Karin Connelly Rice

Two development projects move Cleveland Heights master plan forward
Two development projects in Cleveland Heights are moving the city forward in its master plan to create growth and strong business districts within the city. The Top of the Hill multi-use project is moving ahead, while the city just began soliciting ideas for a vacant plot of land on Lee Road. Read about both projects here.
CoffeeQ pays it forward, one cup of coffee at a time
Alex Wittenberg loves a good cup of coffee. So much so, he envisions a world where Cleveland’s coffee shop patrons share their love by buying their neighbor—whether it’s a friend, the next guy in line, or even an unknown stranger—a cup of joe. To that end, Wittenberg, along with co-founders Sebastian Thimmig, Adam Fishburn, and Edward Liu, have created CoffeeQ, an online app that allows users to do just that.
Full circle: One University Circle prepares to open its doors in April
Soaring 20 stories into the Cleveland skyline, One University Circle is almost ready for its close-up. In April, the building will welcome its first tenants as the neighborhood’s first high-rise apartment building community in more than 40 years.
How Cuyahoga Arts & Culture is helping organizations heal others through arts and music
The process of producing paintings, ceramics, and other art—as well as making music—isn’t just a creative skill. It’s a life skill. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture recognizes the importance of art and music therapy, supporting about 20 area organizations that offer such programming. FreshWater takes an inside look at their colorful and cathartic work.
UH Bikes to roll onto Lorain Avenue this week
As UH Bikes marks the end of its second bike sharing program cycle in Cleveland this spring, the popular program is marking the milestone with a move to new offices in the Detroit Shoreway’s Antiques District at 7900 Lorain Ave. Find out more about what this move means for the neighborhood here.
Just add mushrooms: How the Hulett Hotel could spawn other new construction in Ohio City
For most people, mushrooms bring to mind a pizza topping or another culinary dish (or even an invasive lawn growth). But Chris Maurer, principal architect and founder for redhouse studio in Ohio City, sees mushrooms—or mycelium, the organism that sprouts to fruit mushrooms—and thinks building materials.
Chefs Karen Small and Jill Vedaa make CLE history as James Beard semifinalists
For the first time in Cleveland, two local female chefs have been named semifinalists for the James Beard Awards. Chef Karen Small, owner of The Flying Fig, and chef Jill Vedaa, co-owner of Salt, are two of 20 chefs in the Great Lakes division, having made it to the semifinals from 20,000 entries in 21 categories. Read more about how Vedaa and Small attained this culinary honor here.
MidTown is abuzz with the March opening of Tech Hive
Banking on the growing coworking trend, the hope is that when the MidTown Tech Hive opens on Thursday, March 1, it will become a cooperative gathering place for great minds to bring innovative ideas with a sense of community and an emphasis on tech education. Read more about what Tech Hive will offer here.
For Midwest makers, there's no place like Cleveland Bazaar
Fourteen years in, the Cleveland Bazaar has evolved from a one-day holiday sale at Derek Hess' studio into Cleveland’s longest-running independent craft show.
Former College Club is being converted to apartments and townhomes
The historic 1904 mansion that overlooks University Circle and was home to the College Club of Cleveland for the past 61 years will soon be converted into 10 apartments, with an additional four apartments in the carriage house and 13 townhomes on the 1.8-acre property at 2348 Overlook Road in Cleveland Heights.
Trend watch: Cohousing makes its way to Cleveland
About two or three years ago, Cleveland Heights resident Mary Kelsey and some friends began talking about the concept of cohousing—a community of homes that are clustered around shared spaces like a common house and outdoor areas. While there are fewer than 200 cohousing communities across the U.S., Kelsey says there are “quite a few” are in progress, including right here in Northeast Ohio.
Heights Libraries decides to give Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Campus a chance
The Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Campus and the nonprofit groups working out of the building will remain in the former Coventry School building after Heights Libraries opts to buy the property from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District for $1, saving the grounds from possible commercial development.
Historic Hessler Road townhomes are becoming modern-day living apartments
As president of Berusch Development Partners, Russell Berusch converts college campuses into neighborhoods that are convenient and accessible for the typical college student, such as University Circle’s Uptown neighborhood and Euclid 116 student apartments.

Now Berusch is taking on an historic neighborhood on Hessler Road in University Circle.
City and Food Bank team up to distribute fresh produce to AsiaTown seniors
For the first time, the city and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank have come together in a collaborative effort to get fresh produce to the seniors living in AsiaTown. On the first Wednesday of each month, the Food Bank comes out to Sterling Recreation Center for a Senior Produce Market. Find out when the next distribution is—and how to volunteer—here.
Back to nature: Cuyahoga Arts & Culture has diverse programming down to a science
Nearly a dozen nature and science organizations receive support from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, and they provide an integral foundation for exploring the county’s rich variety of resources—from the Great Lakes Science Center on Lake Erie’s coast to suburban nature centers, downtown community gardens, and grassroots nonprofits.
Wake up and smell the coffee, and donuts, this Friday at the opening of Daylight Donuts
While Matt and Trevor Gile and their father, Chuck, may have gone into the auto repair business three years ago with Cleveland Heights-based Motorcars Collision, the family has dreamt about donuts for at least seven years. Now the trio is realizing their dream with the opening of Daylight Donuts and Coffee (3077 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights) along with their newly-relocated Motorcars Collision.
Long-awaited Kensington Pub to open by March in Cleveland Heights
When partners Jeff King and Brad Poe open the Kensington Pub in Cleveland Heights this spring, they promise to have something for everyone at the bar that has been known for decades as Tavern Company. See what's in store here.
Public input will help shape Cuyahoga County's plan for a linked green network
The vision for Cuyahoga Greenways would connect every community in the county through a network of greenways, trails, parks, transportation routes, and neighborhoods. A joint plan between the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACCA), and the Cleveland Metroparks, the project has entered its second phase with officials asking for public input on the concept and initial plans.  
Old Brooklyn continues its rise with hybrid coffee-bicycle shop in the works
Trey Kirchoff has a nose for good coffee and he seeks to spread his love of a good roast with the rest of Cleveland. This spring, Kirchoff will partner with Mason Adkins and Berto Huertas of Sixth City Cycles to open Coffee, Coffee, Coffee—a combination coffee shop and bike shop in Old Brooklyn. The new shop will open in the former Familyography space at 4193 Pearl Road.

Read more about this unique blend of coffee and bikes here.
Tressed for success: This Shaker Square center empowers people in transition
Since 2015, the Beauty and Barber Empowerment Center has been a resource center in Shaker Square for beauty industry professionals. Now they're the recipients of a $6,000 grant from the United Black Fund of Great Cleveland to support people in transition, including formerly incarcerated individuals and displaced barbers and cosmetologists, in their career paths.