Cleveland Clinic Plans to Expand Brunswick Facility

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

The Cleveland Clinic plans to expand its medical building at 3574 Center Road in Brunswick. The city’s planning commission approved preliminary site plans on March 7. Another review will take place on April 4. The clinic will then present more detailed site plans, including renderings of the building.

The non-profit academic medical center will move forward with the $20 million expansion project at its Brunswick Family Health Center later this year, according to The Brunswick Post. It will add 40,500 square feet to the 34,000-square-foot facility, more than doubling its size.

Plans call for a 24,000-square-foot, 24-hour emergency department, 16,500 square feet of medical office space on the building’s second floor, a rooftop helicopter pad and additional parking. The helicopter pad will not be used as a heliport, a place where helicopters are stored and refueled; it will only be a stop. The clinic’s helicopters will continue to be based at the Burke Lakefront Airport. Officials expect to use them once or twice a week at most.

The Cleveland Clinic has purchased land just south of the Brunswick Family Health Center, across Parschen Boulevard, to use as parking for its employees. It will add 73 new spaces in 2014, when the emergency room is expected to open, and another 90 spaces once the new third-floor offices are completed, sometime in the next three years. When construction is finished, the Brunswick Family Health Center will have a total of 354 parking spaces.

Cleveland Clinic officials will return before the planning commission on April 4. Once the commission has approved the more detailed plans, they will need to be reviewed by the Brunswick City Council. The expansion is expected to provide 60 new high-paying jobs to the city.

Photo credits: Cleveland Clinic

Port Authority to Issue $90M in Bonds to Pay for New Cuyahoga County HQ

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s board of directors voted during its meeting on March 14 to sell as much as $90 million in bonds to finance Cuyahoga County’s new headquarters. The project is expected to revitalize one of downtown Cleveland’s older business districts and provide an anchor for surrounding mixed-use redevelopment.

Earlier this year, Geis Cos., a real estate developer and construction company based in Streetsboro, acquired the Ameritrust complex from the Cuyahoga County Council for $27 million. The company will construct an eight-story, 222,000-square-foot government headquarters building on a 0.72-acre portion of the property at East Ninth Street and Prospect Avenue and then lease it to the county.

Geis Cos. will not only construct but also manage the headquarters, which will belong to the Port Authority, as part of the bond deal. Cuyahoga County will lease the property until 2040. At the end of the lease term, it has the option to buy the building from the Port Authority for $1.

The Port Authority will issue the bonds in the weeks to come. The financing only applies to the headquarters building. The complex includes the Cleveland Trust Rotunda, Ameritrust Tower, 1010 Euclid Ave., the so-called “P and H” buildings and a parking garage with 1,050 spaces. Geis Cos. plans to turn them into apartments, retail space, offices and a hotel.

The Streetsboro-based developer will raze the “P and H” buildings to construct the new headquarters. Geis Cos. expects to deliver it by July 2014.

At the same meeting, the Port Authority board also approved the sale of 1906 E. 40th St. to Charter Stone Capital L.L.C. for $2 million. Currently leased to I Can Schools, the building was once home to Myers University and later to Chancellor University. Proceeds will help support the port’s 2013 capital program.

Photo credits: Google Maps.

Beachwood Hotel Rebranded as DoubleTree by Hilton

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

DoubleTree by Hilton and Twin Tier Hospitality L.L.C. announced last week they will reopen the Hilton Cleveland East Beachwood hotel as a DoubleTree by Hilton on March 11. The rebranding marks the pinnacle of a four-year hotel renovation.

The property transformation started with the renovation of the 404 guest rooms. It will continue, after the March re-opening, with upgrades to the front desk and lobby areas, and a new restaurant and lounge concept that will be unveiled later this year. Also, a new general manager, Robert Trammell, and new director of sales and marketing, Brenda Goodnight, joined the hotel’s experienced management team.

The Hilton Cleveland East Beachwood will become the DoubleTree by Hilton Cleveland East – Beachwood. It is located in Cleveland’s Beachwood suburb, just 25 minutes from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and close to many attractions such as the Great Lakes Science Center, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Ohio’s top tourist attraction, Amish Country.

DoubleTree by Hilton Cleveland East – Beachwood offers its guests 16,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and can accommodate groups of as many as 800. Amenities include indoor and outdoor pools, a 24-hour fitness center, a 24-hour business center and complimentary WiFi.

“This hotel’s convenient Beachwood location and long-standing reputation with business and leisure travelers in the area make it a perfect addition to the DoubleTree by Hilton family,” said John Greenleaf, global head of DoubleTree by Hilton, in a statement. “We are happy to play a key role in this tremendous transformation, and bring guests in this market a truly rewarding travel experience.”

Charts courtesy of Marcus&Millichap.

Photo credits: DoubleTree by Hilton.

Lakewood Center North Sells for $3.4M

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Lakewood Center North, the tallest office building in Cleveland’s second-largest suburb, was purchased by a local investor group led by commercial real estate broker and investor Brad Kowit. According to Cuyahoga County records, the transaction priced at $3.4 million.

The 15-story structure is located at 14600 Detroit Ave. It was constructed in 1974 and comprises more than 258,000 square feet of offices and retail space. Its amenities include a full-service restaurant, a fitness center, a conference facility and a sundry shop.

In recent years, the building saw its value drop dramatically. Lakewood Center North was acquired in late 2006 by a German real estate fund for $14.4 million. Now, the 258,000-square-foot building sits almost half empty, having lost several tenants in recent years. Among those tenants that left Lakewood Center North is the United Transportation Union, a labor union that represents railroad, bus and public-transit workers. When it moved to its new North Olmsted location, the labor union took 175 jobs with it.

Lakewood Center North’s future is uncertain at the moment. The new owners haven’t released any information about what they have planned for the building. It could be redeveloped as a hotel or a residential building. Or it could remain an office building, as recent reports say office vacancy in Greater Cleveland is dropping.

A report released by CBRE for the fourth quarter of 2012 shows a decreasing office vacancy rate in the area, from 20.2 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 19.9 percent at the end of the year. Vacancy in the Central Business District was at 18.4 percent, the same as in the previous quarter, while the suburban market experienced a drop to 21.3 percent.

Charts courtesy of CBRE.

University Hospitals to Start Two New Construction Projects in Cleveland Area

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

University Hospitals is busy at work in the Greater Cleveland area. It plans to bring a medical office building and a full-service outpatient center to Euclid and Solon, respectively.

Earlier this month, UH announced its plans to transform an existing 20,000-square-foot office building located on the northeast corner of Solon and SOM Center roads, in Solon, into a full-service outpatient center. It will be named the UH Solon Health Center.

Work on the project is scheduled to start in April. The facility will offer its patients at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital comprehensive pediatrics, internal medicine, allergy/immunology, dermatology, sports medicine, pulmonary and behavioral health, as well as advanced laboratory and radiology services.

“The new UH Solon Health Center enables us to bring the most frequently needed healthcare services closer to Solon residents,” said Michael Nochomovitz, M.D., president of UH Physician Services, in a statement for the press. “Additionally, a patient’s care at UH Solon Health Center will be fully integrated and coordinated with the expert care provided throughout the University Hospitals health system, including nearby UH Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood.”

According to a report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, UH is also investing in a new medical office building in Euclid, at Lake Shore Boulevard. The new structure will go up adjacent to UH’s current building at E. 185th Street and Lake Shore Boulevard. It should be finished within 14 months.

At 24,000 square feet, the new facility will be about a third the size of the current building. It will, however, have a more efficient and modern design and will offer patients primary care services, pediatrics, podiatry, cardiology, urology and ophthalmology, among other services.

Moody Nolan is the project’s architect. Once it is complete, UH will tear down the  current three-story medical office building and turn it into parking. Various local officials have expressed their hopes that UH will sell the land to the Cleveland Clinic for potential future expansion, as Cleveland Clinic’s 371-bed Euclid Hospital is located just next door. UH and the Cleveland Clinic are the two largest healthcare systems in the region — and are major competitors.

Photo credits: Google Maps