
This AI-generated rendering shows a potential 11-story residential development for Cleveland’s University Circle at Cedar Avenue and East 107th Street. The property, zoned for a 60-foot building height, is surrounded on three sides by zoning allowing for taller buildings (Cresco). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Sale or redevelopment opportunity is proposed
A small piece of land in University Circle with big possibilities is being offered for sale or redevelopment in partnership with the current owner, Rico Pietro, a well-known local real estate broker. But no construction is imminent as the current user, a contract ambulance service for Cleveland Clinic, is only halfway through a 10-year lease on the site.
The 1.2-acre property at 10617 Cedar Ave. is next to the new, seven-story, 261-apartment Skyline on Stokes development developed by Brent Zimmerman Development LLC, with Finance Michigan, Rust Belt Development, ACRE of Atlanta and New York City, as well as Geis Companies of Streetsboro and Cleveland.
That’s where Pietro’s inspiration for his property came from. He told NEOtrans he anticipated that project would do well and wondered if Geis would be interested in considering a follow-on, phase-two project of similar scale. Turns out, they are.
“University Circle, with its strong eds-and-meds growth, is a good housing market,” Pietro said. “It’s got a lot of cranes in the air and more new jobs coming.”
Built in 1975 as with a garage for Ohio Bell Telephone service vehicles, Pietro acquired the property in 2019 through 10617 Cedar LLC & 70th Street Grove LLC. It was leased to Midwest Medical Transport for use by its ambulances starting in 2020. In anticipation of the lease expiring, he put the property on the market, asking $4 million for it.
But Pietro said he would rather join others in demolishing the 21,305-square-foot, single-level garage and redeveloping it with mid-rise housing. The site is zoned for local retail which can also accept multi-family uses. But its allowable building height is only 60 feet. Absent a variance or a rezoning, a residential building of only five stories tall would be permitted here.
He noted that there are properties surrounding his on three sides that are zoned to allow structures 115 to 250 feet tall. An AI-generated graphic accompanying the Cresco listing shows a building 11 stories tall. Pietro said a building eight stories high would be more affordable to construct.
To the south is a former neighborhood where nearly every single-family home has been demolished by the city to clear the way for a district of commercial and research facilities seeking to be close to University Circle’s medical and educational institutions. Canon Healthcare USA is developing its headquarters here.
The site is also located in an Opportunity Zone, making it potentially eligible for a 10 percent income tax credit for qualifying investments. Ohio lawmakers are near to renewing and expanding the program, offering an additional source of equity for new development projects.
“I can’t think of a better site for residential development,” Pietro said.
Immediately west of the property is the Cleveland Clinic’s East 105th Street Parking Garage. The 3,000-space, nine-level, 915,000-square-foot garage was built just over a decade ago.
The massive garage is heavily used during the day but not so much at night. It presents an opportunity for a shared parking arrangement between a nearby residential property and the Clinic to spare a developer the expense of having to construct its own parking.
“Anything’s possible,” Pietro said. “With autonomous cars and shared parking, the parking needs are very different today than what they used to be. We need to be planning for the future.”
Brandon Kline, vice president of design at Geis Companies, did not respond to a message seeking comment prior to publication of this article.
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