Housing, stores planned to lift S. Euclid

Monday, December 13, 2004

Thomas Ott

 

South Euclid -A proposal to tear down half of the old Cedar Center shopping center to clear the way for housing and stores will pump new life into this older suburb, Mayor Georgine Welo said.

Catlin Properties of Sacramento, Calif., and Contrende Co. of Chicago have plans for a trendy mixed-use building with shops on the first floor and as many as 128 apartments or condominiums on four upper floors. Other buildings planned for the site at Cedar and Warrensville Center roads include restaurants, additional stores, a handful of townhouses and a parking garage.

 

 

South Euclid, which owns seven acres of parking at the site, would give the land to the developers under an agreement that City Council will consider tonight. The developers would try to purchase five more acres.

The land is split among seven parcels and held by different owners.

The developers also may have to buy out leases for existing stores. A Starbucks coffee shop, bank and car wash near the corner would not be affected...

i visit cedar center quite often since i live blocks away, and its about damn time someone looked into making the center more pedestrian oriented....

It will also make more transit-oriented. Two thumbs up.

 

KJP

Good, needed development.

can we get some plans and pictures of this up please somebody --- sounds like there are renderings somewhere floating around? any time frame known?

 

this is great news. it's a gimmee for the developers too.

 

Makeover planned for Cedar Center

Cities uniting to revive retail

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Tasha Flournoy

 

Decades before Legacy Village transformed East Side shopping into a "lifestyle" experience, the Cedar Center shopping center was the place to be.

 

A walking destination for nearby residents, the center brought big-city flair to the suburbs. Women picked out their favorite jewels at Berger & Silver Jewelers and found the latest fine clothing at Evelyn Bader's dress shop. Davis Bakery churned out fresh challah bread and pastries for the holidays. When lunchtime arrived, men dined on corned beef sandwiches at Corky & Lenny's delicatessen.

 

Louis Golland, 92, opened a shoe store in the center in 1952, after picking up styles and trends in Chicago. He said storeowners gave the large Jewish, middle-class community a specialized shopping experience.

 

"We were unique in the country. Together we molded a business that was second to none," said Golland, who once served as president of the center's merchants association. "Everybody was like family."...

wow if cedar center was all the rave back in the day, i'm glad i wasn't alive then

 

and how was it pedestrian friendly back then? It sure as hell isn't easy to navigate on foot nowadays......

 

regardless the renderings i've seem look like the place has some potential left in it

I do hope they make arrangements for the current tenants to stay open. I was at Cedar Center today at one of my favorite restaurants - Anatolia Cafe. If they have to close, I'll be deprived of the best hummus in town as well as Turkish coffee (aka crack in a cup).

Yeah, I've only been there a couple of times, but I really like the tenant mix at Cedar Center.  I would guess that it will probably go more upscale though.  Its great to see this size of a reinvestment happen in our inner burbs.  I find it funny that they keep calling it a makeover or facelift.  They're demolishing most of it and building something completely different.

Yeah the only reason I know this place is there was (is?) a little ceasars there.

little caesar's is gone, in fact they closed all of their cleveland locations as far as i can tell

 

 

i do enjoy cedar center, since it is the closest place to me (well i guess cedar center and severance center are equadistant).......and neither of them are walkable

pope do not tease----por favor locate and post the renderings!

 

i always liked old cedar, but yeah walkable friendly it ain't. i'm sure whatever happens will be an improvement on walkability.

 

i'm pretty sure there's a rendering of the site on the properties

 

as the article states there is three companies involved in two properties.

 

Coral Co. has the area south of cedar and they aren't as drastic. However when looking for websites for either Caitlin or Contendre i couldn't find anything. I'll look tomorrow and see if there is a rendering posted up anywhere on the site

There were renderings in the paper edition of the Sunday PD.  They don't post photos online. 

^if they're not online, scan 'em

This is quite delayed but I just recently was looking for info on this project.  Apparently there isn't much new.  I live right in this area and am hopeful that this gets done.  With the "Target Center" (my nickname for the University Square that is at the southeast corner of the intersection) there, I'm not sure about demand for more retail, but I guess that's where the residential units come in.  I'm looking forward to this because it, combined with the Target Center, and yes, Legacy Village just about 5-7 minutes' drive down Cedar in the opposite direction, it provides lots of options and should be attractive to residents of the area.

 

There were a couple of plan images in a South Euclid magazine they published about a month ago, and I was able to scan them in.  These  are the plans for the north side of Cedar, west of Warrensville, which currently looks like this:

 

 

Layout and sketch:

 

 

 

 

They label each of the red spaces, "restaurant" but 7 restaurants on this one strip of land seems odd to me, and in the sketch the spaces look a lot smaller than they do in the layout.  The surface parking at the lower left of the image calls for 183 spaces, and a 4-level, 440-car garage is shown in gray at the upper left.  I have not seen plans for the south side of Cedar..and I wonder how this project would co-exist  or mesh with the vertical-big-box wonder that sits catty-corner to it.  That place seems to already have very ample parking  and if this intersection is supposed to become ped-friendly I wonder if they're overdoing it on the parking here.  I'm no expert at all so I don't know.

 

Here's what they wrote in the magazine:

 

"Take Cedar Center," [mayor Georgine Welo] says, noting that the city has just released a plan to build up to 128 apartmens or condominiums on four floors above planned retail space and restaurants, which would create a trendy mixed-use space.  Welo has been meeting with builders and landlords to explore further development possibilities.  "We're building relationships with developers, some from out of state.  We have to go out and pound the pavement."

 

The revitalization project could appeal to John Carroll University and Notre Dame College students and others affiliated with those colleges, especially for people who'd like to live and socialize near those campuses.  In addition, the development will create a new town center with restaurants and green spaces for residents to enjoy.

 

Since the project was announced last December, Cal Caminati Jr., the city's economic development manager, says he has been getting congratulator messages from residents, former residents and businesses interested in the development's progress.

 

"We're getting a lot of interest and positive feedback on this project," Caminati says.  "Community development organizations in other cities are asking us about it; I guess when one city does something like this, others want to go forward on their own development projects."

 

To accommodate the extra parking the development would need, the city is looking into building a multi-story parking deck. 

 

Some of this cracks me up because they haven't really DONE anything yet except make a drawing.  But here's hoping it happens.

From the 9/20/05 PD:

 

 

S. Euclid may use eminent domain

City's future rides on updating Cedar Center, official says

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Thomas Ott

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

South Euclid - The city has offered more than $16 million for property where developers want to build restaurants, shops and housing, and Mayor Georgine Welo says she will use eminent domain to take the land if owners refuse to sell.

 

Catlin Properties of Sacramento, Calif., and Contrende Co. of Chicago would level half of the landmark Cedar Center shopping center, at Cedar and Warrensville Center roads. The city would donate a parking lot that covers more than half of the 11-acre site. The developers would supply the money to buy the rest from about a dozen owners...

 

more at: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1127208651165580.xml&coll=2

If I had to choose between this and the other big developments in the neighborhood that have happened in the past few years, I would have taken this. 

 

However, in light of what has already happened, I'm sure this will do well as a shopping center and that a lot of the smaller businesses that were still left here were either already struggling with the glut of BIG BOXES that have recently joined the landscape.  You've got a Wal Mart just down the road at Severence and a Target across the street at University Square, so it was only a matter of time before this place became fully obsolete anyway...

 

So, what's the best way to reinvent yourself if you're a dated, unattractive shopping center that just happens to be on a major thoroughfare on the way to many of these other centers???  Well, spruce up your corners, tuck your parking behind landscaping and in garages...and ADD HOUSING!!!  On first, sight, this appears to be the formular they're going for.  And I support it. 

 

I haven't read about the eminent domain prospects yet, so I'll hold comments on that for later...

I agree - the additional housing is key here.  Parts of this side of Cedar Center seem okay but the rest is just a long strip of nondescription.  The largest retailer here that would be Marc's and interestingly there is already Marc's in South Euclid on Mayfield near Green.

 

Truth be told I think even more condo/apt units would be approprate than the 128 planned for (plus the 9 townhomes).  As I mentioned (and MGD as well) there is a large amount of retail already in the area.  University Square has Target, a large-capacity Tops, a Jo-Ann Superstore, TJ-Maxxxx, Kaufmann's, plus a number of other smaller retailers.  Plus there is the retail across the street where they are doing some remodeling, and Severance and Legacy Village each about 8 minutes by car away.  I think they could do well (if the sketch plan here is more than just a dream) by eliminating the lavender "anchor" there in favor of more residential-over-retail type stuff at 2-3 stories, perhaps 1 story of more vertically spacious residential over retail, since I assume they will want the 4-story building to be the dominant structure.

 

 

From the 10/13/05 Sun Messenger:

 

 

Cedar Center will get total makeover

Thursday, October 13, 2005

By JEFF PIORKOWSKI

 

SOUTH EUCLID - One thing was certain after Monday's City Council meeting - city leaders are fully behind a plan to totally remake the South Euclid portion of Cedar Center.

 

Council cleared the way for an entirely new Cedar Center by unanimously passing a resolution of intent to redevelop the shopping strip.

 

Frequently during the discussion of the resolution, Cedar Center was termed blighted...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sunmessenger/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1129225023250360.xml&coll=3

 

From the 10/17/05 PD:

 

 

S. Euclid ready to take Cedar land

Monday, October 17, 2005

Thomas Ott

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

South Euclid - The city is poised to take land for construction of new housing and shops at Cedar and Warrensville Center roads.

 

City Council is expected to decide tonight whether to aid redevelopment of the Cedar Center shopping area by going to court under powers of eminent domain. The city made $16 million in offers last month on more than three dozen parcels but received no reply.

 

Mayor Georgine Welo said the project is critical to reviving the aging suburb...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1129541707293880.xml&coll=2

 

demolition work has begun in the SW corner of Warrensville and Cedar (where the motophoto was)

I'll really miss that poorly-designed, architercturally-poor strip center. ;)

From the sketch above, it will be a big improvement over the present configuration.  The only thing that I don't really like is the huge amount of surface parking near the corner of Cedar/WCR.  Why did they located the two large stores all the way in the back?  If they moved those two and fronted them on Cedar, the design would be much better.  They pretty much do that with the rest of the project, why not complete the scheme?

From what I can tell, the images above are for the South Euclid side of Cedar.  Does anyone have images of what is planned for the University Heights side?  This is the side that is being demolished right now, correct?

Yes, the images above are the South Euclid side (North side of Cedar).  Thus that big surface lot is not at the corner of Cedar and Warresnville Center but probably Cedar and Fenwick Road, to the west of the center.  I think the two large stores on the back corner are put back there to mesh with the front edge of the large residential building which appears to be the dominant feature.  So they're creating a bit of a line there which I guess is alright.  The parking does bug but given that according the sketch only 183 of 743 total parking spaces for the development will on one surface lot, it's not so bad compared to something like Legacy which has over 2,500, nearly all of which are surface if i'm not mistaken.

 

I could not find anything on the UH side of things other than a tiny image on the Coral Company's website. 

 

http://www.thecoralcompany.com/retailcedar.html

 

What I don't quite get is the leasing info list shows a sketch of the center as it currently stants.  Yet someone just said they MotoPhoto is now in a "was" state.  I think there's a sign up outside the plaza, might provide a closer look of the design.  I'll try to get some photos.  That side of the center has been under construction for a while.  I think I saw the Oven Fresh Pizza closed.  That was sad, I miss my $5 large pizzas.  The South Euclid side is definitely busier and has been for a while.  Not many vacancies or anything and some decent Penn Station and Chipotle (yes, i'm food-obsessed :-) ) but that's where they're working on eminent domain I guess. 

What surprises me about the South Euclid side is that the city would be allowing the construction of a 4-story residential building of that mass over another floor+ of retail on the back end of the property.  The back end meets the backyards of a cozy little street of single-family houses that will probably feel pretty oppressed by this sort of structure. (Hessler Road thought they had it bad!) 

 

Is there a residential element on the UH side?  From the sound of it, it's going to be retail and office...

From the 1/5/06 Sun Press:

 

 

Cedar Center project on track

Thursday, January 05, 2006

By ROBERT NOZAR

The Sun Press

 

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS - By the start of 2007, if plans hold true, the southwest corner of Cedar and Warrensville Center roads will be transformed.

 

Work is on schedule at Cedar Center, said Alexis Booth, vice president of development for The Coral Company, which owns the shopping center and is overseeing its redevelopment...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sunpress/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1136482993192060.xml&coll=3

 

i highly recommend orielly's wings

I'm not sure if or where O'Reilly's reopened.  I drove by the UH side of the center and did not notice any new place.

 

As for the South Euclid side, Ward 4 councilwoman Jane Goodman has posted that they are proceeding:

 

"The eminent domain letters went to the building owners, and the next step will be to buy the properties and sell them to the developer."

 

She wrote in a note about an impending Cedar road widening project in the area that this was to wait until the tearing down of the existing center was complete and that "city folk" hope to start demolition in the spring.  I'm not going to hold my breath, though.

Photo update.

 

They are progressing nicely on the south side of Cedar Road.  Construction is coinciding with a pretty major road improvement so it's pretty much a mess at the intersection of Warrensville Center and Cedar.

 

Excuse the timestamp, I made the mistake of assuming that on this borrowed camera: 1.) There wouldn't be a timestamp, and if there were, 2.) It would be accurate.

 

 

thanks for coverning my ass because I'm incredibly lazy (i live minutes from this intersection.

Here are some shots from the north side of Cedar.  There has not been much movement though, at least none in the news that I can find.

 

 

From the rear parking lot, which is quite depressing, looking into an alley that served a drive-up banking window.

 

 

The teller window now.  The alley and various area in the rear have a fair amount of amateurish graffiti.

 

 

A shot of the west half of the shopping center.  Marc's discount grocery store anchors the plaza. 

 

 

And because I have them, some pics of the University Square retail complex, situated on the southeast corner of the intersection.  While we can debate the merits of "big-box" style development, I look at this as a pretty impressive improvement as far as land use goes.  The developer put nearly 300,000 square feet of retail space onto a suburban property about 780,000 square feet in area, with tenants such as Target, Jo-Ann, Tops, and Kaufmann's.  Compare to Steelyard commons, which needs something like 5 million square feet of land for 1 million of actual space.  It's not perfect but it's an improvement.

 

Cedar road looking east:

 

A multilevel parking deck serves the complex, major anchors being served by different by different levels.  Ample stairways and elevators facilitate travel between levels.

 

Peeking over the 5th level of parking Northeast toward Cedar.

^i'm still trying to figure out a way to climb on top of target to get the perfect view of downtown.

Hah, don't shoot me, but that "dense" shot of the TJ Maxx sign directly over Pier 1 is sort of cool looking. I wish downtown had cool multi-level retail like that. It's gaudy in a lively way.

From the 10/4/06 PD:

 

 

Cedar Center developer pulls out, South Euclid still seeks properties

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Thomas Ott

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

South Euclid - The city will continue trying to seize half of the landmark Cedar Center shopping center, but the California company that planned to transform the property into new shops and housing has backed out.

 

Developer Ben Catlin, president of Catlin Properties, feared that a July ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court would prolong and perhaps doom the city's court action. The ruling limits cities' use of eminent domain for redevelopment. Softening national and regional markets and high land costs, to be paid by Catlin, were other factors...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1159950712194190.xml&coll=2

 

S. Euclid site purchase clears way for renewal

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Thomas Ott

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

South Euclid - The city will buy the north side of the Cedar Center shopping plaza, clearing the way for new development on the landmark site.

 

Attorneys for the city and seven owners, all holding separate slices of the property, have reached verbal agreements, Law Director Michael Lograsso said Friday. Sheldon Berns, lawyer for five landowners, confirmed the tentative settlements.

 

The deals, if made formal, will let South Euclid avoid going to court to take the land by eminent domain. A City Council that so far has been supportive will meet Monday to consider letting Mayor Georgine Welo settle a case filed late last year in Cuyahoga County Probate Court...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1166262091183420.xml&coll=2

 

 

 

It's nice to see this is looking less like a drawn out eminent domain court battle and more like a win for the landowners and residents of the area.

 

My only concern is which "anchors" will desire this space for development?  Next door, University Square is only a little more than half full, with room for a few more medium-box retailers that have never moved in.  There is already a large Walgreens and a (soon to be large) CVS at the intersection.  With Whole Foods moving in, will a large traditional grocer even desire this space?  I just hope they don't try to wedge a smaller Legacy village into North Cedar Center.  I think a less grand concept may be the right fit for the area, with smaller storefronts for local shops and restaurants, a similar mix to what is there now, but without the neglect and blight of the current structures, and easier access for pedestrians and vehicles.

Personnally, I think this portion of the development should be completely residential. 

I agree, I'd like there to be some more residential, and you're right - the old drawings did look suspiciously like a mini-Legacy Village, if only a bit better melded into the existing streets. 

 

University Square lost Tops and I don't think anything else went in.  I agree that smaller shops, more residential would be better for the area. 

^I think that University Square was a poor location for a Tops. That said, is the South Euclid space large enough to fit in a supermarket?

that area needs better pedestrian signage, pronto.

 

Sometimes I'm at the Starbucks (NW corner of Warrensvile & Cedar), while at starbucks I need cigarettes so I either go to the NE corner (walgreens) or the SW Corner (cvs). But I'm a fat american so I drive.

 

Its an adventure crossing the intersection at any time, and quite often I fret for my life. Conversely, the pedestrians aren't educated any better. The most common head butt is when a pedestrian assumes the light cycle is complete and they start walking, failing to ignore the oncoming advance green left turn signal.

 

Following up on matches point: I assumed that while the University Square wasn't anywhere near 100% leased, that they were fine given their major tenants in terms of sq footage (macy's, topps, target, jo-ann & pier one). Maybe this dent in their income related to tops leaving will force them to be a little more diligent about the marketing of the empty stores.

 

According to University Square's management company, <a href="http://www.inlandgroup.com/inlandus/11_6128.html">Inland</a>, the complex was 65% filled before Tops left, and is now only 45% filled by square footage.  There's over 150,000 sf of empty retail there now!  It would be hard for a traditional grocer to take over the old Tops space, especially with Whole Foods in such a visible location across the street.  That's bad news for Univ. Sq., I just don't think the residents nearby have fully embraced the concept of a vertical shopping center.

 

As for North Cedar Center, I would like to see some residential in there as well, but there certainly needs to be space for many of the restaurants/shops that are currently in the center.  A rough count is ~7 small restaurants, an equal number of small stores, and a Marcs.  There's plenty of physical room for a full service grocer to anchor NCC, I just wonder if any company will jump on it with the mix of other grocery options in the area.

 

 

"That's bad news for Univ. Sq., I just don't think the residents nearby have fully embraced the concept of a vertical shopping center."

 

Correct me if I'm wrong - is the only way to access the stores via the parking garage? I don't recall any of the first-floor stores having any street-facing entrance.

to the best of my knowledge the only way to access the target is from the interior (ie parking garage). Then again, I haven't tried walking to the target yet.

University Square is a mess and I cannot believe any one on this board embraces it.  It is amazing University Hts allowed it to be built.  The city must have absolutely no design review or was just desperate for new development.  It is massive, ignores the street and pedestrians (no street entrances, you must enter stores from a dark, ugly and poorly built parking garage that clearly is not going to age well, and the vertical concept was poorly executed as it is hard to get from level to level.  I am not surprised it still has such a high vacancy rate.

University Square is a mess and I cannot believe any one on this board embraces it.  It is amazing University Hts allowed it to be built.  The city must have absolutely no design review or was just desperate for new development.  It is massive, ignores the street and pedestrians (no street entrances, you must enter stores from a dark, ugly and poorly built parking garage that clearly is not going to age well, and the vertical concept was poorly executed as it is hard to get from level to level.  I am not surprised it still has such a high vacancy rate.

 

I agree.  Going into target is scarey.  I felt like I would hit my head with every step I took.

^alright we get it, you are tall. You can stop.

 

Furthermore, you are not 8 feet tall.

^alright we get it, you are tall. You can stop.

 

Furthermore, you are not 8 feet tall.

 

BANNED! :-P

Htsguy, I have to agree with you for the most part. However, the one thing I  like about it is the fact that it occupies a smaller site simply by going vertical. They got it completely wrong on the pedestrian access and other merits, but if it had street level pedestrian access, and more transparency (windows that you could see through and thus see activity), I could see something like this working in other sites where massive swaths of land aren't available. Let's face it, we haven't seen vertical retail worth mentioning since the peak of downtown shopping.

 

For example, I think a two-level version of this (of course with the aforementioned improved pedestrian/street integration) would be a good fit for the northeast corner of West 117th and Clifton Boulevard in the Edgewater neighborhood. It would replace obsolete retail space but could also be meshed with the adjacent former Church of Christ Scientist.