Snavely, investors acquiring Vibrator site for Hingetown project

The familiar sight of the Cleve- land Vibrator Co. in Ohio City is due to give way to a fourth phase of the Snavely Group’s mostly residential Hingetown real estate development (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Cleveland Vibrator Co., one of the most recognizable names in local manufacturing, will move its operations to the city’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood. In its place will be what amounts to the fourth phase of Snavely Group‘s ever-growing Hingetown development.

Pete Snavely Jr., vice-president of development at his family’s Chagrin Falls-based development firm, confirmed the pending acquisition of the 1.715-acre, 14-parcel property bounded by West 28th and West 29th streets, as well as Church and Clinton avenues. Terms of the pending deal were not disclosed.

The property, and indeed the 96-year-old Cleveland Vibrator Co., are actually owned by 2828 Clinton Inc. To facilitate the property’s ownership and development, Snavely Development Company (SDC) on Aug. 29 registered two new firms: SDC Residential ? 2828 Clinton LLC as well as 2828 Clinton Avenue LLC, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.

Site of Cleveland Vibrator Co.’s 1.715-acre, 14-parcel property in Ohio City’s Hingetown section. Also on the same block is the Ohio City Firehouse, the?Malachi House and the Banana Blossom Thai Cuisine restaurant which, presumably, will remain untouched by Snavely’s fourth phase (Google).

As reported here at NEOtrans in February, Snavely initially intended to design the fourth phase of its Hingetown master development around the new offices of The Adcom Group. The full-service marketing and communications firm is headquartered at 1370 W. 6th St. in downtown Cleveland’s Warehouse District, above Starbucks Coffee.

In Snavely’s fourth phase, Adcom’s offices would have relocated to the ground floor of a new building topped by residential. But Adcom CEO?Joe Kubic said that plan was scrapped due to its high cost. That doesn’t mean he has lost interest in redeveloping that site, however. Quite the opposite.

Snavely’s third phase along Detroit Avenue between West 26th and West 28th streets will have a commanding street presence. But the fourth phase will be located off the main thoroughfare and in a neighborhood of smaller-scale buildings (Vocon).

“Myself and other investors, including the Snavely Group, are in the process of buying the Cleveland Vibrator site,” Kubic said. “We haven’t determined what we are going to do with it yet, but we hope to soon. It’s a great site, in a great community and we are excited to continue to explore our options there.”

Kubic and others at Adcom, founded in 1990, haven’t decided if they will look for another location to move the 120-employee headquarters. But a decision has already been made to relocate Cleveland Vibrator and its roughly three dozen workers from its 27,000-square-foot plant that has much outdoor storage. The company manufactures material handling equipment.

Construction barriers went up this week along Detroit Avenue and West 28th Street for Snavely’s third phase (KJP).

Cleveland Vibrator’s new location?will be at 4544 Hinckley Industrial Parkway in Cleveland, two sources said. The site is the former Watt Printing building located just south of the Jennings Freeway’s interchange with Spring Road/Hinckley Industrial.

The property currently is owned by the Gergel-Kellem Company Inc. according to Cuyahoga County records. The 3.14-acre property and 60,790-square-foot building was?listed for sale?at $3.25 million.

The former Watt Printing plant, built in 1996 at 4544 Hinckley Industrial Parkway in Cleveland, will be the new home of the Cleveland Vibrator Co., according to two sources (LoopNet).

Not all of the block being bought up for Snavely’s fourth phase of development was owned by the Cleveland Vibrator Co. The block includes several buildings that may not be be a part of the development, such as Banana Blossom Thai Cuisine restaurant and, at left, the Malachi House which provides hospice care and?housing for terminally ill persons (KJP).