Please don't tell me this one belongs in the "abandoned projects" section!

 

This news piece from www.cpn.org contains some great news and some of the same "Cleveland just doesn't seem to know how to support business growth" talk that we hear so much of.  The ending is optimistic at least!

 

there's also an audio link to the report at http://www.wcpn.org/mc/vault/radio_features/0929real_estate.shtml

 

Emerging Real Estate Markets

September 29, 2004 @ 6:33 am and 8:20 am on 90.3

 

When neighborhoods gentrify, there’s frequently a fear that existing residents and businesses will be lost, priced out by rising real estate values. If you buy into conventional wisdom, the city can’t afford to ignore its real estate potential: between its recent placement in the number one spot as the nation’s most impoverished city to the loss of population over the past decade, neighborhood revitalization is the key to creating a stronger city and a stronger region. One neighborhood’s strategy for redeveloping without losing its character is to capitalize on what makes the neighborhood unique - but as ideastream’s Shula Neuman reports, that technique has its own challenges.

 

Things are a little incongruous in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood, an area that runs roughly from East 30th to East 70th north of Chester Avenue. Commercial and residential buildings rub shoulders here, like a microcosm of the larger city. People usually have one of two reactions to this juxtaposition: who would want to live here? Or, how can I get a piece? The developers at Graystone Properties are part of that second group. They’ve acquired the 12+ acres that make up Tyler Industrial Park - that’s two city blocks of industrial buildings between East 34th and 39th. The plan is to turn it into Tyler Village, a mixed use development for residential, retail and industrial use.

 

    Paul Volpe: This is truly unique for Cleveland. It’s unique as things go in the United States with urban land.

 

At a recent meeting with the project’s stakeholders, Paul Volpe, principal at City Architects, presented the overall vision of Tyler Village. Volpe says the project represents a significant opportunity, and not just for the developers.

 

    Paul Volpe: There’s a much greater economic potential because you can leverage the real estate in different ways. You’re not competing against yourself. And lastly, you have the ability to do things much bigger and generally better so the neighborhood reaps a bigger benefit.

 

The hope is that the success of such a truly mixed-use, large-scale development will attract smaller ventures that also maintain the core character of the neighborhood. St. Clair Superior Neighborhood Development Association Executive Director Diane Swander says developers are already investing: there’s been more than $50 million of mostly private investment over the past four years and there’s a potential $128 million more on the way.

 

    Diane Swander: So the trick in a neighborhood where there’s limited land is how do you smooth the edges between the industrial space. How do you create the connections, create new developments that honor the existing tradition, whether it’s industrial or the residential community, and just integrate the housing products and the new residents into the neighborhood into those.

 

Although Tyler Village may be able to straddle those two worlds, it could still trip on some of the difficulties other ventures have faced. Mike Baird knows the quandary well. His company, Unicare, bought and renovated a building on East 40th a bit south of the future Tyler Village. It seemed ideal, Baird says.

 

    Mike Baird: We identified that this was a 46,000 square foot warehouse. It would provide a lot of room for expansion. We liked the idea of the tall ceilings and windows all around. We thought it would be a nice work environment for our associates.

 

Unicare has done well at its current location - perhaps too well. Baird says the company will probably outgrow its current home by 2008. He says working with the city on expanding Unicare’s current facility has been frustrating, at best.

 

    Mike Baird: You would think that considering the circumstances, considering the current state of poverty in Cleveland and the need for jobs in Cleveland that there would be more attention paid to businesses, especially growing business. I think that’s part of the reason you have a high vacancy rate. It just doesn’t seem to be a priority.

 

Greg Huth, director of Economic Development for the city of Cleveland, says the city is aware of these issues, and that it’s taken a while for the mayor’s outreach initiatives to catch on. But he says those efforts are getting underway: most recently, the city’s sent letters to businesses in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood to learn about their concerns.

 

    Greg Huth: Whether he’s a growing business or whether he’s struggling or whether he has day-to-day issues with the city, he’s got potholes out front or a dog in the lot next door. We want to get to what his issues are so we can get to him and make living and doing business in the city of Cleveland more profitable. And frankly, it helps us.

 

Residential developers aren’t immune to the city’s glacial pace, but they seem more willing to tolerate it. Developer Tony Asher with Graystone Properties says he first envisioned building residential units on the Tyler Village site 30 years ago. He says he’s eager to get going now although there’s a lot that has to happen first.

 

    Tony Asher: The financing, historic tax credits, conservation easements, zoning… I dunno. I could go on - there’s so many different things we have to get done. But we necessarily know that we need to work with everybody whether it’s the city of Cleveland or state people the county people. Candidly, any other governmental agency you can throw at us, but we need to work with everybody and we think we can get that done.

 

Asher says once Graystone weathers the bureaucracy and Tyler Village becomes a reality, then more developers will line up who are willing to do the same. And perhaps, within a decade, St. Clair Superior will catch on as the place to invest in real estate. In Cleveland, Shula Neuman, 90.3.

 

Wow! I didn't know that anyone was talking about this.  Its a massive facility, to say the least.  Probably one of the largest multi-story factory/warehouse complexes left in the city, so this would be something that could create a regional spash and identity for St. Clair-Superior (actually, I'd consider this Payne-Sterling, but anyway).  With its proximity to downtown, its growing ethnic population, and lots of charming streets and old industrial lofts, this area is just waiting to be the next big thing.

is this the area that has old pedestrian bridges above the streets connecting the buildings?  are there any pictures of this place?

As exciting as this is, I'm a little concerned about the date.  It's been almost a year since this feature and this is the only thing I could find on it!

Zaceman, yes, this is the one with the pedestrian bridge.

 

MGD, While I don't know that it is still alive, I'm not too concerned that nothing has been announce in the past year.  A project of this magnitude can take years to get off the ground, during which not much happens that the news is going to consider worth covering, or that the developer necessarily wants covered.  Of course, that isn't to say that we don't want to hear something.  It just takes a long time to go through all the delicate negotiations that can make a project like this real.

awesome, well yea it definately has potential, its not so much "if" but more of "when" this thing will happen.  i coulda swore i seen fixed up storefronts in some of these buildings

Not in Tyler Village.  That is all industrial right now except for one restaurant that has a single door for an entrance.  There has been alot of storefront renovation in the surrounding neighborhood.

this is probably pretty close to "chinatown" and the new developments that have been talked about over there...I'll get us some pics and updates when I get to town in a month!

Wow, I'd completely forgotten that I posted this several months ago!  Without realizing it, I gravitated towards this site the week I got here.  I took some pics and will post them soon. 

 

The reason this has resurfaced in my mind is that St. Clair-Superior brought a great collection of materials to CSU's World Town Planning Day a couple weeks back.  As I mentioned on that thread, their displays were some of the most exciting in that group of almost 20 groups that brought materials.  The most exciting part of all was the set of drawings and maps of Tyler Village.  That name didn't ring a bell, so I searched for it on here and voila!  I found this thread that I started in July!

 

Now, visiting the site, it's apparent that several uses and occupants still exist.  However, there are Colliers signs everywhere.  For sale or lease, I can't remember, but I'll assume lease.  Basically, these buildings are amazing and the types of uses that are proposed would do well to blend the mixture of industrial, commercial and residential that are addressed in the WCPN dialogue.  In addition, there are at least a dozen more blocks of warehouses north of this site that could create one of the most productive, unique neighborhoods in the city if redeveloped to capacity. 

 

To be sure, many of these buildings are still producing and still employing, but the area as a whole is far below capacity.  I think this is a sign that there will be a shift towards a better mixture in years to come.  Tyler Village would be a keystone to this process and seems to have started to build momentum.  According to St. Clair-Superior Development, the project is over 1 million square feet and will house 452 residential loft units (for sale and rental) with live-work potential, 49,000 square feet of commercial space and 100,000 square feet of industrial space. 

 

However, as the lack of news on this subject is disheartening, the CDC (St. Clair-Superior) continues to flaunt it as one of their most critical real estate and economic development projects.  Along with Asian Town Center (which is just across Superior from Tyler Village), the White Motors site (a good 40 blocks east on 79th and St. Clair), Mueller Condos (31st and Payne), Florian Court (45th-47th, betw. St. Clair & Superior), and various other projects, this area is easily one of the more interesting hubs for redevelopment and new projects.  If done correctly, St. Clair-Superior can become a true mixed-use neighborhood with high-tech and creative class jobs, innovative live-work spaces, and the retail opportunities that will follow such development. 

I spoke to someone from St. Clair-Superior at Ingenuity, and he seemed confident then that the project was still moving forward.  I'm not worried about the lack of news myself.  Projects of this magnitude can take a very long time to get to construction.  There are all sorts of studies to do, financing to get, meetings and negotiations to hold, RFP's to put out.  In the best of circumstances, these things can come together within a couple of years.  Usually it takes even longer than that before we see nails put into boards.

Just seeing the plans and renderings for this project a couple weeks ago was enough to instill confidence and optimism in this viewer!  It's pretty amazing, though, because much of the exterior remains the same.  It's the mixture of uses and the sheer mass of the whole thing that really excites me!

i would love to see plans and renderings for this project. it sounds very cool (all except for the confusing suburbanish moniker tyler village).

Yeah, not sure where that name came from.  I don't have any of the images from St. Clair-Superior, but I have photos from the site that I took in August.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pilfer any of the plans that they brought!

I looked into this complex a few weeks ago as part of a real estate project. I'm confused because a lot of what MGD is talking about is already happening there. Just type the address into Google, and here's some of what comes up:

 

Cleveland Shambala Meditation Group (meets in the building weekly)

Erie Street Theatrical Service

Erielink (Internet service provider)

Clark's Transportation

National Minority College Golf Scholarship

Designs of Distinction Spotlight Flowers and Decorations

 

Also, Billie Lawless, the guy who did that crazy monster sculpture on Chester Avenue, has a studio there. And there was a restaurant, Thee Olde Factory, that has closed down.

So is all this stuff part of an earlier project that petered out? Or are the new plans building on what's already happened...?

And by the way, the Colliers signs on the building say "For Lease -- up to 100,000 square feet." I was out there scoping it out recently.

I was wondering when you'd get into the conversation! 

 

Yeah, "for lease," that's what I figured... As for what's going on there now versus what's planned, I can't figure out what money has been spent already and how this would relate to the master plan.  My assumption is that the building is functional as it is, but that it is under-producing.  So, they have this $70 million plan to rehab the building and reposition it as a mixed-use residential, industrial, commercial, retail development.  As it is right now, it seems to be singular in use, or industrial/commercial at best.  If this was paying all the bills, they'd probably just stick with this.  I figure that there's probably a lot of vacancy in the buildings and that they're thinking they can create a more fruitful product by diversifying the uses.

 

Let us know if you've got more info!

Nope, that's all I got! I think you're right that it would be a good idea to diversify the building, because right now it seems to be all office and light manufacturing space. I wonder if they have been able to get it rezoned to allow live-work. And by the way, what exactly is the procedure for getting a building to live-work status? Does it just require a variance? A zoning overlay? Anyone?

I know some stuff about zoning, but not enough.  A variance can get you just about anything. They are very political.  Some times  you have to satisfy some stated criteria in order to qualify for the variance.  You would have to read up on the city's zoning code.

 

Outside of a variance, it is more difficult.  It takes a lot more to get the zoning changed to allow for the desired use.  Zoning overlays are simply a type of zoning that allows for mixed use.  Non-conforming uses are another way to get around zoning, but they wouldn't apply to this situation.  Non-conforming Uses apply when you have a use and the zoning subsequently changes.  The non-conforming use is generally permitted to remain unless its a nuissance.  That's all I'll mention for now. There's more, but I don't feel like writing a textbook-style answer at the moment.

That's our resident legal expert!

Hey guys, the reason the name is "Tyler Village" is becuase the the complex is the old C.E. Tyler Company complex, and home to their production facilities before they moved out to Mentor years ago.

 

It's a great old building ... a friend of mine has a glassblowing studio located in it.  The place is a fortress, and built quite well.  The only downside is that RIGHT next to the building is a live train line, so if you're living in the building, particularly on the eastern side of the building, you better like trains, because they're going to be coming by day and night, about 3 feet outside your window.

 

 

^you may have just sold KJP on his next home. :)

 

Welcome to the site!

Gee, three feet outside my window? That's so close I wouldn't even be able to tell what kind of train it is. In other words, it's too close!

Naw, you'd learn to tell by the pitch of the metal on metal screetching that the train made as it roared by your window.

I smell a future commuter rail station...

But I don't yet smell any commuter trains....

A few pics I forgot to post!

 

One of the bridges that make this cluster of buildings so notable:

 

While living in New York, I actually had a dream about these buildings and couldn't remember where they were or if I'd made them up!

 

The Olde Factory...a now defunct (correct me if I'm wrong!) restaurant:

 

 

what an awesome looking set of buildings

That place has the potential to be a city-within-a-city. At 1.2 million square feet, it's roughly the same size as a suburban shopping mall! Given that, it will have a spillover effect into the surrounding area, much like a mall does with outlots and satellite shopping strips. So what's the land use and transportation plan for the surrounding neighborhood? Is there one?

Yes, the St. Clair-Superior CDC has a land-use plan for the area. I don't think there are any transportation improvements in that, but the Lakefront Plan does call for an extension of the Waterfront Line down St. Clair Avenue, one block to the north of Superior.

B12, is there a graphic or some text available on line that shows the land use plan?

 

BTW, I think the Lakefront Plan vaguely suggests extending the Waterfront Line along the CSX/Amtrak right of way, not St. Clair. But perhaps they didn't want to get into those specifics.

I don't think the neighborhood plan is online, KJP. However, I think I can get a digital version pretty easily; give me a couple days.

And you may be right about the Waterfront Line. I thought I remembered seeing a pretty little dotted rail line along St. Clair -- but that might have been wishful thinking kicking in. ;)

I just rechecked the Lakefront Plan, and you're right, KJP -- the Waterfront Line extension follows the existing tracks along Lakeside. That route, of course, would be of minimal use to the city as it currently exists (too far from residential and commercial districts).

I pine for Waterfront line extension (as far as can be managed) but I agree that at least for the city of Cleveland, it is not quite an ideal route to be along those tracks, is it?  South of the Shoreway and in essense right on the border of CLE and Bratenahl for a stretchl, if I'm not mistaken.  They imply an extension to Collinwood but I don't know exactly who'd be served by that routing unless some major developments were to take place along there.    St. Clair does seem to make more sense as it's the northernmost E/W avenue on the east side.  Perhaps divert the line near E. 72nd street (or 55th) to swoop and meet with St. Clair near the park?  Eh, this for another thread and another board, (and another reality entirely) I guess.

I would love to see rail go near St. Clair.  It makes much more sense to put it near the heart of the population.  It is ridiculous how far from rail our population lives.  However, a rail line down the middle of St. Clair doesn't make much financial sense to me.  Urban planning-wise, it makes a lot of sense. But if we are to convince the powers that be to fork over cash for a waterfront line extension, it needs to make financial and practical sense.  I don't really see the difference between BRT and light rail down the middle of St. Clair.  I love the redline because it is so efficient. I don't have to stop at each intersection and wait for the redlight to change.   

^i think the waterfront line may be more useful in the near term as a quasi-commuter rail extended out to euclid and mentor. it's a more minimal investment that might spur some development along the way and at least get people interested in rail who otherwise would not be. couldn't they build it along with the shoreway rebuild? park&ride in mentor and take the rapid to tower city and the airport? hey i like the sound of that. ah at least i can dream! sorry i guess we're off-topic with this here - heh.

I agree with you about the commuter line.  It would be interesting to think about its effect if it could go out to Mentor, but also have a branch go down 271 (a la Chicago). 

oh yeah and out west to lorain too. i just have always thought an eastward waterfront rapid extension would be the easiest thing for rta to do as a kind of starter project. it will happen someday i guess.

I think we should get back to Tyler Village. I posted my thoughts on the Waterfront extension at:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5563.msg77220#msg77220

I was able to get a good look at the "Master Plan" for Tyler Village today.  I'll say this: it looks....yummy.  Though, most "master plans" do.  I will see if I can post it here; don't want to step on any toes.  But in case I cannot, here's some stuff i gathered...  "The Vision", as the plan says, is:

 

"Create a mixed-use pedestrian oriented urban community within the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood, close to Downtown, Cniversity Circle, Cleveland State, Lake Erie, . . . Everything."

 

It also touts over 1M squre feet of redeveloped space; 24 buildings on 106 acres; 620+ indoor parking space; community/recreation amenities; outdoor plazas; light industrial and warehouse space; condos and apartments; 450+ residential units; "revitalized city streets"; restaurants/cafes; shops/galleries; office space.

 

The majority of the parking appears to be in a garage that parallels the railroad tracks, and on the streets, configured perpendicular to the sidewalks, interestingly.  The parking lot on the north end near St. Clair stays and a new narrow street between E. 36th and the tracks springs up.  Most of the south end of the complex becomes lofts/condos with some office and retail thrown in.  Between 36th and the new street is more retail/restaurant/gallery space, on the outside, studio space.  A small industrial area is denoted as fronting E. 34th in the northwest section.

^This thread is useless without pics

 

By the time the residential units come rolling in, I might have enough cash to start thinking about buying into it.

yea i really want to see some visuals, do they even have a website specifically for this development or is it still too early??

Graystone Properties is the developer and their web "site" appears to be simply http://graystoneproperties.com/  So... no.

 

In the meantime, see http://users.adelphia.net/~murbas/Vision.pdf.

More office and light industrial/warehouse space in the future development site would be nice to see if there ever gets enough demand for it. Courtyard/amitheatre might be a dead zone becuase its on the way to parking or nothing realy at all. I cant really figure out what the walkways are going to be in there. Other than those few minor things, I think its cool as hell. The layout does a good job of making use of all the wierd niches and making nice "third places" and outdoor eating areas. Building #25 might have some killer views on a corner unit, both city view and a lake view potential.

^This thread is useless without pics

 

You mean of the master plan? Because Mister Good Day posted some fantastic photos of the buildings on page 1 of this thread.

For those without Acrobot, here is an image.  White=residential, purple=industrial, blue=studio/gallery, orange/red=retail/restaurant.  See http://users.adelphia.net/~murbas/tyler_large.jpg for a larger view.

  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=cleveland,+oh&ll=41.513719,-81.666377&spn=0.004089,0.010815&t=h for overhead view of the area.  I might try to get some pictures of the area to add as well.

 

Thanks Matches!

Beachwood's DigiKnow Inc., one of the region's largest interactive marketing firms, plans to relocate its 50-employee corporate headquarters to Cleveland this fall.

 

President King Hill told The Plain Dealer this afternoon that the company has signed a lease for Tyler Village, a new real estate development planned for East 36th Street and Superior Avenue. DigiKnow will occupy the entire fourth floor -- 22,000 square feet -- of the old Tyler Elevator building. It will leave behind 8,700 square feet on Mercantile Road in Beachwood.

 

Graystone Properties is redeveloping a 1.2 million square-foot industrial complex as part of a seven- to nine-year plan that aims to include 300 residential units and a diverse mix of companies. Hill said he was impressed with the project, and after looking for a new home for almost a year, settled on Cleveland because he was excited to be a part of the redevelopment. (Link: DigiKnow site)

 

He also received overtures from the city, particularly "Tech Czar" Michael DeAloia, who is helping to secure a six-figure, low-interest loan that Hill said is likely to be worth about $300,000.

 

By Henry J. Gomez, [email protected]

this is great news! 

wow, that's fantastic!  It's nice to see a company from Beachwood recognizing the allure of the center city and its historic buildings and neighborhoods.  One of Bob Stark's main themes when rationalizing the construction of new office space Downtown is that the suburban office market has a shorter life span than the office and industrial buildings that were built in cleveland in the early part of the 20th Century.  Buildings/complexes like Tyler Village should live on for another 100 years and see a wide range of productive reuses.  I can't exactly see that happening along Mercantile or Rockside Road!

Tech firm moving to Cleveland

Beachwood's DigiKnow to locate on Superior Ave.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Henry J. Gomez

 

Beachwood's DigiKnow Inc. has agreed to relocate its headquarters to Cleveland and bring with it at least 50 jobs.

 

It's the third large high-tech firm to leave the suburbs for Cleveland proper in the last year, illustrating the city's push to lure innovative companies.

 

King Hill, who is president of the growing interactive marketing company, had been looking for a new home base for almost a year...

 

 

the positive press just keeps on rolling!  this is excellent...

 

who knew there were recording studios and a violin maker there already?