An aerial, northwest-looking view of the 8400 Lake development once all phases are built out. The site is near Don’s Lighthouse Grille. Lake Avenue is to the lower left and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks along the lakefront are seen at the top right with an Amtrak passenger train on it (Horton Harper Architects). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
First project reviewed under new zoning code
Sometimes it’s good to be the first. Sometimes it’s not. A two-phase, 72-unit apartment development planned at 8400 Lake Ave. in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood probably falls somewhere in between the two extremes as it was the first large project to be submitted and approved under the city’s pilot Form-Based Zoning Code.
Although Hough Senior Independent Living was the first project approved under the new zoning code last summer, it was submitted to the city before the code was enacted. The 8400 Lake development was the first new, 20,000-square-foot structure to be submitted after it, on June 26, 2025. A very different plan for 8400 Lake was withdrawn several years ago.
Final architectural and site plans for 8400 Lake, targeted for middle-income residents, were approved today by the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee, with conditions. There are additional city approvals that the project has to go through including for landscaping plans, signage plans and Building Department permit approvals.
Those plans will also be subject to additional review at a future meeting of PetBOT comprised of representatives of the city’s Planning, Engineering, Traffic Engineering, and Bureau of Traffic departments.
The conditions of approval include recommending that city planning give the project relief from adhering to two minor design restrictions affecting pedestrian space minimums and ground-story elevations. And the committee asked for more details on the presence of trees on the site.
Of the 72 proposed housing units, half are planned to be built in phase one among three buildings. Another three buildings offering another 36 units and additional parking are to be built in phase two, outlined in red. This site plan layout represents the third and final design variation submitted to planning commission. North is to the right (Horton Harper Architects).
Design review committee member and Ward 15 Councilman Charles Slife said he liked the project’s design and, regarding the new zoning code, told 8400 Lake’s development team led by Beachwood-based Property Advisors Group, “Thanks for being our guinea pig.”
Project Architect Wes Harper said city officials, notably Chief Zoning Administrator Shannan Leonard, were very helpful in walking the development team through the process. He described the new code as “useful.”
The committee also urged the development team to reach out to inform neighbors about the project. Two residents who live nearby, while not for or against the project, attended today’s meeting and said they weren’t notified about the project or that it was coming up for city approvals.
West 89th Street resident Michael Armstrong said there was also no information available about the project on the City Planning Commission’s Web site more than 24 hours in advance of today’s meeting. The city requires that public comments on pending projects be submitted at least 48 hours before a project’s scheduled review.
Paula Hearst, executive assistant for new Ward 11 Councilwoman Nikki Hudson, asked the development team to meet with the local block club, the Edgewater Parke Neighbors, to inform them of their project and progress.
Two 12-unit apartment buildings are planned along Lake Avenue, but connected seamlessly so they appear as one structure. This building design has simplified roof lines and softer, more earthy colors compared to the white buildings in earlier renderings (Horton Harper Architects).
“It’s incredibly important to engage block clubs, our neighbors, particularly for a project of this nature,” said commission Chair Erika Anthony. She urged planning staff to create a public advisory group for the public understand the form based code and the process.
“This is a pilot process and hopefully we learn from this,” commission Vice Chair August Fluker added. “Things aren’t perfect but your input is greatly appreciated. I have questions about the process and how long it took to get here. Because, if it’s an annoying amount of time for an applicant to go through these iterations with PetBOT and everything, then how would we change that?”
It took seven months for 8400 Lake to go from submitted to approved. But that may have had less to do with the new Form-Based Code and more to do with the city’s fire code, or perhaps the Cleveland Fire Department’s (CFD) interpretation of it.
CFD Lt. James Oleksiak retired Jan. 23 and was replaced as Fire Plans Examiner by Marshal Dave Telban. Several developers who spoke with NEOtrans in recent weeks on the condition of anonymity said Telban is apparently more willing to negotiate with developers/architects on site plans while still adhering to the fire code.
“We went through various iterations of the site plan” for 8400 Lake, Harper said at today’s meeting. “We had several plans in front of the fire department. There were different interpretations than was expected from previous experience. And so we had to kind of reshuffle the buildings, their locations and their height, even, along the way to be compliant with the fire code.”
Looking south along a walkway through the center of the 8400 Lake development, the landscaping and facades stand out in this view (Horton Harper Architects).
There are six buildings on the site plan — three in the first phase and three in the second phase. Each building is proposed to have 12 apartments, with four units on each of the three floors. Two of the buildings are planned along Lake, to be connected seamlessly to appear as one building. The consistency of building designs is expected to make the project more affordable to build and rent.
“From a design perspective, we wanted to keep this very simple,” Harper explained. “It’s essentially an offset gable structure. The cladding on the front would be brick that is rose buff-colored red. To the left of each window, we have a band of black brick which protrudes a bit from the façade to animate the façade three-dimensionally.”
Street trees will be added along Lake and there are canopies above each porch to offer some weather coverage and shading to the south-facing façade. For each apartment, the form-based code requires one secured bike parking space. This design has bike parking boxes in two locations on-site.
No off-street parking is required under the zoning but, given the lack of available on-street parking in this neighborhood, the development plan at full build-out has 63 off-street parking spaces for the 72 apartments.
After full buildout, the 8400 Lake development will offer a neighborhood setting complete with a grid of walkways and lawns around and within the six walk-up apartment buildings envisioned (Horton Harper Architects).
Residents’ vehicular access to the parking lot is via Baker Avenue. It also one of two routes for emergency vehicle to access the 8400 Lake site, which is immediately west of Lowe Chemical.
The other emergency access to the site is actually a pedestrian walkway around the west side of the site whose subgrade is reinforced to support the weight of emergency vehicles. That walkway will be provided in phase one to be compliant with the fire code, Harper said.
The current use classification under the Form-Based Code for the site is Urban Flex 3. It was formerly zoned industrial but the land has been vacant for decades, said Leonard.
“Urban Flex 3 permits three-story buildings that provide moderate-intensity mixed-use office and residential buildings intended to accommodate a variety of residential, retail, service and commercial uses in a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly environment,” she said.
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