It’s a rendering that’s been kicking around as long as the Warner & Swasey redevelopment project has, through at least two developers and 15 years. But that project is still alive, as is another nearby that’s been kicking around for a few years too (Geis). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Warner & Swasey, East 70th apartments pending
Projects that have languished for half as long as the redevelopment of the Warner & Swasey factory, 5701 Carnegie Ave., were ultimately abandoned. But not this one and the reason is because just about anyone who follows redevelopment locally wants its catalytic reactivation for the benefit of Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood.
Another development in Midtown that has languished but for less time is the East 70th Apartments. It, too, has a visible pulse. In fact, both projects were on last week’s Euclid Corridor Design Review Committee agenda. Warner & Swasey was removed at the last minute. There was no information shared as to why. But the developer’s presentation was shared to the committee. NEOtrans secured a copy.
NEOtrans reached out to Pennrose Development’s Director of Development-Ohio Geoff Milz but did not hear from him prior to publication of this article. The Warner & Swasey property is owned by the city but had selected Philadelphia-based Pennrose in 2018 to pursue a redevelopment of the site.
It was the second developer tasked to pursue a reuse of the site. Hemingway Development, a division of Geis Companies, sought to put offices, labs and warehousing there in the late 2000s. It built the Midtown Tech Park at 6700 Euclid Ave. instead.
A year ago, there was a spate of pre-development activity surrounding Warner & Swasey, once a proud machine tool maker founded by Worcester Warner and Ambrose Swasey in 1880. The existing buildings were built from 1904 to 1918. They replaced the original Warner & Swasey factory on the site built in the early 1880s. The plant closed in 1985 and has sat empty ever since.
Site plan for the Warner & Swasey redevelopment with Carnegie Avenue at the bottom and the railroad tracks at upper-right. The main part of the building along Carnegie is to be redeveloped first with the Wedge Building next to the tracks to follow in a later phase (Moody Nolan).
Former MidTown Cleveland Inc. Executive Director Jeff Epstein, now the city’s chief of integrated development, has called Warner & Swasey an “incredibly catalytic” project, because it would have ripple effects for additional development in the Midtown area between Downtown Cleveland and University Circle.
“This is a building everyone recognizes,” said Ward 5 Councilman Richard Starr one year ago, shortly after Cleveland City Council awarded a $1 million grant to MidTown Cleveland Inc. to help finance redevelopment. “We need more affordable and market-rate apartments in the neighborhood. And the plan for this, with possibly retail on the ground floor, is fantastic.”
A month later, Pennrose’s project architect, Moody Nolan of Columbus, submitted building permit applications to the Cleveland Building Department. It began the months-long process toward getting the necessary permits for demolition and renovation work for a first phase. But most of the work is in the first phase.
It includes ground-floor commercial uses, the main lobby and amenities spaces for residents. The second and third floors will have of 56 units of senior housing. Also in the first phase, the existing open-air sheds, as well as an interconnected building called Shed 6 are structurally compromised and will be demolished.
In their place will be 80 parking spaces. Rounding out the first phase will be exterior masonry restoration, window and roof replacements, new elevators, interior upgrades as well as mechanical, electrical, plumbing and technology systems, the permit application from Moody Nolan states. Total cost for the first phase is about $36 million.
An historical image of the Warner & Swasey factory in the early 20th century with Carnegie Avenue in the foreground. The sawtooth building at extreme left will be demolished for parking (Cleveland Public Library).
Phase two is for 56 units of family housing on the fourth and fifth floors. The third phase is a proposed 28 units of market-rate housing located in the Wedge Building. Until then, the Wedge Building will be fire-separated from the rest of the complex and its openings sealed to prevent access. Another 48 parking spaces in the north portion of the site will be added in a future phase. Total for all phases is estimated at $60 million.
In addition to City Council’s allocation, other public financing committed to the project includes state historic tax credits and low income housing tax credits. But the funding awards have been slow in coming due to the project’s complexity and high cost. Additional public dollars continue to be sought, including New Markets Tax Credits.
Additionally, the city began seeking in June 2021 a lot consolidation between 5601 Carnegie Ave., currently the site of the city’s Division Of Motor Vehicle Maintenance, and the parcel at 5701 Carnegie that has the Warner & Swasey complex on it.
That lot consolidation, as well as Pennrose taking title to it, probably won’t take place until after Pennrose has design and permit approvals from the city. The design review committee hasn’t rescheduled the Warner & Swasey presentation as of yet.
A sampling of images from the East 70th Apartments presentation showing the prior design approved, top row, and the proposed changes for those same angles, bottom row. Of note, about one-fourth of the balconies were removed and different exterior materials were proposed to reduce construction costs (Grassroots).
The committee did hear a presentation by Grassroots Architecture for Sabor Group USA’s redesigned East 70th Apartments, 2024 E. 70th St. While the floor plans for the 64-unit apartment building were unchanged, the Cleveland-based design-build team made some cost-cutting design refinements for the $12 million project.
The changes include eliminating about one-fourth of the balconies, revising the use of masonry and metal exterior finishes. The design review committee wanted to see examples of the revised building materials and tabled further action on the request for final design approval for East 70th Apartments until samples and colors of the materials were provided.
Ryan Grass, owner of Grassroots Architecture, told the committee that steel fabrication shop drawings are in and the project is moving forward. Committee members said, barring any surprises, the project should win final approval at their next meeting.
A decade ago, the East 70th Apartments would have been a lonely pioneer of redevelopment in this section of Midtown. Today it is surrounded by the Midtown Tech Park to the west, the new Dealer Tire Headquarters to the east, and the Tru by Hilton Cleveland Midtown to the north. A little farther east is the new Foundry Lofts, 7220 Euclid Ave., whose 242 apartments have nearly leased out.
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