Design refinements were made to the south side of Bridgeworks, a proposed Ohio City apartment building, with this version win approval today from the Cleveland Landmarks Commission. The project site is at the northeast corner of West 25th Street and the Detroit-Superior Bridge, just west of Downtown Cleveland (GLSD). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Design refined on highly visible south side
Typically, the third time’s a charm, but Bridgeworks needed more times than that to earn the approval of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission. Ultimately, the proposal passed unanimously today. The go-ahead allows developers to move forward with constructing all of the $84 million project, located at 2429 W. Superior St. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.
Project representatives who were present at the meeting conjectured that preliminary site prep and demolition work is expected to be visible at the end of February 2025 – or, more loosely, “Sometime between the end of winter and beginning of spring” — once all of the necessary permits are granted by the city.
For a development mired by four years of local design reviews and commission meetings, a final approval at today’s meeting was never 100-percent guaranteed. Bridgeworks LLC., a partnership between M. Panzica Development and Grammar Properties, decided to ditch their 16-story $108 million design last year in favor of a value-engineered, seven-story complex.
Since then the project has undergone more design revisions than its developers may have liked. Rising construction costs for example led to multiple exterior and programming changes — out are the Cleveland Motto by Hilton hotel and rooftop restaurant; in are an increased 219 apartments and pickleball courts for residents.
This slide shows a sample of how many public iterations there have been of the seven-story Bridgeworks, not to mention of the various taller versions that had come before. This view is of the southwest corner of the building (GLSD)
At the last Landmarks meeting on Sept. 26, Brandon Klein, vice-president of design at Geis Companies, presented the latest iteration of the plan. But members of the commission still weren’t sold on the treatment of the south side of the building.
Instead, developers were given permission only to demolish existing buildings on the 2-acre site and construct the first two floors of the 294,636-square-foot building through a certificate of appropriateness. This certificate was awarded based on the condition that Geis would return yet again to address lingering concerns with the all-important southern façade.
The remaining conditions of approval hinged on reexamining the uniformity of the cornices and consideration of how to use the brick masonry to break up the large blocks of colored paneling. The building’s prominent south face abuts the Detroit-Superior Bridge and overlooks the transformative Irishtown Bend Park project currently under construction across the street.
This view will be the first impression to many once the park and surrounding improvements to the West 25th Street corridor are complete and, in the eyes of the commission, was the most critical to get right. Commission members expressed their gratitude to the applicant for sticking it out despite the extended timeline.
Another view showing more of Bridgeworks’ south side along the Detroit-Superior Bridge along with a re-clad Stonebridge Condominiums at far right (GLSD).
“Each iteration has been an improvement and I can certainly support what we’re seeing today. it’s going to be a tremendous improvement for that corner,” said commission Vice Chair Robert Strickland.
“I know this has been a process,” commission Chair Julie Trott said, seconding that emotion. “Once again I appreciate the applicant’s willingness to work through this based on how impactful this building is — and the landscape of this gateway into the city.”
In order to get the project across the finish line, members of the development team and the Landmarks Commission had formed a subcommittee for a working session on Nov. 26 to iron out the final details.
“I wanted to thank our commission members who attended [the session],” said commission Secretary Dan Musson, noting that it was a “Productive and really good discussion. The discussion was helpful and [the changes] reflected in these drawings.”
This slide shows more of the design variations of Bridgeworks’ south side, facing the under-construction Irishtown Bend Park, that were presented public at different boards and commissions over the last two years (GLSD).
Commission member Michele Anderson also had words of approval for the changes, but expressed lingering concerns.
“What we have is much better than what was presented in the last meeting, and I agree with the chair’s comments regarding the texture and panels,” Anderson said. “I know City Planning (Commission) is very excited about this project, but I don’t know how the public is going to take to the design.”
And while the motion was approved unanimously, one condition of that approval was that the developers continue to work with staff to fine-tune the colors and materiality of the building, and that physical samples would be provided at a later date.
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