Detroit Shoreway Featured on WKYC

Last week WKYC did a week long feature of The Detroit Shoreway and Gordon Square Arts District, highlighting all of the hustle and bustle of this great city neighborhood. Here at Cleveland City Living, we are big proponents of EVERY city neighborhood in Cleveland, but The Detroit Shoreway has a close spot in our hearts. Its where Scott lives, and I am a close neighbor over in Ohio City- so The Detroit Shoreway neighborhood is regularly visited. Make sure you check out one of the segments here, as it features Scott and Battery Park! I look forward to seeing more city neighborhoods featured for their awesome innovations and community building!

Support The Greater Cleveland AIDS Task Force With Art Cares

This Saturday night (April 16th)from 7 - 10pm is the return of the annual Art Cares event to benefit The Greater Cleveland AIDS Task Force. This silent and live auction party donates 100% of its proceeds to the Cleveland non-profit.

For more information on tickets to Art Cares visit the Greater Cleveland AIDS Task Force here
or call Rebecca Strong at 216.621.0766 x232.

The event is hosted at the Battery Park Powerhouse's beautiful raw space and catering is provided by Marigold. I look forward to seeing you there to mingle, celebrate art, and provide a donation to a wonderful local non-profit!

The Anti McMansion - From WKYC

Did you know in the past ten years, nearly 500 homes have sold for over $200,000 and by comparison only 27 sold in that same area in the decade prior? The inward city move and people investing in high-end properties is VERY real and it's only going to continue. Check out the amazing piece from WKYC's Maureen Kyle on why and how people are downsizing their homes and moving into the city. Great commentary from Cleveland City Living's Scott Phillips Jr and amazing views from Cleveland's Battery Park.

Coral Co. ramps up residential construction next to Crocker Park

WESTLAKE, Ohio -- The Coral Co. is dusting off its plans and building homes again next to the Crocker Park shopping center in Westlake.

The developer, based in University Heights, has started construction of 11 homes and just received city approval of plans to build 11 lofts along the western edge of a parking garage.

Despite the sluggish real estate market, Coral and several other Northeast Ohio homebuilders saw sales pick up in 2010 - and they are hopeful about this year.

"We think that 2011 is a stabilizing year," said Peter Rubin, Coral's president and chief executive officer.

New home construction in Northeast Ohio slid from 8,023 housing starts in 2006 to 2,625 in 2009, according to data for nine counties tracked by Atwell, a real estate services company. Atwell research specialist Trista McClelland expects last year's housing starts to be in the 2,700-range.

After several slow years, Coral sold off the last of its 24 completed homes at Westhampton in 2010. The project eventually could comprise 125 homes, and buyers already have committed to five of the 11 that Coral recently started building to the south of Dick's Sporting Goods. Construction could start on the second group of 11 homes in June.

Coral's buyers generally are empty nesters and young professionals. Many residents at Westhampton have lived outside Northeast Ohio and are familiar with more urban-style home designs, such as a garage on the first floor, a living room and kitchen on the second, bedrooms on the third and a rooftop patio. Prices at Westhampton range from $309,000 for a two-bedroom loft to $495,000 for a four-bedroom manor home.
View full size

Crocker Park, which is inking deals with retailers including Anthropologie, according to public records, is a huge draw. Steve Rubin, the chief operating officer for Crocker Park developer Stark Enterprises, would not identify any potential tenants at the shopping center but said almost all the space is spoken for or is the subject of negotiations with retailers.

Westlake isn't the only community where residential builders are pushing ahead. On Cleveland's west side, Vintage Development Group closed a dozen sales last year and is building eight more townhouses and two freestanding homes at Battery Park.

In Cleveland Heights, developer Ken Lurie plans to break ground for 16 townhouses at the Bluestone community, after averting a foreclosure on the project's condominium building last year and slashing prices.

WXZ Development is building another cluster of homes at East 118th Street and Euclid Avenue in University Circle, and sales have been steady at 27 Coltman, a high-end townhouse development in Little Italy.

Westhampton is about 18 months behind schedule because of the recession and the real estate crisis, Coral's Rubin said. But the privately held company, which also owns and manages apartment buildings and shopping centers, has the money to move forward and the patience to see the project through.

"It's going to be another challenging year," he said, "but the trajectory is getting better."

(Courtesy of Cleveland.com)

Dip into Downward Dog at Battery Park

As a yoga lover, I have some very exciting news to share with the Cleveland community. The Battery Park Powerhouse is transforming their second floor and it will now serve as a yoga room on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Justin Glanville, who has been practicing yoga for over ten years, and teaching yoga since 2005 will be heading the classes. He is offering a beginners Vinyassa on Saturday mornings from 9:00am to 10:15 and an intermediate Vinyassa class on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm to 7:45. The cost per class will be $10 for a drop in with packages available at discount. Classes begin January 17th, and Justin can be reached at jgville@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. I hope to see you all at the classes, I know I will be there on Wednesdays. Namaste!

Make Way for New Townhomes!

Ground cleared this week for the new "Alley Townhomes" at Battery Park, making way for the team of builders to start construction. Four of these homes have already sold with five remaining. Occupancy is expected as early as the end of 2008 for the pre-construction purchasers!

These townhouses, pictured above, feature 3 floors of living space. The first floor consists of a 2 car garage and a finished "flex space" that can be used as an office, rec room, workout room, etc. The second level, with a wide open floor plan, includes a beautiful kitchen that opens up into a dining and living room area. As is the case with most new construction in Cleveland, these townhomes have open floor-plans on the second level that are perfect for entertaining. An elevated patio off the living room adds a special touch to these townhomes, and a half-bathroom finishes off the second level. The third level is made up of two bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a laundry closet and an optional spiral staircase to the roof, where you have the option of adding an enormous roof-top deck. These decks will overlook Lake Erie and the downtown Cleveland skyline.

All Battery Park homes come with a 15-year tax abatement and discount financing options. In many cases, the people buying these townhomes will be paying less on their mortgage than they were in rent!*

Call or email Scott Phillips Jr, of Real Living Realty One, for more information: (216) 986-7716.

*Mortgage rates and payment schedules are subject to bank approval and bank conditions. Contact your lender for your exact payment.

Construction Begins on Detroit Avenue Project

City officials, merchants and others today launched the transformation of a stretch of Detroit Avenue into a pedestrian-friendly district for shopping, dining and theatre-going with a ceremonial groundbreaking. The event was highlighted by performances by Cleveland Public Theatre and Near West Theatre, the two performance theatres in the Gordon Square Arts District (GSAD).

The $3.5 million streetscape conversion of Detroit from West 58th Street to West 73rd Street is the second of five core projects in GSAD, an emerging arts and entertainment destination in the heart of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood and five minutes from downtown Cleveland. Plans call for widening sidewalks along part of the street, burying utility wires and installing trees, benches, public art and other amenities.

“When you hear DuPont Circle and SoHo, you know exactly what city they’re in. The same will happen with Gordon Square,” said Cleveland Councilman Matt Zone, whose Ward 17 includes the district. Zone said he had been working on the streetscape project since he came to office in 2002.

”This project will provide the Gordon Square Arts District with a unique identity that will offer people an experience that they cannot get anywhere else,” said Mayor Frank Jackson. “Each of our neighborhoods has its own special personality, and people will visit Gordon Square so that they can participate in the culture of this district.”

“You’re going to know you’re somewhere special,” said GSAD Executive Director Joy Roller. “And you’re going to know something hip and fun is happening in Cleveland.”

The streetscape transformation, which is expected to be completed within a year, is a city project, paid for in part with $1.9 million in city funds. The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency contributed almost $1.6 million in federal funds. Traffic will be maintained during construction, except for six working days when vehicles will be detoured at West 65th Street and Detroit; shops, galleries, restaurants and other businesses will remain open during construction. The city has chosen Terrace Construction Company Inc. as contractor for the project.

“The city recognizes that its contribution will help spur private investment in the Gordon Square Arts District,” said Councilman Zone.

Today’s event is the second groundbreaking this year for the Gordon Square Arts District — a name not only for the area but also for the unique collaboration of three Cleveland nonprofits behind it.

The collaborative work of the three organizations — Cleveland Public Theatre, Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO) and Near West Theatre — is seen as a national model of how the arts can be used to stimulate economic development. GSAD’s plans, along with housing construction at nearby Battery Park and elsewhere in Detroit Shoreway, have already helped attract 24 restaurants, shops, galleries, studios and other businesses to the area since the beginning of 2006. In all, the Gordon Square Arts District is helping to infuse more than $500 million into the community.

GSAD’s core projects are expected to cost $30 million. Besides the streetscape design, they are:

· A $7 million restoration of the Capitol Theatre, a 1920s vaudeville and silent movie house at Detroit and West 65th, into a three-screen, all-digital art and independent film cinema. Groundbreaking for the restoration was in May, and completion is expected next spring.
· Renovation of Cleveland Public Theatre, which includes the oldest standing theatre building in Cleveland, at 6415 Detroit.
· Construction of a new performance center on West 67th Street, just north of Detroit, for Near West Theatre, a 30-year old community theatre.
· Surface parking for residents and visitors. A new parking lot and an expanded lot, both incorporating green parking technologies that will reduce storm water runoff and filter the water before it hits the city’s storm sewer system, are expected to be completed by next spring. Future additional parking is planned.

The three theatres will all be within a two-minute walk of one another and will form the nucleus of the arts district. Architectural drawings for the Cleveland Public and Near West theatres have been completed, and construction plans are being finalized. GSAD is seeking additional funding for these projects.

The streetscape design was developed by City Architecture Inc., environmental artist Susie Frazier Mueller and Michael Benza & Associates Inc. engineers. Work will include burying utility lines and installing new sidewalks and new lighting from West 58th to West 73rd streets. The lighting will match light poles at Battery Park.

The heart of the district will be between West 61st and West 69th streets, where plans also call for narrowing Detroit and widening the sidewalks to encourage pedestrian traffic and outdoor dining. The sidewalks, currently 8½ feet wide on the north and 10 feet wide on the south, will be increased to 13 feet wide on both sides; Detroit, which currently has four 12-foot driving lanes, will be narrowed to two 11-foot lanes and two 9-foot parking lanes. Approximately 60 Aristocrat pear and Valley Forge American elm trees will be planted, and free-standing public art, colorful curved benches, bike racks and a street paver pattern designed by Mueller will be installed along the sidewalk.

Space is planned for at least 10 pieces of sculptural public art. DSCDO will work with Cleveland Public Art to develop a public, juried process to solicit and select the art.
In June, City Council approved legislation sponsored by Zone making Detroit and Lake Avenue between West 48th Street and West 77th Street a Pedestrian Retail Overlay District. The designation is aimed at maintaining the economic viability of older neighborhood retail districts by preserving their pedestrian-oriented character.

Today’s groundbreaking ceremony, at West 65th and Detroit, featured performances by Near West Theatre and Cleveland Public Theatre. Cleveland Public Theatre’s Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP) performed a selection from “While I’m Here on This Earth,” and actors from Near West presented an excerpt from “West Side Story.”

Tours of the Capitol Theatre were offered after the ceremony, and merchants remained open and offered special promotions in celebration of the groundbreaking.

Along with Mayor Jackson, Zone and Roller, those speaking at today’s groundbreaking included:
· Joseph Craciun, funeral director at Craciun Berry Funeral Home, a longtime Detroit Avenue business.
· Robert Maschke, principal of Robert Maschke Architects and 1point618 gallery.
· Mueller, the environmental artist who designed the special paver work and benches that will be used in the district as well as the district’s logo.
· Jeffrey M. Ramsey, executive director of DSCDO.
· Paul J. Volpe, president of City Architecture, which designed the streetscape.

Honorary chairs of the Gordon Square Arts District capital campaign are Richard W. and Patricia R. Pogue, Albert B. and Audrey G. Ratner and Tom C. and Sandra S. Sullivan. Richard (Dick) Pogue is senior advisor at Jones Day; Albert Ratner is co-chair of the board of Forest City Enterprises Inc.; and Tom Sullivan is chair of RPM International Inc. Lawrence N. Schultz, a partner at Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, is GSAD campaign chair.