1. No category

$2.00/APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
Expecting
shortage,
insurers
tout jobs
Bank files
foreclosure
on Tower
at Erieview
Lawsuit includes garage,
but not adjacent Galleria
Demand likely will rise,
so sales pitches intensify
By STAN BULLARD
[email protected]
After nearly a decade of trying to
make a go of the 40-story Tower at
Erieview, an investor group led by
co-owner Werner Minshall is in danger
of losing the landmark property in
downtown Cleveland to its lender.
The office building and its 400-car
underground parking garage are the
subject of a foreclosure action filed
March 23 by U.S. Bank in Cuyahoga
County Common Pleas Court. The
lawsuit against Mr. Minshall’s Erieview
Tower & Parking LLC looks to satisfy
a $44 million mortgage issued by the
bank.
However, the attached, glasstopped Galleria, 1301 E. Ninth St., is
exempt from the foreclosure action
as it was financed separately and Mr.
Minshall controls it through a different
company.
Mr. Minshall said last Tuesday,
March 27, he was surprised the bank
filed to foreclose. The real estate
owner based in Bethesda, Md., said
he hopes to retain the asset.
“We’ve been trying to work it out
for more than a year. They must
have gotten tired of talking to me,”
Mr. Minshall said. “We’re making a
lot of progress (with the complex).
It’s not been an easy deal, but there
are reasons for them to back off and
let me continue it.” He declined to
See ERIEVIEW Page 21
By TIMOTHY MAGAW
[email protected]
JASON
MILLER
PHOTOS
SPECIAL REPORT
REMAKING
WEST 25TH AND
THE MARKET
DISTRICT
◆ Driving forces
◆ Financial needs
◆ Residential growth
◆ Full coverage: PAGES 11-18
www.CrainsCleveland.com/W25th
David Hazen isn’t surprised young
professionals aren’t flocking to the insurance industry. After all, he said, it isn’t
perceived as the most riveting career.
But there are jobs to be had in the business — and more likely are on the way.
“When you were growing up and your
uncle asked what you wanted to do for a
living, you probably said you wanted to
be a teacher, fireman or a doctor,” said
Mr. Hazen, vice president for commercial
insurance lines at Huntington Insurance
in Salem. “The last thing you would have
said is that you wanted to be an insurance
agent or in the insurance business.”
That situation creates a problem,
industry insiders say, as the state’s insurance work force by 2016 is expected to
grow by 7.1% due to heightened demand,
bringing along 16,900 new jobs, according
to market research from Kent State University. Moreover, other studies suggest as
much as 50% of the insurance industry’s
current work force will reach retirement
age by 2016.
As such, local insurance companies and
brokerage firms are looking to expand
in-house training programs to lure young
employees, partner with local colleges to
beef up the talent pool and, perhaps most
importantly, better sell their industry as a
See INSURERS Page 20
Next for Cedar Fair CEO: Take record years to greater heights
By TIMOTHY MAGAW
[email protected]
14
Matt Ouimet’s biggest challenge these
days is tearing people away from their
jam-packed schedules so he can scare
them to death on a 400-foot-tall roller
coaster.
OK — maybe the new Cedar Fair LP
CEO wasn’t that dramatic in his assessment
of the challenges facing the amusement
park industry, but he said the company’s
largest hurdle is what he’s characterized
as a “time poverty” issue.
The former longtime Disney executive
admitted spending a lot of time thinking
about how to convince consumers to
spend their time and hard-earned cash
at Cedar Fair’s 11 amusement parks and
six water parks throughout the country,
including Cedar Point in Sandusky.
“Because we are such an extraordinary value, we tend to win that battle,
but I think about it a lot,” Mr. Ouimet
said in an interview last week with
Crain’s Cleveland Business. “If you’re off
doing something else besides coming
here in July, I call you a ‘why not?’”
Getting those so-called “why nots”
into the parks will be one of Mr.
Ouimet’s paramount tasks during his
first full season with the company since
becoming Cedar Fair’s president last
summer. He stepped into the CEO role
Jan. 3 after longtime executive Dick
Kinzel retired.
This year, the company is rolling out a
new marketing campaign, an upgraded
online platform to sell tickets and, in
See HEIGHTS Page 19
Ouimet
0
NEWSPAPER
74470 83781
7
INSIDE
Stow golf agent R.J. Nemer struck
while the time — Tiger’s time,
specifically — was right ■ Page 4
PLUS: RENTAL RATES RISE ■ AGILE SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT FIRM ON THE MOVE ■ & MORE
Entire contents © 2012
by Crain Communications Inc.
Vol. 33, No. 14
SPECIAL REPORT
REMAKING WEST 25TH STREET
AND THE MARKET DISTRICT
In outlying
parts of
Ohio City,
work to do
Leaders aim to extend
progress to Lorain Ave.
By SCOTT SUTTELL
[email protected]
A
Ohio City’s residents always
have been fiercely independent,
and the neighborhood in 1836 —
then its own municipality — even
waged a war of sorts with Cleveland
by bombing a portion of Cleveland’s
Columbus Road Bridge, which
Ohio City residents felt hurt the
commercial interests of their own
neighborhood.
Annexed by Cleveland in 1894,
Ohio City became a hub for European immigrants and became one
of the most ethnically diverse
areas of the city. With its construction in 1912, the West Side Market,
which now brings in about a million
t least a couple times a
month, Julia Martin makes
the short trip from her
apartment on the West
Side of Cleveland to Ohio City, usually to visit the West Side Market.
The area around West 25th Street
has almost everything Ms. Martin
says she values about city life —
interesting restaurants, eclectic
local retail and a “distinct feeling”
she can’t get elsewhere.
“I definitely could see myself living
here when I’m ready to buy a house,”
says Ms. Martin, 25, who hopes to
do just that in about a year.
Ohio City has picked up that kind
of momentum as its Market District
concept, which is focused on artisanstyle businesses around the West
Side Market, has struck a chord and
attracted growing numbers of residents and visitors.
But outside the Market District,
particularly along stretches of Lorain
Avenue, there’s a less-enticing Ohio
City marked by older and struggling
retailers, particularly used car lots.
The rejuvenation efforts in Ohio
City to date have been extensive,
neighborhood advocates say, but
they are by no means complete.
“When you see some of those
used car lots, it just cries out for
something better,” says Cleveland
City Councilman Joe Cimperman,
who represents Ward 3, which
includes Ohio City.
That’s obvious to the naked eye.
Mr. Cimperman, working with
fellow Councilman Matt Zone and
the city of Cleveland’s Planning
Department, last year helped do
something about it by passing a
Pedestrian Retail Overlay (PRO)
zone on Lorain Avenue, between
West 24th and West 65th streets.
As its name implies, the PRO is
intended to protect and encourage
pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use
development in the district it
covers. The designation requires,
See ALIVE Page 14
See OUTLYING Page 18
JASON MILLER
The West 25th Street/Market District area, as seen from the top of the United Bank Building
The awakening of a sleeping giant
New resident pool in ’90s, last decade help cool prior prickly politics, propel growth
By TIMOTHY MAGAW
[email protected]
W
hen Pat and Dan
Conway opened Great
Lakes Brewing Co. in
1988 in Ohio City, their
cousin — a Cleveland homicide
detective — told them they were
crazy.
Crusty bars with questionable
clientele, constant threats of
break-ins and regular drug peddling in a nearby park were daily
realities in the district. Still, the
area near the historic West Side
Market off West 25th Street, which
at one time was home to as many
as 30 breweries, had character.
“We felt there was so much
possibility still in front of us,
especially these old brick buildings
that conjured up the romance of
brewing days past. … They fit
perfectly with the concept we had
INSIDE: The West Side Market’s
centennial celebration offers a chance
to lure new customers, bring back old
ones. Page 17
in mind,” Pat Conway said.
And as Great Lakes Brewing Co.
grew into a regional powerhouse,
the small district it called home
steadily evolved from one of
Cleveland’s most downtrodden
neighborhoods to what’s now
marketed as the city’s “artisan
neighborhood.”
What’s brought Ohio City out of
the ditch is by no means secret —
the venerable West Side Market,
the presence of long-standing
institutions such as St. Ignatius
High School and Lutheran Hospital,
the proximity to downtown Cleveland, and a group of community
and political organizers dedicated
to revitalizing the blighted neighborhood.
“The giant’s always been there,
but the giant woke up,” said
Cleveland City Councilman Joe
Cimperman, whose ward includes
Ohio City.
A storied past
ON THE WEB For expanded online coverage, including photo slideshows and video interviews, visit www.crainscleveland.com/w25th.
12
SPECIAL REPORT: REMAKING WEST 25th
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
NEIGHBORHOOD LONG IN THE
MAKING GETS NEW LIFE
MORE THAN 20 BUSINESSES HAVE OPENED IN THE MARKET
DISTRICT IN THE PAST 18 MONTHS.
1
Soho Kitchen and Bar
2011
Nolan Konkoski and Molly Smith always
have loved Ohio City, so when they
were looking to open their first restaurant the pair kept
returning to the neighborhood. As luck would have it, a
space once occupied by a Cuban bakery was available.
“This neighborhood has such a buzz about it,” he said. The
65-seat restaurant serves “modern southern food,” and it
currently employs about 15 people. Mr. Konkoski said that
with no advertising he opened the doors to his restaurant
late last year, and it’s been packed ever since. “We felt it
would be very difficult to fail in this neighborhood,” he
said.
2
Joy Machines Bike Shop
2011
Alex Nosse grew up in Ohio City, so
it wasn’t a stretch when he located
the bike shop he owns with Renato
Pereira-Castillo on West 25th. Mr. Nosse describes Joy Machines Bike Shop as a shop for everyday riders, with many
of the store’s customers coming from within a couplemile radius. As a native to the West 25th area, the swift
pace of development is not lost on Mr. Nosse, who points
to it as proof of a “healthy urban neighborhood.” “All of
the business owners feel a great sense of camaraderie,” he
said. Of course, he noted, he’d love to see more businesses
that sell necessities — like a shoe store.
3
Campbell’s Sweets Factory
2011
Jeff Campbell loves popcorn. And
well he should; his business is on
track to do $800,000 in sales this year,
and he projects that number to increase to $2.5 million
by the end of 2014. His West 25th Street store is an outgrowth from his space at the West Side Market, where Mr.
Campbell first opened about eight years ago. While he’s
since expanded his venture to include selling cupcakes
and juice, popcorn represents 60% of Campbell’s business,
with its famed Dichotomy (a delectable mix of cheddar
and caramel) selling 3-to-1 over any other flavor. Indeed,
Mr. Campbell estimates he orders roughly 19,500 pounds
of corn a year to keep his business popping. (Mr. Campbell’s favorite popcorn flavor, by the way: white cheddar
jalapeno.)
4
United Bank Building
(Penzey’s Spices, 2010;
Crop Bistro & Bar, 2011)
The bank vault in the basement of
the United Bank Building might
represent a time from days long past, but its use today as
a private dining space for Crop Bistro & Bar represents a
rebirth for the landmark structure. In addition to Crop, the
building currently houses Penzey’s Spices and the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of
Cuyahoga County, with Bonbon Pastry & Café next door.
Ari Maron’s MRN Ltd., the developer behind the remake of
East Fourth Street, not only has committed to the redo of
this structure, but it has scooped up a number of nearby
buildings. “This is a particularly exciting neighborhood
within the city,” Mr. Maron said. Work is still taking place
on the top floors of the United Bank Building, which Mr.
Maron anticipates eventually will be filled with office tenants.
5
Market Square Park
2012 (projected)
Greg Peckham, managing director
of LAND Studio, can walk across the
street from his new offices on West
25th and see the results of his organization’s work. The under-renovation Market Square
Park, a project in which he was involved, is expected to
be done in May. The park’s design is tied into the idea of
harvest and the neighborhood being the center for the
city’s food culture. “A lot of it was understanding how the
park fit into the development agenda of Ohio City,” Mr.
Peckham said. “That park alone becomes a sort of a gateway into the rest of the business district.” (Park rendering
courtesy of artist Mark Moskovitz.)
6
Market Garden Brewery
2011
It is entirely possible that Sam McNulty will wear out a path across
West 25th Street. In addition to living there, last year he
opened his fourth business on the street, next to the West
Side Market and across from his other ventures: McNulty’s
Bier Markt (2005); Bar Cento (2007); and Speakeasy (2009).
Market Garden, which is slated to have a rooftop patio this
summer, offers 12 of its own beers at any one time under the direction of brewmaster Andy Tveekrem. For Mr.
McNulty, not only is Market Garden his first step into the
world of brewing (and soon, distilling), it also may end up
being a segue into his next move — he has dreams for
a 70,000-square-foot production facility located within a
15-minute bike ride of West 25th.
7
Salty Not Sweet 2011
Candra Squire is a letter-press printer
who was looking for a permanent
place beyond the typical craft show to
show her wares, which are greeting
cards she jokingly characterizes as “horrible” and “ridiculous.” Her store, a venture she runs with Melissa Major, is
just that place. Originally located in the Waterloo Arts District before moving last year to its bigger, 1,200-squarefoot space on West 25th, the store features everything
handmade and offers workshops for aspiring artisans.
For her part, Ms. Squire said being among so many entrepreneurs in Ohio City has a strength-in-numbers kind of
appeal: “It’s so hard for one little tiny shop to get people
to come out to buy local. … It doesn’t feel like you’re out
here alone.”
8
Mitchell’s Ice Cream
2012 (projected)
An ice cream destination. That’s
what brothers Pete and Mike
Mitchell hope their location becomes when it opens on West 25th later this year. The
space long ago occupied by a vaudeville theater — and
more recently the night club Moda — will be home to
Mitchell’s eighth shop and its production. “There’s going
to be as thin a layer of glass as possible … you’re going to
see everything just a few feet away,” said Mike Mitchell of
the two shifts a day that will be crafting frozen goodness
out of local, homemade ingredients. “It’s like an ice cream
show.” The Mitchells, who are preserving their building
under historic standards, also hope to tap into some of
the neighborhood’s resources — namely, make more ice
cream with Great Lakes beer as an ingredient.
9
Cleveland Hostel
2012 (projected)
When Mark Raymond was in preschool, his teacher asked him for
what he was thankful. His answer: the Terminal Tower. Today,
the Geneva native with an urban planning degree can
get a bird’s-eye look at that landmark by standing on the
roof of his future Cleveland Hostel. Work on the circa-1900
building started in January, and it will have 15 rooms, accommodating 60 guests, as well as a community kitchen.
Room rates will range from $25 to $70 a night, with private and nonprivate rooms available. As for Mr. Raymond,
he will live on the hostel’s third floor — close to that spectacular view. It is anticipated the hostel will be ready in
time for the festivities surrounding the West Side Market’s
centennial.
10
LAND Studio 2012
LAND Studio’s space
on West 25th Street represents a new start for this organization, which is the result of the partnership between
ParkWorks and Cleveland Public Art. The nonprofit, whose
name stands for landscape, art, neighborhoods and development, is focused on “how good design is part of
making a competitive city,” said Greg Peckham, managing
director. The organization moved last month into 6,000
square feet above PNC Bank, marking an important step
in the organizations coming together as one, said Mr.
Peckham, whose previous office also was located on West
25th. “There is a real strong community and family of
nonprofits centered around the Market District,” he said.
“We have a window out to a very healthy, active neighborhood.”
Video coverage: What’s different about
doing business on West 25th?
www.crainscleveland.com/section/W25thMap
OTHER NEWCOMERS
11. Alaturka
12. Bonbon Pastry & Café
13. Market at the Fig
14. Johnnyville Slugger
15. Maggie’s Vegan Bakery
16. Orale Contemporary Kitchen
17. Proactive Controls Group (PCG)
18. Room Service
19. Vision Yoga
20. Deering Vintage
21. Bogtrotter’s Doorstep
tL.E.A.P. (office tenant) (Lorain Avenue)
tCigar Cigars (Lorain Avenue)
t Urban Orchid (Bridge Avenue)
Source: Ohio City Inc. (The Market District is West 25th to 28th; Chatham to Jay.)
SPECIAL REPORT: REMAKING WEST 25th
APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
1
2
Ohio City Farm
Bridge Fulton
District
LONGTIME COMMUNITY ANCHORS
1
St. Ignatius High School 1886
2
Lutheran Hospital 1896
West Side Market 1912
3
Ask any of the business owners in Ohio
City, and they’ll tell
you the West Side
Market is the lifeblood of the neighborhood. The venerable market,
which turns 100 years old this year, brings more than a
million people a year into the growing district. Home to
more than 100 vendors, ranging from butchers to bakers, the market has gained national recognition as one
of the premiere public markets in the country. Often
touted by some of the region’s most popular chefs, the
market draws its patrons from all over Northeast Ohio
and even across the country. Christine Zuniga Eadie,
1
the market’s director, said while the market’s centennial celebration is a huge opportunity for the market’s
vendors, it also has the potential to spotlight the entire
region.
Video coverage: Hear longtime vendors talk
about how West 25th has changed.
www.crainscleveland.com/section/W25thMap
4
Great Lakes
Brewing Co. 1988
When Great Lakes Brewing Co.
opened shop in the late 1980s,
it was the only craft brewery, not only in Cleveland, but
the entire state of Ohio. And since then, the company’s
assorted libations have helped jumpstart a craft brewing craze (particularly around the holiday season with
its sought-after Christmas Ale) that’s extended well
beyond the brewery’s home in Ohio City. In 2010, the
company invested $7 million in capital improvements
to expand its brewing capacity in the district, and now
distributes is roster of beers in 13 states and Washington, D.C. Last year, the company churned out 120,000
barrels of beer. And according to Pat Conway, the
company’s co-owner, the company is running out of
room to expand because, well, there are “just too many
mouths to feed.”
Video coverage: Pat Conway discusses setting up
shop in Ohio City almost 20 years ago.
www.crainscleveland.com/section/W25thMap
Business profiles by Amy Ann Stoessel and Timothy Magaw
Layout and map design by Lauren Rafferty
13
14
SPECIAL REPORT: REMAKING WEST 25th
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
Alive: Anchor institutions contribute to district’s vitality
continued from PAGE 11
people a year, became a focal point
by bringing various ethnic groups
together under one roof.
Despite a residential boom in the
1960s spurred by historic preservationists, political discord hindered
the development of the area for
decades, resulting in the creation of
two community development corporations with differing missions.
However, in the 1990s and 2000s,
a group of people started moving
into the area who appreciated the
urbanism and economic diversity
the area offered.
ON THE WEB
For smart phone
users, scan this QR,
or “quick response”
code, with any QR
code reader to view
more photos from the present-day
West 25th Street and Market District
area.
are intertwined, said Christine
Zuniga Eadie, the manager of the
West Side Market.
“We’re rebuilding a partnership,”
she said. “When something works
“We have a dynamic group of leaders at neighborhood
institutions, a dynamic group of investors ... and strong
political leadership.”
– Eric Wobser, executive director, Ohio City Inc.
“That was the group that really
started to calm the politics of the
neighborhood,” said Eric Wobser,
the executive director of Ohio City
Inc., which was the product of the
two community development corporations that ultimately merged.
It’s all about the food
While the West Side Market’s
centennial celebration this fall
wasn’t the main driver for the
development of the district, it’s
provided Ohio City’s business and
civic leaders a timeline to work
along and helped accelerate the
rate at which the area is being
transformed.
The idea of one of Cleveland’s
premier institutions turning 100
years old offered the opportunity to
showcase the neighborhood in addition to the market, Mr. Wobser noted.
After all, the success of the market
and its surrounding neighborhood
for the market, it has an impact on
the market district and vice versa.”
The West Side Market has been a
pillar for the growing food movement in Northeast Ohio with some
of Cleveland’s most famous chefs,
such as Jonathon Sawyer and
Michael Symon, regularly touting
the value of the market.
In 2010, the local food movement
received another jolt when the sixacre Ohio City Farm — the largest
contiguous urban farm in the nation
— opened at West 24th Street and
Bridge Avenue. The farm’s bounty
has gone to local businesses, including
Great Lakes Brewing, one of the
farm’s co-developers.
Great Lakes Brewing’s success,
coupled with the allure of the
market, has attracted a number of
other local, and now-thriving,
operations such as Sam McNulty’s
Bier Mrkt and the Market Garden
Brewery. Also, local ice cream
JASON MILLER
A runner takes advantage of one of a spate of warm March days to exercise in the Market District area. For more present-day photos from the neighborhood, visit www.crainscleveland.com/W25thGallery.
purveyor Mitchell’s plans to move
into Ohio City.
“To be in the shadows of the
tower of the West Side Market, making
gourmet beer, ice cream, breads or
artisan cuisine … it’s perfect,”
Great Lakes’ Mr. Conway said.
Strong partners
While the West Side Market
could be considered the heart of
Ohio City, the neighborhood’s two
other anchor institutions — St.
Ignatius High School and the Cleve-
land Clinic’s Lutheran Hospital —
also have invested heavily in the
redevelopment of the area.
“We’ve served the community
for well over 100 years, and we are
extremely excited about the continued rejuvenation of West 25th
Street,” Lutheran president Dr.
Brian Donley said.
Collectively, Mr. Wobser said
both institutions have contributed
about $200,000 to the effort to
clean up a blighted portion of the
neighborhood as part of the creation of a special improvement
district.
While both institutions fall
outside the borders of the SID, Mr.
Wobser said the notion that both
would commit resources to the
effort speaks volumes about their
commitment to the neighborhood.
As part of the SID, neighborhood
property owners in Ohio City last
year agreed to assess themselves a
fee to pay for better security and
maintenance than Cleveland could
provide. It’s that sort of unified
vision, community leaders say,
that’s driving the success in Ohio
City, which is bringing young people in droves to live in the area.
“A number of good things are
coming together at the right time,”
Mr. Wobser said. “We have a dynamic
group of leaders at neighborhood
institutions, a dynamic group of
investors, both real estate developers
and entrepreneurs, and strong
political leadership. We have the
right people at the right place at
the right time.”
Mr. Cimperman said he’s heard
from companies interested in
setting up shop in Ohio City, and
the neighborhood’s best days are
right around the corner if the
momentum can hold.
Moreover, Mr. Cimperman said
what’s happening in the neighborhood could be viewed as a model
to help jumpstart the redevelopment of other neighborhoods in
and around Cleveland.
“Nobody involved with this is
tired,” Mr. Cimperman said. “It’s 7
a.m. in Ohio City, and there’s still a
full day ahead.”
■
Allen Business Park
895 HAMPSHIRE ROAD, STOW
Presented by
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AND OHIO CITY INCORPORATED
CENTENNIAL KICK OFF
Saturday, June 2nd, 6–9pm in Market Square Park
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SPECIAL REPORT: REMAKING WEST 25th
APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
15
Monetary muscle still needed for market, district fixups
By STAN BULLARD
[email protected]
D
efining the difference in
today’s West 25th Street
near the West Side Market
from hard-scrabble conditions for much of the time since the
late 1960s takes one four-letter word.
Cash.
Millions of dollars — which will
have to be raised from multiple
sources in coming years — are
needed in order to ensure a legacy
fund for the West Side Market and
to continue the transformation of
the surrounding Market District.
In the meantime, more than $50
million already has gone into West
25th near the market, remaking it
into what it is today: a vital food
resource with genuine character as
well as an active entertainment,
residential and commercial district
that is a must-see for the social set,
tourists and foodies.
Two immediate financial tasks
face the neighborhood today linked
to the centennial of the West Side
Market this year and its focus as the
site of the International Public
Markets Conference.
First, the Centennial Commission
and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson
both want to use the celebration as
a means to create a legacy fund to
maintain the market. Meanwhile,
Ohio City still needs to raise the last
$200,000 to meet the $900,000
budget for centennial events.
The tasks do not daunt Eric
Wobser, executive director of Ohio
City Inc., which the city of Cleveland
has authorized to oversee the market’s centennial celebration. Planning is a big part of his solution, and a
surprise source of funds — corporate
sponsorships — is an evolving part of
the solution of the funding challenge.
Planning comes into play because
an architectural study of the West
Side Market building’s condition
will not be finished until later this
year. That study is crucial to determining how much repair work the
brick landmark and adjoining
wood market stands need to make
it another century.
As a result, Mr. Wobser said, the
market’s legacy campaign will kick
off at a Nov. 3 gala chaired by
Cleveland celebrity chefs Michael
Symon and Jonathon Sawyer.
The Jackson administration
already has earmarked $2.3 million
for West Side Market capital needs.
Even without the study, Councilman
Joe Cimperman, whose Ward 3
includes the area, knows more will
be needed without the study.
“The last time the city of Cleveland
really spent money on the market
was in the (Mayor Ralph) Locher
administration,” Mr. Cimperman
said of a regime that ended in 1967.
the West Side Market,” Mr. Wobser
said, “businesses are finding their
way to the market for exposure.”
For example, Charter One, the
presenting sponsor for the West
Side Market Centennial, has
invested $500,000 in the Market
District and the West Side Market
Centennial. The bank counts
$100,000 of its contribution to the
neighborhood as sponsorship,
according to Carrie Carpenter, senior vice president and director of
public affairs at Charter One Ohio.
Sponsorship funds directly
benefit the bank through promoting
its name, she said, while its foundation, to satisfy tax laws, can generate the bank nothing of value.
Charter One decided the Market
District provides the bank with an
opportunity to put its name before
people from the neighborhood and
region, Ms. Carpenter said, as well
as banking on food’s new celebrity.
“Our brand is that good banking
is good citizenship,” Ms. Carpenter
said, so signs and advertising at
Ohio City events benefit the bank’s
image. The decision is based on
estimates of attendance and value
of signage at events as well as
entertaining bank clients at events.
Some funds went directly to six
different nonprofits, from Neighborhood Progress Inc. efforts to
revitalize West 25th through several
city neighborhoods to LAND Studio,
the organization formed from the
merger of Cleveland Public Art and
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Money doesn’t grow on trees
Mr. Wobser argues the remainder
of the legacy funding will come
from philanthropic and corporate
sources, and others see room for
individual contributors.
For example, while final centennial
gala ticket prices have not been set,
there most likely will be tiered ticket
price options ranging from $150 to
$500 with different event entry times.
The other new-breed funding
source is corporate sponsorships
from others besides neighborhood
bastions Lutheran Hospital and St.
Ignatius High School.
“Just like politicians for years
have known it is good to be seen at
ParkWorks, to design the stand for
the urban farm near the market.
Other funds went into a $15,000
grant that helped 11 market
vendors improve signs, lighting or
shelving. And $40,000 went for a
small business idea competition
whose five winners now occupy
neighborhood storefronts.
Charter One’s funding for the
small business idea competition
worked so well — it even attracted
applicants who did not get grants
to the street — the bank and Ohio
City Inc. are doing it again this
year with grants of $5,000 to
$20,000 for new or expanding
businesses in the Market District.
Requests for proposals for grants
are due at 5 p.m. May 21 and avail-
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able at Ohio City Inc.’s website,
www.ohiocity.org. Mr. Wobser
hopes the competition fills the last
five vacant storefronts.
Iconic campaign
Contributing to the West Side
Market centennial and the legacy
program brings to mind the
massive corporate and public
campaign to rejuvenate the Statue
of Liberty for its 1986 centennial.
“The West Side Market is an
international icon,” Mr. Cimperman
said. “If I’m a CEO and have a
chance to have my company associated with something with more visitors than the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame and Museum or Great Lakes
Science Center, why wouldn’t I?” ■
16
SPECIAL REPORT: REMAKING WEST 25th
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
Housing interest in step with commercial improvement
New development luring prospective residents, though maintaining affordability a priority
ON THE WEB
By MICHELLE PARK
[email protected]
“Y
ou can’t miss ’em,”
Greg Peckham assured.
“One is covered in
scaffolding, and they
both look like hell.”
No understatement there. Located
at Randall Road and John Avenue in
Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood,
the two houses Mr. Peckham bought
this year are eyesores — for now.
The one slated to be a new home
for Mr. Peckman’s family stands
largely untouched by construction
workers, its greenish paint peeling off,
windows boarded up, door padlocked.
The other two-unit building is
covered in scaffolding, upon which
workers are perched this March
Tuesday, nailing shingles to the
porch roof.
Mr. Peckham’s renovations are two
of many investments being made or
already made in this historic district,
where new schools have opened
and more family-friendly activities,
including a babysitting co-op, now
exist.
“What’s happening in this neighborhood, I think, is evolutionary,”
Mr. Peckham said. “There’s a
growing number of people who
could be anywhere, and they’re
choosing to be here.”
While the population in Cleveland
dropped 17% from 2000 to 2010, the
area that comprises Ohio City rose
in population by 1.2% during the
same decade, said executives with
Ohio City Inc. who analyzed U.S.
Census data. Ohio City Inc. is the
area’s community development
corporation.
Once in the “shadows” of other
neighborhoods such as Tremont,
Ohio City is in higher demand today,
said Chris Schlenkerman, a real
estate agent who manages the Ohio
City office of the Howard Hanna
brokerage. He observes the trend
not only in closed sales, but in busy
open houses, too.
The surge in interest really began
last year and has continued into
this year, Mr. Schlenkerman said.
For the people
The most recent census revealed
that the neighborhood’s population
of 25- to 34-year-olds increased
most, but empty nesters also are
settling in, said Eric Wobser, executive director of Ohio City Inc. The
group talks to people “all the time
who can’t find an apartment,” Mr.
For smart phone users, scan this QR, or “quick response”
code, with any QR code reader to view before-and-after
photographs of home rehabilitations in Cleveland’s Ohio City
neighborhood.
Wobser said.
Mr. Schlenkerman said the big
attraction to Ohio City “right now
has quite a bit to do with the commercial growth that’s occurring in
the district.”
Already, Ohio City has townhomes,
both new and renovated, and a
former department store converted
into condominiums in The Fries
and Schuele Building. There’s more
to come, too: One crew wants to
redevelop a group of former warehouse buildings into 72 apartment
units, and another has a 10- to
20-unit apartment development
planned for the old Jay Hotel, Mr.
Wobser said.
All the while, rental rates are rising.
One 20-unit building that used to
pull 95 cents per square foot is
pulling roughly $1.30 per square
foot today, Mr. Wobser said. He
also knows a homeowner who is
renting at a rate twice his mortgage.
Ohio City needs to maintain
affordable housing, though, Mr.
Wobser and others stressed.
“We want to make sure that folks
other than bankers and lawyers
can afford to live here, and that
won’t be easy,” he said, citing how
property values are rising.
The upward trajectory is easy to see.
During a drive through the streets
of Ohio City in February, Mr. Wobser
points seemingly to every other
house, describing renovations that
have been done or will be done.
“This was an empty house when
I took this job,” Mr. Wobser says,
pointing to a well-maintained
house. “It was just falling apart,
boards on the windows.”
There’s also the large maroon
house whose owners won an
award from Ohio City Inc. for residential renovation, and the former
YMCA, where a transformation
into condominiums won it the
same recognition two years ago.
“Until recently, things changed
slowly,” Mr. Wobser said. “Two
businesses would open, one would
close. But I think, always, things were
moving to a positive momentum.”
That neighborhood feel
As Ohio City’s commercial district
booms, more visitors flock to the
area and get a taste of what living
there could be like, Mr. Wobser
said. Dave’s Supermarket and the
West Side Market are neighborhood
anchors, but other service businesses such as a florist, a bike shop
and a fitness studio have hung their
shingles, too. As they do, the neighborhood’s convenience grows.
Lynn Phares — another person
investing in the neighborhood —
moved with her husband to Ohio
City in 2007 from Washington,
D.C., and formed the block club for
their section of the neighborhood
in early 2008. Such block clubs and
the family-friendly events they
coordinate — ice cream socials,
pumpkin-decorating events and the
like — are a common reason offered
for the area’s influx of residents.
Also, life is being breathed back
into local parks, including renovations to Novak Park in 2010 and
Fairview Park in 2004. A master plan
for Greenwood Park is under way.
And there are new schools,
including Near West Intergenerational, a public charter school that
opened in 2011, and Urban Community, a private school that
opened in 2005.
“Now there’s an educational
opportunity that parents feel they
can consider an option to stay in
the neighborhood and not have to
leave and go to the suburbs,” said
Ms. Phares, who’s on the board for
Near West and is in the process of
renovating her house and another
property she plans to rent.
The Cleveland Metropolitan
School District also plans to break
ground in Ohio City this spring on
two elementary schools, Paul
Dunbar School and Orchard
School, both of which are slated to
open in August 2013.
Many hope the momentum
spreads to Lorain Avenue, a corridor
that still has substantial blight, Mr.
Wobser said. “If we can revitalize
Lorain, we can unite the neighborhood,” Mr. Wobser said.
Battling the naysayers
Though a lot of good is occurring,
house seekers often ask how safe
Ohio City is, real estate agents say.
Many residents interviewed for
Did you
know
your ears never
stop growing?
this piece have been victims of crime,
but they are quick to note that
they’ve been victimized infrequently.
“If we were getting broken into
every year, we wouldn’t be here,”
said Mr. Peckham, whose house has
been broken into once in the 14 years
he’s lived in the neighborhood.
This spring, Ohio City will have its
own special improvement district,
where property owners in a defined
area will pay an assessment to pay
for the kind of street cleanup,
graffiti removal and visible security
presence that has improved the
image of downtown.
Even without the extras of a
special improvement district,
though, Brandon Sitler sees a
difference in the neighborhood. An
Ohio City resident for eight years,
Mr. Sitler opened his flower shop,
The Urban Orchid, on Bridge
Avenue last August.
“When I first moved here, it was
kind of scary to walk home,” Mr.
Sitler said. “Now it’s like there’s
always people walking around,
laughing, hanging out. It seems
more like a neighborhood than it
did before.”
It’s not just the perception of crime,
though, that may deter people.
Another issue for the neighborhood
is the behavior of some people who
come there for social services
provided by places such as local
churches, said Kathleen Knittel, a
longtime resident. Though most of
those people cause no problem,
some act in ways that “at times has
negative impacts on our quality of
life,” she said.
Hurdles to home renovations
also can be a deterrent, Mr. Peckham
said. It took him 18 months to
unravel his family’s properties from
a tangled history of previous ownership and to bring them up to code
through costly work.
“The number of curveballs that get
thrown your way is unimaginable,”
Mr. Peckham said.
He suggests policy and finance
improvements to facilitate more
projects like his.
Ms. Phares said she hopes Ohio
City will continue to promote itself.
Still, she said, critics will remain.
“I don’t know what you do about
the naysayers — the people who live
in the suburbs and never have something good to say about Cleveland,”
Ms. Phares said. “Some people,
you’re never going to change their
minds, and you’re never going to get
them to give it a shot.”
■
A CLOSER LOOK
To see these homes postrenovation, go to www.crains
cleveland.com/W25thGallery.
■ David Hovis calls this renovation
a “total gut job.” He and his wife,
Jen, bought this fire-damaged W.
32nd Street house and the adjacent
property for $45,000 in 2010 and
poured roughly $400,000 into it.
The most expensive renovations
were energy efficiency upgrades,
including new insulation. The work
slashed the home’s energy costs to
$2,000 from $8,000 a year, Mr.
Hovis said.
■ At one time, this Lorain Avenue
property was the Northeast Ohio
headquarters for the Communist
Party, according to property owner
David Fleming, whose family
purchased it in April 2007. During
renovations that spanned nearly two
years, they finished three upstairs
residential units, including a different,
very spacious unit in a former ballroom. The project’s cost exceeded
$300,000, Mr. Fleming estimated.
■ The work done to this historic
Italianate mansion cost more than
$700,000, involved more than 30
contractors and took 18 months to
complete, according to owner
Norma Makar. Norma and Lou Makar
purchased the Clinton Avenue
home, built in the 1860s, when it
was just a “big pile of bricks” without
heating or electricity and transformed
it with new roofing, exterior paint
and $50,000 in new windows alone.
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SPECIAL REPORT: REMAKING WEST 25th
APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
17
Market, vendors hope for
boost from centennial events
T
he West Side Market’s
centennial celebration this
year is as much a time to
celebrate its rich (and tasty)
history as it is to figure out how to
make the market sustainable for at
least another 100 years.
Some of the goals this year are to
increase the number of new shoppers
coming to the market and bring
back old customers who had left,
according to Christine Zuniga Eadie,
the West Side Market’s manager.
The idea, Ms. Eadie said, is to
ensure the West Side Market remains
a living, breathing and usable market
and doesn’t transform into a museum
like other public markets around
the country. Part of that, she said, is
showing the community what the
market’s vendors have to offer.
“The vendors are by far the greatest
asset the market has,” Ms. Eadie said.
The celebration officially kicks off
with fireworks and an ice cream
social on June 2; a street festival
and parade on Oct. 7; and culminates with a gala — co-chaired by
renowned local chefs Michael Symon
and Jonathon Sawyer — on Nov. 3.
The gala will serve as the launching
point for a fundraising campaign to
help offset the costs of the market’s
ON THE WEB
For smart phone
users, scan this QR,
or “quick response”
code, with any QR
code reader to
watch videos of West Market vendors
talking about their experience there.
The videos can be found at www.
CrainsCleveland.com/W25thGallery.
mounting capital needs.
“It’s a huge opportunity for not
only the vendors here but the
Greater Cleveland region,” Ms. Eadie
said. “So many local chefs grew up
shopping here.”
Terry Frick of Frickaccios Pizza
Market at the West Side Market said
she’s already seen an influx of new
customers at the market, as younger
people have taken an interest in
locally produced food. With the
centennial events approaching, she
anticipates the momentum only
will grow stronger.
“This is just the way shopping
should be,” Ms. Frick said. “That’s
what I believe.”
For a full list of centennial celebration events, visit www.westside
market.org.
— Timothy Magaw
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OHIO CITY THROUGH THE YEARS
THE PRACTICAL
PHOTO COURTESY OF OHIO CITY INC.
ABOVE: The West Side Market under construction in 1911.
■ Ohio City originally was part
of Brooklyn Township, founded in
1818. On March 3, 1836, two days
before Cleveland’s incorporation,
it became an independent municipality. On June 5, 1854, it was
annexed to Cleveland.
■ Ohio City became known as
the Near West Side when it was
annexed to Cleveland. In the late
19th century, the area attracted
those seeking jobs at the docks,
mills, foundries, distilleries and
bottling works.
■ The West Side Market is built
on a site the first mayor of Ohio
City, Josiah Barber, and another
pioneer, Richard Lord, deeded to
the city on condition it be kept a
marketplace. Market Square was
the site of the Pearl Street market, a
one-story wooden market built in
1868 at Lorain Avenue and Pearl
Road (West 25th Street).
■ Present-day Ohio City is home
to more than 90 nonprofits.
■ In 1896, Lutheran Hospital
opened at Fulton and West 29th
Street in a residence that was
ON THE WEB
For smart phone
users, scan this QR,
or “quick response”
code, with any QR
code reader to view
more historic photos from the West
Side Market and the Market District.
The photos can be found at www.
CrainsCleveland.com/W25thGallery.
rented for $42 per month, and 25
patients were admitted the first
year. Lutheran Hospital in 1898
moved to Franklin Avenue. In addition to several expansions and
construction projects through the
years, a new lobby and hospital
entrance facing West 25th Street
was built in 1997, the same year it
became part of the Cleveland Clinic.
■ James A. Garfield, 20th president
of the United States, in 1857 was
pastor of Franklin Circle Christian
Church.
SOURCE: WWW.OHIOCITY.ORG;
WWW.LUTHERANHOSPITAL.ORG
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18
SPECIAL REPORT: REMAKING WEST 25th
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
Outlying: Growth leads to challenges
continued from PAGE 11
for instance, that new buildings be
set back no more than five feet from
a street right-of-way. It also requires
that parking lots, where feasible,
be located in the rear of buildings.
Most importantly, Mr. Cimperman
said, it “specifically prohibits” new
uses that detract from the pedestrian-oriented character of the
district — automobile sales lots,
gas stations, car washes and restaurant drive-throughs among them.
“It’s about creating an environment that allows for dynamic spaces”
in Ohio City, Mr. Cimperman said.
The West Side’s main street
A major element of helping to
create those dynamic spaces and
generally raising the quality of life
in Ohio City is a renewed focus on
the health of Lorain Avenue and
the neighborhood south of Lorain
— a more working-class area, with
longer-term residents, than the more
gentrified area north of Lorain.
Last November, Ohio City Inc.
and Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
kicked off what they called a community design charrette — a term
for a brief, intense planning exercise — dubbed Launch Lorain to
begin rethinking development
along Lorain from West 20th Street
to West 52nd, south to Interstate 90.
Two community meetings held
to collect input drew more than
200 stakeholders, including businesses, nonprofits and residents.
Almost everything is on the table
for Lorain Avenue, which is, essentially, the main street of the West
Side; the exercise includes a look
at transportation, safety issues,
retail development, housing, and
parks and recreational space.
The focus on Lorain is badly
needed, said Eric Wobser, executive
director of Ohio City Inc., the
community development organization that serves as a fulcrum for
initiatives aimed at improving the
neighborhood.
“As a corridor, Lorain has not
functioned well for a long time,” Mr.
Wobser said. “A more vibrant Lorain
Avenue would bring people together.”
Broadly speaking, Launch Lorain
is designed to produce a long-term
plan that would create better
connections to adjacent residential
areas along Lorain; bolster private
investments already occurring there;
and identify new opportunities for
development and urban amenities.
There’s no shortage of ideas for
reaching those goals, Mr. Wobser said.
“I think what you see from the
community is a sense that yes, things
are getting better, but there are a lot
of things that still need to be done
to reach our potential,” he said.
The initial Launch Lorain report
touches on its share of small issues
— fixing sidewalks and filling potholes among them — but it doesn’t
shy away from thinking big on
infrastructure improvement.
For instance, one possibility it
raises is a reconfiguration of the
intersection of Lorain Avenue and
Fulton Road so that Fulton meets
Lorain at a right angle rather than
diagonally. That would make the
intersection safer, improve the
pedestrian environment and create
opportunities for more green space,
as well as making it more conducive for private development.
Making connections
Development in Ohio City,
which boasts more than 12,000
residents, is helping the neighborhood become something of a rarity
in Cleveland — an area with nearly
24-hour activity on some days,
starting with the West Side Market’s
opening at 7 a.m. and going to the
closing of bars early the next morning.
That kind of activity inevitably
brings parking challenges. Ohio
City Inc. is in the midst of a study
of parking issues near the West
Side Market. Depending on its
findings, the group could begin a
push to construct a parking garage
that would make it easier for visitors
to come to the neighborhood.
APRIL 2 - 8, 2012
There’s “not much news yet on
the parking structure front,” Mr.
Wobser said, other than that the
need exists and that discussions
have begun with city officials.
But Messrs. Cimperman and
Wobser noted that public transit is a
key part of the future of Ohio City,
with the Greater Cleveland Regional
Transit Authority playing a key role.
The Launch Lorain report raises
the possibility of an “enhanced
transit waiting area for Bus Rapid
Transit” — in the style of the Health
Line on the East Side — on Lorain
adjacent to the Breen Center parking lot on the iconic St. Ignatius High
School campus. Another possibility
is a Red Line stop at Fulton Road.
“The easier it is to connect from
Ohio City to downtown and other
parts of the region, the better the
opportunity for growth,” Mr.
Cimperman said.
Physical and infrastructure
connections are important to the
neighborhood, but so are those
among businesses and nonprofits.
Natalie Leek-Nelson, president
and CEO of crisis nursery Providence
House, is heading an effort to
foster more collaboration among
nonprofits based in Ohio City. In
January, she said, several Ohio City
nonprofits began a program to reduce
their costs by jointly purchasing
office supplies. Next up could be
joint buys of informational technology
services and equipment as well as
janitorial and sanitation supplies.
“I think we’re just starting to see
what can be accomplished with a
more collaborative approach,” Ms.
Leek-Nelson said.
At play
Mr. Wobser is aware of the
importance not just of economic
development and infrastructure
issues, but also what might be
thought of as the “softer side” of
life in the neighborhood — parks,
festivals, sports leagues for children
and the like.
“These are the kinds of things
that make a big difference in how
people perceive the place they
live,” he said.
The park — the most visible and
heavily used public space within
the Market District — is getting a
$1.5 million makeover from the
city. The renovation incorporates
design ideas from Cleveland Public
Art and ParkWorks, and it will double
the amount of programmable
space in the park. Separately, RTA
is investing $80,000 to replace
outdated bus shelters in the park
with more modern facilities.
To make the neighborhood more
appealing to young families, Mr.
Wobser envisions the creation of
youth sports leagues in, say, baseball
and soccer. Ohio City families currently look to nearby suburbs for
those amenities, he said.
Mr. Cimperman, for one, thinks
of the neighborhood as “a potential
giant that’s just woken up.
“But we can’t lose sight of how
much work has to be done,” he said. ■
MARKET PLACE
Ohio Savings Bank Opening in 1901
Ohio City, West 25th Street
From the making and
“remaking” of Ohio City,
Ohio Savings Bank
will be here.
฀
฀
฀
฀ ฀
฀
Thank you Cleveland and Ohio City
for welcoming us to the neigborhood!
It has been a pleasure to serve you
over the past 6 months.
XXXDSPQCJTUSPDPNr$301
2537 Lorain Ave, Cleveland 44113
ROOM SERVICE
2078 West 25th Street
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 696-6220
R/S boutique offers Jewelry, Home Goods,
Gifts and we now carry Women’s Apparel in
addition to our popular Cleveland-centric tshirts and gifts for Men and Women. R/S also
plays host to the MADE IN THE 216 event every
holiday season.
Have a retail business or business idea?
We want you to be a part of the Ohio City Market District!
Win up to $20,000 to open or grow your business in the Ohio City Market District
by applying for the Charter One Growing Communities
2012 Ohio City Market District Small Business Development Grant Competition.
Visit www.ohiocity.org for RFP and details
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