Sustainability + Environment
On March 31st, Cuyahoga County will turn over the Global Health Innovation Center -- formerly known as the Medical Mart -- to its individual tenants so they can begin to build out each of their spaces.
It will be a landmark moment for the project, says Dave Johnson, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for the GHIC. He expects the project to be majority leased when the ribbon is cut in June.
"The project will open ahead of schedule and under budget," says Johnson, who also cites the building's LEED Silver (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design) status, a sought-after sustainable building rating.
GHIC tenants include a partnership between the Cleveland Clinic and GE Healthcare, a partnership between University Hospitals and Phillips Healthcare, Johnson Controls, and the Health Information Management Society.
The GHIC will include a display of the "home of the future," which will be built out by vendors and will feature medical devices that allow people to stay in their homes. UH and Phillips will showcase scanning equipment, while Johnson Controls will display the latest in hospital operating systems. Visitors will be able to view the behind-the-wall systems that would otherwise be invisible.
The Health Information Management Society will rotate exhibits based on what's hot in healthcare management. "It will be like a pretend hospital," says Johnson. "This is the organization around healthcare IT. The display will show equipment and how it interfaces. This is an entity bumped from the cancelled Nashville Med Mart project. It will become a magnet for companies to test IT equipment."
Officials are planning a public grand opening in June with a weekend of festivities.
Source: Dave Johnson
Writer: Lee Chilcote
It will be a landmark moment for the project, says Dave Johnson, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for the GHIC. He expects the project to be majority leased when the ribbon is cut in June.
"The project will open ahead of schedule and under budget," says Johnson, who also cites the building's LEED Silver (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design) status, a sought-after sustainable building rating.
GHIC tenants include a partnership between the Cleveland Clinic and GE Healthcare, a partnership between University Hospitals and Phillips Healthcare, Johnson Controls, and the Health Information Management Society.
The GHIC will include a display of the "home of the future," which will be built out by vendors and will feature medical devices that allow people to stay in their homes. UH and Phillips will showcase scanning equipment, while Johnson Controls will display the latest in hospital operating systems. Visitors will be able to view the behind-the-wall systems that would otherwise be invisible.
The Health Information Management Society will rotate exhibits based on what's hot in healthcare management. "It will be like a pretend hospital," says Johnson. "This is the organization around healthcare IT. The display will show equipment and how it interfaces. This is an entity bumped from the cancelled Nashville Med Mart project. It will become a magnet for companies to test IT equipment."
Officials are planning a public grand opening in June with a weekend of festivities.
Source: Dave Johnson
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Captain Jeff Sanders has spent the past few decades training ship captains. He operates a training school in Seattle, where he lives full time. Yet the Cleveland native has always wanted a place to stay when he comes back to Cleveland, which he does frequently to visit his 95-year-old mother in a nursing home.
Recently, Sanders completed renovations on a historic four-unit property that seemed destined for the wrecking ball until Detroit Shoreway Community Development Corporation (DSCDO) steered it into the hands of the right owner.
The Trenton sits at 7418 Franklin Boulevard (at the corner of W. 75th Street). The unique property features Italianate architectural details, a two-story front porch and an interior courtyard that lets additional light into the apartments.
Sanders, who converted the home into a three-unit, just received a community improvement award from DSCDO for his efforts. The project received special financing from the Cleveland Restoration Society's Heritage Home Program.
The renovation was a gut job. Sanders tore off the vinyl siding and restored the exterior with a handsome olive and red color scheme, redesigned the interior and installed all new mechanicals. The property includes many sustainable features.
Sanders combined two units into a townhouse-style apartment. "We blew out the dining room and created a cool interior staircase," he says. "We retained the old fireplaces."
One surprise was the floors. Initially, Sanders did not believe the old, three-inch pine floors were salvageable, but once sanded down, they refinished quite nicely.
Sanders plans to rent out two of the units -- including the 2,000-square-foot townhome for $1,400 per month -- while keeping one apartment for himself.
Source: Jeff Sanders
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Recently, Sanders completed renovations on a historic four-unit property that seemed destined for the wrecking ball until Detroit Shoreway Community Development Corporation (DSCDO) steered it into the hands of the right owner.
The Trenton sits at 7418 Franklin Boulevard (at the corner of W. 75th Street). The unique property features Italianate architectural details, a two-story front porch and an interior courtyard that lets additional light into the apartments.
Sanders, who converted the home into a three-unit, just received a community improvement award from DSCDO for his efforts. The project received special financing from the Cleveland Restoration Society's Heritage Home Program.
The renovation was a gut job. Sanders tore off the vinyl siding and restored the exterior with a handsome olive and red color scheme, redesigned the interior and installed all new mechanicals. The property includes many sustainable features.
Sanders combined two units into a townhouse-style apartment. "We blew out the dining room and created a cool interior staircase," he says. "We retained the old fireplaces."
One surprise was the floors. Initially, Sanders did not believe the old, three-inch pine floors were salvageable, but once sanded down, they refinished quite nicely.
Sanders plans to rent out two of the units -- including the 2,000-square-foot townhome for $1,400 per month -- while keeping one apartment for himself.
Source: Jeff Sanders
Writer: Lee Chilcote
During a recent address at the City Club of Cleveland, Joel Ratner of Neighborhood Progress Inc. touted recent success stories that the nonprofit has invested in, including a new home for The Intergenerational School underway at the Saint Luke's campus.
Ratner believes that even though Cleveland has been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis, the city can stabilize its population and begin to grow again through promoting thoughtful, equitable, synergistic development that helps everyone succeed.
"For a long time, there was a debate over whether it makes sense to invest in people or place," said Ratner. "However, we believe it should be people and place."
Ratner cited Pittsburgh as an example of a city whose population has been right-sized and has even begun to grow again in recent years.
As examples of why community development matters, Ratner presented statistics showing that neighborhoods where NPI invested heavily over the past decade not only fell less steeply in the recession, but are also coming back more quickly than others. He also believes that every Cleveland neighborhood can be successful.
Ratner touted the recently-announced Slavic Village Reclaim Project, which leverages private investment by Safeco Properties and Forest City to help rehab 2,000+ properties on 440 acres, as one example of innovative best practices.
He also cited NPI's partnership with the Key Bank Financial Education Center to help low-income residents build wealth through savings and investment programs. Through a possible merger with Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition and LiveCleveland, Ratner hopes to begin serving additional neighborhoods.
Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Ratner believes that even though Cleveland has been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis, the city can stabilize its population and begin to grow again through promoting thoughtful, equitable, synergistic development that helps everyone succeed.
"For a long time, there was a debate over whether it makes sense to invest in people or place," said Ratner. "However, we believe it should be people and place."
Ratner cited Pittsburgh as an example of a city whose population has been right-sized and has even begun to grow again in recent years.
As examples of why community development matters, Ratner presented statistics showing that neighborhoods where NPI invested heavily over the past decade not only fell less steeply in the recession, but are also coming back more quickly than others. He also believes that every Cleveland neighborhood can be successful.
Ratner touted the recently-announced Slavic Village Reclaim Project, which leverages private investment by Safeco Properties and Forest City to help rehab 2,000+ properties on 440 acres, as one example of innovative best practices.
He also cited NPI's partnership with the Key Bank Financial Education Center to help low-income residents build wealth through savings and investment programs. Through a possible merger with Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition and LiveCleveland, Ratner hopes to begin serving additional neighborhoods.
Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote
huffpo story touts ecdi commitment to green city growers
In a Huffington Post blog post titled “Cleveland Start-Up Seeing Green,” Emily Sullivan explains how the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI) is assisting Evergreen Cooperative’s latest venture, Green City Growers Cooperative, in operating a 3.25-acre hydroponic greenhouse and packing facility on Cleveland’s east side.
“The Greenhouse, and its employee-owners, will produce over 6,000,000 heads of lettuce and other leafy vegetables a year, all intended for local consumption,” Sullivan explains.
The choice for ECDI to support the cooperative was simple due to the fact its business model stood out.
“The opportunity to work with Green City Growers' cooperative provided the perfect starting point for ECDI to get involved in healthy food initiatives across the Northeast Ohio region.”
Read the full story here.
“The Greenhouse, and its employee-owners, will produce over 6,000,000 heads of lettuce and other leafy vegetables a year, all intended for local consumption,” Sullivan explains.
The choice for ECDI to support the cooperative was simple due to the fact its business model stood out.
“The opportunity to work with Green City Growers' cooperative provided the perfect starting point for ECDI to get involved in healthy food initiatives across the Northeast Ohio region.”
Read the full story here.
As part of the city's 10-year initiative Sustainable Cleveland 2019, 2013 is being called the Year of Advanced and Renewable Energy. Evidenced by measures big and small -- both civic and private -- Cleveland continues to inch toward becoming a "Green City on a Blue Lake."
This week, Ohio City Incorporated and Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization launched an unprecedented joint process to develop a streetscape plan for long-suffering Lorain Avenue.
The street, which runs through the heart of Cleveland's west side, was historically a bustling neighborhood retail corridor. Although it fell on hard times beginning in the 70s, it has recently drawn investment by entrepreneurs like Ian P.E. of Palookaville Chili and David Ellison of D.H. Ellison Architects.
The street's classic, character-filled architecture as well as investment by major players like St. Ignatius High School and Urban Community School have made it an attractive breeding ground for up-and-coming members of the creative class.
If this week's public meeting was any indication, neighborhood residents, businesses and stakeholders will have plenty of passionate opinions about the future of this main street. They won't hold back in sharing them, either.
A capacity crowd that showed up to the meeting at Urban Community School voiced concerns about on-street parking, bike lanes, retaining the mixed-use character of the street and ensuring that low-income residents are engaged.
Behnke Associates and Michael Baker Jr. Inc. have been hired to help develop a plan that will include "traffic analysis, utility and signage recommendations as well as cycling analysis, green infrastructure and complete streetscape treatments," according to a handout provided by OCI, DSCDO and the City of Cleveland.
Early signs indicate that the plan will be quite different from those developed for Detroit Avenue and West 25th Street. For one thing, Lorain Avenue is narrower than those streets, which will make it tougher to widen sidewalks and create dedicated bike lanes. Secondly, the street's tenants range from antique shops to manufacturing businesses, making it a distinct challenge to serve all of them.
Nonetheless, representatives of the city and both CDC's pledged to create an inclusive plan that could serve as a model for "complete and green streets" that incorporate all modes of transportation and minimize environmental impacts.
Want to voice your vision for Lorain? A survey will be available beginning March 11th on the OCI and DSCDO websites, and a workshop is scheduled for May 28th.
Source: OCI, DSCDO, City of Cleveland
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The street, which runs through the heart of Cleveland's west side, was historically a bustling neighborhood retail corridor. Although it fell on hard times beginning in the 70s, it has recently drawn investment by entrepreneurs like Ian P.E. of Palookaville Chili and David Ellison of D.H. Ellison Architects.
The street's classic, character-filled architecture as well as investment by major players like St. Ignatius High School and Urban Community School have made it an attractive breeding ground for up-and-coming members of the creative class.
If this week's public meeting was any indication, neighborhood residents, businesses and stakeholders will have plenty of passionate opinions about the future of this main street. They won't hold back in sharing them, either.
A capacity crowd that showed up to the meeting at Urban Community School voiced concerns about on-street parking, bike lanes, retaining the mixed-use character of the street and ensuring that low-income residents are engaged.
Behnke Associates and Michael Baker Jr. Inc. have been hired to help develop a plan that will include "traffic analysis, utility and signage recommendations as well as cycling analysis, green infrastructure and complete streetscape treatments," according to a handout provided by OCI, DSCDO and the City of Cleveland.
Early signs indicate that the plan will be quite different from those developed for Detroit Avenue and West 25th Street. For one thing, Lorain Avenue is narrower than those streets, which will make it tougher to widen sidewalks and create dedicated bike lanes. Secondly, the street's tenants range from antique shops to manufacturing businesses, making it a distinct challenge to serve all of them.
Nonetheless, representatives of the city and both CDC's pledged to create an inclusive plan that could serve as a model for "complete and green streets" that incorporate all modes of transportation and minimize environmental impacts.
Want to voice your vision for Lorain? A survey will be available beginning March 11th on the OCI and DSCDO websites, and a workshop is scheduled for May 28th.
Source: OCI, DSCDO, City of Cleveland
Writer: Lee Chilcote
yahoo calls tremont, ohio city 'hot places to live'
In a Yahoo! News feature titled “Hottest Cleveland Neighborhoods for 2013,” writer Paul Rados describes the improving real estate environment in Cleveland, while highlighting the Tremont and Ohio City neighborhoods as an area ripe with potential.
Both are popular, trendy neighborhoods that are a major draw due to their walkability and proximity to downtown, dining and entertainment.
“There is a friendly attitude everywhere you go," Sarah Urbancic of Howard Hanna explains. "People like being in the thick of things and also appreciate the fact that if your city is strong, the neighborhoods will be stronger. Everyone supports the effort to make each building [and] each block stronger and more welcoming."
Both are popular, trendy neighborhoods that are a major draw due to their walkability and proximity to downtown, dining and entertainment.
“There is a friendly attitude everywhere you go," Sarah Urbancic of Howard Hanna explains. "People like being in the thick of things and also appreciate the fact that if your city is strong, the neighborhoods will be stronger. Everyone supports the effort to make each building [and] each block stronger and more welcoming."
Check out the full piece here.
As new VP of operations for the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp (LEEDCo), Dave Karpinski will guide the organization through the next phase in the process of building the nation’s first freshwater offshore wind project. With its first round of financing in tow, LEEDCo must now compete for a critical second infusion of funds against six other projects across the country.
When we last checked in with real estate developer Howard Grandon, he was kicking off renovations of a 9,000-square-foot Detroit Shoreway building into four apartments and five retail spaces. The structure, which had housed an illicit nightclub called "Cheerios," sat vacant for seven-plus years before he bought it.
That was then, this is now. Although it's taken him longer than he anticipated, two and a half years later the results are plain. Grandon's building offers some of the most creatively-designed small apartments in Cleveland, a trend that's catching on in major cities.
"Because we were working with green, repurposed materials, we had to fabricate everything. It was more expensive than we anticipated," he says. "That happens in real estate."
It was worth the wait. Grandon himself moved into the building, occupying one of the light-filled apartments overlooking the Gordon Square streetscape. His suite includes a clever nook for his bed, spacious walk-in closet, huge kitchen with a countertop built for entertaining, and exposed spiral ductwork that hugs the ceiling. He has a bathroom straight out of Dwell magazine, including a European-style toilet with hidden plumbing and a glass-walled shower with subway tile.
The apartments, which are all similarly designed, rent for about $850 per month. The rates are about 25 percent cheaper than downtown, and two of the four are occupied. Grandon has completed a third, and the fourth will be ready this year.
Grandon's project also features many green, sustainable features. The wood floors in the units are built from an old parquet floor reclaimed from a gym. Come spring, he'll create unique planters out of old chemistry lab sinks he bought on Lorain Ave.
Grandon says that he's tapping into a small-is-beautiful movement that's popular in our post-recession world. "People are interested in having less possessions and living more efficiently," he says, pointing to huge kitchen counters that make dining room tables redundant and murphy beds that drop from the walls.
Perhaps the most radical feature of Grandon's units is that there are no walls except for the closets and bathrooms. It makes 800 square feet feel entirely liveable.
Grandon's next step is to begin renovating the storefronts. To do that, however, he needs to find willing entrepreneurs who are also bankable. Stay tuned for the next installment in our series covering this creative entrepreneur's endeavors.
Source: Howard Grandon
Writer: Lee Chilcote
That was then, this is now. Although it's taken him longer than he anticipated, two and a half years later the results are plain. Grandon's building offers some of the most creatively-designed small apartments in Cleveland, a trend that's catching on in major cities.
"Because we were working with green, repurposed materials, we had to fabricate everything. It was more expensive than we anticipated," he says. "That happens in real estate."
It was worth the wait. Grandon himself moved into the building, occupying one of the light-filled apartments overlooking the Gordon Square streetscape. His suite includes a clever nook for his bed, spacious walk-in closet, huge kitchen with a countertop built for entertaining, and exposed spiral ductwork that hugs the ceiling. He has a bathroom straight out of Dwell magazine, including a European-style toilet with hidden plumbing and a glass-walled shower with subway tile.
The apartments, which are all similarly designed, rent for about $850 per month. The rates are about 25 percent cheaper than downtown, and two of the four are occupied. Grandon has completed a third, and the fourth will be ready this year.
Grandon's project also features many green, sustainable features. The wood floors in the units are built from an old parquet floor reclaimed from a gym. Come spring, he'll create unique planters out of old chemistry lab sinks he bought on Lorain Ave.
Grandon says that he's tapping into a small-is-beautiful movement that's popular in our post-recession world. "People are interested in having less possessions and living more efficiently," he says, pointing to huge kitchen counters that make dining room tables redundant and murphy beds that drop from the walls.
Perhaps the most radical feature of Grandon's units is that there are no walls except for the closets and bathrooms. It makes 800 square feet feel entirely liveable.
Grandon's next step is to begin renovating the storefronts. To do that, however, he needs to find willing entrepreneurs who are also bankable. Stay tuned for the next installment in our series covering this creative entrepreneur's endeavors.
Source: Howard Grandon
Writer: Lee Chilcote
chef sawyer's local-food efforts grab attention of new york times
In a New York Times feature titled “Locally Grown Gets Tricky in the Cold,” writer Dan Saltzstein discusses the difficulty chefs face when trying to keep their menus locally focused at a time of year when not a whole lot is being grown.
"Locally grown. Market-sourced. Farm to table: These phrases have become the mantras of the American menu, promising ingredients that are supremely fresh, in season and produced within a tight radius of the restaurant," writes Saltzstein. "But what can they possibly mean in the dead of winter, in northerly climes where farms are battened down and the earth is as hard as a raw cabbage?"
Cleveland’s Jonathon Sawyer takes the winter months in stride.
“We sort of look at winter the way an old-school chef looks at frugality,” said Jonathon Sawyer of the Greenhouse Tavern, in Cleveland. “We take more time with dishes because we have less to put on the plate.”
Saltzstein also mentions Sawyer’s “Sustainability Initiatives,” including the bottling of his own vinegar and pantry full of preserved items.
"Locally grown. Market-sourced. Farm to table: These phrases have become the mantras of the American menu, promising ingredients that are supremely fresh, in season and produced within a tight radius of the restaurant," writes Saltzstein. "But what can they possibly mean in the dead of winter, in northerly climes where farms are battened down and the earth is as hard as a raw cabbage?"
Cleveland’s Jonathon Sawyer takes the winter months in stride.
“We sort of look at winter the way an old-school chef looks at frugality,” said Jonathon Sawyer of the Greenhouse Tavern, in Cleveland. “We take more time with dishes because we have less to put on the plate.”
Saltzstein also mentions Sawyer’s “Sustainability Initiatives,” including the bottling of his own vinegar and pantry full of preserved items.
Check out the rest of the interesting piece here.
Cleveland is quietly transforming from a meat-and-potatoes to a beets-and-tomatoes kind of town -- at least at the edges. Not only are there more meat-free diners in Cleveland. But vegans are finding more meat-free dinners thanks to progressive new eateries and chefs, who are more than eager to please this growing faction of foodies.
As the number of cyclists and pedestrians on the near west side grows and car traffic remains relatively flat, urban planners are giving several streets a "road diet" to make them friendlier for bikers and walkers while still accessible to drivers.
The result will be some of the city's first model green streets.
"We're starting to create all this connectivity," says Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone, who has helped push green initiatives through city hall, including the "complete and green streets" legislation that passed last year. "The city is realizing they have to accept and build out and incorporate all modes of transportation."
So what does a "road diet" look like? The recently-completed plan for W. 65th Street between Denison Avenue and the lakefront shows curb bumpouts with additional landscaping, striped sharrows for road riders, and a 10-foot-wide multimodal path for peds and cyclists who prefer not to ride in the street.
If the pretty pictures become a reality -- a process that will take several years and require an application to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency for millions in federal dollars -- it could result in a "healthier" street that better connects the investments happening in near west side neighborhoods.
"This is the main north-south thoroughfare between West Boulevard and W. 25th," says Zone. "We can build off the momentum we've created here. You'll eventually be able to bike from Edgewater Beach to the zoo via W. 65th."
Among the assets in the area, Zone cited the Gordon Square Arts District, the new Max Hayes High School scheduled to break ground this year, the EcoVillage, major employers and eight schools. The W. 65th project will cost about $6 million.
Most importantly, Zone says, streetscape projects like the W. 65th Street re-do make roads safer for kids who walk to school and families without access to a car.
Other green-street projects on the near west side include bike lanes on Detroit Avenue (which will be striped this spring), the planned Train Avenue corridor greenway, the creation of bike lanes on W. 41st and 44th streets in Ohio City (to be completed this year), a new streetscape for Denison Avenue (a few years away) and a planning process for Lorain Avenue (launching this month).
The West 65th Street corridor study was completed by Environmental Design Group, which has offices in both Cleveland and Akron.
Source: Matt Zone
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The result will be some of the city's first model green streets.
"We're starting to create all this connectivity," says Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone, who has helped push green initiatives through city hall, including the "complete and green streets" legislation that passed last year. "The city is realizing they have to accept and build out and incorporate all modes of transportation."
So what does a "road diet" look like? The recently-completed plan for W. 65th Street between Denison Avenue and the lakefront shows curb bumpouts with additional landscaping, striped sharrows for road riders, and a 10-foot-wide multimodal path for peds and cyclists who prefer not to ride in the street.
If the pretty pictures become a reality -- a process that will take several years and require an application to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency for millions in federal dollars -- it could result in a "healthier" street that better connects the investments happening in near west side neighborhoods.
"This is the main north-south thoroughfare between West Boulevard and W. 25th," says Zone. "We can build off the momentum we've created here. You'll eventually be able to bike from Edgewater Beach to the zoo via W. 65th."
Among the assets in the area, Zone cited the Gordon Square Arts District, the new Max Hayes High School scheduled to break ground this year, the EcoVillage, major employers and eight schools. The W. 65th project will cost about $6 million.
Most importantly, Zone says, streetscape projects like the W. 65th Street re-do make roads safer for kids who walk to school and families without access to a car.
Other green-street projects on the near west side include bike lanes on Detroit Avenue (which will be striped this spring), the planned Train Avenue corridor greenway, the creation of bike lanes on W. 41st and 44th streets in Ohio City (to be completed this year), a new streetscape for Denison Avenue (a few years away) and a planning process for Lorain Avenue (launching this month).
The West 65th Street corridor study was completed by Environmental Design Group, which has offices in both Cleveland and Akron.
Source: Matt Zone
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The Ohio City developer who successfully turned around the long-struggling block of buildings on W. 25th Street north of Bridge Avenue is turning his attention to two big new real estate projects.
Tom Gillespie, who also owns Gillespie Environmental Technologies, is starting work this month on turning the gutted former Jay Hotel into market-rate apartments. He also recently purchased the shuttered building at 2030 W. 25th Street south of Lorain Avenue that once housed Club Argos.
The Jay Hotel, which was slated to be turned into condos by developer Gordon Priemer before the recession took him out of the game, will benefit from state and federal historic tax credits, funding from the City of Cleveland's vacant properties initiative, and a loan from nonprofit lender Village Capital Corporation. Gillespie says it will house eight apartments and 6,000 square feet of commercial space.
"I want to see it done by the end of 2014," he says. "We bought the mortgage three or four years ago, and it went through foreclosure. It took a long time. The weather started to affect the building, so we also had to do some stabilization."
Suffice it to say that the building will be in tip-top shape by the time renters move in sometime next year. The total leveraged investment will be about $2.6 million.
Gillespie also recently finished renovating the old Near West Woodworks building on W. 25th and Jay into three commercial spaces. The once-blockaded front of the building has been opened up with welcoming storefront windows. Elegansia moved there last year, and a high-end salon will move in later this year.
The bullish developer says he plans to restore 2030 W. 25th using Cleveland's Storefront Renovation Program. He's trying to attract another high-quality food retailer -- possibly a donut shop -- or "anyone who's a good fit." Gillespie promises "something that's market-driven" and fits in with the street's redevelopment.
The developments will fill some of the few remaining empty spaces on the West 25th checkerboard, which now has an occupancy rate of nearly 100 percent.
Source: Tom Gillespie
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Tom Gillespie, who also owns Gillespie Environmental Technologies, is starting work this month on turning the gutted former Jay Hotel into market-rate apartments. He also recently purchased the shuttered building at 2030 W. 25th Street south of Lorain Avenue that once housed Club Argos.
The Jay Hotel, which was slated to be turned into condos by developer Gordon Priemer before the recession took him out of the game, will benefit from state and federal historic tax credits, funding from the City of Cleveland's vacant properties initiative, and a loan from nonprofit lender Village Capital Corporation. Gillespie says it will house eight apartments and 6,000 square feet of commercial space.
"I want to see it done by the end of 2014," he says. "We bought the mortgage three or four years ago, and it went through foreclosure. It took a long time. The weather started to affect the building, so we also had to do some stabilization."
Suffice it to say that the building will be in tip-top shape by the time renters move in sometime next year. The total leveraged investment will be about $2.6 million.
Gillespie also recently finished renovating the old Near West Woodworks building on W. 25th and Jay into three commercial spaces. The once-blockaded front of the building has been opened up with welcoming storefront windows. Elegansia moved there last year, and a high-end salon will move in later this year.
The bullish developer says he plans to restore 2030 W. 25th using Cleveland's Storefront Renovation Program. He's trying to attract another high-quality food retailer -- possibly a donut shop -- or "anyone who's a good fit." Gillespie promises "something that's market-driven" and fits in with the street's redevelopment.
The developments will fill some of the few remaining empty spaces on the West 25th checkerboard, which now has an occupancy rate of nearly 100 percent.
Source: Tom Gillespie
Writer: Lee Chilcote
In recent years, Mentor native Erin Huber has flown 7,000 miles just to get the population of a small Ugandan village a drop to drink. That effort is part of a larger endeavor to promote water sustainability both locally and globally.
Huber, founder of Drink Local Drink Tap, a nonprofit organization seeking to connect Clevelanders to local water through art installations and free environmental education, traveled to Africa the last two summers with the mission of getting an impoverished people access to clean water.
The first trip, in 2011, found the activist journeying throughout East Africa to learn about the water situation. Her visit to a rural Ugandan town was particularly eye-opening. Children in the village had to walk over a mile to find a nearby water source, and the water wasn't clean or safe.
Last summer, Huber and her small team returned to Uganda, where they drilled a 70-meter hole into a water table to bring drinkable water to the people of the tiny African community. They filmed their efforts for the documentary Making Waves from Cleveland to Uganda, which Huber hopes to screen at the Cleveland International Film Festival.
"We struck water 'gold,'" she says of the Africa venture, which now supplies fresh drinking water to about 1,500 villagers.
Huber, with a master's degree in environmental studies from Cleveland State University and fond memories of a childhood spent camping next to lakes, streams and rivers, has three more water-related projects set for a future jaunt to Uganda. Meanwhile, she will continue to educate Cleveland's youth and adults about the enormous local fresh water resource known as the Great Lakes.
"We have to realize how fortunate we are," Huber says. "Everything we see needs water to exist."
SOURCE: Erin Huber
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
Huber, founder of Drink Local Drink Tap, a nonprofit organization seeking to connect Clevelanders to local water through art installations and free environmental education, traveled to Africa the last two summers with the mission of getting an impoverished people access to clean water.
The first trip, in 2011, found the activist journeying throughout East Africa to learn about the water situation. Her visit to a rural Ugandan town was particularly eye-opening. Children in the village had to walk over a mile to find a nearby water source, and the water wasn't clean or safe.
Last summer, Huber and her small team returned to Uganda, where they drilled a 70-meter hole into a water table to bring drinkable water to the people of the tiny African community. They filmed their efforts for the documentary Making Waves from Cleveland to Uganda, which Huber hopes to screen at the Cleveland International Film Festival.
"We struck water 'gold,'" she says of the Africa venture, which now supplies fresh drinking water to about 1,500 villagers.
Huber, with a master's degree in environmental studies from Cleveland State University and fond memories of a childhood spent camping next to lakes, streams and rivers, has three more water-related projects set for a future jaunt to Uganda. Meanwhile, she will continue to educate Cleveland's youth and adults about the enormous local fresh water resource known as the Great Lakes.
"We have to realize how fortunate we are," Huber says. "Everything we see needs water to exist."
SOURCE: Erin Huber
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
Will Tarter, Jr. stands out as a leader among Cleveland’s young professional community. As the charismatic head of the Cleveland Young Professional Senate, he champions causes and issues that impact this highly in-demand demographic, not to mention the long-term well-being of Cleveland.
For the second year in a row, Amplified Wind Solutions competed in the Ohio Clean Energy Challenge. This year the company won $10,000 and a trip to Chicago for a chance to win $100,000 in the Midwest competition.
Amplified Wind Solutions has designed a wind amplification system that can produce up to six times more electricity than a typical wind turbine. The company is targeting the telecommunications industry.
AWS CEO and co-founder Niki Zmij had eight minutes to present the company to the competition judges. They were the second company to present, but Zmij felt prepared and that she answered the judges’ questions well. Apparently, she was right.
“The winner was not to be announced until the awards reception at the very end of the day, but during our judges’ feedback session they decided to tell us early that we had won,” says Zmij. “They said our presentation really set the bar for the entire day, and wanted to ask us to present again at the awards ceremony so the other teams could hear our pitch. It was such a huge compliment.”
AWS is a Cleveland State University company co-founded in February 2012 based on technology invented by Majid Rashidi, chair of CSU’s engineering technology department. Other company members include Terry Thiele, director of sustainable product strategies at Lubrizol Corporation and Jon Stehura, financial manager at Laird Technologies and former CFO of Park Ohio.
The company has prototypes at CSU and Progressive Field. They have now completed designs for a third prototype, and Zmij is in discussions with several telecom companies about installing the pilot model on their towers. They are also looking for a manufacturing partner. Zmij predicts AWS will be ready for commercial sale in 2014.
If AWS wins the Midwest challenge in Chicago, the company will proceed to the national competition, for a chance to win an additional $100,000.
Zmij will earn her MBA in August and will stay with AWS full-time. “I'm fairly certain the entrepreneurial bug has given me the entrepreneurial virus,” she says. “I don't anticipate it going away any time soon.”
The company anticipates hiring additional staff in the third quarter of this year.
Source: Niki Zmij
Writer: Karin Connelly
Amplified Wind Solutions has designed a wind amplification system that can produce up to six times more electricity than a typical wind turbine. The company is targeting the telecommunications industry.
AWS CEO and co-founder Niki Zmij had eight minutes to present the company to the competition judges. They were the second company to present, but Zmij felt prepared and that she answered the judges’ questions well. Apparently, she was right.
“The winner was not to be announced until the awards reception at the very end of the day, but during our judges’ feedback session they decided to tell us early that we had won,” says Zmij. “They said our presentation really set the bar for the entire day, and wanted to ask us to present again at the awards ceremony so the other teams could hear our pitch. It was such a huge compliment.”
AWS is a Cleveland State University company co-founded in February 2012 based on technology invented by Majid Rashidi, chair of CSU’s engineering technology department. Other company members include Terry Thiele, director of sustainable product strategies at Lubrizol Corporation and Jon Stehura, financial manager at Laird Technologies and former CFO of Park Ohio.
The company has prototypes at CSU and Progressive Field. They have now completed designs for a third prototype, and Zmij is in discussions with several telecom companies about installing the pilot model on their towers. They are also looking for a manufacturing partner. Zmij predicts AWS will be ready for commercial sale in 2014.
If AWS wins the Midwest challenge in Chicago, the company will proceed to the national competition, for a chance to win an additional $100,000.
Zmij will earn her MBA in August and will stay with AWS full-time. “I'm fairly certain the entrepreneurial bug has given me the entrepreneurial virus,” she says. “I don't anticipate it going away any time soon.”
The company anticipates hiring additional staff in the third quarter of this year.
Source: Niki Zmij
Writer: Karin Connelly
