Overlooking the West Shoreway and Edgewater Park, just west of Downtown Cleveland, the development project formerly known as the Shoreway Tower has been branded Naia Noir (J-Roc, EAO). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Shoreway Tower branded as ‘Naia Noir’
It has a new brand, a Web site, a wait list and a place already cemented in Greater Cleveland’s history. But what Naia Noir doesn’t have are modern competitors. In fact, after scouring our Lake Erie waterfront and Cuyahoga County records, NEOtrans contends that this is the first lakefront residential high-rise built in Cuyahoga County in 53 years.
The name Naia Noir plays on the location and color of the 13-story building known until now as the Shoreway Tower, under construction at the north end of West 78th Street in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.
Naia, pronounced as n-eye-uh, is a Greek name for a water nymph or water fairy. Naiads were minor goddesses in Greek mythology who inhabited and presided over springs, fountains, rivers and lakes. They are closely associated with freshwater, nature and purity, according to a Google AI search.
Noir, pronounced nuh-waar, is a more common word to us today. It is a French word for “black” which is the color of the exterior of the new, luxury loft apartment tower overlooking Edgewater Park and the West Shoreway. A construction tower crane was erected in November to help build it.
When complete in Spring 2027, Naia Noir’s 110 apartments will join the 51 units at the adjacent Shoreway Apartments, 1200 W. 76th St. The existing 45-unit apartment building is being renovated, including reworking the interior to yield six more residential units.
Seen from the north end of West 78th Street, construction is going vertical at Naia Noir. The Shoreway Apartments are to the right (Ian McDaniel).
Total investment is about $92 million. J-Roc Development and John G. Johnson Construction Co., both of Cleveland, are heading up the effort. So far this decade, J-Roc has built the Driftwood Apartments and the Electric Gardens, both in Tremont.
But Naia Noir is a potentially game-changing development. When its first residents move in a year from now, it will mark 53 years since a newly built high-rise residential structure opened its doors to tenants on not just the city’s lakefront, but the larger county lakefront as well.
NEOtrans defines a “high rise” as a building that’s more than 10 stories tall or exceeds the city’s zoning height District 3, which limits buildings in certain areas to 115 feet high or less. Anything above that gets into height District 4 or greater. Naia Noir will be 13 stories high and 143 feet tall.
What is a lakefront building? Naia Noir is only 900 feet from Lake Erie at Edgewater Beach. But some of the high rises along Lakewood’s Gold Coast are just over 100 feet from the water.
Meanwhile, the 19-story, 1973-built Lakeview Tower in Ohio City is 2,700 feet, or a half-mile from the shoreline, with an old river channel between the 200-foot-tall residential building and the lake. So let’s keep the meaning of “lakefront” to under 1,000 feet from the lake.
High-rise living along the lakefront is ultimately about the views but it’s also about access to the waterfront which Naia Noir has thanks to a nearby pedestrian/bicycle underpass beneath a busy railroad and parallel West Shoreway (EAO).
On that score, we have to go to the east side to find the last building to open along Cleveland’s lakefront. That was way back in 1974. That honor goes to the Euclid Beach Gardens, 123 E. 156th St. in the city’s North Collinwood neighborhood, according to Cuyahoga County property records.
Euclid Beach Gardens has two 15-story buildings and one 10-story building. They were completed in the same year and featured a whopping 811 units among all three structures. The development is located on the site of the former Euclid Beach Amusement Park.
The lack of high rises is ultimately due to the lack of residential districts along Cleveland’s lakefront. In the 19th century, Cleveland opened its doors to lake shipping, industry and railroads. All three mingled along its two waterfronts — the Lake Erie shoreline and the banks of the Cuyahoga River.
In the post-industrial era, Cleveland is steadily turning these brownfield waterfront lands over to recreation, residential, plus some retail and other commercial uses that support experiential activities and housing.
Among many new renderings released as part of Naia Noir’s branding are those which show the views possible from different parts of the building. Many of those views are not obstructed given the lack of nearby high-rises (EAO).
The Shoreway Apartments itself was repurposed in 2014 from the 1918-built Globe Machine and Stamping Co. Prior to its residential conversion, The Shoreway Apartments was a warehouse for arts and crafts retailer Pat Catan’s.
Nearby, the old Westinghouse Electric plant, 1200 W. 58th St., could soon be considered a lakefront high-rise despite it being only eight stories tall. Its tallest structure, built in 1915, stands 136 feet high.
It is due to be converted into residential as soon as its general contractor, Cleveland-based The Krill Co., picks up its building permit and pays the $96,621.54 permit fee, city records show. The development team TW58 Cleveland LLC is led by the Trebilcock family.
Other lakefront industrial sites could soon turn residential as well. A former industrial lot at 8400 Lake Rd. was approved by Cleveland Planning Commission. At that same meeting, the commission approved another lakefront development — Union at Cleveland Harbor, 5475 N. Marginal Rd.
Newly released renderings for Naia Noir also show the building’s new logo, illuminated atop the 13-story building, as viewed from Edgewater Park and the West Shoreway (EAO).
But neither of those are high-rises; 8400 Lake is only three stories and Union at Cleveland Harbor is five stories. The city of Cleveland isn’t alone in not building high-rise residential along the lakefront. Its Cuyahoga County suburbs haven’t built big along their waterfronts in decades either.
Despite having the most waterfront high rises, Lakewood hasn’t added a new lakefront tower since the 18-story Meridian condos, 12550 Lake Ave., was built in 1974. It ended a two-decade run in which 12 high rises were built along 3,500 feet of its Gold Coast.
Farther west, only the eight-story Beach House Condos, 22500 Lake Rd. in Rocky River, comes anywhere close to a high-rise. And it was built in 1975. Nothing else along the shoreline in Cuyahoga County’s western suburbs has been built since.
To the east in Cuyahoga County, the 16-story duo of One and Two Bratenahl Place, just off Lakeshore Boulevard at Eddy Road, offer apartments and condos. They were built in 1967.
The nearest high-rises to the west of Naia Noir are those of Lakewood’s Gold Coast, more than 1.5 miles away, offering unobstructed sunsets year-round as long as Mother Nature cooperates (EAO).
The Cleveland Clinic Euclid Hospital, 18901 Lakeshore Blvd, is just beyond the Cleveland city limits into Euclid. This nine-story, 125-foot-tall structure was built in 1952, having replaced the older Glenville Hospital. But it’s not a residential tower.
At the other end of Euclid, there is a group of six high-rise apartment towers including two at the 16-story, 1966-built Water’s Edge, 23951 Lakeshore, two at the 17-story, 1967-built Harbor Crest, 24453 Lakeshore, and two more at the nine-story, 1968-built Normandy Towers, 24801 Lakeshore.
A little farther east in Euclid, just before entering Lake County, is another grouping of high-rises. The 12-story, 1963-built Bonneville Tower Condominiums, 25801 Lakeshore, are next to Euclid’s tallest — the pair of 21-story, 1970-built, Vista Apartment towers, 26151 Lakeshore.
Fifty-three years is a long time between adding new, contemporary options for lakefront high-rise living not just in Cleveland, but in all of Cuyahoga County. That could change downtown in the next few years. And we could learn more about that in the coming months.
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