tedders55

Are you sure it is the Zinc space and not the former Caddyshack place? Zinc has seemed to do pretty well in that spot. Additionally from Dim and Dem Sum's facebook page they stated there would be plenty of FREE parking. I know that 668 has a garage from the Euclid side, but I don't think it is free.

They were in the sunken PNC plaza off Vincent this past summer, hopefully they will move over to Perk as I think that will be a much better venue.

I think there is a raised portion, or it is designed to look like their other stations, on the Northeast quad.

As an addition, they are now adding brackets for the aforementioned LED (or some type of display) boards. It wasn't all up when I walked by this morning, but looked like enough to stretch from Logo to Logo. It will be nice to see that spot completely finished.

The Cincinnati aquarium is the closest, and even then it is 250 miles away. That should mean that Cleveland is able to bring in Nothern Ohio, some of Detroit area (they may go to Chicago for Shedd), and Pitsburgh. Columbus will be a toss up. That is a pretty big catchment area. If Phase 2 is completed, and according to their press release when construction started 9ish months ago it started then, I think there would be a significant increase in size. Phase 1 is 70,000 sq ft. and cost $33M. Phase 2 (as of the press release) was set to cost $40M. The Newport Aquarium is 100,000 sq ft. I would say if the size and exhibits can match or exceed that space then we may be able to draw people from Southern Ohio as well. From the Press Release: "Design work for the $40 million Phase 2 of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium has begun and includes a series of glass atriums along the Cuyahoga River with exhibits that educate visitors about “Rivers and Oceans of the World”. Phase 2 will also honor major events in Cleveland’s history, including Moses Cleaveland’s landing in the Flats, the birth of Industry in Cleveland, the start of the Environmental movement in the United States and Cleveland’s renaissance in the 1980’s." http://blog.downtowncleveland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/greater-cleveland-aquarium-press-release.pdf

Sort of but those smaller properties do not mean much until we have a true Convention sized property within 5 blocks (5 blocks loosely translates into ¼ mile) of the CC itself. Also, I've been watching Kimpton releases and nothing is confirmed, which makes me suspicious. Well I'm not surprised kimpton hasn't confirmed anything. Right now I don't think the building as a whole is a done deal. Close and probably 90ish % a done deal, but not completely. How many CC sized hotels opened at the same time as a new CC? Because to be honest that is what this is, a brand new CC. It may therefore be difficult to project demand. If the demand isn't there (hopefully it is) then obviously nothing will get built. Many like the Hilton Houston Americas; the Marriott Philadelphia; Hyatt McCormick Place; the JW Marriott & Ritz-Carlton in LA opened in conjunction* with new CC's. *or shortly before or after Well then I say MTS needs to go cozy up to Conrad Hilton and get this deal done.

Sort of but those smaller properties do not mean much until we have a true Convention sized property within 5 blocks (5 blocks loosely translates into ¼ mile) of the CC itself. Also, I've been watching Kimpton releases and nothing is confirmed, which makes me suspicious. Well I'm not surprised kimpton hasn't confirmed anything. Right now I don't think the building as a whole is a done deal. Close and probably 90ish % a done deal, but not completely. How many CC sized hotels opened at the same time as a new CC? Because to be honest that is what this is, a brand new CC. It may therefore be difficult to project demand. If the demand isn't there (hopefully it is) then obviously nothing will get built.

Sure we have a mix of brands, pretty much everyone's low end flag. Except Marriot. We have low end, as you said but we don't have a mix from a consumer stand point. In Cleveland (downtown specifically) if you're a Marriott loyalist, you can do ok. Granted we don't have JW Marriott or Marriott Marquis. If I'm Starwood (W, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin [speak as of today]) I'm screwed! We're missing a lot of brands from a business traveler perspective, convention host perspective and leisure traveler perspective. If I'm a Hilton person where am I going to stay? The Garden Inn, Embassy Suites or Double Tree. We have no full service Hilton, Conrad or Waldorf=Astoria. We have above average Whyndham. If I want an InterContinental Brand I can only stay in UC. What about?: Best Western (the largest operator of hotels in the world) Choice privileges Fairmont Omni Pennisula Swissotel Mandarin Four Seasons Loews Kimpton I know listing the others is a stretch, but we don't even have the majors covered. If I'm a corporate planner I'm going to first look at Hilton, Starwood, Marriott & Hyatt (Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt, ) since they are the major players. We don't have brand diversity. If I'm a planner with people coming from all parts of just the States, Cleveland doesn't even get a look because we don't have the portfolio. PERIOD. If I'm a leisure traveler, let say gay. We don't have any brands that are target gay friendly such as the W (huge gay target audience), Westin [as of today], Andaz [launched to compete with the W], or Palomar. If I'm a 30 something leisure traveler who is in Cleveland for Business and wants to extend my stay (solo or so my family can join me), I can't stay and use points for a night/additional nights at a Westin, Park or Grand Hyatt, Conrad, Sofitel, Loews. Nor an urban Hilton, Sheraton, Raddison or Marriott. We get screwed. The city needs to start building hotels or renovation building and turning them into hotels today! If we don't redoing the Convention Center will be a waste! Very true that there is a dearth of properties right now. But honestly was there a point for Hotels to invest in DT Cleveland. There was no Convention Center, and tourist activities (Museums for the most part) were fairly disparate. Now that the Convention Center is being rebuilt, and the UC museums are connected with the HealthLine there does seem to be more interest in expanding brands into the area. Starwood ( Westin and posible La Meridian) and Kimpton (Shoefield Bldg and I think they may have been connected to the BOE building) are involved with specific properties.

I disagree, I don't find the price a problem. This coming from a person from a large extended family. Granted it was just my brother and I, but he has 5 children. I try not to talk/speculate about others financial status. Again, I'm wondering if they've completed pricing analysts and what the permanent exhibits are? regarding the pricing analysis, doesn't Cedar Point do something with Drug Mart where you can get discounted tickets? I would imagine a sponsorship like this is in the works.

Sure we have a mix of brands, pretty much everyone's low end flag. Except Marriot.

CLE + sign has gone up. Also CLE Clothing seems pretty close to being ready to open.

I'm pose my questions, so that people can look at both sides. Someone saw price and immediately stated "it was too much". I'm trying to understand and discuss how someone complains/comments about price without seeing one exhibit? One could probably make a pretty good argument that for the most part Aquariums are similar. Water, Fish, some Education, repeat. Also, that each aquarium has something that they use to try and set them apart from others. In Cleveland's case the SeaTube. I would say that Cleveland's is on the pricier side, not extremely, but it is the same price as Newport (Cincinnati) Aquarium, theirs has an extra 30,000 sq ft. Great Lakes Aquarium is slightly smaller, around 63,000 sq ft, but $6-$7 cheaper. Not saying that Cleveland's isn't worth it, but it does create some appropriate skepticism.

Wait that sounds like you read RTA's press release. That takes too much time. Rampant speculation is sooo much more fun. Regarding the actual proposal, I really don't think the office tower should be included at all. If it is the PS lot next door may never get built on, which would be a true disaster. Also, with the former East Ohio Gas building being renovated into more office space I think that until the vacancy rate is considerably lower there wont be much demand for new office space.

Not sure if they have historical info, likely somewhere on the site, but NOAA does have a future wave forecast for Lake Erie. http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/

As one of the few bars/clubs with rooftop access I'm not surprised. Off the top of my head the only other ones I can think of are Velvet Dog and Greenhouse Tavern. Does anyone else know of any more?

Well it was really funny while I was down there for the Wisc. game. They hadn't installed the bike racks, so it was just a cover. Had no idea what it was for, originally thought it was a bus stop, but that didn't make sense either. It should really be enclosed on the street side, then it would be mostly covered at least.

I know you aint talkin' to me like that! :shoot: LOL I think Hopkins could handle the traffic as its operating at 65-70% capacity and we don't have an after 9pm bank of outgoing flights. Thats probably true that currently they are under capacity, but I would think an airport would never want to be at capacity either. Using some simple math and blurry graphs from Flight Aware (http://flightaware.com/analysis/graphs/airport/KCLE and http://flightaware.com/analysis/graphs/airport/KCAK) It would seem that CLE's capacity is 85 operations per hour. If you add the highest from each together (granted this is just for one day) that would put the combined at 83% usage. I'm not sure what a good buffer is between actual usage and capacity, but i would guess somewhere around there.

... ... Yeah I am in a similar situation now. Our ski club is going to Montana in March, with flights out of CAK and CLE. CAK leaves on Friday, while CLE leaves on Sat. Leaving on Friday means that I can be on the slopes drinking green beer :D. Obvious choice. But we live 5 min from the airport, maybe 10 if we hit every light in between. I really want to fly out of CLE, and the club does allow you to get your own air and they coordinate the rest. The problem comes in getting to Bozeman, MT. Frontier has a nice one layover flight ... that leaves at 6:00am :-o Continental/United (has to be them as the wife gets free bags) right now doesn't have anything that approaches making flying out of CLE worth it. I really do not want to wake up at 3:30am. Oh lawd...you and your "trips". Folks have your suggestions for tedders55 ready! LMAO SMH (eliminated some of the quotes for brevity) Ohh STFU, you enjoy it. Besides that was more venting as I had just spent 2 hours trying to find flights. Luckily I still have all of Nov. before I hit the clubs drop date. Seriously though it does show one airport can make a difference in price, and that there are many factors than need to be considered when flying. Really it is a positive to have CAK where it is. I'm pretty sure Hopkins could not handle all the traffic that does come through CAK.

I dont think its rich. IMHO, those tacky houses are cheap and that is why they sell. Its a product that people can afford to buy and maintain without having much style or individuality. ^^Actually it depends when the tract housing was built...in my experience, even the small ranches and bungalows built just after the war and until the early 60's were solidly built and often hard great finishes for the prices (hard wood floors etc). If well maintained over the years they could be a great value. It is what builders started doing in the mid 60's and there on (tract housing wise) that is the crime. This is very true. We have a early 60s ranch and while no where near as great as some of those older homes can be it is still damn solid. Hardwood floors in half the house too, I think this was right before construction started getting terrible. The biggest problem was the layout of the main bath and kitchen, but nothing a sledgehammer and a Home Depot card cant fix. :wink:

the cost of having a hub. I wouldn't drive - driving equals time and money (tolls, parking gas) and adds to the bottom line of the supposed cheaper ticket - to CAK Yeah. The allure of that cheap ticket from CAK can be appealing until you realize that CAK is some 50+ miles away from many in Cuyahoga County. At 55.5 cents per mile, you are talking an added cost of roughly $60 in auto mileage roundtrip, plus 7 dollars a day in parking, and the added hour to drive down there. Here, I can leave the car at home, walk to the rapid and be in the terminal in 15 minutes for $2.25. So, the real cost to that low CAK fare can be well over $125 than what is advertised. Rarely ever do I see fares to the same destination that much cheaper at CAK versus CLE. There are exceptions and recently I made the drive down to CAK to take the flight (mostly to gain miles on a preferred carrier) and by the time I got there I was telling myself, "never again will I drive this far to catch a flight here" and the 50 mile drive home at 11:45pm wasn't so pleasant either. Yeah I am in a similar situation now. Our ski club is going to Montana in March, with flights out of CAK and CLE. CAK leaves on Friday, while CLE leaves on Sat. Leaving on Friday means that I can be on the slopes drinking green beer :D. Obvious choice. But we live 5 min from the airport, maybe 10 if we hit every light in between. I really want to fly out of CLE, and the club does allow you to get your own air and they coordinate the rest. The problem comes in getting to Bozeman, MT. Frontier has a nice one layover flight ... that leaves at 6:00am :-o Continental/United (has to be them as the wife gets free bags) right now doesn't have anything that approaches making flying out of CLE worth it. I really do not want to wake up at 3:30am.

This is true that the waits can be long (I think we were lucky that it was only about 45min), but if you plan accordingly you can make the best of it. I took a couple friends from Cincy there and knowing that the wait would be a while we simply walked up Professor for bit, basically just shooting the sh!t as nothing was really open, but we were able to stop in Banyan Tree. By the time we got back to Lucky's it was maybe only 15 min until we were sat.

Thats me (just booked a trip to Big Sky, MT in March :) ). I truthfully believe that if you don't do something to enjoy the winter, whatever that may be, it will bring you down and make you grumpy. I Ski, but there are plenty of other things that can be done to make winter enjoyable and not necessarily outside. Hell any warm drink tastes better when its a little cold out, especially if there's a little alcohol in it ;). Summer is not as much fun for me, I burn extremely easily (curse of the Irish). However, the wife tans like a PR. SO I am left in a tough spot during those warmer months. I really should invest in Coppertone or some other sunblock Co. the way I use that stuff.

Not.....rain doesn't collect up on the roads and cause problems well after it's over. Yeah but snow is more fun to play in.

^ Honestly I can't remember exactly what we had, and it looks like they just changed their menu over. I'm pretty sure I had duck confit (I love confit, anything cooked in its own fat is tasty), it was delicious though. I know the wife had a whitefish too. But what really stood out was the sides. They are fantastic and quite large. We ordered two for us to share and there was plenty. One was like a risotto, but creamier, cant remember the second. Dessert though was a good time, mostly because they set it on fire. A Chocolate Cake Flambe, which was good, but I think it could have used more alcohol. :) Urbana didn't stand out as much. Still good though. The one thing that did stand out was Duck Prosciutto. So buttery and delicate. It was sliced so thin you could see through it and it almost melted in your mouth.

Crap, that sounds like a place I could have passed out in .... I'm mean stayed in. Just so you know I wasn't exaggerating about the beer selection...Wikipedia says they had the Guinness World Record for bar with the largest selection of commercially available beers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickskeller Oh, and the good news: Wikipedia also informed me that a new bar opened in the same location called Bier Baron. It also has an enormous selection of beer. Let me know how it is! :wink2: Never did make it there, but we did go to Birch & Barley who have a pretty extensive beer list. The food was good, but the beer was better.