University Circle

1,000 New Homes Campaign


 
UCI’s Planning and Real Estate Department is working on several historic, new urban, and mixed-use housing projects. Their role includes site planning, market analyses, land acquisitions, and providing overall project development oversight to ensure that all development within the Circle serves the best interests of the entire community.
 
Greater Circle Living
In June 2008, UCI, joined by the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation and the Cleveland Foundation, created an incentive program designed to attract new homebuyers and renters to live in Greater University Circle and to inspire existing homeowners to make improvements. The program is funded by Case, Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland Foundation, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Judson at University Circle, The Kent H. Smith Charitable Trust, the Surdna Foundation and University Hospitals. In the first year and a half of the program, Greater Circle Living successfully awarded 14 Circle employees with down payment assistance to purchase a home in the Greater Circle area, in addition to 3 set to close by the end of November, 14 employees were approved for a matching home improvement grant to their existing home, and 8 employees received 1 month’s rental assistance to move into the Greater Circle.
 
Uptown
Developer Z&M Triangle Partners, LLC opened its sales office in spring, 2009, and will begin phase one of the Uptown Project in spring, 2010, which consists of 100 apartments and 56k square-feet of retail space, including a Barnes & Noble bookstore, a pharmacy, and restaurants. 
 
Wade Park Townhomes
UCI sold land on E. 118th street to pave the way for a housing development by The Doan Brook Company. The currently occupied five up-scale townhomes represent the first single-family home construction in University Circle in 50 years.

Circle 118 Townhomes
New housing construction is in progress at Euclid Avenue and East 118th Street on land previously owned by UCI. Jim Wymer and WXZ Development are building 17 modern townhomes that make use of sustainable materials while offering luxury standards. Phase one of the project is now complete.

27 Coltman
Construction is underway in the Little Italy neighborhood on a 27-unit townhome project called 27 Coltman. Developer Andrew Brickman has broken ground on two phases, with Phase 1 scheduled for occupancy in late 2009.
 
Circle East
UCI is collaborating with Community Housing Solutions to develop more than 100 for-sale homes and 50,000 square feet of commercial/retail along Euclid Avenue and near Lakeview Avenue. This public/private initiative has key support from the cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland, the Cleveland Foundation, and Cuyahoga County. The Circle East initiative is positioned to become a model-mixed use development and the first major “next-mile” expansion opportunity for University Circle.
 
commodore Place
UCI raised more than $9 million in public and private funding needed to refinance and renovate Commodore Place, formerly the Commodore Hotel, a 1920s, 12-story apartment building with 198 apartment units and street-level retail located at Ford Drive and Euclid Avenue. Construction began in spring, 2009 and will be fully complete by spring, 2010. Improvements include a new storefronts system, entranceways, awnings, lighting, windows, and masonry restoration, in addition to improved residential living and energy efficiencies.
  
Park Lane Villa
Park Lane Villa, a 1923 Beaux Arts hotel renovated for residential use by the Finch Group, City Architecture, and Marous Brothers Construction, was opened for business last year and is already 90 percent occupied. Park Lane Villa boasts 96 luxury apartments as well as upscale amenities including courtyards, enclosed and surface parking, a full service concierge, a fitness center, a gaming and billiards room, and an historic grand ballroom. Park Lane Villa attracts a mix of healthcare and business professionals, higher education students, professors, performing artists, and international residents. Park Lane Villa became UCI’s first “UCI Partner” in 2007, paying for police, marketing, and maintenance services.

Chester 82
Vintage Development, LLC is developing thirty-four new townhomes and lofts on the former Madonna Hall Nursing Home site in Hough, on Chester Avenue between East 82nd and 81st Streets. A project of this scale will be the first of its kind on the north side of Chester.

Upper Chester
City Architecture, The Finch Group, and Heartland Developers proposed the development of 400 new homes and retail along Chester Avenue and side streets running north to Hough Avenue. Master planning and a demand study for mixed-use options are underway.