Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle Inc., publicly announced two important UCI decisions at a November 30th forum sponsored by FutureHeights, a citizens-planning organization in Cleveland Heights.

Early in his presentation to an audience of almost 100 at the Cleveland Heights University-Heights Public Library main branch Mr. Ronayne presented a photo of more than a block-long open parking lot on Euclid Ave. between Ford Dr. and E. 115th St. known as "The Beach."

He declared, "There has been 30 years of nothingness on 'The Beach!'" Then he revealed Zaremba Homes joining MRN Limited Partnership, who signed on months ago, as the developers for The Beach and The Triangle across the street at the Euclid Ave.-Mayfield Rd. corner. The Triange commercial and residential complex was recently purchased by Case Western Reserve University. Both developers of the eight-acre area are headquartered in downtown Cleveland.

Later he announced that on November 17th, University Hospitals had made a gift to UCI of the historic Cozad-Bates House at Mayfield Rd. and E. 115th St. for restoration to some community use. See more about this below.

They call it a 'Mega-building'

On the development front, Ronayne spoke of erecting a 200 unit residential mixed use complex on The Beach. From an image he showed, it is apparently similar in design to a plan presented in 2004 by UCI for that site. As in the previous proposal, a new Barnes & Noble Bookstore, (after moving from its current location at nearby Case Thwing student center), would serve as the retail anchor. Ronayne mentioned including "some owner occupied" units, which is a change from the 2004 all-rental plan. This addresses a 2004 neighborhood request to add homeowners to the plan.

"We want to start construction during the first quarter of '08," Ronayne announced. For some months now, Case has been pursuing a second developer for its recently purchased Triangle property (at the corner of Euclid Ave. and Mayfield Rd. across Euclid from "The Beach"). Zaremba replaces Mesirow-Stein Financial, a Chicago developer which backed out of the project last summer citing, "adverse market influences", according to Plain Dealer articles on June 2nd and Aug. 5th.

Where do University Circle residents fit in?

Ronayne's announcement may rekindle a decades-long struggle over developing The Beach. It surprised two in attendance who represented Hessler Rd. property owners.

After the talk, Lee A. Chilcote, an attorney who represents several Hessler Road property owners said, "This is the first I heard of this proposal. Apparently it is the same large-scale style plan that UCI pushed in 2004."

"This is the first I heard of this proposal," called out Andi Schmidt from the back of the audience during the question and answer period. Ms. Schmidt, an officer in the Hessler Housing Co-op, lives in one of several owner-occupied properties on Hessler Rd. which abut The Beach.

Through email after the talk she said, "I thought this 'announcement' of signing with developers regarding The Beach was an important fact that was casually slipped into this marketing promo. It would have been better form had he let someone on Hessler know prior to announcing it elsewhere. Ronayne's approach makes me wonder if he planned on letting us know at all?"

The first that Hessler residents heard about that proposal was in a January 24, 2004 Plain Dealer article titled "New life for University Circle Apartments, retail proposed for land near Case," when the proposal was called "College Town." In a cheerleading tone the story said that construction would begin the following summer. The College Town proposal brought a stream of "uncomfortable" meetings where institution officials repeatedly offered the same proposal over and over, while Hessler neighbors continued to recount their objections. No construction started that summer. Ronayne attended two of these meetings.

After the realization that something like only 25 percent of the market for retail at that intersection might be college students, the moniker for the project was changed from College Town to the University Arts and Retail District (UARD).

The same old neighborhood fears

"This announcement brings back shades of how the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, (currently under construction at the corner of Bellflower Rd. and Hessler Ct.), was forced down our throats," said Ms. Schmidt. Ironically this center for nonprofit organizations is being built on the site of the former Hessler Community Garden at "Harmony Park." (While the garden and many trees have been removed from the old Harmony Park, the Mandel Center is planned to have a small "Green Roof!")

"They [Case] pretended to have substantive community meetings after the building had been designed and contracts let," said Schmidt. "It was too late to change much other than the traffic pattern on Hessler Court. For years the wrong impression has been given to foundations that UCI and Case are community friendly, when historically, there have been very few times when they listened to the Hessler neighborhood residents. It is said that there is a saying among some in the institutions, 'Yes, Hessler is a great neighborhood. It's just in the wrong place.'"

The Mandel Center is one of numerous land-use proposals made during a history of bitter institution-neighborhood confrontations that started in the 1960s. Unlike many of the proposals made in the Hessler neighborhood area, this one is being built. During the FutureHeights presentation, Ronayne took an expressly non-cheer leading tone and acknowledged the neighbors' concern. Showing a photograph of the design of the Mandel building, he said, "The Mandel Center was designed without a lot of oversight and without a lot of community input."

Design Review District legislation for the Circle may be enacted by spring 2007

The proposed Design Review District (DRD) legislation has been approved by the Cleveland Planning Commission on Nov. 17th and by one Cleveland City Council committee on Nov. 20th. The legislation must pass through two more committees and three hearings in front of Council before a vote of the whole council. According to Bob Brown, the Cleveland planning director, the legislation may be enacted in February or March 2007.

DRD is supposed to provide for early input from residents before a proposal is too far along to easily change. Ronayne said that the developers intend to have a community planning charrette for the UARD areas of the Triangle and The Beach.

What to do with the saved Cozad-Bates House?

While the future of the latest proposal for The Beach is in question, the University Hospitals' gift of the Cozad-Bates House to University Circle Inc. brings potential resolution to a three-year-long citizen-institution confrontation.

"We are seeking counsel on immediate stabilization needs of the Cozad-Bates house from the Cleveland Restoration Society," said Ronayne. "CRS along with a group called Restore Cleveland Hope were early advocates for the preservation of the house."

Joan Southgate, founder of Restore Cleveland Hope, got her Masters in social work in 1954 from what is now known as the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

"We know that the Cozad family were abolitionists," she said of the first owners of the Cozad-Bates House.

The three-year-old Restore Cleveland Hope started with six members and now has a mailing list of several hundred.

"We want it to be an educational center about the Underground Railroad which existed before the Civil War in homes of a number of prominent Clevelanders in University Circle," she said. "The educational center will need to make money. The recent history of some small museums in Cleveland shows that it can't be a museum."

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The photographs in the top bannor were taken at the 2004 and 2005 Hessler Street Fairs and were provided by the
Hessler Street Fair Committee of the Hessler Neighborhood Association.
Photographers:
Far Left: Silvana Manocchio | 2nd from Left: John Richards | Center Left: John Harmon
Center Right: Greg Uterhark | 2nd from Right: John Harmon | Far Right: Pat Winfield

The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the
Hessler Neighborhood Association or any other organization.

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This page last updated on 2006/12/05 11:20 p.m. EST