Housing demand remains high in University Circle, and Circle Square is ready to meet it. The neighborhood’s newest skyscraper, the 24-story East Stokes building, could break ground as soon as spring of next year, according to a presentation at a recent Cleveland Planning Commission meeting. Rents in the new building are expected to go for about $3.50 to $4 per square foot, or about $2,000 per month for a 500-square-foot, one bedroom apartment.
It’s all part of the larger Circle Square project, which opened with the 24-story Artisan building in 2023 and was later followed by the nine-story Library Lofts in 2024. The entire complex will ultimately include some 1,000 apartments. Circle Square aims to create a walkable urban center on upper Chester Avenue, an area roughly bounded by Chester to the north, Euclid to the south, Stokes to the east and E. 105th St. to the west.
“It’s amazing how much you guys have done so fast,” said Lillian Kuri, chair of the Cleveland Planning Commission, at a recent meeting where the final design was approved. “And how all the vision and hopes for it, you’re delivering on. It’s extraordinary what’s changed in such a short span of time.”
Elise Yablonsky, Chief Place Management Officer with University Circle Inc., said the new skyscraper helps achieve goals for the area, which now has about 6,500 residents. “For decades, we have been working to increase the vitality of University Circle through increasing residential density,” she said in an email. “Within the planning process, we’ve heard calls for increased housing options, additional retail, and more walkable environments, all of which this development is advancing.”
Yablonsky noted that the project is across the street from an affordable senior housing complex, and that the density of the project will also support new retail as well as transit-oriented lifestyles.
The glass-walled Stokes East building will occupy about half a block on Chester between Stokes Blvd. and MLK Jr. Dr. It will feature 281 apartments, and there will also be 17,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor as well as a 300-space parking garage. The units will range from about 600 square feet to about 2,400 square feet, slightly larger than the nearby Artisan building.
Pricing has not yet been released, but if similar to the Artisan, it will be about $3.50 to $4 per square foot. This is slightly higher than other newer University Circle buildings, which are priced more like $3 per square foot, including Innova and Skyline on Stokes. However, it’s comparable to One University Circle, the luxury apartment building across the street. The Artisan building is 90 percent occupied, according to a leasing agent who recently gave Scene an in-person tour.
Amenities that are slated for the Stokes East building include a rooftop space with a hot tub, cold plunge pool, swimming pool, patios, grills and firepits. The nearby Artisan building also features a golf simulator, dog wash, package delivery area, coworking space, workout room, entertainment room, and more, and it’s expected that the amenities at the Stokes East building will be similar.
It hasn’t yet been determined what type of retail will be built there. “The type of retail we’ve always advocated for at this location is a combination of food and amenity retail,” said developer Steve Rubin with Midwest Development Partners. “A bank branch, a dry cleaner, day to day errands that you want to do, along with at least one bistro type restaurant and some ethnic foods.”
With the new Meijer grocery store located nearby, plans to add a grocery store have been scuttled, and the developers are looking for a new anchor tenant for the project.
Rubin told the planning commission that the intention with the Stokes East project is to make the units slightly larger than those at the Artisan and the nearby Library Lofts, so that the products don’t compete with each other. “This is a passion project for us,” Rubin said. “We’re looking forward to when all the connective tissue is in place and people cannot just walk but sit and have a cup of coffee with someone.”
The developers are shooting for a spring 2026 or 2027 start date, contingent on financing for the project.
According to an April 2025 report from Rent Cafe, Cleveland is the 40th hottest rental market in the U.S. right now., with an average 93.1% occupancy rate, up from 92.9% in 2024. The average rent in Cleveland is $1,543, a 2.37% increase from a year ago. While Tremont, Ohio City and downtown are all considered relatively expensive neighborhoods. University Circle is definitely the priciest, with an average rent of $2,189 per month compared with Tremont’s $2,010 per month.
According to Rent Cafe, Cleveland is the most expensive urban rental housing market in Ohio, with an average monthly rent of $1,543 compared with $1,340 in Columbus and $1,452 in Cincy.
Chuck Schulman, president of Carlyle Management, a third party property management company that manages some 14,000 units across Northeast Ohio, said University Circle’s success shows there’s demand for luxury housing in this area – and it’s not quite done yet.
“It’s keeping people in the area,” he said of the Circle Square project. “People working at the university or at the hospitals aren’t going outside the geographic area because there are nicer places to live in.” As far as the higher prices go, Schulman said people are willing to pay top dollar to live in University Circle. “It’s pulling people in from the inner ring or secondary suburbs, because there’s new products available in the city where they want to live. They have alternatives. You don’t have to leave the area to go shopping or get a cup of coffee.”
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