CLEVELAND — A residential, retail and hotel project planned for the corner of West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue is making some adjustments after its initial presentation infant of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission.
The Plan
The presented project showed “Bridgeworks” planned for the former site of the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works garage and offices.
The public space directly on the corner remains, but the parking lot between the corner and St. Malachi would become retail space on the ground floor with residential apartments above it.
“We want to make a public landscape that is welcoming to those that use it now and those that will use it in the future,” said MASS Design Group’s Jonathan Evans.
That public space runs up to a historic subway entrance that could eventually grant pedestrians access to the old streetcar level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge.
“As we make decisions around the layout of the site, we want to allow that to happen,” said Evans, referring to allowing access to the bridge, even though it’s not part of the project.
The apartment building would have 170 units and would be 11 stories tall along West 25th Street.
Farther back off West 25th Street, the current County garage and offices would become a hotel, with 130 hotel rooms planned.
The Feedback
The Landmarks Commission and community groups raised concerns about a range of issues including parking, the streetscape on West 25th and connecting this new development to Lakeview Terrace, one of the first public housing projects in the United States.
Lakeview Terrace was already physically cut off from the rest of Ohio City by the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway extension west.
Landmarks Commission members asked developers to ensure that the finished development is accessible and welcoming for the residents at Lakeview Terrace.
The sidewalk along West 25th Street and turning the corner onto the Superior Viaduct was another sticking point.
LDA Architects President Dominick Durante told the Commission that they’re already working on rearranging the ground floor to make the sidewalk wider, maybe even shifting the lobby and retail space to make the area more inviting for pedestrians.
Another issue was parking.
Right now, the development plans to have two levels of parking within the structure with 150-170 spaces. An additional set of about 20 spaces along the Superior Viaduct.
While it meets the requirements of the Urban Overlay, Commission members were concerned that there would only be about one space per rental apartment with no additional parking considered for the hotel units. Developers responded that that they anticipate a valet service for the hotel might be able to alleviate some of those parking concerns.
At the same time, some residents around Cleveland took to social media to push back on the idea that projects like this in an already-densely packed area served by public transit should build in more parking.
These objections are so amazingly misguided.
— Jeff Sleasman 🔰 (@jeffsleasman) December 11, 2020
A higher number of units and a lower amount of parking is **exactly what is most desirable** for this site. pic.twitter.com/kzqq2zAqnr
Lake Avenue Feedback
You can give feedback on planned improvements to Lake Avenue between West 117th Street and Detroit Avenue.
The more than $3.5 million project is expected to be designed by March 2021 with construction starting next summer and wrapping up by November 2021.
The work will resurface the street, update sidewalks and curb ramps, while including additional upgrades for cyclists and pedestrians.
Lake Avenue between West 117th and Clifton Boulevard isn’t expected to change much, with current lane use and parking slated to stay in place.
Lake Avenue between Clifton Boulevard and Detroit could change much more, with painted bike lanes and pedestrian refuge islands.
You can view all the planned improvements here and provide your feedback here.
Pedestrian Improvement Public Comment
The city of Cleveland and the Ohio Department of Transportation are working together to bring pedestrian safety improvements to 62 locations across Cleveland.
You can see a full list and map of the improvements here.
To help navigate the acronyms on the map, Cleveland City Planning explains:
RRFB stands for rectangular rapid flashing beacon. These are the bright neon yellow flashers that have a pedestrian-activated push button at mid-block crosswalks to increase yielding behavior by drivers. The crosswalks aligned with the malls on Lakeside and St. Clair have RRFBs, as a local reference.
PHB stands for pedestrian hybrid beacon, also sometimes called a HAWK (High-intensity Activated Crosswalk beacon), and is made up of red-light flashers activated when a pedestrian pushes the button to cross the street. These are used in the same way as RRFBs, but are typically reserved for roadways with higher speeds and traffic volumes.
Public comment will be accepted through Dec. 30.
You can contact the City’s Project Engineer, Ron Mason, P.E., at (216) 664-3705 or through e-mail at rmason@city.cleveland.oh.us..
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