A wider rendering of the proposed East Stokes Tower than the one NEOtrans introduced three days ago when we broke the story of the latest high-rise slated to be built in Cleveland’s University Circle. The new, mostly residential tower would feature top-floor amenities, lots of ground floor retail and second-floor offices (SCB). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Project appears to be on a fast-track
Cleveland’s City Planning Commission today gave unanimous support to the conceptual design of a proposed mixed-use high-rise in the University Circle neighborhood. If the project is able to move swiftly through the design-review process, the proposed 24-story East Stokes Tower at the southeast corner of Chester Avenue and Stokes Boulevard could see construction start as early as spring 2025.
With the commission’s approval of the conceptual design, the next step is consideration of the tower’s schematic design — a more detailed plan for the 263-foot-tall building that would be only four feet shy of being the tallest in University Circle. That presentation and possible approval by the planning commission could come as early as Oct. 15. Barring any opposition or significant design changes, final approval could come by Thanksgiving.
The proposed tower would rise across Stokes from the tallest building in University Circle, the 267-foot-tall Artisan apartments that opened early last year. Both towers are a part of the Circle Square district bounded by Chester, Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street. Lead developer of the East Stokes Tower is Cleveland-based PCP Voyager led by co-Chief Executive Officers Zac Ponsky and Christopher Lynch.
Because the project is following a master plan of the multi-structure Circle Square district that was approved by the city four years ago, there was no surprise or controversy regarding the scale of the proposed tower. Instead, the praise by planning commission members was effusive.
Ground-floor uses proposed for the East Stokes Tower with The Artisan shown as largely blank space to the left (SCB).
Leading the praise was commission Chair Lillian Kuri who called the skyscraper’s design “beautiful” and welcomed the building’s street presence at ground level, which has 17,100 square feet of retail space along Stokes and about 13,680 square feet of office space on the second floor. Above, 269 market-rate apartments are planned.
Behind the building and above the retail on Stokes will be a five-level parking garage with 251 spaces. One of two vehicular entrances to the garage and a loading dock plus two rooms for building mechanicals are proposed on the MLK side of the new development, the conceptual plans show. A second garage access will be located off an eastward extension of an alley called Reserve Court.
However, Kuri urged consideration of amending the design of a protruding four-story design feature on the northern façade of the building. She suggested that it “wrap around” the corner at Chester and MLK. That corner faces the Wade Lagoon in front of such historic buildings like the Cleveland Museum of Art and Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra.
“That side caps the end of everything you’re doing” in Circle Square, she said.
Northern façade of the East Stokes Tower, facing Chester Avenue between Stokes and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards. Planning Commission Chair Lillian Kuri suggested the four-level glass facade that wraps around the building to the right should also wrap around the building to the left because it faces the Wade Lagoon and is the eastern end of the multiple high-rise Circle Square district (SCB).
Commission member and Ward 17 Councilman Charles Slife also called the design “beautiful.” He said he’s come to appreciate Cleveland’s glassy towers like The Artisan, Sherwin-Williams new headquarters and The Lumen, Ohio’s tallest residential building. The latter, like East Stokes, was designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) of Seattle.
But Slife said he wanted to know how the glass would reflect nearby buildings like the 200-foot-tall University Circle (formerly Epworth-Euclid) United Methodist Church across Chester. And he wanted to make sure that the schematic design presentation next month will show how the reflective glass will not be a danger to birds from collisions.
Construction is underway now to create the full development site for East Stokes. About $8 million worth of traffic-calming work is happening now to relocate sewers, streets and sidewalks at the intersections of Chester, Stokes and MLK that will make the area more pedestrian friendly and open up land for the development.
At the southeast corner of Chester Avenue and Stokes Boulevard, the West Stokes tower would have an active street presence at the sidewalk level. Ground-floor retail and next-level offices would be topped by 22 stories of residential. Behind is a five-story garage over retail. In the Circle Square masterplan, the white box at right was proposed to be a Class A office tower (SCB).
The roadway work involves squaring off what were gentle turning lanes that encouraged motorists to drive at high speeds through this area. Slife said he welcomed any roadway changes that calms traffic and reduces the complexity of the roadway system. As a west-side councilman and resident, he has often described the many diverging lanes in east-side University Circle as confusing.
To the south of East Stokes, where a temporary parking lot for the MLK Branch Library is located, the Circle Square master plan shows an office tower is planned to tap the market for Class A space. Such space doesn’t exist in quantity between downtown and the east-suburban market.
But this office building cannot be developed until work on the new MLK library on the bottom two floors of the Library Lofts building, 10555 Euclid Ave., is done and the temporary parking lot closed. The old MLK library, at 1962 Stokes, and its parking lot are to be demolished in 2025.
Ground-floor and second-floor conceptual plans are shown in these views. Above the ground-floor retail, loading dock and mechanical rooms will be five levels of parking with about 55-56 spaces per level (SCB).
In place of the MLK Branch Library will be a 10- to 15-story, 125-room hotel. It is proposed atop a new retail podium for which Circle Square’s developers received an $8 million Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credit from the Ohio Department of Development. There is no timeline for the office tower, but the hotel-retail podium could be announced by this time next year.
Like the 298-unit Artisan next door, East Stokes will exceed a basic 250 feet height limitation for the site, as proscribed by the city’s zoning code. However, the project’s architects noted that any portion of a building may exceed the height limit if that portion is set back from all buildings lines or required yard lines. Thus, the building could rise as high as 375 feet without needing a variance from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
Typical building floor plans from levels 3-6 at left and from level 7 to just below the amenity levels, at right (SCB).
Chicago-based developer White Oak Realty Partners was the lead developer on The Artisan, which went from proposal to grand opening with very little drama, delay or controversy. That building’s general contractor, Power Construction of Chicago, was hired to build East Stokes with as little drama. Another Chicago firm, SR+A, is the proposed building’s structural engineer.
East Stokes’ developers are hoping to emulate The Artisan’s leasing success, too. In less than a year, The Artisan reached 90 percent occupancy despite offering top-of-the-market rents of about $3 per square foot. That success is due in part to the growing number of jobs in the University Circle area, one of Ohio’s four largest employment hubs along with the downtowns in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.
Top floors of East Stokes Tower will step down to provide more views to the east and more amenity spaces for residents (SCB).
The rapid rise in new jobs is due to the growth of nearby Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals as well as the increased enrollment and housing shortages at Case Western Reserve University. The growth in University Circle’s residential and student population is causing it to challenge Downtown Cleveland for new housing demand.
Commissioner Denise McCray Scott, who participated in today’s planning commission meeting online, abstained from voting on the East Stokes proposal because she couldn’t hear the presentation by the architects and developer. City Planning Director Joyce Pan Huang acknowledged the commission’s Web-based equipment was having technical difficulties.
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