Former Cuyahoga County Engineer’s offices and garage await their fate at the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge. It appears that a demolition permit is due to be issued soon to clear these structures so a seven-story apartment building can be constructed (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Developers remain optimistic about project
There is a saying in real estate deal-making that “November is the month where we ask — are we doing this or not?” The reason is that many in the real estate business want to get deals closed and projects under way before the end of the year.
The Bridgeworks development at 2429 W. Superior St. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood is a deal that might get under way before year’s end. But the principals involved with that project have been awfully quiet in recent months.
Since nature and the local real estate rumor mill abhor a vacuum, and since many Clevelanders are inherently pessimistic, the vacuum of news surrounding Bridgeworks has been filled with rumors that the project is dead and/or destined for yet another, less-costly redesign.
Graham Veysey, a principal at Grammar Properties of Cleveland which is partnering with M Panzica Development LLC on Bridgeworks, told NEOtrans that the “opposite” of those rumors is true. In fact, he confirmed in text messages that the $82.5 million development project is very much alive. He wasn’t the only one.
“Still trying to get this to the starting line,” said Brandon Kline, vice president of design at Geis Companies which designed and will build the seven-story, 294,636-square-foot apartment building with 219 workforce-rate residential units over 199 parking spaces and ground-floor residential amenity spaces.
Bridgeworks is proposed to be built at the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge at West 25th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Downtown Cleveland is visible in the background (GLSD).
Project partner Michael Panzica did not respond to a text message from NEOtrans seeking a project update. And none of the project partners would provide more details regarding their limited comments.
But a source familiar with the project who spoke with NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity acknowledged the development team is “close” to moving forward with the project. While the project has been “close” several times before, the optimism is backed up by public records.
They show a demolition plan submitted to the city July 14 by contractor Sitetech, Inc. of Lorain County was approved the following day by the city’s Department of Building & Housing, Division of Construction Permitting.
But the demolition permit was not yet picked up by the contractor because a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan needed to be submitted to show how mud, debris and construction materials will be kept out of the sewer system. The July 15 approval has a shelf life of one year upon which it expires.
The requested permit would raze a two-story structure and garage totaling 89,794 square feet. A bulkhead would be attached to sewers per Water Pollution Control regulations. And the contractor will control dust, remove all foundations, plus discontinue and cap all utility connections.
The current site plan for Bridgeworks, which was approved by the city late last year, includes an access point to the lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge which may be opened to the public as a pedestrian/bikeway and venue for special events (GLSD).
Crews would also haul away all debris, backfill with clean fill, comply with all state and federal asbestos rules and stormwater regulations, wrote Project Manager Brian Draves of Sitetech, Inc. in the demolition permit application which estimated demolition costs at $364,128.
Bridgeworks won a $223,500 Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program grant in 2022 from the Ohio Department of Development to help fund costs of cleaning up and demolishing the former Engineer buildings. The Engineer’s properties were vacated by the county over a period of 10 years, ending in 2019.
In addition, the city approved a tax-increment financing agreement with Bridgeworks in 2022 that will be used to retire $25 million in bonds issued by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority in June of this year. And Cuyahoga County awarded Bridgeworks a $2 million Place-Based/Mixed-Use Economic Development Loan.
There is a forklift and a large dumpster on-site, the type used for depositing demolition debris. 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.
Some historic, decorative materials, stone veneer and other items from the structures may be preserved and repurposed in the new building. 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.
Looking westerly across the upper deck of the Detroit-Superior Bridge, Bridgeworks is designed to look like several different buildings in one, to break up the mass of the most-visible side of the structure (GLSD).
Since early 2024, the building department and development team have gone back and forth with adjudication orders and responses to those orders, correcting designs and features in the plans to conform to city and state building codes. There have been 43 such filings so far among the two parties.
Bridgeworks was first proposed more than six years ago but changed its designs multiple times. At first it was to respond to the developers’ lofty ambitions, growing from an eight-story building to 11-story tower and then to 15 stories. But it was ultimately adjusted to current financial realities.
City Planning Commission late last year approved the most recent designs for the project, including the demolition of structures in an historic district. Although simplified to reduce costs, the development team said it is still a very difficult to deliver this project in part because of public right of way easements surrounding the site.
The old Cuyahoga County Engineer’s property was first cordoned off with a construction fence one year after Bridgeworks LLC took title to the property in July 2021. The fence has been up ever since. Bridgeworks LLC acquired the property from Cuyahoga County for $4.15 million.
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