jborger

I'm annoyed that the residential component of the waterfront plan often seems downplayed. An earlier PD article (http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/mayor_jackson_tries_to_change.html) said "Drawings show 90 acres laced with offices, restaurants, shops and marinas." Ummm.. what about apartments? Yes, there's been talk of studies to see if there's demand for housing in this area, but with a 96% downtown residential occupancy rate and waiting lists for residential buildings that are hundreds of people long, I think that study is a waste of money. There's more demand downtown for residential than there is for offices, restaurants, shops or a marina. I'd rather see 100 new apartments than 100 new boat slips. (I'd like to see both) More people living downtown would change the city's atmosphere quicker than anything else. And there's demand for it! But due to financing difficulties or whatever other roadblocks, we can't get stuff built fast enough. At the rate we're going, the downtown population will reach 20,000 in 2037. Too slow. We came up with over $400 million to build a medical mart that most residents of the county will never enter. We've spend millions on other projects like Gateway and the stadium. I wish there was money like that to publicly subsidize downtown housing. Sorry for the rant. To bring this back on topic, the lakefront should have a strong residential component. I know Browns fans who'd move downtown just to be able to get a peak inside the stadium from their bedroom window.

Market Avenue's new streetscape has done wonders for it.

"135 one-bedroom apartments and 88 two-bedroom units, ranging from 750 to 1,600 square feet. Price said monthly rents will be between $1.30 and $1.35 per square foot -- at the upper end of downtown rates. Based on those early projections, renters might pay $975 to $2,100 a month." Downtown residential rates ticking up. Good sign. "K&D hopes to lease ground-floor space to a restaurant and a food market, and put a gym, spa and sauna on portions of the lower floors." More good stuff! It's also great that it's across the street from where AmTrust Financial Services will be moving 1,000. These two deals combined will really add some life to the intersection of Superior and East 9th. But regarding financing... "We're going to need the state," Price said. "We're going to need the city. We're going to need the county. We're going to need God to get this done."" Uh oh.

Just received an e-mail at work with details from building management (MRN) regarding the Holiday Inn Express. It said that the hotel will be "closed for renovation" starting on Saturday, March 24. It said the hotel will not be operating for approximately 60 days.

Some tidbits of insights from the link musky posted: Phase 1 - Tower under construction will be 500,000 sq ft - 23 stories (structural steel up 15 stories now - going 5-6 more) - 3 story parking garage - 18 stories of office space - open air roof deck - 150 room Aloft hotel - 5-6 new restaurants - 1,200 feet of riverfront boardwalk - couple of restaurants and clubs along the riverfront - $275 million - Opens Spring 2013 Probably stuff we all know, but just a nice recap as we continue to wait.

Agreed. It's still happening with the casino. Even on UrbanOhio, some people still have the "glass half empty" Cleveland disease.

For all that can't be moved in that area - airport, seaport - the coast guard station was something that COULD have moved. That spot would be better suited for so much more. Crying over spilt milk, I know, but it wouldn't be Urban Ohio without it!

There appears to be major renovations to the facade of the University Plaza building (about 1840 Euclid)

Correct.

I work in the same building complex as Holiday Inn Express and the rumor I heard yesterday was that this is the last weekend for the hotel. Supposedly Holiday Inn is leaving and they couldn't find another hotel operator - yet. Just a rumor, but I found it interesting since I had heard other rumors about Holiday Inn Express just a few weeks prior on this forum.

I work for Rosetta and at one of our company meetings yesterday, they announced that MRN (who owns the building) will be building out 85 apartments/condos on five floors of our building - 629 Euclid, behind the current Holiday Inn Express. This is a great location for more residential and considering the state of apartment vacancies downtown and the waiting listings on East 4th, I'm sure MRN will have no problem leasing these apartments.

Yeah, that's what it would be like if Steve Jobs was an architect.

Or you could buy a condo in Riverbend on West 10th overlooking Settlers Landing.

Answers my previous question: "The rents at Uptown break down to $1.64 to $2.05 per square foot" Currently, "University Circle sees average rents of $1.16 to $1.72 per square foot"

Perhaps CSU selling it and then leasing back space (as Bookman mentioned) would allow them to get around those regulations that currently tie their hands and don't allow them to host MMA fighting, Lingerie Football, etc.

I don't understand this logic. I think the lobby would see more traffic if a public, government entity owns it - the seat of county government and the region that could have a lot of visitors - than if it's a private residence. More people would be in the building if it were offices/government than if it were residential. I can walk into the old courthouse to check out that beautiful lobby with its awesome columns. I can't do that at Bridgeview unless I'm going there to visit someone.

But can't traffic be a good thing? Doesn't traffic mean there's density and a large number of people are trying to get to a highly desired location? Isn't that better than main streets so empty you could sit and read a book in them? Can't a two lane, historic road like Mayfield be better than a wide, six lane + turning road in the suburbs? Because the pedestrian feel of walking through those streets and how buildings on those streets are designed will be completely different. If someone has to go to Intesa because they work there, maybe they'll think of moving someplace nearby so they can walk. Or someplace along the red line so it's an easy ride in on the rapid. And this reinforces some of the things that are great about great cities. Plus, it's often perception. The level at which people will complain about traffic in Northeast Ohio is much lower than in areas of California or New York City. People who live and work there would laugh at some of the situations people in Cleveland consider "bad traffic". I'm not against increased traffic in some areas of the city.

But he has nothing to back it up yet.

And isn't this more than what is typically quoted as what would be needed to justify new construction downtown? I know this is University Circle and not downtown, but good signs.

I am all for new apartment construction with high rental rates within the city of Cleveland. Assuming they can actually lease them. I'm curious to see how this breaks down on a per square foot basis.

I worked in that building in the late 90s when it was Channel 3 and... wow. I mean, Channel 3 had walls everywhere that just covered up the space and closed everything off. Not at all open like this appears to be.

I saw these pictures from @mdealoia on Twitter from a tour of the Calfee Building:

Hey-o!

Seems like a lot of speculation, doesn't it? The guy owns Lago, Gusto and Gratto - not exactly trashy places. And he says, "Everybody on the street was worried that we were putting in a nightclub. There’s a DJ and dance floor [in Speakeasy] under the Bier Markt. To me, that’s a nightclub. We’re not doing that." So... no DJ and no dance floor? Then what's the problem? Sam McNulty has some cool places and now he's one of the darlings of Ohio City, but he should probably shut his mouth until he can do something besides speculate. And why is Scene making this is story? "New Restaurant May Or May Not Bring More Loud Drunks To Ohio City". Slow news day?

I work in the same building and they were open and taking reservations as of last night.