Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog

Eaton Corp. moved about 700 employees into its new 53-acre campus in the Beachwood portion of the Chagrin Highlands. Its 600,000-square-foot building cost an estimated $170 million and replaces the company's former headquarters in downtown Cleveland. The City of Beachwood expects to gain $600,000 to $850,000 in annual payroll tax revenue.

General Growth Partners, the owner of Beachwood Place, would like to rezone 11 parcels along Richmond Road from residential to retail. The rezoning could be the first step in an expansion of the mall, but the company hasn't presented any plans. The mall was last renovated in 2007.

In North Olmsted, Westfield Great Northern officials announced plans for a 55,000-square-foot expansion that includes a 10-screen movie theater, three new restaurants, and a new main entrance. They're scheduled to open in December.

In Parma, the redevelopment plans for Parmatown Mall include the construction of six outbuildings along West Ridgewood Drive.

Update: the work at Parmatown Mall will include the demolition of the Dick's Sporting Goods store and the former Macy's store. A Sun News editorial said it "seems real progress is being made".

Update 2: Demolition is underway at Great Northern.

Developers broke ground on a 135-room Aloft Hotel in the Beachwood portion of the Chagrin Highlands, near Ahuja Medical Center and the new Eaton headquarters. The $12 million building is scheduled to open in fall 2013 as the area's second Aloft Hotel, after the one in the Flats east bank project.

The American Planning Association named Shaker Boulevard as one of its great streets for 2012, saying that the 6.75-mile stretch in Cleveland, Shaker Heights, and Beachwood "remains proof of planning's lasting value." The organization celebrates quality places each year through its Great Places in America program, and named the West Side Market as one of the nation's great public spaces in 2008.

Local residential projects in the news:

• Developers of the planned Commerce Park Apartments at Chagrin Boulevard and Green Road are seeking final approval of their plans from Beachwood officials.
• The K&D Group is proceeding with its plans to convert the Hanna Building to 102 apartments. Funding for the downtown Cleveland project includes a $7 million federal New Markets Tax Credit allocation.
• A ribbon-cutting celebration was held for the first phase of the mixed-use Uptown development in University Circle.
• Construction of the Waverly Station townhouses is underway on Bridge Avenue in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Six of its 22 units were sold prior to groundbreaking. Case Development is offering a $5,000 credit to purchasers who agree to volunteer in the neighborhood.
• The City of Cleveland Heights and developer the Orlean Company continue to develop plans for a mixed-use building at the intersection of Meadowbrook and Lee roads in the Cedar-Lee district.
• Developer Andrew Brickman of Abode Living proposed building luxury townhouses on the site of Mandley-Vetrovsky Funeral Home in Fairview Park. The Cleveland Metroparks hold an easement on a portion of the property.
• The Zaremba Group wants to build a 336-unit apartment project on the site of the former Locust Grove golf course at the intersection of Cedar and Lander roads in Mayfield Heights. An earlier residential development on the 14-acre site was abandoned in 2005.
• Solon residents have concerns about the proposed 13-house Neptune Oval Estates subdivision and its potential impact on flooding issues in the area. The project needs a permit from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to proceed.
• The Liberty Court development in South Euclid has been completed. It had been placed on hold in 2008.

The Beachwood Planning and Zoning Commission approved plans for a 70,000-square-foot Aloft Hotel in the Chagrin Highlands. The developer hopes to break ground for the four-story hotel in July and complete construction the following summer.

Beachwood City Council approved a rezoning for apartments on the current site of the Commerce Park I, II, and III office buildings.

Inside Business described how Tremco used green building techniques in a renovation of its headquarters building on Green Road in Beachwood. The company is seeking LEED Gold certification for the project.

Update: Fresh Water has more details.

Beachwood's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of a proposed commercial-to-residential rezoning of eight acres at Chagrin Boulevard and Green Road. The planned apartment complex is part of a larger effort to redevelop the Commerce Park area.

Beachwood leaders are considering a proposal to build a 340-unit apartment building on the site of the three Commerce Park office buildings at Chagrin Boulevard and Green Road. City Council recently referred the project to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The buildings were purchased in September for $4.1 million, and a study prepared for the City last year recommended reinvestment in the area. Meanwhile, a different developer is preparing plans for a 132-unit luxury apartment building near Beachwood Place.

Beachwood's economic development consultant team presented its Economic Development Action Plan (PDF) to City Council on October 10. The plan offers seven fundamentals for an economic development program and sets of recommendations in eight areas. One of the suggestions encourages the City to adopt a regional approach to economic development.

University Hospitals announced plans to build a $17 million rehabilitation hospital on Harvard Road near Green Road in Beachwood. The 50,000-square-foot project is a partnership with Centerre Healthcare Corporation of Nashville. Construction is scheduled to begin in October and finish in October 2012.

In their preliminary recommendations, economic development consultants for the City of Beachwood said that leaders should create a predictable incentives policy.

The City of Beachwood is reshaping its economic development efforts. City Council approved the hiring of a consultant team led by SZD Whiteboard to review its programs and hired Brad Sellers as an in-house adviser.

As University Hospitals opens its new $298 million Ahuja Medical Center in the Chagrin Highlands, the Plain Dealer looked at the hospital's evidence-based design features, usage of new technologies, and its attention to wellness and green building. The 53-acre campus features 144 patient rooms, and has space for two additional towers that could bring the total to 600 rooms. Steven Litt contrasted the hospital's advanced design and construction techniques with its automobile-oriented location in suburban Beachwood.

The City of Beachwood eliminated its economic department, and Economic Development Director Vince Adamus resigned. Municipal leaders are evaluating their options. Late last year, the City decided to close the Beachwood Business Development Center, which reopened as the Cleveland Heights Development Center earlier this month.

The $298 million Ahuja Medical Center at the Chagrin Highlands in Beachwood is scheduled to open early next year. The 144-bed facility is the first new hospital complex built in Cuyahoga County in 30 years.

As University Hospitals nears the completion of its Vision 2010 plan, the Plain Dealer examined the $1.2 billion expansion project. Its two largest components, the $298 million Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood and the $250 million cancer hospital in University Circle will open next year.

Eaton broke ground on its new headquarters campus at the Chagrin Highlands in Beachwood. The Jacobs Group intends to begin work at the site next week.

The Jacobs Group filed initial site plans for Eaton's planned campus in the Beachwood portion of the Chagrin Highlands. In addition to the 10-story headquarters building, the plans call for a five-story parking garage and a 59,000-square-foot fitness center.

Update: the Plain Dealer published more information about the proposal.

Eaton shared a rendering of the headquarters building for its planned 53-acre campus at the Chagrin Highlands in Beachwood. The company plans to begin building the 470,000-square-foot structure in early 2011.

Eaton Corp. closed on its purchase of 53 acres in the Beachwood portion of the Chagrin Highlands for its new headquarters campus. The price was not revealed.

Update: the Ohio Treasurer's Office issued $10 million in bonds for the project.

A $16 million gift from the Mandel family will fund the move of the Jewish Community Federation from downtown Cleveland to Beachwood.

The board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority unanimously voted to issue up to $150 million in bonds to enable the move of Eaton Corp. from downtown Cleveland to Beachwood.

Eaton Corp. shared initial plans for its new headquarters at a Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority meeting yesterday. The plans include a 470,000-square-foot headquarters building and 220,400-square-foot parking garage. Eaton wants the Port Authority to agree to a complicated financing deal that would enable the company to move from downtown Cleveland to a 53-acre campus in the Beachwood portion of the Chagrin Highlands.

The City of Beachwood will build a half-mile road for Eaton's planned new headquarters in the Chagrin Highlands. Half of the funding for Spectrum Parkway West will come from a state grant.

Beachwood officials intend to make the Commerce Park area more attractive to biomedical businesses.

A topping out ceremony was held on Thursday for the University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center, under construction on 53 acres in the Beachwood portion of the Chagrin Highlands. The facility is part of the hospital's Vision 2010 strategic plan.

Beachwood City Council, Eaton Corp., and two school districts agreed to a 30-year tax increment financing package for the company's planned new headquarters in the Chagrin Highlands. The State of Ohio has already committed $71 million in tax breaks and loans to facilitate the company's move from downtown Cleveland.

Update: The Plain Dealer reports that the combined incentives are worth more than $90 million.

Eaton is reluctant to move to the Flats because the nine acre site on the east bank is too small for the campus the company intends to build. Mayor Jackson said that the City did all it could to keep the company's headquarters in downtown Cleveland, but a Plain Dealer analysis notes that Jackson's emphasis on regionalism left him with little room to protest a move to Beachwood. The City and Port Authority are looking at other development options for the Waterfront loop property.

In a statement (PDF) released today, Eaton Corp. revealed that a location in the Chagrin Highlands is the leading candidate for the company's new headquarters. A site in the Flats east bank development was previously thought to be the most likely location. Mayor Jackson said that while he is disappointed, he respects the decision.

Update: a Plain Dealer editorial says that Cleveland leaders must attempt to keep the company downtown. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier spoke with Frank Jackson about the news.

The Jewish Community Federation's Building Committee will recommend moving the agency's headquarters from downtown Cleveland to Beachwood, while maintaining an undefined presence in downtown Cleveland. A Plain Dealer editorial says the the headquarters should remain downtown. The full board is scheduled to vote on the move this afternoon.

Update: the board of trustees voted to move the offices to Beachwood.

Leaders of the Jewish Community Federation appear to favor moving its headquarters to Beachwood, despite advocacy for the existing downtown Cleveland location.

Supporters of a downtown headquarters for the Jewish Community Federation proposed an expansion its downtown offices into a campus as an alternative to the proposal to move the headquarters to Beachwood.

A pair of Downtown Dialogues were held on Wednesday and Thursday evenings about "the future of Jewish life downtown" and the "priorities for reaching that vision." The Jewish Community Federation is contemplating a move from its downtown Cleveland headquarters to Beachwood, an option opposed by an ad hoc group of Jewish citizens. Steven Litt also feels that its headquarters should remain downtown.

Beachwood City Council approved plans for a 113,000 square foot Life Time Fitness Center at Spectrum Parkway and Richmond Road in the Chagrin Highlands. Construction is expected to begin within one or two months.

The Cleveland Clinic continues to appeal a 2005 ruling of the Ohio Tax Commissioner which declared that the Clinic's Cedar Road facility in Beachwood is not exempt from local property taxes. The case is expected to eventually go before the Ohio Supreme Court.

This afternoon, University Hospitals broke ground on the Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood. The project's first phase, a 144 bed hospital, should be finished in 2010. When completed, the hospital will have 600 beds.

Fuchs Mizrachi School will move from University Heights to a 10 acre site on Shaker Boulevard in Beachwood. Beachwood City Council approved preliminary site plans for the new school.

Yesterday, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners approved two $20,000 grants to create Innovation Zones in Beachwood and Mayfield Village.

The first buildings in the planned University Hospitals Chagrin Highlands medical center in Beachwood could open as early as next year.

(Update: The Sun Press provides more information. It will be named the Ahuja Medical Center to recognize a $30 million gift from Monte Ahuja.)

The Cleveland Clinic's purchase of office space on Science Park Drive in Beachwood may lead to another dispute with the Beachwood City Schools over whether the properties are exempt from property taxes.