RMS’ Van Aken District to become ‘downtown’ of Shaker Heights | Real Estate
A busy intersection in Shaker Heights is being transformed through the redevelopment of the Warrensville-Van Aken business district.
The former Van Aken Center will connect with nearby Shaker Plaza to create the Van Aken District, a new downtown and community-gathering place for the city.
Phase one of the $97.2 million project, under construction near the intersection of Warrensville Center Road and Van Aken and Chagrin boulevards, is due to be completed next summer.
“There really has been nothing like this in Shaker Heights,” said Jack Bialosky Jr., senior and managing principal of Bialosky Cleveland, the architectural firm responsible for planning the project and designing most of the buildings in phase one. “It’s a mixed-use, urban development which will really provide public space for the community, all organized around a central triangular park.
“It’s going to be a place where the community can come, shop, dine and recreate. It will be a beautifully scaled, contained space, and it’s going to be a very walkable environment.”
The old Van Aken Center, which was developed in the 1950s, was demolished late last year to make room for the Van Aken District, which will feature five new buildings. The project includes 140,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 64,000 square feet of office space and 103 apartments.
“We’re building an urban environment in the suburbs,” said Luke Palmisano, president of the real estate branch of RMS Investment Corp., the developer of the project.
RMS, which has an office in Shaker Heights, is the private investment manager for members of the Ratner, Miller and Shafran families, the founding families of Cleveland-based Forest City Realty Trust Inc. RMS and Forest City are separate entities.
“Through our partnership with the city of Shaker Heights, we (RMS) control 18 acres, which we feel is more than enough to ensure that we’re going to create this downtown gathering place, not only for Shaker Heights but for all of Northeast Ohio,” Palmisano said.
Shaker Heights Mayor Earl Leiken said there’s a “tremendous level of excitement” in the city about the project. He said that enthusiasm has been reflected through a series of beer garden events – featuring food trucks, retail vendors, beer and entertainment – on the site the past three summers that have been “extraordinarily well attended.”
“There is a commercial, retail and residential component, and it will be a wonderful gathering place for our residents, for employees of businesses and others,” Leiken said.
“What the whole development will accomplish is to make the community even more attractive than it was for residents and businesses. It will increase the tax base, both income taxes and property taxes, and enhance the value of the surrounding residential properties.”
Idea introduced in 2000
The idea of reconfiguring the Warrensville-Van Aken-Chagrin intersection, and developing a mixed-use downtown with improved pedestrian and transit connections, was introduced in 2000, according to a project timeline on the Shaker Heights website. But a reconstruction plan was not finalized until 2008.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have RMS as the developer,” Leiken said. “They’ve acquired the shopping center across the street, Shaker Plaza, and they will connect the two so it will be one big district.”
RMS is renovating the 64,000-square-foot Shaker Plaza shopping center, an
$11.5 million investment that is part of the nearly $100 million phase-one total.
“A new north-south street will run from Farnsleigh (Road) to Chagrin,” Palmisano said. “It will be like a small, downtown main street, a two-lane street with parking on both sides.
“We want this new street to be fully integrated into the community, easily accessible whether you’re walking, riding your bike or in a car. We’re trying to build a connected gathering place for the community, so that when you arrive here, you feel like you’re arriving at an extension of Shaker.”
Bialosky said it’s a transportation-oriented design, with RTA lines coming through the site, along with a lot of automobile traffic.
“What will be different is it will be primarily a pedestrian-oriented space, even though it’s an intermodal hub,” he said. “It’s designed for people to walk safely and hang out; they won’t feel like they’re being overwhelmed by rapids, buses or cars.”
The plan also includes a 325-car parking garage for restaurants, retail and offices; 81 spaces of underground parking below the apartment building; 77 parallel parking spaces on the street; and another few hundred surface spaces throughout the district, Palmisano said.
The apartment and office buildings will be five and three stories, respectively, with retail on the first floor of both structures, he said.
“The architecture is really trying to be mindful of the history of Shaker Heights, but it’s very much forward looking,” Bialosky said. “It’s designed for the next century, not for the last one.”
‘Market hall’ a highlight
An artisanal food hall – the first of its kind in Northeast Ohio, according to Palmisano – will occupy another building.
“We like to call it a market hall, because it’s more than just food,” Palmisano said. “It has elements of a food court, but it also has elements of a bookstore or a coffee shop.”
Leiken added, “It’s a concept that exists in other cities around the country, like Chicago and San Francisco.”
Jonathon Sawyer, an award-winning local chef and owner of The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, will curate the district’s menu and open a restaurant of his own on the site.
“As developers, we’re not restaurateurs, and we wanted some help and advice in putting together a great mix,” Palmisano said. “So Jonathon is introducing us to other like-minded chefs who will create this really great food destination.”
One of those chefs is Michael Schwartz, who is bringing his Harry’s Pizzeria concept from Miami. Other restaurants are to be announced, Palmisano said.
The first Shinola store in Ohio will anchor the market hall building, Palmisano said. Based in Detroit, Shinola specializes in luxury watches, bicycles and leather goods.
Cleveland-based Mitchell’s Ice Cream, which has its flagship store in Ohio City, will have a freestanding shop in the district.
“It’s not just another shopping center, it’s a neighborhood,” said Mike Mitchell, co-owner of Mitchell’s Ice Cream, in a video on a website for the project, thevanakendistrict.com. “It’s a place where people will get together and go out to eat, they’ll congregate, there will be entertainment, they’ll do some shopping, they’ll work there and they’ll live nearby.”
Other retail tenants that have committed, Palmisano said, include Rising Star Coffee Roasters; Restore Cold Pressed juice; Andrews Colour Atelier, a hair salon; GrooveRyde, a boutique fitness studio; Whiskey Grade and Evie Lou, clothing stores; and Eddy’s Barbershop.
Grocery store in phase two
The Fresh Market closed its Van Aken Center store last summer and will not return as part of the new district, Palmisano said. He added that another grocery store, not yet named, will likely be part of the project’s phase two, slated to include more apartments and office space.
RMS’ target dates are to open the office building June 1, 2018, the retail component July 1 and the apartments Aug. 1, Palmisano said. About 80 percent of the office space for phase one has been leased, he said.
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority will issue up to $60 million in taxable bonds that will help pay for construction of the apartments, offices, retail and structured parking. PNC Bank will purchase the bonds tied to the apartment buildings, and foreign investors are expected to buy the bonds tied to the other buildings.
RMS is contributing $20.4 million in cash equity and land value. Shaker Heights is supplying a $6.2 million grant that is expected to be repaid mostly by the new income tax generated by the project. The rest of the money will come from state grants and county loans.
Turner Construction Co., based in New York with an office in Cleveland, and Marous Brothers Construction, based in Willoughby, are the construction managers.
“We want this to be an irresistible, vibrant place for the community to gather, and we hope this place is here for the next 100 years,” Palmisano said. “The way we’re developing it, it can evolve over time.
“We want the best of local tenants. We know 10 years from now the tenant mix could be completely different, but our buildings are flexible enough to evolve over time with those tenants.”
Ed Wittenberg is a freelance writer from Cleveland Heights.
Ed Wittenberg is a freelance writer from Cleveland Heights.
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