Gateway North will offer 351 beds for John Carroll University students atop a Trader Joe’s grocery store at the entrance to the college in University Heights (Ian McDaniel). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Progress Pics: new in Cleveland, Richmond, Shaker, University Hts
This snowy edition of Progress Pics highlights the multiple developments under construction around the eastern suburbs. In total, several hundred residential units are set to open next year in Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Shaker Heights and Richmond Heights alone.
The largest building under construction by number of beds is Gateway North. Located at Fairmount Circle in University Heights, this 96-unit, 351-bed building at the entrance of a growing John Carroll University will serve as apartment-style dormitories for juniors and seniors.
On the ground floor, a recently-announced Trader Joe’s will become the primary retail tenant of the space. It will be the specialty grocer’s fourth Northeast Ohio location — the most of any Ohio metro area, alongside locations at Crocker Park in Westlake, Eton Collection in Woodmere and Mentor in Lake County.
Earlier this month, Gateway North had progressed only to its reinforced concrete podium and elevator shaft (Ian McDaniel).
With the first floor concrete structure complete, wood framing of the remaining floors has progressed quickly on the northern side of the building.
Designed by architect Vocon of Cleveland and managed by DiGeronimo Companies of Brecksville, construction of Gateway North is expected to wrap up in Fall 2026.
Further down Warrensville Road in Shaker Heights are two major projects under construction in and near the rapidly-growing Van Aken District. The first is Arcadia, a 141-unit apartment building with a mix of market-rate and affordable apartments and townhome units for-rent.
Seen from a parking garage across Warrensville Center Road, the Arcadia Apartments are starting to take form. While technically not a part of Shaker Heights’ Van Aken District, it is part of a downtown area emerging from the launch of the Van Aken District (Ian McDaniel).
The five-story building sits at the former Qua Buick-Pontiac dealership site which was demolished in 2015. The large grass lot sat vacant until other developments at Van Aken kicked into high-gear.
Work on the concrete structure continues to progress, with crews pouring floors and the elevator shafts continuing to rise.
Seen from Farnsleigh Road, the podium for the Arcadia Apartments are at left and the Van Aken District is across Warrensville Center Road (Ian McDaniel).
The development sits across Warrensville Center Road from the Van Aken Market Hall, and from the towering Raye apartments which were recently completed. Arcadia looks to add on to the success of this rapidly growing transit-oriented development in Shaker Heights.
Developed by Metropolitan Holdings of Columbus and designed by RDL Architects of Beachwood, the first floor of Arcadia will ultimately serve as the new home for the architecture firm once the project is complete. Construction is expected to conclude in Fall of 2026.
Just across the street, work continues on the reconstruction of Warrensville-Van Aken station – the terminus of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) Blue Line. Steel is now rising as construction crews begin to frame out the new shelters at the bus and light-rail station.
The train station will shift slightly south from its current location, however the new platform will remain a center island between two tracks. Upgrades also include new digital signage that GCRTA expects to roll out along the Blue and Green Lines in the near future.
Less than a year after a devastating fire leveled its predecessor, the northernmost building at the Marquee at Cedar Lee along Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights is already getting its exterior façade materials added. The southern building wasn’t damaged by the blaze (Ian McDaniel).
Finally, heading back towards Cleveland are several projects under way in Cleveland Heights. The most notable one is the Marquee at Cedar Lee. After a fire in January 2025 leveled the northern of two apartment buildings under construction in the Cedar Lee district, many were worried the project wouldn’t see the light of day again.
However, developer Flaherty & Collins and the city remained committed to rebuilding after the fire. Ten months later and the entire four-story building on Cedar Road has topped out for a second time.
This south-side view of the Marquee at Cedar shows the scale of this development which also has a southern building that has already opened and substantially rented out (Ian McDaniel).
Crews are finishing framing Marquee at Cedar Lee and installing windows; cladding is starting to reappear as well. The 139-unit building is expected to open in the second half of 2026.
Other projects in Cleveland Heights with visible progress at this time are the Taylor Tudors renovation and upgrades to Cain Park along Taylor Road.
The century-old Taylor Tudors are being renovated into modern apartments and street-level commercial spaces by WXZ Development of Fairview Park (Ian McDaniel).
The Taylor Tudors project is the cornerstone of the Cain Park Village revitalization. A trio of three-story, vacant historic buildings are being renovated into 44 apartments, including eight live/work units. Amenities will include fitness and office space and 11,000 square feet of street-level commercial suites.
Across the street from the historic buildings is a strip shopping center called Taylor Commons that would be demolished and replaced with two new mixed-use buildings offering a total of 208 apartments over street-level commercial space.
Word has gone quiet recently on the progress of these additional apartments. However a couple of blocks away, Cain Park additions set the stage for a revitalized Taylor Road corridor including new footpaths and terraced seating while maintaining the popular sledding hill.
Seen from Taylor Road are Cain Park’s new footpaths and terraced seating plus a preserved sledding hill that needs a little more snow on it to make it a faster run (Ian McDaniel).
Finally, the massive redevelopment from developer DealPoint Merrill of the former Richmond Town Square progresses in Richmond Heights. Known as Belle Oaks, the three-phase project will add 375 luxury residential units along with community amenities and retail space.
Value of the development at full build-out is estimated at $285 million. The 1966-built Richmond Mall turned Richmond Town Square was demolished from 2023-24.
A street roundabout and adjacent sidewalks were recently constructed for the mixed-use community that will rise on the site where Richmond Town Square stood in Richmond Heights (Ian McDaniel).
The Meijer grocery store on Wilson Mills and relocated Firestone are the first tangibles of the development. Construction crews most recently began staking out roundabouts and paving new streets within the site.
Last summer, the Port of Cleveland board approved up to $20 million in taxable lease revenue bonds for a three-floor apartment building, with ground-floor retail, to be built at Belle Oaks.
The first new retail buildings, at left, are being built between Richmond Road and the Life Storage building, the only structure to survive from Richmond Town Square (Ian McDaniel).
New retail buildings along Richmond Road have also risen fast within the past month while above-ground work on several planned apartment buildings for Belle Oaks are still not quite yet visible.
Make sure to check in on NEOtrans’ Progress Pics for new construction updates on these or other developments in urban Greater Cleveland.
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