After years of talk the transformation of Cleveland's North Coast Harbor is moving forward. Developers presented to the city for design reviews their plans for a mixed-use building just north of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the site of a former skate park on the harbor.
Cumberland Development, which built the Nuevo Acapulco Mexican Restaurant which opened over the summer, is the developer of the project that will include retail and restaurants on the first floor and 16 apartments above. The high-end units would be two to three bedrooms with balconies and feature indoor parking.
"We are doing it piece by piece and we're learning from each piece, we learned from the restaurant and we're applying that in this next apartment building and we'll learn from that as we do retail," said Cumberland Real Estate Development President Dick Pace.
Cumberland initially proposed for the second floor to be used for office space but that likely would have required a deeper foundation that was almost impossible because the site sits around five feet above the water line.
Pace also says a third phase is also progressing that would include retail in an enclosed area between the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock Hall.
"That will be like our 5th Street Arcade but with one side open out to the Harbor so in the summer you can raise the garage doors and have cafe tables out on the boardwalk," said Pace. "That will probably come in about six months, we'll be ready to start that project so that's coming along as our third piece."
