Townhomes in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood are about to see construction after being put on hold for nearly three years. An improving for-sale housing market is a major reason why as is a new general contractor overseeing the project (Sixmo). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Has new contractor, improved for-sale market
A long-planned and contentious townhomes development at 4705 Bridge Ave. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood is seeing signs of construction activity after being on hold for nearly three years. The project’s revival is due to several factors including an improved for-sale housing market of lower interest rates, more fluid financing for construction and a new construction contractor that was hired.
That construction contractor, Driven 4 Group, has signs up at the vacant lot which has piqued the curiosity of neighbors and passersby. Jim Miketo of Lakewood bought the 0.27-acre Bridge Avenue property in January 2019 under his affiliate 4705 Bridge Ave LLC. Miketo owns Forest City Shuffleboard on Lorain Avenue and has developed other nearby properties.
A public records search shows a lot of activity has been happening behind the scenes in recent months, including a construction permit issued for the first of six townhomes. A site plan approved by the city in February 2022 allows up to 11 townhomes to be built.
On Oct. 10, a building permit was issued by the city’s Building Department for the first townhome, likely a model for selling the rest. The permit authorizes Driven 4 Group to build a three-story, 1,400-square-foot, attached townhome with an estimated construction cost of $261,641.
The permit represents a “Continuation of work from previous GC (general contractor Knez Homes),” according to a filing with the Building Department by Driven 4 Group of Garfield Heights. It follows the Oct. 4 transfer of a previous city-approved plan for the site to Driven 4 Group, public records show.
Overgrown with weeds and hosting piles of debris in August, the property at Bridge Avenue and West 47th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City is about to see construction of the first of six townhomes allowed under an approved building permit. However a city-approved site plan allows the development team to seek a building permit for another five townhomes here (Google).
“I politely decline to comment on the ongoing project,” said Driven 4 Homes Project Manager Brian Wagner in an e-mail to NEOtrans. An e-mail to Miketo seeking more information was opened but was otherwise not responded to prior to publication of this article.
Cuyahoga County property records also note that, on Oct. 10, Miketo’s 4705 Bridge Ave LLC received an open-end construction mortgage of $3,870,585 with a variable interest rate from Civista Bank of Sandusky. An open-end mortgage allows the borrower to increase the amount of the mortgage principal outstanding at a later time.
Bo Knez, president of Knez Homes confirmed without elaboration that his company was out as general contractor and that Driven 4 Homes was now heading up the construction team for Miketo. Knez is building infill homes in Cleveland for nonprofit community development corporations but has otherwise scaled back pursuing speculative developments in the city.
The Bridge Avenue project has been kicking around in various forms ever since Miketo bought the property in 2019. He had hired Knez Homes of Painesville to build the development and shepherd it through the city approvals process.
A city-approved site plan for 4705 Bridge Ave. remains in effect. It shows that a building permit application can be sought for up to 11 townhomes. It also shows changes from the previous site plan that was rejected by the city and became a subject of a lengthy legal battle (Knez).
But the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee twice rejected the plans saying the project “didn’t fit into the neighborhood.” Miketo and Knez countered that it conformed to all building and zoning codes and that the neighborhood’s 45-52 Block Club supported it. But block club members said they were not supportive.
So after the first rejection, the developers sued during the pandemic, during which time the case dragged on for 18 months in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, followed by an appeal by the developers to the 8th District Court of Appeals. The appellate court ordered the city and the developer to settle the matter out of court.
A revised plan resulting from the settlement with the city was rejected by the Planning Commission. So the developers appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) which voted 3-1 in February 2022 on a motion to overturn the commission’s denial. That followed a tie vote minutes earlier on a motion to uphold the commission’s denial. Because there was a tie, a different motion could be considered.
Previously on the site was a gas station that served as a front for a heroin trafficking operation that sent more than a dozen people to prison in the late 2010s. After Miketo acquired the property, Knez demolished the blighted gas station and removed the underground fuel tanks along with polluted soil from the site, replacing it with clean soil. Site clean-up amounted to more than a half-million dollars.
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