A Shaker Heights developer is quietly lining up a major mixed-use apartment project just steps from the Cleveland Clinic's main campus, setting the stage for what could be one of Fairfax's most closely watched new builds.
On March 5, Silver Hills Development Inc. filed an incomplete construction application with the city for a project currently listed as Silver Hills at Euclid Bell Tower. The development would rise on the long-vacant lot beside the historic St. Agnes bell tower and the shuttered CVS at Euclid Avenue and East 79th Street.
As first reported by NEOtrans, the city entry pegs the address as "0 Euclid Ave" and names Shaker Heights-based Silver Hills Development Inc. as the applicant. The permit is marked incomplete and offers few public details, though the report notes the parcel currently includes the St. Agnes bell tower and a transmitter tower owned by Good Karma Broadcasting, the parent company of ESPN Cleveland's WKNR.
Silver Hills describes itself as a vertically integrated multifamily developer with projects in several states, with Cleveland listed as one of its active markets. A new complex on this long-idle site would fall squarely in line with the firm's track record of mid-sized apartment developments in regional cities.
The real curveball sits right next door. The adjoining CVS property at 8000 Euclid Ave, roughly 1.74 acres of retail land, is listed for $2,000,000 by Trinity Real Estate. At the same time, Cushman & Wakefield is marketing the former pharmacy’s lease for sublease. In practical terms, that means the corner could stay retail for quite a while unless the owner or current leaseholder decides to sell or cut a deal.
The St. Agnes bell tower, looming over the site, adds another layer of complexity. The structure, which dates to 1916, is a city-designated landmark, according to the Cleveland Planning Commission’s official list of landmarks. Any serious redevelopment plan will have to treat it as a preservation priority, not just a backdrop.
What zoning could mean
Euclid Avenue is not a blank slate. City rules for the corridor are designed to keep sidewalks busy and storefronts active, with a Pedestrian Retail Overlay that encourages ground-floor retail and a near-continuous building wall along the street. Those expectations are laid out in planning documents for the Euclid/Carnegie corridor and typically steer projects toward mixed-use designs with housing stacked above street-level commercial space.
Fairfax neighborhood leaders say they were not in the loop until the filing surfaced publicly. Denise VanLeer, executive director of Fairfax Renaissance Development Corp., told NEOtrans, "Don’t have any answers for you as we just learned of this proposed project yesterday."
For now, the city’s construction entry remains incomplete, which means there is no formal site plan, public design package, or review schedule on the table. If Silver Hills moves forward, it will have to navigate landmark protections for the bell tower, existing lease arrangements for the CVS parcel, and Fairfax’s expectations for Euclid Avenue as it seeks city approvals.
