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In this preliminary artist's rendering, Zack Bruell's next restaurant - Alley Cat - occupies a two-story glass atrium paired with a one-story main dining room. Positioned on a recently installed boardwalk on the eastern bank of the Cuyahoga River, the building will spill out onto a massive ground level patio adjacent to boat docking areas along the river. A rooftop seating area will also provide al fresco dining.

(The Wolstein Group and Fairmount Properties)

UPDATED 2 P.M. SATURDAY

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Zack Bruell has thrown his restaurant group's hat into the ring. A Bruell seafood restaurant will join the growing group of dining and nightlife destinations opening in Cleveland's Flats East Bank entertainment venue this year.

"We'll be calling it 'Alley Cat,' if all the copyrights check out," Bruell says.

Bruell's eighth restaurant, all in the city of Cleveland, will be in a new structure positioned directly on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River. According to preliminary artist's renderings - supplied to NEOMG on Friday afternoon and subject to further revisions, according to Bruell and his business partners - the building's footprint will combine a one-story dining area with a rooftop patio, coupled with a two-story atrium-style area that includes bar seating and private dining areas.

For the project, Bruell is teaming with the Wolstein Group, a partnership of Iris Wolstein and her son, Scott Wolstein, in conjunction with Fairmount Properties. Construction is about to begin and is expected to be completed for a June or July, 2015 opening.

"Every place I've ever gone into has been an existing structure," Bruell says. "I've never actually been involved in building a building -- I've done interiors."

In addition to five ZB fine dining restaurants -- Parallax, Table 45, L'Albatros, Chinato and Cowell & Hubbard -- Bruell also operates Dynomite (a casual burger spot on Playhouse Square) and Kafeteria (in the 200 Public Square building, the former BP Building in downtown Cleveland.

"It's pretty exciting. Very few restaurateurs get the chance to actually be involved in the planning of the space they'll occupy. Fairmount Properties and the Wolsteins wants this building to be the jewel of the development."

In addition to an unobstructed view of the waterfront -- the new restaurant will be positioned directly across the river from Shooters Waterfront Cafe, on the west bank of the Cuyahoga -- Bruell's latest spot will enjoy a prime location and amenities. Its main entrance will spill out onto an expansive ground-level patio, adjacent to the massive and recently installed boardwalk that spans thousands of feet along the river. Boaters will be able to dock along the bank to join the activity.

"The property line goes right up to the boardwalk," Bruell says. The side of the building fronting the river, he adds, will be able to open up.

"So it will literally be an open-air restaurant: Open kitchen. Open dining room. Opens onto the water. We're looking at, basically, a glass box on the river -- with amazing views."

Although square footage has not yet been determined, the restaurateur says he and his business partners are aiming for seating between 150 and 170 guests, not including upstairs and private dining.

Menu plans are not finalized, either.

"Obviously it's going to be a ZB restaurant, but it's going to be casual," Bruell says. What I want is a shore restaurant, something you'd see on one of the coasts -- Maryland, or North Carolina or Massachusetts."

Which implies seafood. Fish and shellfish are anything but inexpensive ingredients on any menu, Bruell admits.

"An emphasis on seafood is a hard thing to do when you're talking about low check averages," he says. "It could end up being the kind of place [where] you order different oysters by the piece, plus peel-and-eat shrimp, steamed mussels, oysters, half-shell clams. Plus pasta dishes and salads. And you've got to have meat; you've got to have vegan.

"My goal is to do a place that that sort of hits everybody. You've got to provide and satisfy a mainstream experience -- both in terms of the menu and the prices on the menu. I'm aiming for a place you could go and actually hang out. This is not going to be an expense account restaurant."

Bruell joins other restaurateurs and bar operators in the next phase of construction. Cleveland chef Steve Schimoler (Crop Bistro and Bar in Ohio City and Crop Kitchen in University Circle's Uptown development) is opening a trio of food venues -- including Crop Sticks and Crop Rocks -- on the street level of a 240-plus unit residential structure just east of Bruell's intended site.

Other venues in the works include Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, a chain of eateries from the country music star; Big Bang, a dueling grand-piano bar featuring comedians and other entertainers; The Beer Market, a 500-brew pub based in Chicago; and several other destinations, some of them from Northeast Ohio hospitality operators.

"We've made great progress," says Adam Fishman, a principal in Fairmount Properties. His partnership's goal, Fishman says, "is to create a one-of-a-kind waterfront live-work-shop-play experience."

The partnership's first phase of development in Flats East Bank, which launched summer 2013, includes the Aloft Cleveland Downtown Hotel and a trio of restaurants: Lago, The Willeyville, and Ken Stewart's East Bank.

"We're just so excited to be working with a chef like Zack Bruell on a world-class and fun destination," Fishman says. "To do that from the perspective of a dining experience with the best local experts we have -- frankly, we consider Zack a culinary icon in Northeast Ohio -- that's even more cool."