shakersquare

CLEVELAND, Ohio — As the “visioning” plan for a revitalized Shaker Square comes down the home stretch, owners and consultants hope to capitalize on the landmark’s built-in competitive advantage.

It starts with the “good bones” the original visionaries laid out nearly a century ago.

That includes a transit hub surrounded by four quadrants of quality commercial space in the middle of densely diverse residential neighborhoods.

“You can’t build something like this place today, with these kinds of buildings,” said Tania Menesse, CEO and president of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP), one of the non-profit owners of the historic square.

CLEVELAND — Courtney Laves-Mearini moved her dance studio to Shaker Square in 2007.

Since then, she’s seen the ups – and the downs.

A recession and a pandemic. A foreclosure and receivership at one of the nation’s oldest shopping centers. A rescue effort led by two local nonprofits – with substantial help from the city – to keep an East Side landmark from being auctioned to the highest bidder.

“We’ve adapted through all the changes,” said Laves-Mearini, who is wrapping up an expansion at her business, Cleveland City Dance.

Change is coming to Shaker Square. On Thursday, the public got a first look at what those changes might mean to the nearly 100-year-old shopping center in Cleveland near the Shaker Heights border.

“The community has spoken — authenticity is Shaker Square’s key asset,” said Tania Menesse, CEO of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, a nonprofit that co-owns the shopping center with Burten, Bell, Carr Development, a neighborhood development organization.

The owners have been collecting public input on the project for months. The first Shaker Square consensus-building event took place in May. About 200 people attended. Feedback included a desire for additional security, local business support, safe crossings and walkways for pedestrians, more programming and a space for artists, according to the Shaker Square Vision Project.

One of the central messages organizers have received in collecting feedback on the square’s future, including survey results from nearly 500 people, is that the public doesn’t want the square reinvented, Menesse said. It wants it relaunched.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Going back to its opening 95 years ago, Shaker Square could be considered “the original transit-oriented development.”

That historical perspective came last week from the City of Cleveland’s chief integrated development officer, Jeff Epstein, during the observance of the landmark’s second anniversary under local nonprofit ownership.

Growing up in Shaker Heights, Epstein has his share of lifetime memories of visiting the square.

So does Tania Menesse, president and CEO of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP), co-owners of Shaker Square with Burten Bell Carr Development Inc. (BBC).

It’s been two years since the nonprofits Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Burten, Bell, Carr Development purchased the east side shopping center Shaker Square to prevent an out-of-state buyer from swooping in.

Why it matters: The owners this week unveiled more than $5 million in recent investments, paid for with both public and private dollars, that have helped retain Dave’s Market as an anchor tenant, attracted a new coffee shop and positioned the retail hub for future purchase.

Flashback: The nonprofits secured a $12 million loan from the City of Cleveland to acquire Shaker Square after its foreclosure in 2020.

The goal was to “stabilize and reposition” on a five-year timeline, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress CEO and president Tania Menesse tells Axios, and to find an eventual buyer who would work in partnership with local stakeholders.
Driving the news: Dave’s Market has agreed to a six-year lease extension, with options to renew.

It’s getting $350,000 from the City of Cleveland and the Square’s nonprofit owners for renovations as part of the deal.
Plus: Melissa Garrett, who owns and operates UnBar Cafe in Larchmere, is set to open a new space — Cafe Indigo — in the former Dewey’s Coffee location in November.

She said at a press conference Monday that it will offer coffee, ice cream and sandwiches.

On a recent Thursday afternoon, there was a cacophony of sounds emanating from Shaker Square. Construction workers in neon vests were smoothing out freshly-paved road. Leafblowers worked down the block from contractors to clear weeds. Painters ran their white brushes up and down cracked facades.

“It’s kind of like puzzle piece matching,” says Michael Price, a contractor with Capretta who was shaping wood trim to match the aesthetic of the square’s original. Price looked at a sill. “Some of this is 100 years old. It’s really stood the test of time.”

This Whitman-esque orchestra of machinery is proof that, since this past spring, Shaker Square’s new owners and operators are working to reshape Cleveland’s oldest outdoor shopping district as an appealing place for 21st century, post-pandemic shoppers.

But even more so, to fashion the octagon of retail off Shaker Boulevard as a safe bet for developers and new tenants eager to buy into such vision–even as inflation, high interest rates and competition with Amazon continues to loom.

That hard belief—that a modernized Shaker Square is necessary—is what drove Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Burten, Bell, Carr to buy the square from its previous owner, Coral Co., for $11 million in August 2022.