The Vibe Apartments Set to Rise in Ohio City at Old Cleveland Vibrator Site

This article is originally from Crain’s Cleveland Business published February 21, 2025.

Following the demolition of the former Cleveland Vibrator building, a new residential development, The Vibe Apartments, is ready to take shape in the Hingetown section of Ohio City.

A pair of apartment buildings currently named The Vibe will take over the 1.68-acre lot at 2828 Clinton Avenue, with the hope of being finished 18 months after breaking ground, according to Jon Pinney, Managing Partner of TurnDev.

TurnDev is the Project Developer, and Vocon is the Designer and Architect, but no construction partner has been selected yet.

Pinney said demolition is now complete, and they will proceed with finalizing construction drawings to obtain a permit. The hope is to break ground in late 2025. 

TurnDev acquired the property for an undisclosed price in 2022 from Joe Kubic, CEO of the Adcom Group, who acquired it with the plans of potentially building a facility or headquarters for Adcom, Pinney said. Prior to that, according to property records, the property was purchased for $3 million in 2019.

The 175,455-square-foot project will consist of two apartment buildings — the Clinton House and the Hanover House — which will house 212 total units and boast 223 parking spaces. Those parking spots will be roughly split between a basement garage and a ground-level garage. 

There are no finalized price points for the apartments, but Pinney said it would be on the higher end due to land costs, construction costs, and the quality of construction.

The budget for the project was not disclosed, but Pinney said it is “substantial.”

“Hingetown is an amazing neighborhood and this is, I think, one of the larger remaining sites in all of Ohio City, particularly in Hingetown,” Pinney said. “And it really deserves a very nice product that will hopefully add on to the efforts of prior developers (that) put so much time and energy into developing the community.”  

The names for the two buildings are “legacy names,” Pinney said.

The Clinton House consists of five floors and 94 units, with 76 being one bedroom and 18 being two bedrooms. The one-bedroom apartments will range from 642 square feet to 768 square feet while the two-bedrooms will range from 1,026 square feet to 1,248 square feet.

The Hanover House consists of six floors and 118 beds with 88 being one bedroom and 30 being two bedrooms. One-bedroom units will range from 616 square feet to 783 square feet while the two-bedroom units will range from 951 square feet to 1,332 square feet.

The first-floor units are walkouts in both buildings.

While the amenities will be comparable in the buildings, Pinney said that the architectural differences create different amenities. For example, one of the buildings will have roof terraces while the other building will have more traditional balconies.

The Hanover House will have a more “modern flair” while the Clinton House will feature more of a “traditional brick style” that is closer to the existing residential homes, Pinney said.

“We’ve received feedback on brick color and other aesthetic issues, and we’re still working through that, and no final selections have been made,” he said. “But we’re mindful of people’s desire to integrate a building like this into the neighborhood.

When it came to deciding the number of floors per building, Pinney said, “It was our effort to transition into the neighborhood by stepping it down,” taking into account feedback from the city and surrounding residents.

TurnDev has also taken feedback from the community regarding other aspects and has had multiple meetings as well.

“We tried to tailor the design to take that into account, particularly from a parking standpoint to make sure that we’re not creating more parking congestion in the neighborhood,” Pinney said. “And also from a density standpoint, we think that we balanced it properly.”