New $35 Million Development Ready for Midtown

Now we know the real reason the The Politician was moved to CSU.
Great news for the slow to develop Midtown area. The HealthLine is continuing to pay off.

Repost from Cleveland.com:

$35 million mixed-use development proposed for Midtown Cleveland site

By Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer 

February 22, 2010, 3:44PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Architect and real estate investor Richard Bowen hopes to build medical offices, homes, stores and restaurants on former industrial property in Cleveland's Midtown neighborhood.

Through Shaker Associates LLC, Bowen has signed an agreement to buy 1.78 acres just south of Chester Avenue, near the Dunham Tavern Museum. The city of Cleveland is seeking a state grant of more than $190,000 to cover an environmental analysis of the site, which has been used for welding, auto repair and a range of manufacturing.

Bowen, president and owner of Richard L. Bowen + Associates of Cleveland, envisions a $35 million project on the property. The development could include a 70,000-square-foot medical office building, 150 homes for seniors, 14,000 square feet of retail and two restaurants. According to the state grant application, the project would produce 245 jobs and $1.3 million in annual property tax revenues for Cleveland.

Faced with the fragile economy, few developers are launching projects in Northeast Ohio and across the country. But a handful of investors are positioning themselves along Euclid Avenue and planning for the recovery. Developers including Fred Geis, who is planning a tech center at Euclid and East 69th Street, are banking on the revamped road, the HealthLine bus route between University Circle and downtown, and proximity to the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals.

"Now's really the time to do it," said David Bowen, who works at his father's firm. "The banks aren't really lending a lot of money, but we'd rather be ready for the market than be behind the market."

He would not identify potential occupants for the medical office building, saying only that local, national and international companies are interested in Midtown.

Last year, Cuyahoga County funded an engineering firm's study of the site, using $4,000 in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfield redevelopment funds. M.A.K. Leasing of North Carolina owns the property, which was occupied from 1979 to 2007 by Key Gas Components, a maker of metal parts such as valves and fittings.

The state grant, $191,947 from the Clean Ohio Assistance Fund, would cover the second half of the environmental assessment, including soil sampling and an asbestos survey. The tests will illustrate the potential costs and safety hurdles of redeveloping the property. If the grant comes through, the environmental assessment might be finished in the fall.

MidTown Cleveland Inc., the non-profit community development group that represents the area, is supporting the state grant application. MidTown assistant director Jeff Pesler described the project as preliminary and said the group has not fully vetted the proposal. MidTown wants to create a mixed-use district, but the group previously has expressed concern about senior housing developments, which often involve tax credits.

David Bowen said the Key Gas Components site is just the first part of his father's plan. Richard Bowen hopes to acquire nearby land along Euclid from the city of Cleveland's land bank. Early project designs show an 84-unit residential building, with 25,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, on that property.

Tracey Nichols, economic development director for the city of Cleveland, said Midtown has the potential to become "a really interesting neighborhood for our community."

"Having a mixed-use development in that area certainly fits in," she said.