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10/4/2013
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$2.00/OCTOBER 7 - 13, 2013
Home starts climb out of rut
INSIDE
Builders who survived worst market in decades find business picking up
Fast and furious ■ Randy Ross (above), president and CEO of Quality Synthetic Rubber Inc., and many auto suppliers rapidly are moving away from the downturn. PAGE 3 ■ Ben Venue closing has increased concerns about cancer drug Doxil’s future. PAGE 3
By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
The buzz is back in Northeast Ohio home building, at least for survivors of the recession and long housing downturn. Consider Tremont North, a fourtownhouse development built re-
cently in the Cleveland neighborhood of the same name. Some of the buzz is over the minimalist but colorful design. Some is over location, a site along alleys near the one-way Pelton Court at West 11th Street. But much is over the price, as the three units J-Roc Development LLC has transferred
to buyers sold for upwards of $350,000. Gossip is the remaining, prime corner unit with a patio view of downtown may top $400,000. There also is a new, privately built $1 million home a block away. From downtown Cleveland to far-flung suburbs, home building’s rebound has continued this year despite a rise in long-term — though still low — mortgage rates and a shortage of construction help. See HOME Page 6
A look at the number of single-family housing permits issued through the end of August 2013, and how the totals compare to the same period in 2012: Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor metropolitan statistical area Permits 1,530 Increase 22% Akron MSA Permits 340 Increase 11%
Corridor is leading to some anxiety
E-CIGS FIRE UP CONTROVERSY Device’s rise in popularity has many local companies trying to figure out how to handle their use
BUILDING MOMENTUM
INSIDE A look at the rise in total revenue of electronic cigarettes since 2007. It’s now an estimated $1.2 billion business. PAGE 8
By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com
Concern about eminent domain arises along path of $331M project By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
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harlie Lardomita has been an off-and-on smoker since he was about 16 years old. And while it’s only been two months since he lit up, the 38-year-old IT executive thinks this time he’s kicked the habit for good. Forget the patch or nicotine gum. Mr. Lardomita swears by his electronic cigarette, a device that could be described as the lovechild of RoboCop and Joe Camel. He has made believers — or “vapors” — out of a handful of his friends who’ve since dropped traditional smokes. He even has dreamt of opening a vapor lounge — a one-stop shop and haven for e-cig connoisseurs — near his home in Kirtland. See CIGS Page 8
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The specter of eminent domain is haunting Andrew Wright and other property owners along the planned Opportunity Corridor, a $331 million roadway that would connect Cleveland’s University Circle area with Interstate 490. Mr. Wright is general manager of Forge Products Co., a metalworking company along the corridor route that has been expanding. It added on to its offices and moved its machine shop, and then its shipping and receiving department, into a vacant building just north of its longtime home at 9503 Woodland Ave. At the time, it looked like the Opportunity Corridor wouldn’t come to fruition after a decade of talk. Now, though, that building is in the path of what would be an extension of Ohio Route 10. Like many buildings and homes in the neighborhood, it is more than 100 years old.
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See CORRIDOR Page 17
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SPECIAL SECTION
WHERE THE JOBS ARE In certain fields, employment opportunities will be plentiful in the years ahead ■ Pages 13-16 PLUS: PROFILES IN HIRING ■ FASTEST GROWING OCCUPATIONS
Entire contents © 2013 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 34, No. 40