It only takes 10 minutes to walk from St. Vincent Hospital at E. 22nd Street and Community College Avenue to Cleveland State University on Euclid Avenue. Yet few people do it, in part because it is not a pedestrian-friendly experience. A new $4.2 million plan to redevelop E. 22nd aims to change that by creating a bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly boulevard and green space that could spur over $100 million in new development.

"We really see E. 22nd Street as a spine for the Campus District neighborhood," says Rockette Richardson, Executive Director of the Campus District, Inc., a nonprofit community development organization. "We developed this plan because we recognized the need for a north-south gateway to our neighborhood."

The plan re-envisions the street as a multi-modal boulevard with bike lanes, landscaped median and new retail, housing and green space development. Fresh opportunities may exist on land that will become available when the ODOT completes the Innerbelt Bridge project. The plan already has $780,000 of committed funding since ODOT is using the street as an alternate highway route and therefore must resurface it in 2013.

"The investment that is taking place by our anchor institutions -- Cleveland State University, St. Vincent and Cuyahoga Community College -- will strengthen their individual campuses and the entire area," says Richardson. She noted that St. Vincent Charity Medical Center is in the midst of a 10-year, $100 million renovation project and Tri-C recently spent $34 million on improvements.

The East 22nd Street plan is part of a larger effort to reconnect these institutions to their communities, Richardson added. "They're deeply rooted here, and they're investing in their campuses and adjoining neighborhoods so they all prosper."


Source: Rockette Richardson
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The City of Cleveland, Neighborhood Progress Inc. (NPI) and ParkWorks recently launched ReImagining Cleveland II, a $1 million push to fund sideyard expansions, vacant lot beautification, and market gardens in Cleveland. They hope the program will improve vacant land, enhance local communities and further green the city.

"In a city like Cleveland, rebuilding the housing market really means taking down bad houses and reclaiming vacant land," says Bobbi Reichtell, Senior Program Officer with NPI. "We're focusing the sideyard expansions in areas where there are already a number of other things happening, such as Model Block programs and the Opportunity Homes rehab program, so that we can get a real impact."

Reichtell anticipates two-thirds of the funding will go to yard expansions, while one-third will go to stabilization projects like market gardens, wildflower gardens and vineyards. Over 50 applicants have already applied for sideyard expansions, while 16 stabilization sites have been identified. Funding will be used to clean, grade and fence properties before they are transferred to their new owners.

Reichtell also stressed that the city has a formal application process, and that it retains sites with critical short-term development potential. Owners with code violations or tax delinquencies cannot be accepted into the program. Applicants must also invest some of their funds to acquire a lot or create a project.

Lilah Zautner, Sustainability Manager with NPI, says the reaction to the program differs radically depending upon the individual and where they live. "Some view sideyard expansion as the suburbanization of the city, while others view it as homesteading -- they're adding gardens, pools, gazebos and more."

Since the program launched, there's been no shortage of applicants. "We've had an overwhelming response so far, but we are still accepting applications," she says.


Source: Bobbi Reichtell, Lilah Zautner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When Ohio Department of Transportation  (ODOT) officials recently asked business leaders from across the state to rank their region's planned infrastructure projects by importance, the Greater Cleveland Partnership ranked the West Shoreway project as the number one priority for Northeast Ohio.

For City of Cleveland Planning Director Bob Brown, that's one more reason why ODOT's numbers don't add up. The state agency gave the city zero out of ten points in the "economic development" category on its recent application for $28 million in additional funding to complete Phase II of the project.

"States all across the country are beginning to think differently, and they're realizing that projects like this can actually improve their economic competitiveness," Brown said at a recent community meeting to discuss the project. The 10-year-old plan would transform the underutilized, 50s-style freeway into a landscaped boulevard with bicycle and pedestrian pathways. It would also offer residents and visitors improved access to Lake Erie.

As evidence of economic impact, city officials cited Battery Park, a new home development that has attracted 70 new residents, many of whom bought homes because they believed the West Shoreway project would come to fruition. Phase I of the Shoreway project is underway, and includes the redevelopment of two pedestrian and bicycle tunnels and a new interchange at West 73rd Street.

Residents who attended the meeting also questioned ODOT's cost estimates, which have ballooned from $50 million in 2003 to $100 million today.

"ODOT doesn't have enough controls against contractors coming back for more," Ken Silliman, Chief of Staff for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, told the audience. "We believe their contracts are too contractor-friendly. That's why we're trying to convince ODOT to give us the funding and let us manage the project locally."

Cycling advocates who attended the meeting also questioned the city's commitment to bike and pedestrian access, suggesting that Cleveland hasn't fought hard enough to fund the project's multi-modal pathway.

Adopting a mantra of "Keep the promise, finish the job," City officials vowed to press on with the project. They are planning a caravan trip to Columbus on December 15th for a crucial ODOT meeting where funding decisions occur.

Source: Ken Silliman, Bob Brown
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The November CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased by .35 percent in November. While the trend reflects companies surveyed across the country, “a good number of the survey respondents are from the Cleveland area,” says Phillip Noftsinger, business unit president of CBIZ Payroll Services.

While the trend is typical for the holiday season, Noftsinger is optimistic that the increase may lead to future job growth. “I think this time of year we would expect to see growth during the holiday season,” he says. “But we’re hoping a strong holiday season will support a longer term trend in these numbers. It’s a little early to tell though.”
 
A good holiday shopping season has the potential to continue into the new year. “Strong consumer spending sustains growth,” says Noftsinger. “We hope to see a continued strong holiday season, which leads to income growth and labor growth and an upward spiral in employment.”

 
Source: Phillip Noftsinger
Writer: Karin Connelly

Valerie Mayen of Yellowcake, a fashion designer who became the poster child for Cleveland's nascent design industry after she appeared on Project Runway, will launch a nonprofit sewing studio to push the city's young talent into the spotlight.

The new loft studio, which is called Buzz and Growl, intends to offer work space, professional equipment, coaching and classes to young artists and entrepreneurs. It is located at 1400 East 30th Street in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood. Mayen is raising funds and plans to open the space sometime next year.

"I see a lot of artists that are making products here, but they're not saleable yet," says Mayen. "This is about helping them to hone and polish what they have, so they can become reputable businesses and sustain themselves in Cleveland."

Mayen says that Buzz and Growl already has a waiting list for new members. So far, she has raised $11,000 towards the costs of renovating the studio, and has invested some of her own resources as well. Mayen and her cohorts now hope to raise an additional $15,000 to purchase equipment and open the doors.

"This is the hard part, the frustrating search for money," says Mayen, who will serve as the Executive Director of Buzz and Growl. "Yet we've been able to attract grassroots support because people know this is about creating jobs."

To that end, Mayen is hosting an invitation-only "friendraiser" at Buzz and Growl's new studio on December 8th. Despite the challenging hunt for grant dollars, she is confident that the city will support this fledgling effort.

This year, Mayen hired several new employees for her business and opened and closed a series of pop-up stores. Beyond Buzz and Growl, she wants to launch a permanent Yellowcake shop in Ohio City or Detroit Shoreway by Fall of 2012.


Source: Valerie Mayen
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Black Friday is, blessedly, behind us. So, too, is Cyber Monday. All that stands between today and the holidays are a few weeks of retail panic. Relax, brave shoppers. It has never been easier for a Clevelander to wrap up his or her holiday shopping thanks to a bevy of brief boutiques. These fleeting ventures spring up like magic mushrooms after an imaginary storm to make shopping fun, easy and 100-percent local.

What's the best thing a city can do to achieve more economic success? Increase its number of college graduates. Simply put: The most prosperous cities have the highest number of college grads. Efforts by CEO's for Cities and our own NOCHE -- dubbed the Talent Dividend -- are designed to up college attainment and thereby boost everybody's bottom line.

Residents of Lyndhurst typically live 24 years longer than residents of the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland, according to a recent analysis by the Cuyahoga County Place Matters Team. This health disparity is why the group, in collaboration with the Saint Luke's Foundation, has launched a speaker series at the City Club of Cleveland focused on creating healthier communities in Cuyahoga County.

"It shouldn't matter how much money you have, your community should still be thriving," says Sandy Chappelle, Senior Program Officer with the Saint Luke's Foundation and a leader of the Place Matters initiative. "Quality housing, safe streets and other factors all go into whether a community is healthy or not."

This past Tuesday, the Place Matters team hosted a City Club event with Ron Sims, former U.S. Department of Housing and Development Deputy Secretary, who spoke about how land use planning can impact public health outcomes.

The long-term goal of the Place Matters initiative, says Chappelle, is not to drive prescriptive policies, but rather to infuse knowledge of healthy communities into the larger, public policy decisions that are made at the regional level.

"One example of unhealthy planning is that many new schools are built so that kids have to take the bus, which contributes to lack of physical activity and obesity," says Chappelle. "Yet now we're becoming increasingly aware that all sectors must work together to tackle health outcomes. People are also more aware that this is directly connected to our region's economic viability."


Source: Sandy Chappelle
Writer: Lee Chilcote

A handful of U.S. cities have torn down or busted through the '60s-era highway walls that separate their neighborhoods from adjacent waterways. Despite critics' fears that such people-friendly projects will cause calamitous traffic delays, they often reap major economic, social and environmental benefits while adding only a few minutes to the average commute.

Cleveland's version of such a wall is the West Shoreway -- a homely, 2.5-mile stretch of concrete that is designed to move cars in and out of the city, but blocks residents' access to Lake Erie. Until recently, it appeared likely that Cleveland would find a way to bust through this wall. The long-planned West Shoreway project would "transform a 2.5 mile freeway into a scenic, tree-lined boulevard," according to a description on the Ohio Department of Transportation website.

Yet a series of cost overruns, the state's budget crunch and a philosophical shift at ODOT have thrown the very future of the project into question. State officials gave low scores to the city's recent request for additional funding, arguing that reducing the speed limit from 50 to 35 miles per hour would downgrade a functional roadway. Cleveland officials responded by accusing ODOT of trying to kill the project, which has been in the works for more than a decade.

As a December 15th meeting, where funding decisions will occur, looms ahead, cycling advocates, neighborhood residents and public officials are mounting a frontal assault on ODOT to shore up their commitment to the project.

"It's not true that we can't slow cars down -- the George Washington Parkway in D.C. is a major commuter road with bike lanes and crosswalks, and it works well," says Kevin Cronin, a board member of Cleveland Bikes, a nonprofit group rallying to preserve the bike-friendly project. "We need to make sure that this project moves forward, and that it includes bike and pedestrian lanes."

In an effort to get the project back on track, city officials and neighborhood advocates will host a public meeting with ODOT officials on Thursday, December 1st at 6 p.m. at Franklin Circle Church, 1688 Fulton Avenue in Ohio City.


Source: Kevin Cronin
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Local real estate pros like David Sharkey of Progressive Urban have been struggling to stay afloat lately, a drastic shift from the urban housing boom of the late-'90s. But slowly, they say, wary buyers are emerging from the sidelines. Their target: value-rich homes with energy-efficient features in neighborhoods with proven market appeal.

"My primary objective is to bring 100,000 newcomers to Northeast Ohio," says Larry Miller, newly appointed president of Global Cleveland. Miller brings more than 25 years of talent attraction and international human resources experience to the organization tasked with promoting the quality of life in and around Cleveland.

The City of East Cleveland, a community that has lost thousands of residents in recent years due to the foreclosure crisis and decades of disinvestment, has celebrated two groundbreakings in as many months, suggesting that the city's new pro-development approach may be working.

Officials from the city, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), the Cuyahoga Land Bank and Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing this week celebrated the groundbreaking of a new 39-unit senior apartment building. It is being built on a patch of vacant land at Euclid Avenue and Belmore Road.

Last month, East Cleveland leaders were on hand to give speeches at the groundbreaking for the Circle East Townhomes, a cluster of market-rate apartments on Euclid being developed by the Finch Group.  

"We really encourage building in the City of East Cleveland," Mayor Gary Norton said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the senior building. "This project will give the senior citizens in our community a high-quality place to live." The small, enthusiastic crowd, who appeared as hungry for new development as the mayor, all but said "Amen!" each time Norton paused during his speech.

Mayor Norton has been called an effective new leader for this once-prosperous suburb. The Circle East Townhomes project has also been hailed as a rare instance of University Circle's development fervor spreading into East Cleveland. Yet while these two groundbreakings are no doubt worth celebrating, the rows of blighted properties along Euclid suggest the mammoth task that still lies ahead.

CMHA is building the Euclid-Belmore Senior Building with the aid of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding. It will be built using Enterprise Green Standards to ensure that it is comfortable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.


Source: CMHA, Gary Norton
Writer: Lee Chilcote

As part of the JobsOhio initiative, Team NEO has asked regional organizations to submit their ideas for job creation and economic development. As one of six JobsOhio regional offices, Team NEO received $4.1 million from the Third Frontier Commission to fund the office and support economic development programs.
 
“The purpose of the money is to improve the economic development system in Ohio,” says Team NEO CEO Tom Waltermire. “We have been spending quite a bit of time working with the board of trustees on how to spend the $4.1 million. We decided to make it into a proposal process, extending it to organizations that represent the 18 counties.”
 
Waltermire says they are encouraging the organizations to work together on ideas that will attract business to Northeast Ohio and create jobs. “We’re looking for proposals that will have broad regional benefits,” he says. “Ultimately, we want proposals that result in job creation, attraction, retention and expansion of business.”
 
Team NEO has received 15 letters of intent. Proposals are due by November 11 and will then be reviewed by a Team NEO task force. The board of trustees will make decisions on December 6. “We’re not just handing out money and hoping for the best,” says Waltermire of the selection process. “We’re going to have some very rigorous reporting requirements from the grantees. We’re holding people accountable and asking them to explain the results they are getting.”
 
Waltermire is optimistic that the proposed plans will have a positive impact on job creation in the area. “The result should be some fresh thinking and new ideas for ways to help the economy in Northeast Ohio,” he says.

 
Source: Tom Waltermire
Writer: Karin Connelly

What is most unusual about Trailside at Morgana Run, a new development of 100-plus new homes in the Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland, is not simply that it is a rare example of speculative housing development in today’s morbid real estate market.

No, what seems even more unique is that Third Federal Bank, whose headquarters is located adjacent to the site, is actually the developer of the project. Typically, banks do not take an active role in development.

“Third Federal has historically been all about homeownership,” says Joe Del Re of Zaremba Homes, the urban homebuilder that has been hired to oversee construction. “What better statement could they possibly make to the community than to not only put their headquarters here, but also to build homes?”

Trailside features new, single-family homes that are priced from $135,000 to $150,000. The 2- to 3-bedroom units are highly energy-efficient and have access to green space filled with native plantings. Morgana Run, a trail that weaves through Slavic Village and connects to Mill Creek Reservation, runs by the site. 

Del Re says the project might appeal to young professionals as well as older homebuyers seeking to downsize from larger neighborhood homes. The units feature a first-floor bedroom option, yards and detached two-car garages.

Zaremba, Third Federal and Slavic Village Development worked together for more than five years to acquire and redevelop the project site, which was an environmentally contaminated brownfield until it was cleaned up a few years ago.

Del Re says that Third Federal is taking on the project because of its commitment to Slavic Village and because the site is literally located in its backyard.
 

Source: Joe Del Re
Writer: Lee Chilcote

It wasn't long ago that you couldn't touch a new home in Shaker Heights for less than $300k. That is, if you could find one; in those bygone days, new single-families and condos in this historic, built-out community were scarce, and so was buildable land.

Enter the housing crisis and 2008 recession. Since the dawn of these twin apocalypses, the City of Shaker Heights, which has a reputation for being proactive about the upkeep of its housing stock, has acquired dozens of buildable lots. The city began placing these lots, which came into their hands when empty, foreclosed homes suffered the wrecking ball, into their land bank several years ago.

Now, as Cleveland's post-crash housing market gradually emerges from its stupor, one urban-savvy home builder is working with the city to build new, moderately-priced, green homes on three of its vacant lots.

"We're building Shaker-quality homes on the city's empty lots," says Joe Del Re, Project Manager with Zaremba Homes, a company that has been building homes in Cleveland and inner ring suburbs for 20 years. "They'll have hardi-plank and scalloped siding and other details that fit in with the surrounding community."

The new homes, which will be located on Strathavon Road in the Ludlow neighborhood, will be reasonably priced at $150,000 thanks to a grant from the county's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). Del Re says the program has made it possible for Zaremba to break ground on the spec homes.

The new, 1,600-square-foot homes will also feature three bedrooms, two and a half baths and green, energy-efficient amenities. Qualified buyers within income guidelines can also obtain a 20 percent, forgivable second mortgage.


Source: Joe Del Re
Writer: Lee Chilcote