There are very few properties in Cleveland where a resident can don a pair sandals and stroll straight to the beach from one's front door. But when it comes online next summer, the Shoreway Building will join that small and privileged group.

The building at 1260 W. 76th Street, once home to the Globe Machine and Stamping Company, has been used for years as a storage facility by the Catan family (of Pat Catan's Craft Centers).

With the reopening of the pedestrian tunnel at W. 76th Street -- a few feet from the building -- the Catans recognized that it was time to reenergize the building as a hub for city living.

Using a combination of state and federal historic tax credits and other financing sources, the Catans are renovating the empty building into 45 market-rate loft apartments with indoor and outdoor parking, huge windows and a common roof deck boasting matchless lake and downtown views.

The building also will feature an indoor fitness center and a small street-level retail space that could become home to a future cafe.

"These are true loft-style units," says Michael Augoustidis, an architect with Domokur Architects who helped design the project. "They have exposed brick walls, really big industrial-style windows, exposed concrete ceilings and concrete floors."

Augoustidis says the level of quality will set the building apart. All units will have gourmet kitchens featuring Corian countertops, hardwood cabinets, and boast an "urban feel."

There isn't a bad view in the building. The structure's orientation allows for stunning treetop views looking out over Edgewater Park and Lake Erie, or dramatic urban views looking out over the lake, Battery Park and downtown. You choose.

Units will be between 900 and 1,400 square feet and will lease for $1,000-1,900 per month.
 
Augoustidis says that units will be ready starting in May or June of next year, and that some of the old wood plank floors will be upcycled into common area design elements.


Source: Michael Augoustidis
Writer: Lee Chilcote

As the nation's first freshwater offshore wind project cranks up off the coast of Cleveland, thousands of people are pledging to pay a little more for a power source that supporters say will improve the environment, create local jobs and advance the nation's energy security.

The historic Colonial and Euclid Arcades in downtown Cleveland suffered from 40 percent vacancy last year, yet this year they added a slew of new shops and have gone from half-empty to nearly completely full.

Renamed the 5th Street Arcades, the once-moribund properties have been turned around by Dick Pace of Cumberland Development, who has breathed new life into the spaces by luring entrepreneurial tenants with fresh concepts and excitement about downtown.

"Step by step, we're getting there," says Pace, who has focused on locally themed retail that serves downtown residents and office workers. "Each month, there's something new going on. Our tenants cross-market and help each other."

Last year, a retail grant competition netted Soulcraft Furniture Gallery, which opened earlier this year, and Pour Cleveland, which will open by November 1st.

Several of the businesses in the 5th Street Arcades will soon add outdoor seating, including Pour, Sushi 86 and a yet unnamed food tenant that Pace is working with.

Additional businesses that will open this fall include Herron Starr Apparel (a shoe store), The Tea Lab (a tea shop run by Bob Holcepl of City Roast), The Olive and the Grape, and a take-out vendor called C'mon Let's Eat (CLE).

Finally, Sushi 86 is expanding to create space for banquets and cooking classes, and Alphonso's, a men's and women's accessories shop, will open later this year.

"Tenants are drawn here because this is becoming known as a retail area, an area for shopping," Pace says. "That says a lot about downtown and what's happening."


Source: Dick Pace
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The founder of the successful Cleveland Flea will soon move her growing business, The Indie Foundry, into a historic mansion on St. Clair Avenue. The location will function as a co-working and classroom space aimed at helping small creative businesses to grow and flourish. It joins a growing list of new startups on that street.

"This is the business development side of a business incubator, a place where you meet other creatives," says Stephanie Sheldon. "You’re making things in the kitchen, crafting things or making stuff in the woodshop -- but when it’s time to work on your business, where do you do that? 'Hey, have you found great insurance agent? Who do you use for bookkeeping? How do you deal with a growing company?' These are the kinds of questions that the Indie Foundry is dedicated to."

The stone mansion, located behind the Slovenian National Home, is a bit of a "time capsule" that has beautiful hardwood floors, natural woodwork and two ballrooms.

Sheldon says the Indie Foundry will offer desk space and wi-fi for freelancers and creative entrepreneurs as well as classes, workshops and a slew of pop-up events.

Examples include a lecture series from Bad Girl Ventures and workshops hosted by Soulcraft, the Cleveland Culinary Launch and Kitchen, and Craft Connection.

Sheldon will also work closely with the Slovenian National Home to help improve their operations over the next year, including making the home's courtyard a signature outdoor space for events, pop-up dinners and other activities.


Source: Stephanie Sheldon
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Next week, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM) celebrates the grand opening of its new headquarters in a former textile manufacturing shop at E. 45th Street and Superior Avenue. The redeveloped office not only makes LMM more efficient, sustainable and accessible, it also contains a 2,400-square-foot central kitchen and 6,000-square-foot metal shop that allows the group to advance its social enterprise branch.

Michael Sering, Vice President at LMM, says that the organization is able to churn out hundreds of bike racks a year using the new metal shop. Recently, LMM inked a contract with the Cleveland Clinic to build and install an additional 136 racks. LMM employs individuals from 2100 Lakeside, a men's shelter, to make the racks.

The new, spacious central kitchen will allow LMM to continue its work to employ individuals reentering society after time in prison. LMM already prepares about 1,500 meals per day for area homeless shelters and other social service facilities.

LMM is preparing to break ground on a new community garden adjacent to 2100 Lakeside. Sering hopes to build a custom fence for the garden in the metal shop.

LMM's new administrative headquarters are named after Richard Sering, Michael Sering's father and LMM's former director. Richard Sering died of cancer 10 years ago.


Source: Michael Sering
Writer: Lee Chilcote

In a city with no shortage of vacant land on which to cultivate gardens, it might surprise some to learn of the growing trend of gardens in the sky. Not only do rooftop gardens offer a place to relax, they reduce a building's heating and cooling costs while shielding the roof from damaging UV rays.

Recent grants awarded to the Collinwood and St. Clair Superior neighborhoods are allowing them to proceed with arts- and culture-based projects each hopes will revitalize their communities and boost their economies. The efforts are part of a larger national movement known as creative placemaking.

You can add one more to the list of artisan businesses choosing North Collinwood as the place to launch and grow. Fears' Confections, a sweet shop specializing in scratch-made brownies and candies, has opened in the former Arabica space at 818 E. 185th Street.

The business, launched by Cassandra and Jeremy Fear, uses "sweets to die for" as its tagline. The bakery and confectionery offers "thick, fudgy, decadent creations made from scratch using only the freshest ingredients," its Facebook page says.

The Fears launched their business in January 2009 when Cassandra was laid off from her engineering job. What started as a part-time obsession has blossomed into a real business, even though she has since found gainful employment again. This is Fears' Confections first brick-and-mortar location (they also do catering).

Brownies became their specialty when they discovered that there was less competition in this space than in the ever-trendy cupcake and cookie category. The range of flavors includes dark chocolate orange, raspberry, peanut butter and jelly, lavender and pumpkin blondies. The candies take an hour to cook and are all hand-cut and hand-dipped.

Fears' Confections opens at 6:30 a.m. and serves Troubador Coffee out of Fairview Park. The space is shared by Simply Sweet Cupcakes, also based in Fairview Park.


Source: Fears Confections
Writer: Lee Chilcote

From Gordon Square to North Collinwood, a definite shift is occurring among young homebuyers, who increasingly are choosing to raise families in the city. Thanks to phenomenal amenities and a growing roster of good schools, Cleveland is becoming downright kid-friendly!

Currently, visitors to the Carnegie-West branch of the Cleveland Public Library find an underutilized park across the street. But soon they'll stumble upon a literary wonderland of peanut butter sandwich boats with sails, spaghetti tubes and a stone soup mural.

Inspired by children's books, a love of reading and the ambition to bring families and community members together, Literary Lots will kick off Saturday, August 3rd in Novak Park in Ohio City and run for two consecutive weeks.

"This idea started with saying, 'We have a great anchor in the library, books are inspiring and we want an educated, engaged community,'" says Kauser Razvi, an Ohio City parent who has served as Project Manager for Literary Lots. "Tons of kids come to the library. Let's do this work together and offer it in a single place."

"Hopefully soon, the park is a place where people stop and say, 'What are those three sandwich boats doing there?' says Razvi, an urban strategist. "Then they want to come in and take part in a poetry slam or start doing some spaghetti art."

Programming will be offered daily at Novak Park, which is located north of Lorain on W. 38th, including art and writing events, author nights and movie nights.

The idea behind the event is to engage kids and families in reading and building a sense of community together. "The city needs to do more things for kids and families, because that's how you're going to help the city grow," says Razvi.

Project partners include Cleveland Public Library, Ohio City Writers, Art House and LAND Studio. Funders include The Cleveland Colectivo, Councilman Joe Cimperman, Neighborhood Connections and the George Gund Foundation.

Literary Lots will kick off this Saturday with community mural painting with artist Julia Kuo. Community members will help illustrate the classic story Stone Soup.


Source: Kauser Razvi
Writer: Lee Chilcote

City of Cleveland officials and non-profit leaders are taking notice of how an improved cycling infrastructure can reshape the future of our city for the better. How the city proceeds with a handful or projects could make or break our momentum.

Over the next few months, a handful of next-gen businesses will begin to open in the Striebinger Block, a prominent building at the intersection of Detroit and W. 29th. Billed as the Hingetown development, the project will act as the hinge between existing Cleveland assets like Ohio City, Gordon Square, and downtown.

The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) has mapped out what our region's future looks like if we stay on the same, urban-sprawl-lovin' course. Spoiler alert: It ain't good.

The group's "Business as Usual" scenario attempts to answer the question, "What will happen over the next 27 years if Northeast Ohio just keeps doing what it has been doing?" using sophisticated mapping.

NEOSCC's predictions include 2.4 percent growth in population and 6.2 percent growth in employment across 12 counties. Yet given our current land use patterns, about 92,500 acres will be used for new development and 77,100 acres will be abandoned.

That means Northeast Ohio is "on pace to abandon 10.5 percent of its housing units by 2040" or "18 units abandoned per day," according to the NEOSCC.

Although NEOSCC will not reveal its recommendations at this point, staff will present four scenarios to the public at open houses in the coming weeks.

These scenarios include "business as usual" (sprawl with limited growth), "doing things differently" (more sustainable development with limited growth), "grow the same" (sprawl with growth at a higher level than is occurring now) and "grow differently" (more sustainable development with greater growth). 

After receiving input from residents, NEOSCC will recommend a scenario to the four metropolitan planning organizations that help divvy up transportation dollars for the region and create long-term land use plans. Jeff Anderle of NEOSCC says that the group must create a "shared vision" to be successful with its efforts.

"We're not a governing organization; we don't have implementation power," he says. "It's been tricky, but we've gotten great participation from elected officials throughout the region. There's a lot of 'Let's see how and where this comes out.'"

To participate in the process, Northeast Ohio residents can attend one of the upcoming open houses or check out the Imagine My NEO tool on the website.


Source: Jeff Anderle
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Hemingway Development and Geis Companies have completed the third building of the MidTown Tech Park campus at 6555 Carnegie Avenue. The $9 million project brings the campus to a total of 242,000 square feet of new office space.

"When we arrived in MidTown, we wanted to develop one building a year, and we have exceeded that with the opening of this building,” said Fred Geis, a Hemingway principal, in a press release. "With the growth of the MidTown Tech Park campus, we have been able to create a real community where our tenants can interact and grow their businesses."

Radio One, a national urban media company with four radio stations in Northeast Ohio, is one of the first new tenants. Regional Vice President Jeffrey Wilson says the developer's experience and the area's redevelopment attracted the firm.

"When I first looked at it, you might have thought I'd lost my mind, but we put our trust in Fred Geis," says Wilson of the building, which was raw prior to completion. "Now it's one of the most exciting spaces in all of Radio One."

The company will occupy 12,000 square feet on the first floor, including four main broadcast studios, production studios, a mix studio and a talk studio. Geis worked with Radio One to construct a 180-foot tower alongside the building, which will make it easier to transmit audio to the company's transmitter locations.

"To partake in the rebirth of the MidTown area really fulfills our creed," says Wilson. "We take a sense of pride in contributing to the rebirth of the area."

Talis Clinical, a Cleveland Clinic spinoff, is also leasing office space in the building. Geis says that the building will support 150 jobs and generate $300,000 in annual payroll taxes. The City of Cleveland provided $4.5 million in low-interest loans.


Source: Jeffrey Wilson, Fred Geis
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Slavic Village Recovery, an ambitious effort to provide an extreme neighborhood makeover to a 530-acre chunk of the east side, has begun the process of purchasing 40 homes that will be rehabbed.

Two of these properties already have been put on the market with new mechanicals and other finishes for a mere $60,000, says Marie Kittredge, Executive Director of Slavic Village Development, a partner in the project along with Forest City Enterprises and Safeguard Properties.

"The model is: If my kids are 20-somethings buying their first house, what would that first house look like and what would be attractive to them?" explains Kittredge. "We have to build demand by telling the story. We believe our demographic is people who are already familiar with the neighborhood and ready to buy."

Slavic Village Recovery's innovative model focuses on renovating a majority of the vacant homes on a multi-block area around Mound Avenue and E. 54th Street, where 20- to 30-percent vacancy rates prevail. The homes are acquired from lenders and rehabbed using a model that includes all major items but does not include reconfiguring floor plans, adding bedrooms or other expensive options.

Kittredge says that the rehab costs will likely range from $40,000 to $50,000, allowing the partners to earn a small profit they can reinvest in the initiative.

"The key innovation is that there's no public subsidy," she says. "It's not possible to get the subsidy you'd need for a 25 to 50 home model. If you did just one [house], people would say that's scary. If you say, 'Hey, we're doing 20 to 25 and we have Forest City involved and major grants from Wells Fargo,' then that's different."

Kittredge expects additional homes to hit the market this fall. Last week, a group of volunteers from Forest City cleaned up 60 properties in the area. Some homes are being secured using SecureView, a new product that looks like glass but is far more durable, allowing houses to be secured without using ugly plywood boards.


Source: Marie Kittredge
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Three prominent community development groups in Cleveland have merged, and staffers say the resulting alliance will help strengthen community revitalization efforts across the city, foster more unified advocacy, and allow for greater efficiency in citywide efforts.

Neighborhood Progress Inc. (NPI), a community development intermediary that provides grants and technical assistance to community development corporations (CDCs), has merged with Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition (CNDC) and LiveCleveland. CNDC is a trade association of CDCs; LiveCleveland helps to market city neighborhoods.

That might sound like a mouthful of acronyms to the average city resident, but Joel Ratner, President of NPI, says the collaboration really is about improving Cleveland's neighborhoods.

"We'll have a greater ability to coordinate the marketing of neighborhoods along with advocacy, capacity building and all the other things we've traditionally done," he says. "This is really about uniting the strands of community development across the city in a way that's integrated and strategic rather than separate."

For example, says Ratner, CDCs will be able to have a stronger voice in education reform and other efforts that affect the entire city, residents will see an increased marketing presence, and CDC employees will benefit from shared services like healthcare. It adds up to more effective efforts to improve all of Cleveland.

"Our mission is to foster communities of choice and opportunity throughout Cleveland," says Ratner, who acknowledges that NPI will still only have resources to provide core operating support to a subset of city neighborhoods. "There are lots of ways we can play a role in lifting up all CDCs and neighborhoods."

CNDC Director Colleen Gilson says that while the merger idea was far from popular among CDCs at first -- they feared losing their independence -- individual leaders saw the value in fostering a citywide community development network that provides more effective services to all neighborhoods, not just a select few.

The merger will be publicly rolled out in September, with NPI moving into its new offices in the Saint Luke's project at Shaker Boulevard and E. 116th by January.


Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Each week, Fresh Fork Market delivers "grab bags" of locally grown ingredients to thousands of subscribers at various drop-off sites around town. From the customer's point of view, the process is a breeze. But ride along with owner Trevor Clatterbuck, as photographer Bob Perkoski did for this slideshow, and you'll see how much work goes into each bag.