CLEVELAND, Ohio –– After numerous stops and starts, the much-anticipated nuCLEus project in downtown Cleveland is again moving forward, but this time in a scaled-down version.

New renderings for the project planned for the city’s Gateway District were filed with the city late Thursday afternoon.

Gone is the 54-story tower that would have ranked among the city’s tallest buildings.

Instead, developer Stark Enterprises of Cleveland, with joint-venture partner J-Dek Investments Ltd. of Solon, is proposing a pair of 24-story towers, one about 40 feet taller than the other, that would sit atop a six-floor parking garage. Below the parking garage, on the ground floor, would be 80,000 square feet of retail space, with a pedestrian laneway between the two buildings.

The new nuCLEus design includes a ground-floor pedestrian laneway connecting the two buildings. Developer Stark Enterprises says the concept is a nod to Cleveland's famous arcades. (Stark Enterprises)Stark Enterprises

The makeup of the project has changed, too, with 400,000 square feet of office space, twice the amount originally planned, and 250 residential units, half the number included in earlier plans. Initial plans included a hotel, designed as a horizontal structure bisecting the residential tower and connecting it to an office building. A hotel is no longer included.

“The project changed for two reasons, first to be in line with the changing demands of the market, and second, to be at a size where the project can move forward using only public subsidies that are supported by incremental tax revenues generated by the project,” said Ezra Stark, Stark Enterprises chief operating officer.

The estimated price tag is also scaled down, from more than $500 million to closer to $300 million. It is not clear at this time how Stark will adjust original financing plans, if at all. Legislation related to the project’s financing will be submitted separately, at a later date.

The developer of the ambitious project said the design changes reflect how the downtown Cleveland market has shifted since the project was first proposed in 2014.

“Previously, when we were looking at nuCLEus, there weren’t as many residential units on the market. So the 250 units that we have can be supported by the market,” said Rebecca Hegyes, vice president of development at Stark. “We increased the office space because the need for Class A office space certainly increased, and I think a lot of that has to do with how many residential units have come on the market. More people are living downtown, [and] more companies [are] wanting to locate downtown.”

Research indicates the Class A, or premier, office market in the Central Business District has tightened in the past several years. About 15.4 percent of those office spaces were vacant in the fourth quarter of 2013; that rate dropped to 12.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018. Total availability of those spaces dropped from 17.6 percent to 15.8 percent over that time period, according to data from commercial real-estate firm Newmark Knight Frank.

Part the nuCLEus office tower, which now includes 400,000 square feet of office space, is an amenity space where office users can look down at Progressive Field from Huron Road. (Stark Enterprises)Stark Enterprises

And with a number of hotels opening downtown in the past few years, the nuCLEus developer determined the market would not support another hotel.

“I think it’s been designed to still be a transformational project in Cleveland, but to suit what the market will support, as well,” said Hegyes. “When nuCLEus was first conceptualized, it was really the beginning of that [trend of people moving downtown], whereas now, we’re five years down the road and Cleveland has really changed a lot. So I think this really supports the existing city as it is now, versus what it was.”

Stark would not discuss what retail tenants are in play. The developer had previously announced several tenants, including an entertainment venue operator and Shake Shack.

The anchor of the office component, Benesch law firm, is still part of the project, both Stark and Benesch confirmed. The firm, now headquartered in 200 Public Square, will take eight floors “in a long-term lease,” Hegyes said. Stark also plans to relocate its offices to a floor of nuCLEus.

Stark may include condominiums among the 250 residential units, but has not yet determined whether the market would support for-sale units.

The reconfigured nuCLEus design Stark Enterprises is proposing includes 250 residential units. This rendering depicts a penthouse with "a large open floor plan" and an "expansive outdoor terrace." (Stark Enterprises)Stark Enterprises

The updated design includes about the same number of parking spots – 1,300. The garage will start on the second floor. Given the abundance of surface parking lots downtown, Hegyes highlighted this as an appealing aspect of the project. The development site itself, which sits on 3 acres at the corner of East Fourth Street and Prospect Avenue, just north of Quicken Loans Arena, is mostly a large parking lot.

“That’s one of the most visible surface parking lots in Cleveland, and eliminating it, replacing it with more parking, but also with a program above … really provides such a transformational project for the city,” Hegyes said.

Stark hopes to start construction in August.

They must get several approvals from a city design-review committee and the City Planning Commission, beginning with approval of the schematic design submitted Thursday.

Shown here are residential balconies on East Fourth Street. (Stark Enterprises)Stark Enterprises

This rendering shows the developer's vision for Prospect Avenue, featuring an entrance to the office building's lobby. (Stark Enterprises)Stark Enterprises