Crain's Cleveland Business

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6/15/2012

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$2.00/JUNE 18 - 24, 2012

Buyers in the market for condos Lower interest rates, job growth foster townhome sales By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com

Both newer condominium properties and well-established townhouse communities are seeing something they haven’t seen for a long time: buyers, and lots of them. The oversupply of condos and townhouses that resulted from last decade’s housing boom and subsequent recession gradually is reversing

Next up for Horseshoe: Keep them coming back By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com

With the opening crush of business behind them, the managers of the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland on Public Square now can turn to the real work of casino operators. “Our business is marketing,” said Marcus Glover, senior vice president and general manager of the casino, in a telephone interview. He was referring to the critical effort gaming companies make to keep gamblers — especially the affluent ones — comGlover ing back and, as important, not spreading their business around to other casino operators. The Horseshoe casino’s top executive would not say how much the casino will spend to attract this business. However, industry sources say it’s common for a casino to plow back an amount equal to about onefifth of its gross revenue into keeping the customers coming. “As a percentage of gaming revenue (a casino) will probably spend 20% to 22% of that on the total marketing

itself. Consider Stonebridge Plaza, a 108-unit condo complex in Cleveland’s Flats that opened in 2007. After selling 40 units that year, developer K&D Group began renting the empties when the housing market tanked and promptly filled the glass-walled building, at 1237 Washington St. Now, David Sharkey, vice president of the Progressive Urban Real

INSIDE:

Stalled Avenue Tower condos could become rental properties. Page 3

Estate brokerage, which markets Stonebridge, said the developer is pulling about five units from the rental market, renovating them, and offering them for sale as condos once more. Mr. Sharkey said Stonebridge has closed four condo sales so far this

year “and we have six more pending.” “We went from no one looking at a condo for purchase to people scrambling for them,” said Mr. Sharkey, who noted that condo sales at Stonebridge already are past last year’s levels. Mr. Sharkey is not alone in observing the uptick. Last year, WXZ Development of Fairview Park acquired Beachcliff Row, a dead-in-the-water townhouse project in Rocky River, from its lender. WXZ has sold four townhouses in the last 13 months

INSIDE Prime real estate deal sparks intrigue Lakewood Country Club on June 8 sold about 10 acres of tree-laden property, located near the future headquarters of American Greetings, in Westlake. Witness names in investor documents match those of some AG executives. PAGE 6.

See CONDOS Page 6

A BOOST FROM BONES BUSINESS Researchers, companies build on area’s orthopedics expertise By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com

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ortheast Ohio must be drinking its milk, because the region’s orthopedics industry is growing up to be big and strong. Experts say the surge in activity in the field, which focuses on the study of the human musculoskeletal system, is due largely to the melding of the region’s expertise in advanced materials and health care. See BONES Page 18

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY A sampling of Northeast Ohio companies focusing on the orthopedics industry: ■ APTO Orthopedics, Akron ■ AxioMed Spine Corp., Garfield Heights ■ RSB Spine LLC, Cleveland ■ OrthoHelix Surgical Designs Inc., Medina ■ Integra LifeSciences, Medina (spinal implant unit)

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See HORSESHOE Page 18

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SPECIAL SECTION

EDUCATION Northeast Ohio’s prep and parochial school teachers are in a good place ■ Page 11 PLUS: FINANCIAL AID NEEDS ■ GRADUATE SNAPSHOTS ■ & MORE

Entire contents © 2012 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 33, No. 24


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