More apartments, grocery store planned near Cleveland Clinic

The other piece of legislation would authorize the city to acquire and re-convey 27 properties presently owned by Fairmount Properties or its designee at East 105th and Cedar for the purpose of entering into a chain-of-title transfer prior to the adoption of tax increment financing (TIF) legislation. In a chain-of-title transaction, the city acquires land from an owner and then gives it back to them so as to allow certain property tax revenues to be used flexibly for urban redevelopment.Previously, Fairmount’s proposed mixed-use development was considered for the southeast corner of East 105th and Carnegie Avenue. Survey crews were on site in June. However the Cleveland Clinic-owned property was deemed too small for a single-level, 40,000-square-foot grocery store and would have required a tall building. No part of the neighboring Tudor Arms property owned by Ari Maron would be used for Fairmount’s development, as confirmed by Maron.

 

Instead, the development is proposed for the former site of Calvary Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 2171 E. 103rd St. County records show Cleveland Clinic acquired the land for $1.2 million in 2017 and demolished the 1916-built church. The congregation moved to 2222 North Taylor Rd. in Cleveland Hts., formerly Hope Lutheran Church.

Last winter, Cleveland Clinic organized focus groups of Fairfax residents, property owners and others to determine how develop the southeast corner of its main campus. The suggested uses centered around residential and retail — notably a grocery store.

Now that the northern section of Opportunity Corridor is open, we plan to further develop the southeast part of our campus,” said the Cleveland Clinic’s media relations department to NEOtrans last March. “We look forward to working with our community partners on future opportunities that will help accelerate the Fairfax neighborhood reinvestment plan.”

Site of the planned first phase of Innovation Square is seen across East 105th Street from the intersection of Hudson Avenue. The conditions of surviving residences in this area underscore why new, higher-quality homes are needed in the Fairfax neighborhood (Google).

This is not the only residential development planned for this stretch of East 105th, within walking distance of the Cleveland Clinic and other employers in University Circle – Ohio’s fourth-largest employment district.

One block south of Fairmount’s planned development, at 2258 E. 105th, Fairfax Renaissance plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony early next month for the first phase of the Innovation Square mixed-income apartment building, according to the Dodge Reports. A specific date hasn’t been announced.

However, the online construction project database says actual earthmoving on the site won’t begin until spring 2021. Dodge Reports also says Fairfax Renaissance will announce the name of the project’s general contractor at the goundbreaking ceremony – an unusual move. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s project brief shows the Ozanne Construction Co. of Cleveland as the project’s general contractor.

Fairfax Renaissance Executive Director Denise Van Leer did not respond to an e-mail seeking more information prior to publication.

The $12.75 million first phase of Innovation Square will feature 85 apartments on four floors. Of those, 41 units will be affordable housing and 44 will be market-rate units with ground-floor commercial space. It will also have a rooftop deck with a residents’ lounge, fitness rooms, bike storage and repair plus electric car charging stations.

The planned first phase of Innovation Square apartments will be at the northwest corner of East 105th Street and an extended Hudson Avenue. Its groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to be held in early November (City Architecture).

Eventually, among all three phases, Innovation Square will offer 223 apartments north and south of Hudson Avenue once it is extended west of East 105th. The new street will extend past the north edge of the new Playwright Park to East 100th Street, according to the neighborhood’s masterplan.

Surrounding the park, from East 97th to East 105th, Knez Homes has begun building dozens of single-family houses that will total a $12 million investment, according to Dodge. The housing will be an easy walk to the Cleveland Clinic in one direction and the newly expanded East 105th-Quincy train station in the other. And if Fairmount’s development is built, residents of Innovation Square will be a short walk from its grocery store as well.

A few blocks farther north, the massive Circle Square development is due to start construction in March 2021. There, up to 800 apartments, 104,000 square feet of neighborhood retail, 171,000 square feet of office space, nearly 800 structured parking spaces and a future hotel are planned. It is due to start with two apartment buildings — one 11 stories tall and the other 24 stories. The latter would be University Circle’s tallest building.

Commercial and institutional developments are also moving forward on the eastern and southern edges of Cleveland Clinic’s campus. Under construction at 10300 Cedar is the 21,000-square-foot Brooks BioRepository. It will enhance researchers? study of human tissue samples and advance personalized medicine for an array of conditions — including cancer, heart disease and epilepsy.

Cleveland Clinic has two major projects on its main campus that are moving forward again after being put on hold during much of the COVID-19 pandemic. First will be a 100,000-square-foot expansion of the Cole Eye Institute on East 105th, between Euclid and Carnegie. Then, a new 400,000-square-foot Neurological Institute will rise on Euclid Avenue between East 96th and East 100th streets.

Tyler Kapusta contributed to this article

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