Occupancy rates of newly opened downtown office-to-apartment conversions

The most recent residential offerings in Downtown Cleveland are getting snapped up by renters hungry to experience urban living. This red-hot market is running between 96-98% leased and developers can't produce enough units. Here's a roundup of what's been happening.

Residences at 1717

Formerly known as:
The East Ohio Gas Building

Construction started:
September 11, 2013

Construction finished:
March 2015 (estimated)

Rents: $1.25 per square foot

Lease-up rate: 65% (as of August 26, 2014)

Read more here. 

"The 9"

Formerly known as: The Ameritrust Tower

Construction started: February, 2013

Construction finished: September, 2014

Rent: $2.00 per square foot

Lease-up rate: 90% (as of September 4, 2014)

A Marriott signature hotel property will partially occupy the tower, alongside apartments, a movie theatre, several restaurants and an indoor dog park. Includes the historic and stunningly appointed Cleveland Trust Rotunda, which is slated to become a Heinen's upscale grocery store.

Read more here.

Wall Street Journal gives some love to C-town

The City of Cleveland has been fortunate enough to bask in the sunlight of the coming of the RNC and the return of Lebron James.

It seems that the latest maelstrom of events have managed to catch the all-seeing eye of the Wall Street Journal, always on the lookout for new investment opportunities. And what a comeback it's been...

http://online.wsj.com/articles/just-in-time-for-lebron-downtown-cleveland-stages-a-comeback-1409242880

Hipsters battling to rent warehouse lofts. Trendy bars, espresso shops and music venues. A funky, celebrity-chef-owned restaurant serving bone marrow and crispy pig ears.

This isn't Brooklyn or Portland. It is downtown Cleveland. Nicknamed the "Mistake on the Lake," the much-maligned city on the shore of Lake Erie has long had a reputation for crime, pollution and corruption. Over the years, Cleveland's downtown became almost a ghost town at night.

Now, Cleveland's fortunes seem to be turning around. LeBron is headed home! The 2016 Republican National Convention is coming! The Browns nabbed quarterback Johnny Manziel in the draft! There is lots of exuberance and chest thumping in Cleveland, accompanied by lofty predictions of the positive economic impacts of these events.

Read more here.