Seeds & Sprouts XV – City Club tower groundbreaking & more

This is the Fifteenth edition of Seeds & Sprouts – Early intelligence on Cleveland-area real estate projects. Because these projects are very early in their process of development or just a long-range plan, a lot can and probably will change their final shape, use and outcome.

CityClub-apartment-rendering

Construction on the 23-story City Club Apartments on Euclid
Avenue is now due to start in March and take about 15-18
months to add more than 300 apartment downtown (Vocon).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

City Club Apartments groundbreaking due in March

Look for activity to get underway in about two months at the surface lot at 720 Euclid Ave. And we’re not talking about more commuters returning to the downtown Cleveland parking area.

According to a source who was not authorized to speak publicly, groundbreaking on the new City Club Apartments tower is due to occur at the end of the first quarter of 2021. That would put the start date towards mid- to late-March.

The project has been delayed by nearly a year generally due to the pandemic and specifically to a shortage of construction materials. There was no publicly visible planning activity surrounding the project throughout the spring and early summer last year. That changed in August when the project appeared on City Planning Commission’s docket and was given final design approval.  

NEOtrans broke the story that the project was active again and that a November groundbreaking date was anticipated. That was pushed back to January and, now, to March due to difficulty in getting construction subcontractors lined up, the source said.

City Club Apartments are planned with about 313 market-rate units, roughly half of which will be 400-square-foot studio apartments. The smaller units will be marketed to younger residents who have been priced out of the downtown market. This will be the first Cleveland development sought by the Michigan-based City Club chain.

The building will be 23 stories tall, or about 250 feet high. It will measure 250,000 square feet and cost up to $100 million to build. City Club Apartments will be the third new-construction residential tower built on Euclid Avenue since 2019, following opening of the 28-story Beacon and the 34-story Lumen.

Shoreway Apartments overlooking Edgewater Park

Expansion of The Shoreway Apartments overlooking Edgewater
Park and Lake Erie is proposed by J-Roc Development (J-Roc).

West Side residential projects to add units

Several small new residential expansions are planned in the Detroit-Shoreway and Ohio City neighborhoods. Together, one renovation and two new-construction projects will add several dozen housing units.

The most visible of these is a proposal to add 16,800 square feet to The Shoreway Apartments, 1200 W. 76th St., overlooking Edgewater Boulevard, formerly the West Shoreway, and Edgewater Park. Based on the proposed square footage, the expansion could result in the addition of about 16-17 units to the 45-unit apartment building.

Seeking the expansion is J-Roc Development which redeveloped the former Pat Catan’s warehouse into housing in 2013. J-Roc attorney Nick Catanzarite, whose family owned the Pat Catan’s craft store chain until it was sold in 2016 to Michaels, acknowledged receiving an e-mail from NEOtrans seeking information about the project but otherwise didn’t respond to it.

On Dec. 16, J-Roc’s Development Director Aaron Taylor and project architect AoDK Architecture of Lakewood received an e-mail from the city’s Building Department that the developer’s request for a building permit was denied due the lack of a submitted site plan.

Most submitted site plans are denied by the city anyway because they require zoning variances to conform to the city’s antiquated zoning code. But the permit application remains active while the zoning review of the site plan continues.

“At this time your application is declined, however, once I receive the site plan, I can continue the zoning review,” wrote Lisa Ray, assistant plans examiner for the city’s Building Department, in an e-mail available on the department’s Web site. “Failure to respond within 30 days from the date of this letter, your application will become null and void and will be discarded.”

Presumably, the addition will be to the west of the existing four-story Shoreway Apartments, above a portion of a 40-space parking lot. There is also a 40-space indoor parking area. That location west of the existing building is already owned by the apartment complex and would provide residents with views of Edgewater Park and Lake Erie.

Several blocks to the east, at 1331 W. 65th St., Apt Development Group, LLC of Cleveland proposes to demolish a two-story, four-unit brick apartment building for a new 16,450-square-foot residential structure, according to city building records. That’s enough floor space for about 16 residential units.

Last September, Apt Development Group affiliate Apartment 92-Gordon Square, LLC acquired the century-old apartment building and two parcels totaling 0.21-acres for $380,000, county records show. The property has enough room to accommodate two 8,250-square-foot floors over about 20 parking spaces.

Jake DeScenna, vice president of development at Apt Development Group, did not respond to an e-mail seeking more information prior to publication of this article. The firm primarily manages residential properties for The Landmark Companies, founded by John Carney.

To the south, at 4431 Lorain Ave., Cleveland Bricks LLC of Cleveland proposes to renovate the second floor of a small mixed-use building into three apartments over a first-floor bar-tavern space, according to plans submitted to the city.

In 2016, Cleveland Bricks acquired 4431 Lorain and the neighboring 4441 Lorain, totaling 0.12 acres for $200,000, county records show. According to Reddit, 4431 Lorain was listed for sale last year by Cleveland Bricks for $200,000. It was built in 1890, according to LoopNet

The BP gas station at East 9th Street and Carnegie Avenue in
downtown Cleveland will see its convenience store triple in
size and add four leasable retail spaces (LoopNet).

Downtown gas station to add retail spaces

One of downtown’s main entrances will soon gain some new business activity. The BP gas station at Carnegie Avenue and East 9th Street plus the adjacent Carnegie Ballroom are proposed to be renovated with up to four retail spaces, available for lease, according to a LoopNet listing.

The pending renovation follows the November acquisition of the Carnegie Ballroom by Four Aqua Holdings LLC which has owned the gas station since 2008. Four Aqua Holdings of Wadsworth bought the ballroom for $950,000, county records show.

The 11,391-square-foot, 108-year-old ballroom is connected by an enclosed walkway to the neighboring Hilton Garden Inn which sold in late 2019, a story NEOtrans also broke. The BP gas station’s convenience store (aka C-Store) will be relocated into the ballroom’s first floor and tripled in size. The existing BP store will be demolished. 

According to its real estate listing, the retail spaces that will become available total 4,000 square feet. There is also a 2,600-square-foot kitchen with elevator as well as 19 parking spaces next to the ballroom, just north of Interstate 90. The property owner reportedly hopes to start renovations this year.

END

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