March 5, 200718 yr Monday March 5, 2007 Tudor Arms pulls MRN to Univ. Circle again East Fourth Street developer sees area as next potential nightlife, housing hot spot University Circle Inc. By STAN BULLARD 6:00 am, March 5, 2007 Widening its push into University Circle, real estate developer MRN Ltd. of Cleveland has acquired the 11-story Tudor Arms, a landmark building at 10660 Carnegie Ave. that since 1971 has served as the Cleveland Job Corps Center. MRN best known for developing the East Fourth Street neighborhood of downtown apartments, restaurants and entertainment spots such as the House of Blues is staking its next bet on Cleveland with a plan driven by the nonprofit group University Circle Inc. to enliven the cultural, educational and health care district with nightlife, shops and housing. Ari Maron, an MRN partner, said the family-owned company bought the building Feb. 23 from Case Western Reserve University because it believes plans for the colleges Triangle area will start to spill over into more energy for University Circle. The Tudor Arms becomes an interesting opportunity on that basis, Mr. Maron said. MRN already is planning with homebuilder Nathan Zaremba the redevelopment of the Case-owned Triangle apartment, office and retail complex at nearby Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road. However, Mr. Maron said MRN acquired Tudor Arms alone. Case last fall selected Zaremba an aggressive homebuilder in the city proper and developer of The Avenue District downtown and MRN to redo the Triangle as the Uptown Neighborhood, a mix of uses such as graduate-student housing, market-rate condos, shopping and a new home for the Museum of Contemporary Arts. A master-planning process with University Circle Inc., its stakeholders and Case is under way that will shape the reuse of Tudor Arms. We want that process to work its magic, Mr. Maron said. As a result, how MRN would redevelop the Tudor Arms remains to be determined, he said. While apartments are an obvious play for the Job Corps dorms and classrooms in the one-time hotel, Mr. Maron said MRN has a lot of work to do to study it. Were looking at everything from housing to office or, potentially, research space, he said. Avoiding the wrecking ball Case selected MRN as the winning bidder of the Tudor Arms from scores of prospective buyers, said Russell Berusch, the universitys vice president of commercial development. Cases master plan last year determined it no longer needed the Tudor Arms site because the campus would not extend to Carnegie Avenues south side, Mr. Berusch said. Our real goal was to move the property rapidly to a conscientious, proven redeveloper, Mr. Berusch said. Its location and characteristics are too salient to risk it to the wrecking ball or an unscrupulous developer. Salient characteristics, indeed. The 1931-vintage building designed by architect Frank B. Meade has a brick exterior with limestone trim and large gothic windows, according to The Guide to Cleveland Architecture. A fort-like, three-story tower graces the buildings northwest corner. Although Mr. Berusch said the building needs some loving care, Mr. Maron described it as being in good shape. Its one of the best-kept buildings we ever acquired, he said. The Cleveland Job Corps Center will vacate the building by November, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Cleveland). The Job Corps Center is bound for a new, campus-style home that the U.S. Department of Labor is constructing on Coit Road. Neither Mr. Berusch nor Mr. Maron would disclose how much MRN paid for the 247,000-square-foot building. Cuyahoga County land records do not show a sale price for the transfer of the building, which hasnt been on the property tax rolls because of its ownership by the university and its use by the federal agency. Mr. Maron said MRN sees its goal of developing the Uptown Neighborhood and Tudor Arms as an extension of its work downtown. The global vision of our company now is to create an anchor at University Circle at the other end of Euclid (Avenue) from East Fourth, Mr. Maron said.
March 5, 200718 yr Wow! That's been a hot topic of conversation around here, but I had no idea! Go MRN! I also have no idea how much work will need to be done to make that building productive again, but with that location, it's gotta be possible. One of the main issues with the property - and I cringe to say it - is that there is a real shortage of parking. MRN clearly sees the potential is great enough to figure it out, though!
March 5, 200718 yr I feel glad Tudor Arms is in MRN's hands. They're local people and their track record for restoring historic buildings on E.4th shows their expertise and love for Cleveland's history... Tudor Arms is, architecturally, one of my fave Cleveland buildings and the thought that it was even considered for demo, in the 1st place, is disturbing, esp given the beautiful restore-job of John Hay, catercorner from Tudor Arms. I can't imaging the busy Carnegie-Stokes Blvd corner ever not being framed by that Gothic beauty.
March 6, 200718 yr Ditto. That is one of my absolute favorites in Cleveland. I'll be interested to see what MRN puts forward in terms of use ... that would be an absolutely amazing residential building and is pretty well positioned for people who want proximity to either Case or the Clinic.
March 9, 200718 yr Yesterday, I attended a focus group for the planning of the Little Italy Redline station. Anyone else attend one of these? A representative from the Hessler neighborhood was there. Initially I was a bit peeved by his insistence to downsize the density of planned housing project at 'the beach' (euclid and ford). However, as I contemplated the merits of his idea on the way home, I realized that all great neighborhoods are physical manifestations of people/community and as such, 'the beach' housing should reflect the influences of adjacent Hessler St. Thoughts?
March 9, 200718 yr Guv, What if the adjacent influences are negative? Having worked adjacent to Hessler, I've come to feel that its residents view Hessler as the center of the UC universe and that all surrounding parcels should serve their needs and not those of others. Maybe they are reacting to the days of old when UCI and its member institutions made many poor decisions. They've made many demands over the years that obvioulsy put their interests above the interests of the greater good. While they are entitled to their opinion, I don't think that it should be considered to be the majority voice of University Circle's workers, residents and students. Did they say something that made sense?
March 9, 200718 yr I wish I knew that there would be a public forum on the Rapid Station... it was not a public forum. it seemed to be an 'invite only' focus group.
March 9, 200718 yr Guv, What if the adjacent influences are negative? Having worked adjacent to Hessler, I've come to feel that its residents view Hessler as the center of the UC universe and that all surrounding parcels should serve their needs and not those of others. Maybe they are reacting to the days of old when UCI and its member institutions made many poor decisions. They've made many demands over the years that obvioulsy put their interests above the interests of the greater good. While they are entitled to their opinion, I don't think that it should be considered to be the majority voice of University Circle's workers, residents and students. Did they say something that made sense? Well I suppose negative suggestions would be based on point of view. As far as things he said that made sense, I feel that because 'the beach' area is directly adjacent to the Hessler street neighborhood, the proposed redevelopment should reflect that relationship. The gentlemen from Hessler suggested that the redev plan should be less dense than one proposal which suggested 220 units. Instead, they preferred a less dense proposal that split the site with a through-street parallel to Euclid and units incorporating garages that could be used as storefronts/artist studio space. These garages would face the new street. The Hessler rep also favors less parking infrastructure which he feels will clog the site. I strongly believe the redev should interact, as best as possible, with the very lively Hessler neighborhood as it has survived, where other neighborhoods have not, for a reason. Therefore, it should not be ignored, but instead embraced, while this redev is being contemplated.
March 11, 200718 yr Does anyone have any renderings of Madoona Place townhomes/lofts. Something besides the siteplans that were previously posted
March 11, 200718 yr I wish I knew that there would be a public forum on the Rapid Station... Same here! Even if it wasn't "public," I'm surprised I hadn't heard of it.
March 12, 200718 yr Busy Design Review week for University Circle! DRC 07-013 : University Hospitals, Master Plan Update, Relocation of Service Center, Cancer Hospital, Center for Emergency Medicine, Patient Parking Garage, Conceptual Reviews ( University Circle/Ward 9) [submitted 3/5/07] 2:30 DRC 07-014 : Cleveland Clinic, Euclid Avenue between East 86 th & East 105 th Streets, Streetscape Treatment Revisions and East 96 th Street Plan (CCF/Ward 6) [submitted 3/6/07] 3:15 DRC 07-017 : East Side of RR Bridge over Mayfield Road, Welcome Sign for University Circle (Ward 6) [submitted 3/5/07] 3:30 DRC 07-015 : 10700 Euclid Avenue, National City Bank, New Construction (University Circle/Ward 9) [submitted 3/7/07] 4:00 DRC 07-016 : Chester Avenue, between East 81 st & East 82 nd Streets, Chester-East 82 nd Townhouses (Madonna Hall Site) (Housing/Ward 7) [submitted 3/6/07]
March 12, 200718 yr Oh, it's actually really drab... they're attempting to move towards the south end of the parcel they're currently on. It'll just end up being a stand alone bank structure with a drive-through. It really couldn't be more boring! There have been several proposals over the past year or so and UCI has been working with them in an attempt to free up the rest of the parcel for more significant construction. I don't think it's gone to RFP yet, so there's nothing much to report in that department.
March 12, 200718 yr NCB is rebuildng at the corner of 107 and Euclid. I am not sure what the final design is going to be like. They have gone through a bunch of different designs. Last I heard, the new bank will be built on the back corner of the parcel (corner of E.107/Deering) so that a taller residential building could be built on Euclid some day.
March 12, 200718 yr There were some interesting proposals early on that included a 3-story office building and possible incorporation of an institution on the ground floor. Some interesting designs arose that addressed the prominence of the intersection and the turn in Euclid Avenue at that intersection, but for whatever reason, those never went anywhere. NCB's most serious proposals were nothing great, so I'm looking forward to seeing what can be done with the large remaining portion of the parcel once they've moved to Deering.
March 12, 200718 yr OK, thanks. I remember hearing about some of this before and thought maybe the larger development was upcoming. I didn't know that Nat City was planning on building a small building for their own use, as well, though.
March 17, 200718 yr On a side note, the NCB plans for Stokes & Euclid were not well received at Design Review and presumably were not popular at the Planning Commission either. Anyone make it to their presentations on Thurs/Fri?
March 22, 200718 yr Plans for a new campus center at Case from the CWU paper The Observer, March 9, 2007 Volume XXXIX, Issue 20 Campus center plans underway Alison Dietz, News Editor After 15 years of promises of a new student center, the administration is finally sitting down to make it happen. A new $40 million campus center is currently in the planning stages, with groundbreaking expected to occur in fall of 2008 and completion expected by spring of 2011. "We're putting ideas together, and we should be ready for architect selection by the end of this semester," said Myles Nickolich, VP of Student Affairs for USG and a member of the Campus Center Planning Team. The building will be located somewhere in the vicinity of KSL and Thwing, likely in the area that contains the sidewalks from both Mather Quad and the Turning Point statue. "It will be right in the way of the path to class," said Nickolich. "The idea is that students will have to walk through it." "We hope that students will want to walk through it," said Don Kamalsky, an associate vice president of Student Affairs. The location of the building at the exact center of campus will have a symbolic meaning for Case. "We're placing it at a crossroads to show that it belongs to everyone," said Margaret Carney, University Architect and Planner. "It isn't just for the engineers or the liberal arts students." Nickolich's commitee recently traveled to visit the student centers of the University of Akron and Kent State University, and has plans to visit colleges in Virginia in the coming weeks. The committee is looking to balance a trendy student center like Akron's with a wealth of technology. "We're going all out with this," said Nickolich. "We want it to be the pinnacle of technology." The new building is being called a campus center rather than a student center to reflect its place in the University Circle community. It will later not only to students, but faculty, staff, and visiting scholars as well as University Circle residents. "Part of why students are attracted to Case is its affiliation with University Hospitals, CIM, CIA, and other cultural institutions," said Sue Nickel-Schindewolf, an associate vice president for Student Affairs. "Here students are more likely to run into people who are not their professors."The campus center will take up about 75,000 square feet and be about the size of two floors of KSL. The committee hopes to incorporate campus offices like the Career Center, bursar's office, and registrar's office into the plan as well as provide classrooms, meeting areas, and an auditorium to be larger than any in the University Circle area. "We're putting in everything short of a holodeck," said Nickolich. Flexibility will be a large part of the campus center's layout; rooms that are classrooms during the day will be able to be used by student groups at night, and everything will be easy to renovate. "Ten years down the line, we won't be stuck with the original plan," said Nickolich. A big challenge faced by the committee is to build a great campus center without encroaching on the burgeoning Arts and Retail District that is being built right down the street. The Arts and Retail District will include the relocated Museum of Contemporary Art as well as an abundance of retail stores, food, and places to live. The university bookstore will also be located here at the corner of Ford and Euclid in the form of a two-story Barnes and Noble. "We're trying to bring the flair of Coventry to a college town area here," said Nickolich. To that end, the new campus center will not impinge upon the Arts and Retail District's business, but will include such things as a Case Club-like restaurant where students can have lunch with faculty or administrators or just go on a nice date, according to Nickolich. The campus center will not just be a standalone building, according to Carney. "It will be a group of three buildings and outdoor spaces. It will engage with the library and Thwing to be a center for the whole campus," he said.
March 29, 200718 yr Anyone see the article in the PD about a new montessori high school for University Circle?
March 29, 200718 yr Here's a meeting TONIGHT where you can actually learn something and make a difference with your opinion: What: Public Meeting: MLK/East 105th Traffic Circle and Roadway Reconfiguration When: Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 6 PM Details: University Circle Inc. invites you to a Public Meeting MLK/East 105th Traffic Circle and Roadway Reconfiguration Thursday, March 29, 2007 Judson Manor 1890 East 107th Street Cleveland, OH 44106 Doors open at 6 p.m. Presentation begins at 6:30 p.m. Parking is available at Judson Manor (corner of E. 107th and Chester on the south side of the building). Judson is also accessible via RTA routes 48, 10, 50, 6, 7, and 9. For study comments and questions, contact University Circle Inc. at 216-791-3900 or email [email protected]
March 29, 200718 yr In regards to the Village at 115, I may be biased but the complex is terrific. As Murray Hill stated, each of the seven different houses are unique, and the apartment layouts are even more so - some of the rooms above/below each other are different as there are 52 different apartment layouts. The buildings encourage walking down the sidewalk, use of public space, and real community building. And personally I like the way that they look - to me a mixture of new & old (not an expert but for lack of a better term a customer of these buildings), and the interiors cannot be built. Everyone I've ever showed this complex (a ton of people, trust me....) has been absolutely blown away and walks away agreeing that it would be difficult to find a better place to live on any campus anywhere. And I'll be at the meeting tonight ;)
March 29, 200718 yr ^ ^ ^ Yay! Directions via transit! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 29, 200718 yr Just remember to those attending, notes and photos are always appreciated! :-) clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
March 30, 200718 yr Hopefully someone else can add a better description of yesterday's meeting since I didn't have my camera nor did I stay for the entire time - I left after an hour. What I did see were the conceptual alternatives and the presentation on all three options. I left in the middle of the annoying Q&A period. I hope someone has pictures of the alternative - I personally favored the first option that created three four-way intersections and one three-way intersection. It would be simplest for pedestrians, visitors, et cetera. The other two had 'teardrops' which to me were just calmed down versions of a traffic circle anyway.
March 30, 200718 yr case issued a formal press release on their new alumni house, i don't know if anyone cares. Its going next to Arabica (i think MGD already mentioned this, or wimwar).
March 30, 200718 yr the good part is (don't know if you knew this), they wanted it on Euclid with a giant turnaround on the front to drop mr. & ms. CWRU '57. City of cleveland said nope.
March 30, 200718 yr Yikes, good for the city for quashing the alumni turn-around. Going back a few posts (or maybe it was the CWRU thread), I'm sort of disappointed the new student center isn't going to be on Euclid. I can appreciate the logic of the preferred location, but think it woud have been a great statement on the Avenue and a great link between the two sides of campus. Anyone else agree? What's gonna happen to Thwing? Not a fan of the newer part. Wim, what's the story about the new Montessori HS at UC? As undemocratic as it sounds, adding some secular alternatives to the public schools is probably an important part of supporting increased housing development in the city.
March 30, 200718 yr i'm not sure who exactly squashed the circle drive idea, if it wasn't the city, it was RTA's influence or CWRU just being, "this makes no sense whatsoever"
March 30, 200718 yr StrapHanger said: "..., adding some secular alternatives to the public schools is probably an important part of supporting increased housing development in the city." I say "definito! Montessori schools thrive in NE Ohio Thursday, March 29, 2007 Angela Townsend Plain Dealer Reporter This year, as thousands of Montessori schools across the country commemorate the movement's 100th anniversary, Northeast Ohio is showing proof of its continuing popularity. In fall 2008, a new Montessori high school will open in University Circle, the first in the area to serve students through 12th grade. The high school will draw upon the resources of the area's museums, University Circle Inc., Cleveland Cultural Collaborative and other groups... more at: http://www.cleveland.com
March 30, 200718 yr The Montessori school should go in the old Cleveland School for the Arts. Then the School of the Arts can build new elsewhere instead of knocking down their beautiful building.
April 4, 200718 yr From the Cleveland Restoration Society: The Society's staff, in partnership with University Circle, Inc. (UCI), has completed initial exterior stabilization of the Cozad-Bates House, 11580 Mayfield Road, Cleveland. These exterior stabilization actions are considered temporary protection measures and include covering chimneys, patching holes in roof soffits, installing flashings, and installing a temporary, secure front door. All physical conditions and activities have been well documented before, during, and after installation. Also, a licensed abatement contractor has completed the asbestos abatement of the basement areas. Our staff will continue to work with UCI as a historic structures conditions survey and preservation plan for the Cozad-Bates House is developed.
April 17, 200718 yr Here's a meeting TONIGHT where you can actually learn something and make a difference with your opinion: What: Public Meeting: MLK/East 105th Traffic Circle and Roadway Reconfiguration When: Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 6 PM Details: University Circle Inc. invites you to a Public Meeting MLK/East 105th Traffic Circle and Roadway Reconfiguration Thursday, March 29, 2007 So are the concepts in this brocure http://198.170.76.160/content/UserFiles/File/MLK%20Mailer.pdf the ones that were discussed at the meeting? I really like UDA's proposals- getting rid of all the annoying little cross overs streets and short cuts and rationalizing the intersections while creating significant new developable parcels (including one on the heinous RTA bus circle thing by the UC Rapid station). Anyone else have any thoughts? Is public feedback causing any significant re-designs? Is RTA cool with losing its huge patch of concrete?
April 17, 200718 yr Only the traffic circle at E.105/MLK behind the Natural History Museum is under consideration at this point. And yes, UDA's design is the one that is favored at this point.
May 2, 200718 yr Madonna Place is now called Chester82. They put a sign up today on the site. There is also 6-unit cluster home development just off of Chester at E.79.
May 3, 200718 yr What do you mean by cluster home? I've never heard of cluster homes in an urban redevelopment context- only a greenfield context, for preservation of open space.
May 3, 200718 yr That doesn't look too bad. When I first read this I was thinking it would be like one of those Cul-de-sac monstrosities being thrown up all over the outer inner ring 'burbs. Whew. looks like their going for a modern tudor colonial style or something, even though they could probably fit at least 5 more townhomes or rowhouses on the same parcel.
May 26, 200718 yr Has the 82nd street project and Langley place project start to do any frame work yet? Does anyone have any pictures/renderings of how the 82nd street project will look like?
May 26, 200718 yr They've cleared the land and have a sign out advertising the project as Chester 82. No framing has started though, but looks like that won't be far off. The only renderings I've seen are on that sign I mentiones, I may go take a photo of that.
May 29, 200718 yr Has the 82nd street project and Langley place project start to do any frame work yet? Does anyone have any pictures/renderings of how the 82nd street project will look like? This and a vacant lot is all that I've seen.
May 29, 200718 yr Thanks Mov2Ohio it looks likea good project that will blend in with the neighborhood with a modern twist
May 29, 200718 yr from a recent photo thread of mine: Museum of Art Mandel Non-Profit Dealie What's this project? (E. 115th) CIM Alumni House oh, and visit my thread, reply and make me look popular. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=12964.0
May 30, 200718 yr Pope, aren't those townhomes on E.118th? Its a 5-unit project by a small developer. I believe that 2 of the units were purchased in advance of construction.
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