A New Tower in the Works for University Circle

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

In the hot Cleveland multifamily market, two developers are looking to build a new apartment tower. The project could be the first new high-rise apartment construction in the city since the 1970s.

Mitchell Schneider of First Interstate Properties and Sam Petros of Petros Development Corp. are the two developers behind the $112 million project called One University Circle. They first announced their plans last year, when they joined forces with University Circle Inc., a development, service and advocacy organization responsible for the growth of the University Circle neighborhood. At that time, the project called for the construction of a 28-story tower with about 280 units on the site of the Children’s Museum of Cleveland.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the two developers filed plans with the city this week for One University Circle. Some things have changed since last year but, although the tower will now only have 20 stories, it will still have the same number of apartments, most of which will be one and two-bedroom floor plans. There will also be some three-bedroom units, studios and even penthouses.

The Plain Dealer also reported that the project is scheduled to go before the city’s Planning Commission on Friday, September 4. If everything goes according to plan, the first apartments at One University Circle could open in October 2017.

In a recently released report for the third quarter of 2015, Marcus & Millichap said that apartment vacancies in the Cleveland area dropped to 3.5 percent at the end of Q2 and, in spite of the new construction, are expected to go down even more this year to 3.4 percent, one of the lowest levels in the country. As a result, average effective rents will rise to $830 per month, a 2.4 percent increase year over year. They will end the year more than 20 percent above the recession low seen in early 2009.

Photo credit: Marcus & Millichap