At the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge, the long-planned Bridgeworks development site could finally start to see some visible activity in the coming weeks (GLSD). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Demolition, site prep may start in July
While the development team for the $84 million mixed-use Bridgeworks project in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood is finalizing construction permits with the city, the team decided to take a step that could accelerate the project and get it underway sooner.
A general construction permit application originally filed with Cleveland’s Building Department in February 2024 also included a request to demolish several existing structures on the site at 2429 W. Superior St. In their place, a seven-story apartment building with 219 workforce-rate residential units over 199 parking spaces and ground-floor residential amenity spaces are planned.
But since then, despite multiple Planning Commission meetings and 38 filings back and forth between the city and the development team that have been posted on the Building Department’s Web portal, the project doesn’t yet have its construction permits.
Yesterday, a separate demolition permit was requested by Bridgeworks LLC, its demolition/site-prep contractor Sitetech, Inc. of Grafton and project architect GDOT Design, a Geis Companies affiliate, of Cleveland and Streetsboro. Cost of the demolition and site work is estimated at $364,128, according to the application submitted to the city.
Although this graphic is from two years ago, it continues to show which structures on the Bridgeworks site will be demolished and what will be kept in the newly pending demolition permit application (Bridgeworks).
To be demolished are the former Cuyahoga County Engineer’s laboratory/office building, a 1941 Art Deco garage, and asphalt parking areas on both sides of these structures. Additionally, sidewalks, curbs and most trees will be removed.
Some elements from the garage, like the stone veneer, will be preserved and used in the new development. A ticket booth for the former streetcar subway below the Detroit-Superior Bridge will also be kept at its current location and be repurposed as part of the Bridgeworks development.
If approved in a timely manner, demolition and site prep could get underway by mid-summer, with construction on the 294,636-square-foot building to follow soon thereafter, said Brandon Kline, vice president of design at Geis Companies.
Bridgeworks received in January a certificate of appropriateness from the city for demolition work in an historic district, allowing the development team to seek the demolition permit. That certificate followed Landmarks Commission approval in December. Bridgeworks LLC is a partnership between M. Panzica Development and Grammar Properties, both of Cleveland.
The Bridgeworks site is at the northeast corner of West 25th Street, at left, and the Detroit-Superior Bridge, at right. Downtown Cleveland is in the distance at right and St. Malachi Church at left. The site has been fenced off for more than two years (Google).
“The development team is working hard and has been working hard to gain a path to move the unique project forward and this is a first step that allows them to do it,” Kline told NEOtrans today.
Pulling out the demolition application for it to be sought on its own sends two messages. First, it suggests that the development team considers the city’s approvals process for other aspects of the project is taking too long for them to wait to start the project’s first tangible steps. And, it also suggests the team is confident the rest of the applications will get approved.
On April 3, Thomas Vanover, the city’s chief building official, sent to GDOT Design a letter and adjudication order, denying the project a permit until Bridgeworks’ team made multiple corrections in its plans. It was followed by a phone call between the city Building Department staff and the development team to resolve differences on how to proceed on a project that had its first plans submitted six years ago.
“As discussed on our phone call on April 24, 2025, this project falls under the 2017 Ohio Building Code code cycle, as it was submitted initially while that code was current. All references to 2024 codes in your comment letter are boiler-plate, and are not applicable to this project,” wrote Brian Jarsenski, GDOT Design architect, in a May 2 response.
The first floor of Bridgeworks is proposed to have a resident lounge, pickleball courts, parking and a pedestrian breezeway so the public can reach the vacated streetcar subway of the Detroit-Superior Bridge which may be repurposed with pedestrian and bike facilities plus public programming (GLSD).
Eleven days later, the Bridgeworks development team submitted to the city multiple permit applications that will take some time for the Building Department to chew on. Included were a dozen applications including for the full build set, structural work, architectural, interior finishes, plumbing, electrical, heating-ventilating-air conditioning, technology equipment, landscaping and several filings with supporting documentation.
Bridgeworks has gone through many design iterations ever since the project emerged. But rising construction costs and interest rates, plus difficulties in securing financing and city approvals for the project have put the project through the wringer. The 2-acre site has been fenced off for more than two years.
Not only did NEOtrans break the story in late-2018 that the county was disposing of the property, NEOtrans also broke the story in June 2019 that developer Mike Panzica, who worked for Hemingway Development at the time, won the bid to acquire it.
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