Large apartment buildings like Gateway North at John Carroll University are rising all over the eastern suburbs of Cleveland (Contributed). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Progress Pics: new in Cleveland, Richmond, Shaker, University Hts
In Northeast Ohio, construction tends to hibernate in the winter months as snow and freezing temperatures take over. But despite winter storms and a record-setting deep freeze, there has been movement on several residential projects throughout the Heights.
This wintery tour begins in Richmond Heights, where the transformation of the former Richmond Town Square Mall into Belle Oaks Marketplace continues. The project, spearheaded by adaptive reuse developer DealPoint Merrill of Los Angeles, features a dozen new apartment buildings, retail offerings and neighborhood amenities.
Recently completed are the entry roundabout and Clean Express Auto Wash now operating just west of the public storage facility. That storage facility, formerly a JCPenney, sits just behind the new Meijer and is the only remnant of the old mall.
Looking north from being the new Meijer grocery store, foundations for the first of a dozen apartment buildings at Belle Oaks Marketplace in Richmond Heights are finally sprouting out of the ground (Ian McDaniel).
But those two minor developments are just the tip of the iceberg for Belle Oaks. Developers continue to secure millions in bonds from the Port of Cleveland that help move the massive project along.
Just last week, the port issued an additional $42 million in bonds to finance Buildings Six and Seven of the massive, 70-acre, $285 million residential development. The Port previously issued over $75 million in bonds in 2025 to fund several early phases of the project.
The foundations of those first several apartment buildings are now visible on-site after nearly a year of mass grading. Once completed, the entire redevelopment project will bring up to 1,900 new residents and 500 permanent jobs to the city.
The four-story Nobility Court rises along the Noble Road corridor. The affordable housing project is a much-need shot in the arm for the northern part of Cleveland Heights (Ian McDaniel).
Heading west into Cleveland Heights, three other projects continue to progress. The first is Nobility Court, the $22 million 52-unit affordable housing project at Noble and Woodview Roads.
The four-story building is topped out and wrapped in protective material with windows installed. Expect exterior finishes to begin next.
Second is the Taylor Tudors project, which has progressed slowly over the winter. Exterior work on renovating the historic structures is nearly complete, while windows and interior buildout have not yet shown visible signs of progress.
Masonry complete, windows have yet to be installed at Taylor Tudors, a renovation of three historic buildings underway on Taylor Road next to Cain Park in Cleveland Heights (Ian McDaniel).
The trio of three-story, vacant historic buildings on Taylor Road are being renovated into 44 apartments for $25 million, including eight live/work units. Amenities will include fitness and office space and 11,000 square feet of street-level commercial suites.
Marquee at Cedar continues to make its presence known in the Cedar Lee district. The exterior of the northern building, which burned down to its foundations after a fire in January 2025, has been nearly completed since the previous update in November. Interior work is ongoing and HVAC installation underway on the roof.
The 67-unit Marquee at Meadowbrook – unaffected by the fire – opened on schedule last year and according to its website is 98 percent fully leased with only one unit available as of the writing of this article.
As exterior finishes wrap up, construction crews frame balconies and install HVAC systems at Marquee at Cedar in Cleveland Heights (Ian McDaniel).
The strong leasing figures of the first building in this popular east-side corridor bode well for the opening of the 139-unit Marquee at Cedar as crews work towards a second-half 2026 opening.
Of the Heights developments, the most striking progress is visible at Gateway North in University Heights. Since November, crews have completed framing the southern half of the five-story building.
The new parking lot behind the building required demolition of several houses and is currently being used for construction staging until it opens to students and visitors.
Back in November, in University Heights, the entire southern half of Gateway North shown on the left didn’t exist. Now, nearly the entire five-story building is framed and rear parking lot paved (Ian McDaniel).
Serving as a new “gateway” to John Carroll University, the site that was formerly home to a BP gas station and Mr. Tire, will transform into new off-campus student housing on floors two through five.
Part of the ground floor retail space of Gateway North will become home to Northeast Ohio’s fourth Trader Joe’s. Other retail tenants have yet to be announced. The building is expected to open in time for the spring semester of the 2026-27 academic year.
Just down Warrensville Road, by the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights, visible progress on the 141-unit Arcadia is minimal. The second of two elevator shafts for this new apartment complex has been completed however, indicating that come spring, pouring of concrete for the remaining floors can resume.
The Raye luxury apartments (left rear) loom over Van Aken District and the new Arcadia apartments rising in the foreground in Shaker Heights. Now that both elevator shafts at Arcadia are complete, look for additional work to begin on the remaining floors (Ian McDaniel).
Arcadia is being built on the former Qua Buick-Pontiac dealership site, across from Shaker Rocks and Northstar, which sat empty since 2015. Developer Metropolitan Holdings of Columbus and Beachwood-based RDL Architects are spearheading the project, with RDL Architects expected to move into the first floor office space of the new building when complete.
And finally, visible progress on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) new Warrensville-Van Aken station includes the steel framing of the main comfort station roof. This structure will serve as the passenger waiting area for both buses and trains arriving at the Van Aken District transit-oriented development.
The roof of the comfort building at GCRTA’s new Warrensville-Van Aken Blue Line station is completely framed in steel. Once complete, the old station (right) will be demolished (Ian McDaniel).
Construction of the new train platform has yet to commence but the Blue Line light-rail station is expected to be completed in Fall of 2026, about a year and a half before new Siemens S200 light-rail vehicles begin serving Blue Line passengers in 2028.
While progress can feel slow in the dead of winter, construction season will kick into high gear come spring. Check out NEOtrans’ other Progress Pics articles for other projects under construction around Greater Cleveland.
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