Cleveland Clinic unveils next phase of Innovation District

By Ken Prendergast / September 28, 2023

In the midst of a global pandemic, state, local and Cleveland Clinic officials in 2021 announced the Cleveland Innovation District to expand health care research. Today, as part of that initiative, Cleveland Clinic unveiled the first phase of its expanded research facilities and announced plans to launch major construction of two new research buildings. The state-of-the-art facilities will be dedicated to scientific investigation and will significantly increase laboratory research space on Cleveland Clinic’s main campus.

Latest TMUD wish list is NEO-light

By Ken Prendergast / September 23, 2023

One of the favorite past-times among some Northeast Ohioans is to complain that too much of their state tax dollars are going to the rest of the state and not enough to Northeast Ohio. But if you don’t ask for anything, you don’t get it. That’s the case when it comes to the latest round of Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credits. Northeast Ohio TMUD applications represent only 10.8 percent of the total dollar amount requested statewide for Ohio’s fiscal year 2024 round and only one downtown Cleveland project was submitted. Ironically, the TMUD program was the brainchild of a Cleveland developer to encourage more downtown Cleveland projects.

Would Cliffs + USS = a new tower?

By Ken Prendergast / August 15, 2023

Three years ago, when Cleveland-Cliffs made some big moves, NEOtrans asked the question. Three years later, we’re asking it again. If Cliffs is able to acquire rival United States Steel (USS), as recently proposed, what impact might this have on the combined company’s headquarters situation?

Browns Stadium talks tackled for no gain

By Ken Prendergast / July 26, 2023

At a press conference this week, Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam raised some eyebrows with their comments about the current stadium and where the football team might play in the future. Among other remarks, Jimmy Haslam interjected that “The only thing Dee and I would say for sure is we’re not leaving Northeast Ohio.” According to a team source familiar with its negotiations with the city of Cleveland, that remark was a subtle nudge to the city to resolve an apparent impasse in negotiations. The source added that, if the team doesn’t see more progress, it could leave Cleveland for a new stadium in the suburbs.

Reynolds enters Midwest market with local buy

By Ken Prendergast / July 24, 2023

In a move that expands its portfolio westward into a new market, East Coast-based Reynolds Asset Management, with financing provided in partnership with Northwest Bank, announced it has closed on the acquisition of a 125-unit multifamily apartment complex in the Greater Cleveland area. It is Reynolds’ first real estate asset acquisition in the Midwest and the first of more deals it is seeking in the Cleveland-area market.

TMUD round 3 starts next week

By Ken Prendergast / July 21, 2023

The desire for new-build projects in downtown Cleveland led to the creation of the state’s Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credit program nearly three years ago. But in the first two years of the four-year TMUD program, no developers of new-construction downtown projects have submitted applications. As the third round of TMUD will start next week, will a new-build project downtown finally be an applicant — or perhaps even a winner — despite of tightening labor and credit markets plus rising interest rates?

NE Ohio wins $26M in historic tax credits

By Ken Prendergast / June 29, 2023

An ambitious plan to redevelop the mostly vacated Park Synagogue, 3300 Mayfield Rd., and its 28 acres of land in Cleveland Heights was the big winner in today’s awarding of $50.56 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits to 38 projects statewide. But Northeast Ohio overall did pretty in this latest round of historic tax credit awards, winning more than $26 million for 11 projects.

Getting Tower City on track

By Ken Prendergast / May 29, 2023

When you have an opportunity to expend the same or similar effort and money that would achieve the better of two outcomes, why not pursue the better outcome? That’s the decision Greater Cleveland has yet to make when looking at a transportation ingredient to two major waterfront development masterplans. One is the downtown lakefront development led by the Haslam Sports Group. The other is the Tower City Riverfront development led by Bedrock Real Estate. Both are supported by civic organizations and all levels of government.

Six local housing projects win tax credits

By Ken Prendergast / May 18, 2023

Six housing developments in Cuyahoga County won federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs) yesterday from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), improving their chances of seeing construction in the near future. Those projects and 23 others elsewhere around the state received conditional LIHTC commitments. Developers will use those awards to leverage additional financing in the creation or rehabilitation of rental housing for low- to moderate-income Ohioans.

Two Cleveland-area projects win millions

By Ken Prendergast / March 8, 2023

Two Greater Cleveland historic rehabilitation projects got an unexpected boost this week to the tune of nearly $7.2 million. The Taylor Tudors portion of a larger development in Cleveland Heights plus a renovation of McKinley School in Cleveland’s Westown Neighborhood were beneficiaries of an oversight by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD).