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2/19/2010
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$1.50/FEBRUARY 22 - 28, 2010
Vol. 31, No. 8
Forest City eyes Pepper Pike change
INSIDE Downtown coming alive The East Fourth Street area’s momentum is spreading as shops and eateries, such as Crepes De Luxe (below), have popped up along Euclid and Prospect avenues. Page 3
Pricey suburb resisting request to include modest townhouses in high-end subdivision By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
In the hope that less may prove more after the collapse of the newhome market, Forest City Enterprises Inc. wants the tony enclave of Pepper Pike to authorize a change in plans for the townhouse portion of the plush Sterling Lakes subdivision so that Pulte Homes could build modestly priced units there.
Pepper Pike officials want Forest City to stay the course and offer townhouses costing upwards of $400,000. The Cleveland-based megadeveloper instead hopes to clear the way for units in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, low for new construction by the standards of the pricey East Side suburb. Authorization of the change would allow Forest City’s land unit to sell the sites to Pulte, a national
builder with the financial resources to undertake such a project, something that has eluded local builders. Tom Gerber, project manager for Sterling Lakes at Forest City, said his company recently put part of the nearly 13-acre site under contract to Pulte but needs the change OK’d by the city within the next half-year to close the transaction. Pepper Pike Mayor Bruce Akers recently polled the suburb’s City Council and found too little support for proceeding with a revision of the city’s development agreement with Forest City for Sterling Lakes, which consists of single-family homes and
PLAYING THE WAITING GAME Manufacturers deal with unusually long lead times in obtaining steel, while facing more demand from customers to fulfill orders By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com
townhouses. “It’s up to (Forest City) to propose suitable changes,” Mayor Akers said. A frustrated Mr. Gerber said city officials “just don’t understand” the need for the revision in light of changes in the housing market since 2005, when the subdivision was begun after three years of planning. “Do they think we will sit and wait for the economy to come back?” Mr. Gerber asked. “We will have to come up with something else. We don’t know what.” Forest City clearly confronts a dilemma. While single-family home See CHANGE Page 6
Possible sewer district fee has property owners abuzz By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
Commercial property owners in parts of Cuyahoga, Lorain and Summit counties are beginning to realize that they may have a new cost of doing business on their hands, and some of them aren’t happy about it. The property owners, through attorney Sheldon Berns, are watching two lawsuits in area common pleas courts and are questioning a new fee for what is called storm water management. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is seeking to impose the fee on property owners in 50 communities in Cuyahoga County and 11 towns in Lorain and Summit counties. Mr. Berns said his clients might file a motion to intervene in a Cuyahoga County lawsuit initiated by the sewer district. There, the district is asking the court to grant it the right to manage storm water and to impose a user fee to cover the cost of mitigating storm water runoff. Mr. Berns would not identify his clients by name but said they include apartment complex owners, office building developers and shopping centers. He argues in a 2 ½-page memorandum to his clients that money to manage storm water problems should be provided by a tax approved
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ome Northeast Ohio manufacturers have discovered a new precious metal — steel. It’s becoming more expensive, takes longer to get and, in some cases, is even tough to find, manufacturing executives say. “The lead times on steel are driving the lead times on manufacturing generally,” said Chris DiSantis, president of Cleveland-based Hawk Corp., which sells clutch and brake materials and fabricated components that include steel as an ingredient. “We’re hand-to-mouth on steel of certain grades,” Mr. DiSantis said. At times, he said, plants must wait for steel before they can produce certain items, and production runs end when the supply of steel is used up. Mr. DiSantis is far from alone. See STEEL Page 4
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HEALTH CARE Those employed in demanding fields are more susceptible to mental health problems ■ Page 13 PLUS: PRIVACY INTRUSIONS ■ ADVISER ■ & MORE
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