay of the Councilwoman Dona Brady (and me!). Their location will be less convenient to me. I can no longer walk there as easily, thus I will be taking the circulator to the Giant Eagle at Bunts and Detroit or maybe the Tops just north of that (circulator goes right to Tops' front door).

Does anyone know how sales are going for Rockport Square?  I've seen the same signs in the windows for months.  2 units are sold, one of which is occupied, the other still has the "sold" sign up, and one unit is "reserved."  I haven't seen any change since the signs first went up in the fall.

Saw this in Crain's Cleveland Business this week (haven't seen dirt fly yet, but I'm optimistic!):

 

Rosewood Place work blooms in Lakewood

 

By SHANNON MORTLAND

 

6:00 am, April 24, 2006

 

 

 

Construction began last Friday on the $3 million Rosewood Place development in Lakewood.

 

The 29,000-square-foot mixed-use project will consist of retail space and 11, two-story townhomes on land once occupied by a used car lot and two-family home.

 

And this was on WEWS-TV5's website:

 

Lakewood Breaks Ground On Retail, Residential Development

Development Will Have Stores, Offices, Townhouses

 

POSTED: 4:39 pm EDT April 21, 2006

 

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Groundbreaking took place Friday in Lakewood for a new development that will bring together retail, offices and stylish apartments.

 

Mayor Tom George presided over the event. He and other city leaders are excited to announce the start of construction on Rosewood Place, located at the intersection of Rosewood and Detroit avenues.

 

The first floor will be stores and offices. The townhouses above will have a second-story terrace and private parking.

And finally, from The Lakewood Observer (okay, I'm excited about this project, since I live just a few streets away ... this is SUCH an improvement over the car lot that was there ... add this to the new YMCA building, and our neighborhood's gettin' kinda classy!):

 

Rosewood Place Groundbreaking

by Stan Austin

 

Groundbreaking For Rosewood Place

By Stan Austin---Lakewood Observer Reporter

 

It seems like Lakewood is becoming ground zero for new construction in Northeast Ohio. The rain held up and the sun came out on Friday morning as Mayor Thomas George, Council President Robert Seelie, and developer Thomas Barrett performed the ceremonial groundbreaking for Rosewood Place at the corner of Rosewood and Detroit Avenues.

 

This project will be a combination of retail and residential units and will turn a vacant used car lot into a sophisticated urban living experience.

 

Barrett of North Coast Capital Partners described a setting where one could dine nearby, go for a workout at a brand new YMCA, select a book from a newly expanded Lakewood Public Library or just sit on a balcony and enjoy the view. He called it the convenience of an urban setting with the comfort of a suburb.

 

Mayor George gave some significant statistics. The property is currently valued at $266,700 and will have a projected value of $3,000,025. Seven per cent of the project will be financed with public funds and there will be a 100% tax abatement for two years declining to 50% for years three to five.

 

George emphasized that the financial risk to the city is minimal. “This represents a change of philosophy from the past” George said. The attitude that “we are so desperate that we have to give anything” has changed where we will now do new projects and minimize the city’s risk.

 

The D-A-S Construction Company will have the basic building completed in 51/2 months. Visit www.rosewoodplace.com for a view of the building and its units.

 

 

"It seems like Lakewood is becoming ground zero for new construction in Northeast Ohio."

 

Umm...OK.  Gotta love the joy of severely limited horizons!

That's why we "love" the Lakewood Observer at our office! Always such a unique perspective on things....

 

BTW, the developer of this project called our Lakewood reporter more than a half-dozen times since late last week, asking if she needed anything, wanting to write the lead for her story, sending her numerous pictures, telling her that the article "MUST" go on the front page of the paper, and etc. and so on ad nauseum!

 

Um, dude, dial it down, OK? It's a nice project, but it's not the crem de la crem of developments. By the end of the week we will have forgotten all about it for yet another "This Week's Development of the Century."

lol. Yeah, this project is nice, but I wouldn't put it in the exciting category.

I like it.  I think it is the right kind of project for Lakewood (as opposed to an isolated lifestyle center like the West End was going to be).  I just thought the "ground zero of new construction in NEO" was funny as hell.

well, it's at least more exciting than the construction of the new parking lot at Donato's Pizza.

Hey at least the paper is being positive. :clap:

well, it's at least more exciting than the construction of the new parking lot at Donato's Pizza.

 

Is that what is going in where that old Auto body shop was?

Its been a Donato's for years.  Lakewood and Cleveland Hts have some of the best gas station architecture in the country. 

Its been a Donato's for years.  Lakewood and Cleveland Hts have some of the best gas station architecture in the country. 

 

No, the Donoto's is in that Chalet looking building on the corner of Detroit and W. Clifton.  Right next door to that was an old autobody shop that was recently torn down and now has a construction fence around it.  Are they actually building a structure there or is it just going to be a parking lot?  I'd be surprised if Donoto's wanted to build more parking...their current lot is never full.

That's exactly what Donato's is doing, and adding a drive thru or something to 'better serve its loyal customers.'

Oh man drive through pizza. Drive through subway and taco bell is messy enough

Rockport Square continues to scare us with their interior design:

:-o

That is jaw-droppingly ugly!

Nothing that a few dozen trips to Home Depot couldn't fix!

what the?

 

overheard at the developr's office:

 

"let aunt shirley do it, she has an eye for decorating."

ha, i actually have been inside this model recently.  I liked the overall feel of the townhome although the decorating was a bit much. 

That condo looks like it belongs on a golf course in Florida.

^I think that they are trying to capture a different market.  If you are a young professional, would you pay $300,000 for a new townhome in Lakewood or Ohio City/Tremont/Larchmere?  My guess is that Rockport is more acutely focusing on the boomers than some of the other projects.

That's what I thought when I was inside the model - this is nice if you are a boomer, want some pretense of urban living and don't want to send your kids to a bad public school system

Lakewood is gaining some momentum..

 

River valley’s Lakewood side set for upscale twist

 

By STAN BULLARD

 

6:00 am, May 15, 2006

 

A planned $20 million residential development promises to remake part of the Lakewood side of the Rocky River valley as a step-like series of terraced townhouses and lofts climbing the slope from the riverfront to Sloane Avenue.

 

The novel design resembles gymnasium benches hugging the 90-foot slope. It would enable each buyer of the planned $275,000 lofts to $1 million penthouses to have a terrace with open sky above them, said Rick Foran, a member of Foran Montlack Development LLC, which is proposing the project.

 

The units would provide views of the river, the Rocky River Yacht Club and Lake Erie. The 46-unit project would rise from the riverbank at the former Krumreig’s Marina, which the developers bought last December.

 

Plans also call for replacing the landmark marina with for-sale boat slips the developers dub “dock-o-miniums.”

 

Lakewood Mayor Thomas George likes what he sees in the plans.

 

 

“We couldn’t be more excited about this project,” he said.

 

Atop the valley at Sloane Avenue, the planned project is on the opposite side of the Detroit Road Bridge from the proposed West End mixed-use redevelopment project, which never got off the group. A contentious effort to declare a residential neighborhood blighted so that an eminent domain action could be pursued for the West End project drew national media attention before it failed at the ballot box in 2003 and cost Mayor George’s predecessor, Madeline Cain, her job.

 

Forget eminent domain

 

Mayor George noted the proposed “Cliffs on Rocky River” project would not require eminent domain, a blight declaration or tax abatement. Proposed municipal assistance consists of a $1.75 million tax-increment financing agreement, under which less than 10% of the proposed development’s annual tax proceeds would be used to repay the bonds.

 

The tax-backed bonds would pay for improvements to the slope, as well as sewers and waterlines for the project, Mr. Foran said.

 

The developer will begin seeking Lakewood Planning Commission and Lakewood City Council approvals next month for the project. The proposed site is zoned appropriately and requires no variances, said Tom Jordan, Lakewood planning and development director.

 

Lakewood needs the Cliffs project, Mayor George said, because the suburb that arose in the trolley-car era loses to land-rich outlying suburbs those longtime residents who want to buy newly constructed homes or downsize to condominiums.

 

The proposed project would join two other new residential developments in Lakewood, part of what the mayor estimates is a $250 million round of private, school and civic investment in the suburb.

 

The developer of the project is a team comprising the Montlack Group, a real estate development and investment group in Cleveland Heights that is led by Michael Montlack; the Foran Group, a Rocky River development concern led by Mr. Foran and his son Patrick; and developer George Zamecnik of Brooklyn Heights.

 

Mr. Montlack’s background is in condo and shopping center construction and apartment ownership, while Mr. Zamecnik worked in industrial and apartment development with the late Julius Paris. Foran Group will serve as the contractor; it will draw on Patrick Foran’s background as a part of the team at Robert L. Stark Enterprises of Beachwood, which developed the Crocker Park mixed-use project in Westlake.

 

The elder Mr. Foran has been a consultant for the last three years with pioneering urban homebuilder Heartland Developers of Shaker Heights. His work at Heartland followed 20 years in real estate development and construction with various companies here.

 

Inspiration from Florida

 

To prepare for the Lakewood project, Mr. Montlack, his wife, Carol, and architect Michael Caito of City Architecture toured lake and riverfront developments throughout southern Florida.

 

Mrs. Montlack said the project would benefit from walking-distance proximity to the adjoining Rocky River Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks and restaurants in western Lakewood and downtown Rocky River.

 

The younger Mr. Foran said the developer is negotiating with banks for a construction loan. Plans call for construction to begin this summer and for a model to be ready next May.

 

The project is proposed amidst a worsening residential real estate market as interest rates rise. However, Ali McAdams, managing broker of Lake Realty in Rocky River, said marketability should not pose a problem.

 

“It’ll fly,” Ms. McAdams said. “There are people with money waiting for good stuff to buy on the river and lake. The market is still good for that.”

 

Moreover, there is no new lakefront residential construction of scale between the Flats and Vermilion, Mr. Montlack notes.

 

“It’s one of a kind,” he said.

 

 

here is an image of the new development

The description "gymnasium benches" is extremely appropriate when viewing the photograph.  Still, as ugly and uninspired as it is (it does kind of look like something out of "Star Wars" or "Star Trek"), it will spruce up the Sloane Avenue area, which needs a bit of sprucing up.  And if there's some collateral development ... new restaurants or shops, so much the better for the tax base and property values.  Especially since I live a few blocks away, woo-hoo!

 

I like the Cliffs project - I've always felt that Lakewood needed to have more upscale residential along the Rocky River.

 

"Rockport Square continues to scare us with their interior design"

 

Dear god, my retinas have been permanently scarred!

How about some greenspace to break up that cliff development? That thing is pretty overbearing, IMHO.

I like it, greener would be nicer, but its all balconys on that side. It will get as green as the condo owners want it to be

I think the development is very impressive.  It's cool in my opinion, even though i tend to like pre-war buildings.

Here's a slightly larger image....

 

 

I'd like to see how they're going to get cars down to the river level. I'd also like to know why they want to. The site plan shows a parking garage and a 40-space surface parking lot of the same footprint as the garage, above it and at ground level flush with the top of the hill. I'll see if I can get that and post it.

Wow, that's quite impressive and fetching (in my opinion).  I agree that my first response to the cars was "why would they want cars there?"  How about terraces, public space (hello, there's over $1 million in public financing here), or a restaurant/cafe tenant?  Think big, folks!

 

On a side note, if they can do this here and make it work financially, what's to stop Cleveland from building on its riverfront hillside???

Well we know cleveland metropolitan housing authority owns the the best hillside in ohio city. I really feel that they should sell it off, they know they cant develop it, to a person that isnt going to mise on it. The second best hills is owned by Forest City on duck island,  I think whomever is in charge of irish bend townhouses owns some of it too, that whole area is controled by alot of people north of loain carnegie bridge. Most of the river really has no hills along it, whatever hills that were along most of the river has been flattened out by all the industry that used to be there.