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News You Can Use
Asher family, Rhode Island developer
plan major Warehouse District
project
by
Michelle Jarboe/Plain Dealer
Reporter
Friday March 20, 2009, 8:16 AM
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A hotel, office buildings,
condominiums, apartments and
restaurants could sprout from
Warehouse District parking lots
under a plan being crafted by a
local family and a large,
out-of-state developer.
Weston Inc., a Warrensville Heights
development company run by the Asher
family, has formed a partnership to
remake the property with Gilbane
Development Co. of Providence, R.I.
On Thursday, the companies provided
a glimpse of their plans for more
than 7 acres bounded by West Third
and West Sixth streets and Superior
and St. Clair avenues.
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Download graphic detailing
the
proposed development
(PDF) |
That land, much of which the Ashers
own, is part of the site where Bob
Stark long hoped to build stores,
homes and offices. Last fall, Stark
dropped his plans after the Ashers
refused to extend his options to buy
their land. The Ashers said they
would tackle a project of their own
through Weston's growing development
arm.
At the time, Weston disclosed few
details. On Thursday, Weston and
Gilbane announced their 50-50
partnership at a downtown event and
shared preliminary designs for a
project that eventually could grow
to include 700,000 square feet of
offices, 2,400 garage-parking spots,
a 150-room hotel, 250 condos, 150
apartments and roughly 100,000
square feet of restaurants and
entertainment spots.
THE DEVELOPERS
Weston
• Founded in 1972 and long
focused on buying and
redeveloping industrial
properties. The Asher family,
which runs Weston, owns parking
lots in Cleveland's Warehouse
District.
• Corporate offices are in
Warrensville Heights and it
employs about 40 people in
several states.
• It has total assets worth
about $280 million, with
properties comprising
approximately 12 million square
feet. Recently has expanded to
Nevada, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Texas.
• Launched Weston Development
Co. last year, with plans for
$500 million in development in
five years.
Gilbane Development
•Based in Providence, R.I., with
offices across the country. It's
a subsidiary of Gilbane Inc., a
family-owned company with annual
revenues topping $2.5 billion
and more than 2,100 employees.
•Has tackled residential and
commercial projects, including
the Limited Brands' headquarters
in Columbus. Many projects
involve large tenants and
public-private financing deals.
•The Gilbane family's Gilbane
Building Co. has offices in
Cleveland and has worked on many
Ohio projects, including
buildings for Cleveland State
University and Case Western
Reserve University and the
expansion and renovation of the
Cleveland Museum of Art.
Months of questions about the future
of the Warehouse District site led
to the announcement, Weston
President James Asher said. The
developers also are hoping to catch
the eye of a handful of large
downtown office tenants who are
considering new space. Real estate
brokers estimate that tenants
occupying roughly 500,000 square
feet, including a few major law
firms, have leases that expire
within the next few years.
"If we didn't feel as strongly as we
did about these prospects that are
in the marketplace, those tenants
that are in the marketplace, then we
wouldn't be announcing this now,"
Asher said in an interview.
He would not elaborate on
conversations with tenants. Weston
and Gilbane refused to share details
about the timeline or financing
sources for the project, though the
developers said they have discussed
it with the city of Cleveland,
Cuyahoga County and the state.
Financing and timing are key issues,
as developments are sidelined in
downtown Cleveland and across the
country. Spending on commercial real
estate construction plummeted in the
final months of last year, and
lenders are reluctant to take the
risk of financing big-budget
projects.
In downtown Cleveland, the credit
crisis has stalled the Flats East
Bank redevelopment, cast a shroud of
silence over an office building
proposal on Public Square and
delayed the sale and renovation of
the former Ameritrust complex at
East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue.
Despite that, and despite
projections that the commercial real
estate slump could last into 2011,
this might be the right time to be
floating development plans, said
Stephen Blank, a senior fellow with
the Urban Land Institute.
"One could argue that if you're
going to plant some seeds, now is
the time to plant them," said Blank,
who tracks real estate industry
trends for ULI, a trade group based
in Washington, D.C.
"It's going to take time to do
planning, to get approvals, so
they've got a lot to do. They're
going to put up a lot of capital to
get themselves organized, but what
better time than when you can't go
forward?"
Weston's partnership with Gilbane
brings a much larger player into the
project -- one with extensive
experience with large developments,
many involving a mix of public
subsidies and private financing.
"Two family-owned companies with
similar objectives and values seemed
to be a good alliance," said Russell
Broderick, senior development
manager for Gilbane. "We've made a
lot of progress in terms of planning
the project. We're going to continue
to investigate tenants, financing
and how the project is best phased."
Construction probably would start
with parking and offices at Superior
and West Sixth. A 12- to 14-story
office building there would perch
atop a parking garage but have a
ground-floor lobby. To the north,
across Frankfort Avenue, would be a
smaller office building. Based on
demand from tenants, another parking
garage and office building could
rise at Superior and West Third.
Street-front restaurants and
entertainment spots would line
Frankfort, which could be blocked
off for festivals and events. A
third parking garage, topped by a
hotel and homes, could sit at St.
Clair and West Third.
Weston's current plans show a small
hotel surrounded by condos and
apartments, but the developers could
build a larger hotel and fewer homes
if a new convention center and a
medical mart move forward a few
blocks away, on the site of the
existing Cleveland Convention
Center.
The project is smaller and much less
focused on retail than Stark's
proposals, which over the years
included department stores and
national specialty retailers. Stark
never started construction.
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