Technically counts haha. This is amazing news! We are looking to buy in Shaker and the Cleveland encroachment was slightly making me uneasy. This will definitely help with that! Now they just need to work more with Cleveland to continue coming up with plans to reinvest in the southern and western borders.

 

We just bought a 1/2 mi-ish from here and this is a very positive development.  Like willyboy[/member] said, it is a very close knit neighborhood and you get to know your neighbors pretty easily. 

We're looking at two places tomorrow in Fernway and one on the Cleveland border one house over from Shaker. It's amazing how as soon as you're one street over from Shaker, the quality instantly diminishes. It'll be interesting to see what other retail/restaurants/office the new development gets. Hopefully they get more commitments.

You really think so? What do you mean by quality? I live on N. Moreland Blvd. and I think my street is just as nice as most streets in Shaker Heights even though I technically live in Cleveland. My dad grew up on Lomond; I do think that's a part of Shaker Heights that diminishes in quality right after you cross the boarder but not on all four sides.

You really think so? What do you mean by quality? I live on N. Moreland Blvd. and I think my street is just as nice as most streets in Shaker Heights even though I technically live in Cleveland. My dad grew up on Lomond; I do think that's a part of Shaker Heights that diminishes in quality right after you cross the boarder but not on all four sides.

There's a place on Haddam, which is Cleveland. The house to the left is Shaker and those to the right are Cleveland. It seemed at neighborhood drive through that there were many issues with not keeping up landscaping, peeling paint, and just an overall almost unkempt look. It was still decent but not the high standards that most of Shaker enjoys due to their insanely strict guidelines. I've noticed the same on Chadbourne, Ludlow and Keswick. Not saying it's a rule, just an observation. Hopefully Cleveland and Shaker can continue to work together to bring projects such as the Transit Village development. I really think that is a potentially huge project for that area.

Across the street from the Van Aken District:

 

Tower East, tallest building in Shaker Heights, sells to Equity Engineering (photos)

By Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer

on November 13, 2015 at 9:33 AM, updated November 13, 2015 at 9:44 AM

 

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio – A homegrown company has purchased this East Side suburb's tallest building, the 12-story Tower East offices that overlook what could become Shaker Heights' new downtown.

 

An affiliate of the Equity Engineering Group, Inc., bought the lower eight floors of Tower East in late October. The company already controlled the building's top four floors, which Equity acquired through a series of office-condo purchases last year.

 

Now a well-known building – and a rare sizable office property for Shaker Heights, which is heavily residential – is united under a single owner. The sale, and planned renovations, come as Shaker and various partners are finishing a major intersection makeover and preparing to bring new apartments, shopping, dining and offices to an area being repositioned as the Van Aken District.

 

MORE:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/11/tower_east_tallest_building_in.html

Technically counts haha. This is amazing news! We are looking to buy in Shaker and the Cleveland encroachment was slightly making me uneasy. This will definitely help with that! Now they just need to work more with Cleveland to continue coming up with plans to reinvest in the southern and western borders.

 

We just bought a 1/2 mi-ish from here and this is a very positive development.  Like willyboy[/member] said, it is a very close knit neighborhood and you get to know your neighbors pretty easily. 

We're looking at two places tomorrow in Fernway and one on the Cleveland border one house over from Shaker. It's amazing how as soon as you're one street over from Shaker, the quality instantly diminishes. It'll be interesting to see what other retail/restaurants/office the new development gets. Hopefully they get more commitments.

 

Yeah, when we were moving everything from the old house in Middleburg to the new one we came up Kinsmen->Ashby->Warrington.  The difference along Ashby as you cross from Cleveland to Shaker is stark.  My parents said it was like driving into pleasentville.

 

We looked for a long time in the Fernway neighborhood.  There are some nice houses there and we did make an offer on one but it did not pan out.  I think the homes on that side of Lee, compared to the Onaway area, are a little smaller.  My wife does kind of wish we had ended up there as we would be closer to the new Mitchell's, but I digress.

 

Hope you end up in the neighborhood.  Let me know if you have any questions.

So Tedders, did you end up in Onaway?  James if you have any questions let me know (I know a couple in Onaway that has a nice place on the market).  We bought our house nearly 3 years now. 

 

N. Moreland is lined with apartment buildings, many ocupied by Case students etc.. and benefited by its location so the Cleveland decline is minimal there, but it is extremely apparent pretty much everywhere else.       

 

 

N. Moreland is lined with apartment buildings, many ocupied by Case students etc.. and benefited by its location so the Cleveland decline is minimal there, but it is extremely apparent pretty much everywhere else.       

 

I disagree.  First there isn't evidence of even minimal decline along N. Moreland. This are is thriving, vacancies are hard to come by and rents have soared in recent years (I know because a HS friend of mine is looking to move back to the Square area and is having trouble landing a reasonable,  quality apt on N. Moreland are hard to come by these days; competition there  is high).. Now south of SS, there are indeed problems we know about, esp those condemmed buildings  behind Dave's Market on Drexmore and elsewhere along E. 130 and S. Moreland.  But  even in this area, there are still gems: solid and even desirable buildings; 2 of them, The Castle and The Mansion at the corner of Drexmore, Ludlow and S. Moreland are still very beautiful and well cared for properties... There are others, too, so I'd be careful of blanket statements.

Across the street from the Van Aken District:

 

Tower East, tallest building in Shaker Heights, sells to Equity Engineering (photos)

By Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer

on November 13, 2015 at 9:33 AM, updated November 13, 2015 at 9:44 AM

 

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio – A homegrown company has purchased this East Side suburb's tallest building, the 12-story Tower East offices that overlook what could become Shaker Heights' new downtown.

 

An affiliate of the Equity Engineering Group, Inc., bought the lower eight floors of Tower East in late October. The company already controlled the building's top four floors, which Equity acquired through a series of office-condo purchases last year.

 

Now a well-known building – and a rare sizable office property for Shaker Heights, which is heavily residential – is united under a single owner. The sale, and planned renovations, come as Shaker and various partners are finishing a major intersection makeover and preparing to bring new apartments, shopping, dining and offices to an area being repositioned as the Van Aken District.

 

MORE:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/11/tower_east_tallest_building_in.html

 

Very good news.  We work with people with offices in Tower East, and as the buyer noted, it's in solid condition, just tired.  Even though this building rose during the height of auto-age sprawl, which is a bit antithetical given that it is really a 60s version of TOD, it's a signature Max Abramovitz structure that adds considerable commercial density to the area which should boost the new Van Aken development... It's also now a National Historic registered structure...

 

Another highly-detailed, well-researched article by Michelle... we've come to expect no less.

^Pretty sure it was Gropius, not Abramovitz :)

^Pretty sure it was Gropius, not Abramovitz :)

 

... and you would be 100% correct.  Abramovitz designed Erieview's  tower.

^Pretty sure it was Gropius, not Abramovitz :)

 

... and you would be 100% correct.  Abramovitz designed Erieview's  tower.

 

Wasn't that I. M. Pei?

^Pei authored the overall Erieview urban renewal scheme, but none of the individual buildings that were ultimately built in its footprint.

Technically counts haha. This is amazing news! We are looking to buy in Shaker and the Cleveland encroachment was slightly making me uneasy. This will definitely help with that! Now they just need to work more with Cleveland to continue coming up with plans to reinvest in the southern and western borders.

 

We just bought a 1/2 mi-ish from here and this is a very positive development.  Like willyboy[/member] said, it is a very close knit neighborhood and you get to know your neighbors pretty easily. 

We're looking at two places tomorrow in Fernway and one on the Cleveland border one house over from Shaker. It's amazing how as soon as you're one street over from Shaker, the quality instantly diminishes. It'll be interesting to see what other retail/restaurants/office the new development gets. Hopefully they get more commitments.

 

Yeah, when we were moving everything from the old house in Middleburg to the new one we came up Kinsmen->Ashby->Warrington.  The difference along Ashby as you cross from Cleveland to Shaker is stark.  My parents said it was like driving into pleasentville.

 

We looked for a long time in the Fernway neighborhood.  There are some nice houses there and we did make an offer on one but it did not pan out.  I think the homes on that side of Lee, compared to the Onaway area, are a little smaller.  My wife does kind of wish we had ended up there as we would be closer to the new Mitchell's, but I digress.

 

Hope you end up in the neighborhood.  Let me know if you have any questions.

So you're on Warrington? We have a friend on that street. Our top two properties are on Haddam in Cleveland and Elsmere in Fernway. The Haddam house is amazing and a huge lot but higher priced than the Elsmere house and that street is immaculate.

So Tedders, did you end up in Onaway?  James if you have any questions let me know (I know a couple in Onaway that has a nice place on the market).  We bought our house nearly 3 years now. 

 

N. Moreland is lined with apartment buildings, many ocupied by Case students etc.. and benefited by its location so the Cleveland decline is minimal there, but it is extremely apparent pretty much everywhere else.       

 

 

Our biggest concern with the Cleveland side is the extreme price differences within that small neighborhood. We're going to drive it again today and go to the open houses for our top two tomorrow to look with fresh eyes.

From an e-mailed notice....

 

Construction Update

November 19, 2015

 

Temporary Road Closure and Rail Shutdown

Portion of Van Aken and RTA Blue Line Closed this Weekend

Road Closure: Van Aken between Lee and Ashby will be temporarily closed on Saturday, November 21.

 

During this time Schirmer Construction will use a crane to lift large pieces of precast concrete to complete the platform on both sides of the track. 

 

East- and westbound Van Aken between Ashby and Lee will be shut down in the following manner: 

From 6 am to Noon, westbound Van Aken will be closed to through traffic between Lee and Ashby. Westbound traffic will be detoured to South Woodland.

 

At Noon, eastbound Van Aken will be closed to through traffic from Ashby to Lee.  Eastbound traffic will be detoured to Chagrin. It will be reopened at 6 pm.

Access will be maintained for emergency vehicles and residents living in the affected blocks of Van Aken at all times.

 

The early start time on Saturday gives Schirmer Construction the best chance to complete the work in one day, which will limit the impact on residents. If they encounter problems, work will be finished on Sunday, November 22. 

 

Rail Shutdown: RTA buses will replace Blue Line trains between Warrensville and Shaker Square on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience.

First Look: Latest plans for Shaker Heights Van Aken urban design unveiled

 

By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

Follow on Twitter

on December 01, 2015 at 5:00 PM, updated December 01, 2015 at 6:49 PM

 

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio – The latest designs for the city's Van Aken development portray a dense and lively neighborhood that would replace an outdated strip shopping center and parking lot near the intersection of Chagrin Boulevard and Warrensville Center Road on the city's southern edge.

 

A sheaf of drawings depicting the urban design, landscape, transit connections and public amenities in the plan will be presented Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Shaker City Hall in the latest of an extensive series of meetings on the project.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/12/first_look_latest_plans_for_sh_1.html

 

I realize they're still working on the architectural plans, but does anyone else think this looks like a suburban office park; rather than a downtown for a historic suburb?

I know Shaker Heights is known for uniformity but man, it's a bummer that nothing is over 4 stories.  Once you get above the tree and building canopy you get incredible views of the City in the Heights given their elevation.  I would gladly pay more for an office or apartment with views of the City which only really come into focus over 3 stories.

I realize they're still working on the architectural plans, but does anyone else think this looks like a suburban office park; rather than a downtown for a historic suburb?

 

Do you mean a suburban retail "lifestyle center?" Definitely don't think it looks like an office park. I haven't really given much thought about the architecture at this point since it's still pretty early. It doesn't blow me away, but I think it looks attractive. My biggest gripe is the new location of the Fresh Market at the old Qua Buick building. I hate the parking lot setback from Warrensville, but oh well.

It looks like this to me...

 

http://www.landrex.com/Images/commercial/CommercialNowPre-Selling!ErinRidgeNorthCommercialCenter705937342.jpg

 

This looks a lot more like a suburban office campus than Crocker Park does.  If there really is surface parking along Warrensville... well, there shouldn't be.  That belongs in the middle of the block!  These structures aren't nearly big enough to need a road on both sides.

Its hard to believe Fresh Market couldnt be convinced of the viability of having the building on the street with the many good examples. 

 

..... he said Fresh Market, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based grocery company, drew "a line in the sand" over locating their 15,850-square-foot store at the back of the development site with the parking out front.

 

Bialosky said that he and other members of the development team and planners for Shaker Heights worked for two years to convince Fresh Market to build their store along the street edge to create a more traditional urban environment, to no avail.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/12/van_aken_design_for_shaker_hei.html

 

So instead we are getting this compromise  :?

 

The RMS proposal would require nearly 20 zoning variances. Most significantly, RMS wants a parking lot in front of the Fresh Market, near the street. Code requires commercial buildings to stand near the street, with parking in the rear, in this commercial mixed district.

 

To make up for the lack of building at the street, the city has recommended a "street wall" between Warrensville Center and the Fresh Market parking lot. The street wall would include decorative architectural elements like accents, piers and trellis structures.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/shaker-heights/index.ssf/2015/12/fresh_market_would_relocate_to.html

 

And there we have one big reason this project is meh.  Better than what it's replacing, but fundamentally flawed.  Not all variances should be granted.

Moreso. variances should be granted if the code presents a hardship.

What's the hardship here?

Maybe the hardship is that Shaker and/or the developer might have to talk to more than one grocer?  Because I know this "line in the sand" is not an industry standard.  There's a grocer that is building right up to the street on Clifton Blvd, with parking in back.  Obviously it can be done.  I understand that this is a key tenant but they should not be able to dictate city planning policy, when so much public money is being spent to redesign this area of town.

Exactly

I know this is weak stuff, but the separate retail building at the corner of Farnsleigh and Warrensville Ctr partly makes up for the set back grocery store. That set back is still lame, though.

 

I guess this whole project is pretty much as expected. A little better than Crocker Park, because the main part is actually built right up to real city streets and explicitly embraces transit, but I also know it's pretty much the same. In both cases, the powers that be didn't want to create a "real" downtown by narrowing and slowing the big roadways, so the action is built off to the side instead. Hard to tell from these renderings, but looks like Warrensville will essentially be a traffic sewer instead of an active focus of the buildings.

From an e-mail sent today by the city of Shaker Heights....

 

Construction Update

December 11, 2015

 

Roadwork is Complete

 

At long last, Shaker Heights, the roadwork at Chagrin and Warrensville is complete! You can now turn right AND left from any of the four directions!

A couple of things to keep in mind: Please show your love for our businesses, who have been so patient and who have suffered along with us.

 

Also, the City will be studying how traffic flows and will be making tweaks to the signals to be sure everything is working as it should. Thanks again for hanging in there!

Shaker school board considers second tax incentive package for Van Aken redevelopment

http://www.cleveland.com/shaker-heights/index.ssf/2016/01/shaker_school_board_considers.html

Shaker Heights City Council hears first reading of Van Aken development agreement

http://www.cleveland.com/shaker-heights/index.ssf/2016/01/van_aken.html

As construction season nears, Shaker council enacts a flurry of Van Aken legislation

By Thomas Jewell, special to Northeast Ohio Media Group

on March 01, 2016 at 12:44 AM, updated March 01, 2016 at 10:35 AM

 

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- City Council has authorized a Development & Use agreement that will allow construction of the new Van Aken District to commence in the spring.

 

This includes the sale, lease or vacating of city-owned property, namely the former Qua Buick dealership and some rights-of-way, such as portions of Van Aken Boulevard, Warrensville Center and Farnsleigh roads, now filled in and rerouted to help create a 17-acre redevelopment parcel.

 

The goal of the $91 million project is to establish a "new downtown" for the city, transforming obsolete shopping centers, parking lots and vacant land into a transit-oriented walkable mixed-use neighborhood -- a destination at the end of the RTA Blue Line.

 

MORE:

http://www.cleveland.com/shaker-heights/index.ssf/2016/03/as_construction_season_nears_s.html?platform=hootsuite

Shaker Planning Commission approves preliminary site plan for Van Aken District

By Thomas Jewell, special to cleveland.com

on March 28, 2016 at 5:36 PM, updated March 28, 2016 at 6:08 PM

 

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The City Planning Commission will allow developers in the Van Aken District to build at least 33 smaller, single-bedroom apartments to attract young professionals into the new mixed-use neighborhood.

 

That works out to roughly one-third of the 102 apartments that have been planned for the first phase of construction in the $91 million project.

 

These smaller apartments would measure 595 square feet, as opposed to the 700 square-foot minimum requirement for the rest of the complex.

 

MORE:

http://www.cleveland.com/shaker-heights/index.ssf/2016/03/shaker_planning_commission_app.html

Kinda funny that 595 SF is an exceptionally small unit for this project.

 

That's a pretty big unit IMO.

595 s.f. may be big for NYC or San Fran. This project is on the edge of Downtown Cleveland....Ohio.

^huh?  It is like 400 yards from Beachwood.

Edge of downtown?  Not even close.  I would imagine a lot of the market for this is Beachwood-area workers, whose opportunities to use transit will be rare.  On the other hand, there aren't many modern rental options in that area to compete with it.  But 595 does seem small, and IIRC this project features a giant parking lot along the street.  Certainly an improvement but not the world's best example of TOD.

Public Panel for this on Thursday from 7-8:30 PM at the Shaker Library.  Think I might make the trek and check it out.

 

 

Public Panel for this on Thursday from 7-8:30 PM at the Shaker Library.  Think I might make the trek and check it out.

 

 

Details....

 

Will the Shaker Heights Van Aken project succeed? Free panel discussion Thursday (photos)

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2016/04/will_the_shaker_heights_van_ak.html

Renderings look nice.  However, I still don't get that building, which looks like parking, blocking the end of the Blue Line; nor do I understand why the Fresh Market, which I thought was integral to the project, is being moved across busy Warrensville Center Rd to the site of the auto dealership.

Renderings look nice.  However, I still don't get that building, which looks like parking, blocking the end of the Blue Line; nor do I understand why the Fresh Market, which I thought was integral to the project, is being moved across busy Warrensville Center Rd to the site of the auto dealership.

 

The developers said they wanted it to be obvious where the parking was for this "TOD." So they put it at the most visible location. So that makes this a "transit-proximate development" not a "transit-oriented development."

Blocking a rail line seems like anti-transit development.  Blocking it with a parking garage seems like a bad joke.

Although I have to give credit to the developer for contacting RTA's GM before finalizing the site plan. When Calabrese said RTA wouldn't be extending the Blue Line, it gave RMS the go-ahead to do whatever it wanted at that corner.

Problem being, Calabrese is not the perpetual sovereign of RTA.  He can speak to current plans but he has no business capping off a rail line forevermore.  If he OK'd that, he should be removed from office.  We cannot afford the needless destruction of potential.

Blocking a rail line seems like anti-transit development.  Blocking it with a parking garage seems like a bad joke.

 

No reason a future extension couldn't go through the ground level of the garage.  Could have been worse.

Is anyone attending the meeting tonight"?

Is anyone attending the meeting tonight"?

 

Yessir

Blocking a rail line seems like anti-transit development.  Blocking it with a parking garage seems like a bad joke.

 

No reason a future extension couldn't go through the ground level of the garage.  Could have been worse.

 

Big reason:  if the owner of that garage was promised otherwise, and built it there in reliance on that promise.

I doubt anything gets built on that site for years. Has the city even transferred it to the developers?

 

Is anyone attending the meeting tonight"?

 

Yessir

 

Moving there in June so my interest level is extremely high, but I have an infant to take care of so it may be tough.  Any chance you can give a high level summary of what you hear?  Im really interested to see who they have targeted for the retail space.