The developer, Finch Group, will make a presentation on the master plan for this development at Planning Commission on Friday.....

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2013/12202013/index.php

 

After this, things will be very quiet until after the first of the year when city offices, boards and commissions reopen.

http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/CityofCleveland/Home/PressRelease/prdetail?id=15733

 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

For Immediate Release:

Upper Chester project will break ground with a Community Benefits Agreement in place

 

CLEVELAND – Today, Mayor Frank G. Jackson announced that the City of Cleveland, The Preserve Phase One, L.P. and Ozanne Construction have signed a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for the first phase of the Upper Chester project in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. The Upper Chester CBA will ensure that Cleveland residents are hired to work on the project and will provide opportunities for local businesses to contract for construction work and other project-related services.

 

According to the CBA, the Hough Development Corporation will be connecting neighborhood residents to job opportunities and pre-apprenticeship training programs.

 

“The Community Benefits Approach to development connects the dollars being invested in our neighborhoods with the people and businesses in our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Jackson. “By spending money with local businesses and hiring Cleveland residents, this project will directly benefit our local economy. I’d like to thank Wesley Finch of The Finch Group and Dominic Ozanne of Ozanne Construction for signing this Community Benefits Agreement.”

 

The CBA for the $42 million Upper Chester Phase I project commits the developer and design-builder to, in good faith:

 

 Provide opportunities for local small businesses and minority and female business enterprises in construction, design and other services;

 

 Meet or exceed goals for the number of minimum hours worked by minority and female construction workers, Cleveland residents and low-very low income persons;

 

 Use a pre-apprenticeship training program to help build skills for Cleveland youth;

 

 In addition, the Developer agrees to use good faith in hiring Cleveland residents for at least 25% of the permanent, full time jobs created by the project.

 

However, this CBA goes beyond traditional development and workforce opportunities to provide amenities important to the neighborhood. For the Upper Chester project, residents, institutions, and community groups provided input through the City Planning Commission’s “Healthy Hough” Health Impact Assessment of the Hough neighborhood. Community priorities were crafted as a result of the engagement process that helped to inform the Community Benefits Agreement. These priorities include the use of lighting to create a sense of safety, access to healthy foods at a local grocery store, and the creation of a more pedestrian friendly neighborhood.

 

“Community Benefits Agreements are changing the way we do business in the city of Cleveland,” said Natoya Walker Minor, Chief of Public Affairs. “By signing these CBAs, developers and project owners are helping to support our local economy and providing direct benefit to the neighborhoods.”

 

This is the second Community Benefits Agreement signed in 2014 by a major local project. The Cleveland Browns’ agreement with the City of Cleveland for improvements to the stadium includes provisions for hiring Cleveland residents and for contracting with minority-, female- and Cleveland-owned small businesses. And, the Browns’ CBA provides additional benefits to the community, including using good faith efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the stadium through green building practices and contributions to youth recreational programming.

 

These CBAs build on the work that Mayor Jackson has done over the past decade, including the Fannie Lewis Resident Employment Law, the Cleveland Small Business Program, and Local Producer legislation. In February 2013, the City, organized labor, the business community, local contractors and community organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the Community Benefits Agreement approach. In September 2013, 10 major Cleveland area institutions and organizations signed an endorsement of the MOU.

 

###

When I drove by this morning I noticed a couple of pieces of heavy equipment on the site, some trees down and it looked as though they were doing some minor utility work.

In addition to the utility work I mentioned yesterday, when I drove by today there was construction fencing going up along the street (Chester).  Clearly this long awaited project is "starting".  With the new med school across the street this will really transform this portion of Chester.

What is the latest on the Med school?  Were renderings ever released?

Yeah they started doing earth moving "stuff" there on Monday and more on Tuesday.  I took pictures from the CC-JJNorth building which I'll try to post later. 

 

There should be some drawings released soon for the Med school building.  It is being designed by Foster + Partners of London. "The building will include an inside courtyard that will facilitate the interaction between dental, nursing and medical students to “break down the silos between those professions”.

 

The Finch Group buys Upper Chester land, starts site work for 177-unit apartment project

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Workers felled trees this week on a barren block in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood, north of the Cleveland Clinic.

 

The activity marked the start of site preparations for the Preserve, the first apartment building at a project more than eight years in the making. After land deals closed Monday, a developer now controls a 4.8-acre portion of Upper Chester, where the initial wave of construction could be finished by June 2015.

 

The apartments represent the first major rebuilding at Upper Chester, a pockmarked stretch of land west of University Circle. The city and various private partners have spent nearly a decade considering plans and amassing property there, in hopes of bringing homes, jobs and pedestrians back to once-vibrant streets depleted by blight and disinvestment.

 

Now the Finch Group, a Florida developer with several properties in Cleveland, is starting work on a 177-unit apartment building at Chester Avenue and East 97th Street. The surrounding blocks are earmarked for more apartments, townhouses, stores, subsidized apartments for the elderly and other construction.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/03/the_finch_group_buys_upper_che.html

Can someone call these guys and ask them to mimic this project on a parking lot in the WHD. 

 

This looks fantastic!  The interiors are not quite my style, but it is what the market demands.  It's incredible that the timeline of this site dates back to 2001 when the city began taking over the property.  Seems as though fairly traditional financing along with higher rents are characteristics of this project.  The more of that we can do the better.  Just shows that it's becoming a bit easier to build new in Cleveland.

Yeah they started doing earth moving "stuff" there on Monday and more on Tuesday.  I took pictures from the CC-JJNorth building which I'll try to post later. 

 

There should be some drawings released soon for the Med school building.  It is being designed by Foster + Partners of London. "The building will include an inside courtyard that will facilitate the interaction between dental, nursing and medical students to “break down the silos between those professions”.

 

 

I thought that there were renderings already out there? Obviously not the level of detail that Westlake Reed Leskosky produces but I just assumed that was bc Foster + Partners sees themselves above "details"

^I could be wrong, but I think these are the only renderings that have been made public so far: http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2013/06/cleveland_clinic_cwru_announce.html

 

And per the article, they were essentially meaningless ("the firm has spent only three days on renderings").

^I could be wrong, but I think these are the only renderings that have been made public so far: http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2013/06/cleveland_clinic_cwru_announce.html

 

And per the article, they were essentially meaningless ("the firm has spent only three days on renderings").

 

Ah yes, that's all I've seen too. Although I'm concerned if that took three days for Norman Foster and/or individuals on whom his brilliance has presumably rubbed off.

Wow. This area is going to be VERY different in a few years.

The apartments+ are sure going up faster than the CWRU medical school complex.  Has construction officially begun?  All I see is the cleared space where the hotel was, with the fencing around it.  And only on the Euclid edge, not going near Chester.

^Pretty sure med school campus hasn't even broken ground yet. Don't think we've seen real designs.

What a great quote from Wes Finch, the out of town developer spearheading this project:

 

"I've been saying for a while, I think Cleveland is booming," Finch said. "The only people that don't seem to know that are the people who live here. Especially in University Circle, the major institutions out there, they're expanding and growing. There are 1,400 kids who come in every year as an intern, a resident, a researcher, a fellow. From what we've seen, 60 percent can afford these higher rents. Demand continues to eclipse supply."

 

Mr. Finch, please tell this to all your developer friends!

 

Is Upper Chester in full swing?  I haven't been by there in a while.

^yes

 

Chester Ave, Univ Circle

 

 

 

The renderings made it seem like the structure wasn't right up against the street but it sure seemed like it to me when I drove by there the other day.

 

Chester Ave, Univ Circle

 

 

 

 

I'm only saying this because this site has a reputation of providing accurate information.  This project is located in Hough, not University Circle.

It's part of the Greater University Circle area

It's part of the Greater University Circle area

It's Hough.  If we start by properly label thing people wont feel the need to add things like, "part of the Greater UC Area" and a neighborhood like Hough can grow and reinvent itself.  It's the exact same thing when people say, "You live in Shaker" when I live in Cleveland.  At the same time, when something is developed in Little Italy, we don't say "University Circle" although LI is a sub neighborhood in UC.  We state that it's taking place in Little Italy.  Correct?

 

 

Speaking of Hough, it's always annoyed me when properties between Euclid and Chester Avenues are labeled as "Fairfax."  Fairfax is south of Euclid - period.  I've brought this up to people with the City and they agree.  There's some confusion due to the City Council district borders but definitely Fairfax should only be south of Euclid.  I'd like to see Hough get the credit for those blocks of townhouses, etc.

 

 

Speaking of Hough, it's always annoyed me when properties between Euclid and Chester Avenues are labeled as "Fairfax."  Fairfax is south of Euclid - period.  I've brought this up to people with the City and they agree.  There's some confusion due to the City Council district borders but definitely Fairfax should only be south of Euclid.  I'd like to see Hough get the credit for those blocks of townhouses, etc.

 

Fairfax goes till Chester between 105th and 71st. Hough goes south until Euclid between 71st and 55th. Fairfax should get credit for the town homes as they were instrumental in making that development happen.

Speaking of Hough, it's always annoyed me when properties between Euclid and Chester Avenues are labeled as "Fairfax."  Fairfax is south of Euclid - period.  I've brought this up to people with the City and they agree.  There's some confusion due to the City Council district borders but definitely Fairfax should only be south of Euclid.  I'd like to see Hough get the credit for those blocks of townhouses, etc.

 

Fairfax goes till Chester between 105th and 71st. Hough goes south until Euclid between 71st and 55th. Fairfax should get credit for the town homes as they were instrumental in making that development happen.

 

I should apologize for starting this.  Are you thinking of City Council wards?  As the City Council ward goes over to Chester between 81 and 101 street.  However, the borders of Fairfax neighborhood are Euclid.  Chester is in the Hough neighborhood. 

 

Is there a map or something that shows different borders.  If things are different I would love to see it to educate myself.

Frankly I don't consider anything between Chester and Carnegie between Downtown and UC to be part of any of the surrounding neighborhoods, but rather part of a separate "Midtown" or "Euclid Corridor".  I don't see how that area is economically tied tightly to, a continuation of development patterns of, or part of the housing market of those neighborhoods.

As I'm sure many of you know, Chester was cut through at a much later time than the streets around it - around the 1940s.  This eliminated many fine houses and probably apartment houses.  East 89th, for example, certainly lost some very good Victorians.  In fact, I personally believe cutting Chester through all those streets made them go downhill faster.  In many cases the houses right by Chester were the first to go, and some streets were cut off altogether, unfortunately. 

 

I'm just saying that Hough, which is an old name for the neighborhood, was always considered to have Euclid Avenue as its southern border.  Fairfax, in contrast, is a relatively new district name, and it would make little sense for its being considered to cross Euclid.  If that organization was involved in the planning for those townhouses, I could only assume it was because of their proximity to it.  It should have been considered a very positive Hough development, with the late Fanny Lewis very involved as Councilwoman.

Frankly I don't consider anything between Chester and Carnegie between Downtown and UC to be part of any of the surrounding neighborhoods, but rather part of a separate "Midtown" or "Euclid Corridor".  I don't see how that area is economically tied tightly to, a continuation of development patterns of, or part of the housing market of those neighborhoods.

 

I agree completely. They even have Midtown signs in the medians on Chester. If anything the Cleveland Clinic is its own subneighborhood extending from Carnegie up to Chester.

Frankly I don't consider anything between Chester and Carnegie between Downtown and UC to be part of any of the surrounding neighborhoods, but rather part of a separate "Midtown" or "Euclid Corridor".  I don't see how that area is economically tied tightly to, a continuation of development patterns of, or part of the housing market of those neighborhoods.

 

 

This has always been a place of accuracy.  I'm asking that we place the development in question, be placed and discussed, in the proper neighborhood as we would any other development here on UO.  Is that a fair request?

The townhouses and single family homes between Euclid and Chester are 100% located in Fairfax. Upper Chester is located in the extreme bottom right corner of Hough right on the border of both University and Fairfax. Although this project is technically located on land within the meaningless political borders of Hough, this project has everything to do with University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic and nothing to do with Hough. Im not putting Hough down as they have several nice projects such as League Park. This is just not one of them.

 

SPA's and actual neighborhoods are two very different things.

The townhouses and single family homes between Euclid and Chester are 100% located in Fairfax. Upper Chester is located in the extreme bottom right corner of Hough right on the border of both University and Fairfax. Although this project is technically located on land within the meaningless political borders of Hough, this project has everything to do with University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic and nothing to do with Hough. Im not putting Hough down as they have several nice projects such as League Park. This is just not one of them.

 

SPA's and actual neighborhoods are two very different things.

 

I disagree.  I know the Council ward boundaries changed, but for as long as I've been alive, the Fairfax neighborhood boundary has never been NORTH of Euclid.

 

This development is physically located in the Hough Neighborhood.

^ I definitely understand your point, but to me official neighborhood borders (new or old) are meaningless. When you are standing in League Park, you are IN Hough. When you are standing in Wade Lagoon, you are IN University Circle, and when you are standing in Beacon Place you are IN Midtown(And/or Cleveland Clinic neighborhood). Technically Duck Island is in Tremont, but it doesn't feel like Tremont, its a separate neighborhood. Same with Little Italy and University.

 

Upper Chester is interesting to me since it is at the corner of three different neighborhoods. But since the development is solely taking place due to the development of University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic, AND is located right on the border, Id consider it as either an early extension of the University Circle neighborhood or the Cleveland Clinic neighborhood. Especially after the new CWRU building is built.

^ I definitely understand your point, but to me official neighborhood borders (new or old) are meaningless. When you are standing in League Park, you are IN Hough. When you are standing in Wade Lagoon, you are IN University Circle, and when you are standing in Beacon Place you are IN Midtown(And/or Cleveland Clinic neighborhood). Technically Duck Island is in Tremont, but it doesn't feel like Tremont, its a separate neighborhood. Same with Little Italy and University.

 

Upper Chester is interesting to me since it is at the corner of three different neighborhoods. But since the development is solely taking place due to the development of University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic, AND is located right on the border, Id consider it as either an early extension of the University Circle neighborhood or the Cleveland Clinic neighborhood. Especially after the new CWRU building is built.

 

How can the OFFICIAL neighborhood border be meaningless??  That doesn't make any sense.

 

Little Italy or Murray Hill, are sub neighborhood of University just as Shaker Square and the Larchmere district are sub neighborhoods of Shaker -Buckeye.

Cleveland Clinic is a district, not a neighborhood.  Beacon Place is also in the borders of the Hough Neighborhood.  Newton Avenue is in Hough.  Duck Island is Tremont, period.

 

You cannot arbitrarily make up neighborhood boundaries.

Here's a case where, imho, the new apartment/commercial/townhouse project is very positive, and I want it to be considered near University Circle but specifically a highpoint of Hough.  I want people to start thinking of Hough as a district with a great deal of potential and as one even with luxury apartments.  It already has luxury houses - mostly new - as well as the Schweinfurth House, Dunham Tavern, and several Cleveland Historical Districts.  Yes, a substantial part of the Cleveland Clinic as well.  I want the whole image of Hough to go up up up, and this mixed use development can get the ball rolling.  From about 1890 to 1930 Hough actually had a prestigious name in Cleveland, with several grand streets.

As I'm sure many of you know, Chester was cut through at a much later time than the streets around it - around the 1940s.  This eliminated many fine houses and probably apartment houses.  East 89th, for example, certainly lost some very good Victorians.  In fact, I personally believe cutting Chester through all those streets made them go downhill faster.  In many cases the houses right by Chester were the first to go, and some streets were cut off altogether, unfortunately. 

 

Anyone know the history of running Chester through Hough? I have searched online but could never find any photos or history of this. I have just seen a couple of aerials of the area before the construction of Chester. It's my understanding that Hough was still pretty much a middle class area when Chester was built.

 

Yes, I would say there were few wealthy in Hough by the time Chester was built.  But it was wholly intact, with many wonderful, large houses on parts of E. 75, E. 79th, 87th, 89th, and 93rd, and elsewhere.  Chester was planned as a modern parkway, something like the Opportunity Corridor.  Of course the Euclid/E. 105th St. district was booming in the '40s for restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, theaters, and shopping.

 

You might find this thread more interesting and appropriate for this historical discussion (though my old photo links have long since been lost).......

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2047.0

 

Let's keep this thread on the Upper Chester project itself. Thanks!

Progress report.... Upper Chester development (apartments over retail including a grocery store) in Cleveland's University Circle. Across Chester Ave from a new joint Cleveland Clinic-CWRU medical education center.

I feel like this is an under-looked and under-reported project, especially considering its size and how its progressing. I feel like this, along with the new med school across the street, are going to really help propel that area, and Hough in general, a long ways forward.

I feel like this is an under-looked and under-reported project, especially considering its size and how its progressing. I feel like this, along with the new med school across the street, are going to really help propel that area, and Hough in general, a long ways forward.

^Agreed

Wow!!! I had no idea it was so far along! Hadn't even thought about it or how pre-leasing is going.

Looks like the building that's under construction will be, by far, the largest one built. It's only six stories tall (a nice height for a neighborhood building) but is a very long structure. Here's a reminder of what Finch is building (BTW, Newton Avenue directly north of this new building is one of my favorite streets in Cleveland, eclipsed only by West 31st Place in Ohio City)....

 

 

 

Edit: I'm preserving this Google streetview from Aug. 2011 to compare what this section looks like now, and what it will look in a couple of years.....

 

 

 

BTW, does anyone know what happened to these rowhouses on Keemar Court (seen at right in the prior image)? I didn't notice them yesterday, which tells me they were demolished. If so, I'm glad I saved this Streetview too. EDIT: just found at the UC developments thread that every other rowhouse was demolished in 2012. Not sure why. I couldn't see them yesterday because the Upper Chester construction trailers block the view of the rowhouses.

 

What kind of construction method is that? Don't believe I've ever seen anything like that before. A lot of cinder block

Oh, and since Newton Avenue is a landmarked district and will be enveloped by the Upper Chester development (it will be incorporated into it -- not demolished). But rather than tell you why I love this street, let me show you instead!

 

The East 97th entrance (this is a one-way street).....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at the arts-n-craft details on these!

 

 

 

The exit onto East 101st. It's an inglorious end. Hopefully some complementary, style-consistent, single-family homes (perhaps similar to those built at Mill Creek off Turney?) can complete this street.

 

Newton Avenue is really awesome.  I saw it for the first time last year and was blown away, even though it's 3/4 a block long,  Very cool.

Newton looks a bit like a Little Italy street to me. 

What kind of construction method is that?

 

Quality

^ ^ Some urban gardening would work wonders on those empty lots.

Drove by earlier today. This building already has a huge presence on the street, even from Euclid. Looks to be topped off, and work on exterior walls is underway. Sorry I couldnt get a picture. This is certainly one of my favorite projects underway right now!

Here are some photos from last Thursday: