The University East Building is a successfully leased property, located at the southeast corner of Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road in University Circle since 1926. But the property is in need of updating which it will get from new building manager First Interstate (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Follows signing ground lease of up to 200 years
This summer, an aging but well-located building in the heart of Cleveland’s booming University Circle will get a needed refreshing to help it compete with new apartment buildings nearby. The University East Building, 11308-11330 Euclid Ave., will get that attention now that it is under the long-term management of a prominent local real estate developer.
First Interstate Properties Ltd. of Lyndhurst will focus its renovations on the 48 apartments and residential common areas in the 1926-built, mixed-use structure while keeping rents at a workforce housing price point. In an e-mail to NEOtrans, First Interstate President Chris Goodrich said the improvements will represent an investment of about $4 million.
The first renovated apartments are scheduled to be available in August 2025, in time for the start of the school year at the nearby Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Institute of Art and Cleveland Institute of Music. The building is located at the southeast corner of Euclid and Mayfield Road, across from the glassy Museum of Contemporary Art.
But University East apartments will also be marketed to eds-and-meds workers in the fast-growing University Circle area, including at neighboring University Hospitals and, just down Euclid, Cleveland Clinic. The curving, 5-story University East Building also contains 15,120 square feet of fully leased ground-floor retail.
That building plus a one-story, 9,112-square-foot retail structure, 11302 Euclid, containing a Citizens Bank branch and Starbuck Coffee shop, plus a half-acre-sized parking lot behind those buildings were the subject of a recent ground lease by an affiliate of First Interstate called University East LLC.
Planned improvements to the University East Building include renovated and added common spaces like a new community room for residents, new package and mail rooms and an updated laundry area (First Interstate).
In October 2024, University East leased those three parcels totaling 1.08 acres from the nonprofit community development corporation University Circle Inc. for 100 years. That lease has four 25-year options to extend it, according to a lease memorandum filed with the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer. Other terms of the lease were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to be involved in bringing this updated workforce housing option to the circle,” said Mitchell Schneider, founder and executive chairman of First Interstate Properties, in a written statement.
“We are confident that First Interstate is the right partner to restore this critical mixed-use anchor at the heart of our district,” added Kate Borders, president of University Circle Inc.
The residential units will be fully renovated to include modern amenities, while targeting a workforce housing price point. Renovations will include removing walls to create an open floor plan, all new kitchens with new appliances, new cabinets with solid surface counters, plank vinyl flooring, renovated bathrooms and new lighting.
The building’s corridors will also be refreshed with new carpeting and the installation of central air conditioning which University East does not now have. Individual apartments are air-conditioned by window units. The common areas will also be fully renovated with an added community room for residents, new package and mail rooms, and an updated laundry area.
A sample of planned renovations to the apartments at the University East Building include updated, quality finishes that will allow it compete better with the new-construction apartment buildings in University Circle (First Interstate).
Schneider said the team at First Interstate leased the building because it wanted to be able to provide a product that provides quality and finishes that compete with the many new-construction apartment building projects in University Circle but at a more affordable price.
The project will emphasize green building principles and be a true transit-oriented development with its connection to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Healthline bus rapid transit line right out the front door, he added. The property is located in a vibrant, walkable area with lots of restaurants, shops, museums and more.
Schneider notes that First Interstate is no stranger to apartment projects as they built One University Circle, 10730 Euclid, a 20-story, 276-unit luxury apartment project that was the tallest residential tower built in Cleveland in more than 40 years at the time.
And a development team led by First Interstate also recently completed 121 Larchmere, an 88-unit, market-rate apartment building in Cleveland’s historic Larchmere neighborhood. The building, offering a high-end product with a neighborhood feel, is close to University Circle and popular with people working and learning in University Circle.
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