Ohio City finance firm moving to the Flats

By Ken Prendergast / October 24, 2023

Another significant office tenant with naming rights to their building is on the move — and shrinking. This time, it’s Cleveland-based financial planning firm Skylight Financial Group which is a general agency of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) in multiple Ohio cities. But unlike Ernst & Young (now EY) moving from one side of downtown Cleveland to the other, Skylight Financial will be leaving Ohio City’s Market District in 2024 for Scranton Peninsula in the Flats.

Ubotica puts US HQ in Greater Cleveland

By Ken Prendergast / October 16, 2023

When a Dublin, Ireland-based maker of artificial intelligence software for commercial satellites looked for a home in the nation with the world’s largest space program, it didn’t choose to be near any of the NASA complexes south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Instead, it picked the only NASA center north of it to be its neighbor.

Browns add more land to Berea development site

By Ken Prendergast / October 11, 2023

As the Cleveland Browns and their owners continue to acquire more property this month in suburban Berea, its mayor recently teased news of their potential, still-secret development to occupy that land as an “exciting opportunity” for the community. Meanwhile the city approved the demolition of eight more houses just west of the Browns’ existing headquarters and practice facility. That’s in addition to 24 homes and a church leveled so far for what sources said would be a mixed-use development featuring a hotel, Browns- and football-themed restaurants and shops, plus sports and recreation facilities open to the public year-round.

Stark grounded as war erupts in Israel

By Ken Prendergast / October 9, 2023

Greater Cleveland real estate executive Ezra Stark is grounded in Israel by the outbreak of war over the weekend, Stark confirmed to NEOtrans through a company spokesperson. He was scheduled to fly out Sunday but most airlines including all U.S.-based carriers have temporarily suspended flights to and from the Middle Eastern nation due to its worsening security situation following a surprise, massive attack Oct. 7 by the terrorist group Hamas.

Ohio City’s largest build site: the Lutheran lot

By Ken Prendergast / October 6, 2023

Sooner or later, development pressures will find their way to Lutheran Hospital’s huge surface parking lot on West 25th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. All around the 5-acre Cleveland Clinic Foundation-owned Lutheran Hospital parking lot, investors have built on or have big plans for just about every available piece of land. Even an unstable hillside across West 25th is being reborn as Irishtown Bend Park. There isn’t much room to grow. So the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio City Inc. and others are trying to get a handle on how best to develop the Lutheran lot someday in the future while making sure Clinic employees still have a place to park.

Seeds & Sprouts 33 – Sankofa Village Phase 4 coming, West 48th gets more townhomes, So might Midtown, Intro adding salon

By Ken Prendergast / October 5, 2023

Sankofa Village will be adding its fourth, final phase in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood. An extra space just off West 48th getting more townhomes. One Midtown Luxury Townhomes seeks expansion. And Intro gains national beauty salon chain as tenant.

Getting empowered to shape Cleveland’s landscape

By Ken Prendergast / October 2, 2023

Fourteen promising entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds have been selected to participate in an innovative new real estate development program with a clear mission: to break down historical barriers and empower these individuals with the knowledge and tools needed to shape the future of Cleveland’s communities. The Cleveland Equitable Development Initiative, or CLE-EDI, will bolster the ranks of successful minority real estate developers in the region and to stimulate economic growth in the communities from which these entrepreneurs hail.

Bridgeworks grows by shrinking

By Ken Prendergast / September 30, 2023

In Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, and in the face of financial headwinds affecting projects nationwide, the long-planned Bridgeworks development underwent a major redesign that would cut costs and add more space by filling land, not the sky. Gone is a 16-story building and separate parking garage, replaced by a single, seven-story building that incorporates parking within a structure that fills out more of the 2.13-acre site at the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge. The revised plans will be reviewed by the city’s design-review boards in the coming weeks. Financing from the city, Cuyahoga County and Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority was arranged last spring.

Repurposed Greyhound station, tower planned

By Ken Prendergast / September 29, 2023

Two Connecticut development firms have returned to their state’s Western Reserve with the goal of redeveloping the landmark Greyhound bus station in downtown Cleveland. While their plans are still early on, a basic concept for the plan appears to be taking form and the developers are reaching out to City Hall and Playhouse Square Foundation officials to get their input on that vision that could include a repurposed station and an apartment tower.

Cleveland, Bedrock OK roles in $3.5B project

By Ken Prendergast / September 26, 2023

Yesterday, at its regular weekly meeting, Cleveland City Council voted to approve an updated and expanded Master Development Agreement (MDA) between Bedrock Real Estate and the city of Cleveland that serves as a guiding framework for Bedrock’s planned $3.5 billion riverfront development project. As one might expect, with such a large, multi-phase development, the project and its legal and fiscal frameworks are very complex. But the new frameworks helps spell out what is expected of each party.

Real Estate News