jborger

Sounds like a possibility. From the article.... One major question that remains: What will happen to the Higbee casino when the larger gaming operation opens on Huron Road? Said Glover: "We're hoping that people will like what they see, that they will look at it and say, 'Let's keep this going, let's couple it with the permanent casino.' "

From the article: "This is one of the reasons I hope to stick around after I part ways with CWRU in May, to continue to watch the progression of a neighborhood I've so enjoyed experiencing in my time here thus far." Great example of how the city can keep recent college grads within the city - building an exciting, active environment.

These pics are all good, but I'd say anything that's going to cover the north facing wall of windows in the new convention center isn't going to happen.

Just read on their Facebook page that Dim and Den Sum's restaurant Sum Place will not be going into the old Grind space on West 25th but will instead be opening somewhere in Lakewood. Lakewood's cool, but I would have preferred Cleveland for them.

Yeah I remember reading that about the MGM and Motor City in Detroit as well. Have you been? Yes, and Dan Gilbert's been there, too. Those casinos, while downtown, are isolated from activity, especially when you considering walking - I know because I walked from Roast to the new MGM. Plus, the design of the MGM is definitely NOT to interact with the street. It's a massive hulk of a building with one entrance. Not pedestrian friendly at all. The preliminary designs for the Cleveland casino are completely opposite of that: street level access to restaurants and shops as well as connectivity to other venues such as Quicken Loans Arena and Tower City. Then if you're at Tower City, it's easy to get to the Flats/Warehouse District. If you're at Quicken Loans Arena, it's easy to get to East 4th. Some people seem to think Gilbert's talk about connecting the casino to its surroundings sounds to good to be true. But keep in mind that a more open casino will also have a better chance of bringing in non-gamblers to shows, restaurants or just to check the place out. So I think the design is going to help Gilbert as much as it's going to help the city. I know some people like to be leery of big business, but I think Dan Gilbert has a good plan. He's already a millionaire and yes this casino will make him richer, but I think he sees an opportunity here to really make a difference.

I think it's kind of a slap to say Forest City isn't investing in their "mall". The 1990's saw downtown shopping malls close as massive malls were built and expanded upon in the suburbs, along with "lifestyle centers". When Tower City first opened, it had stores that didn't exist in the suburbs. Then those stores opened outside the city and there wasn't a compelling reason to shop downtown. That happened nationwide, not just in Cleveland. Many cities our size had malls like Tower City that completely shut down. But Forest City has managed to keep Tower City almost 100% leased. Sure, they might not have the greatest stores in the world, but what are they supposed to do? It's not a cash cow for them. They can't just give away space at pennies per square foot to get GAP or whatever in there... But to bring this back on topic (although Tower City and the casino are kind of intertwined now)... I'm glad I consistently hear about the benefits of an urban environment and connectivity from Rock Ventures: "But we thought it was the best site in the city to create the kind of environment that we've been talking about -- this very interactive, very well connected facility in the heart of the downtown," Cullen added. Cullen said that it's easier to develop a casino outside the city where you don't have as many problems dealing with existing infrastructure, tying into long established traffic patters, and creating parking for 8 million annual visitors. "We believe that if you create 2,000 casino jobs out in a corn field, then you've got 2,000 casino jobs," Cullen said. "If you create them in the heart of a downtown, then you can become much more of a district that allows growth and jobs for all the surrounding facilities.

Well, they had to wait for the name to make sense. LOLCATS!

So if anyone doubted the casino would be physically connected to Tower City, that kinda answers it.

The main entrance to the Board of Ed is on East 6th, not the Mall. And yes, there's "an entrance" to the Convention Center that goes over a bridge to the mall, but when traffic "spills out" of the convention center, it spills out to Lakeside and St. Clair and the parking garage, not the Mall.

Density. And lack of the easy to get to, low on traffic highway systems that Cleveland has.

I would think the showrooms would be in the center of the building, without windows, and that the public spaces - lobbies, hallways - will go around the outside. And that's what the windows will benefit.

"The city will retain ownership of the surface of the Mall, which it wants to become a much more vibrant public park and a catalyst for other development nearby, especially housing." I think that's really what's needed to animate the mall. While people like to talk about the benefits of preserving a master plan that's over 100 years old, the fact is that mall space doesn't have anything to "feed" it. It there was a 30-story apartment complex whose main entrance spilled out onto it, you'd have people riding bikes, running, walking dogs, reading, eating, etc. But you have a bunch of civic buildings whose entrances/exits don't even face the mall.

If they were doing well, why aren't they opening somewhere else? I think Howl at the Moon would go great in the old Jillian's space. Actually, I noticed this tweet from the Historic Warehouse District's twitter account on January 25: "A new piano bar and lounge is opening on W 6th St in Downtown #Cleveland. We'll share more details soon." A relocation of Howl at the Moon? Or just a new business to take advantage of Howl at the Moon no longer being in the city?

Whoa, 30,000? I mean, sure, I agree with your statement but that's a TON. 5,000 would be amazing. CSU only has 17,000 students.

I don't know why the neighborhood would be against it becoming a youth hostel. I would think having a place in Ohio City for young people traveling around the world to stay at would be a good thing.

So the Medical Mart is 235,000 square feet. What other office building downtown is similar in size to compare that to?

Well, I drove by today and snapped a picture of all my Urban Ohio peeps. It was Sunday afternoon, so there wasn't a person in sight, but here's how it's looking so far: Doesn't look like much to me. Again, I realize no one is on site, but the convention center groundbreaking technically happened after this one and driving by that you could see a lot more progress. Maybe I was looking in the wrong spot.

I'm glad the National Model Railroad Association is looking to book a show in the convention center.

I've heard this mentioned before but have never heard a number. What's an average percentage required to put down for a home loan these days versus a condo loan? Regarding The Avenue District... I feel it's a chicken and egg scenario. Zaremba was trying to build a whole neighborhood downtown which looked awesome on paper. But it had to be done in phases. The phases that were built were some clustered townhomes and a condo tower a few blocks away. But no new restaurants or retail ever came in. There's still a bunch of surface lots and it doesn't feel like a "neighborhood". I feel bad for those who bought early, assuming they were getting in on the ground floor of a brand new neighborhood because that never really happened. It still CAN and I hope that it does but it must suck sinking $300-$400k into a brand new condo, thinking you were going to have this great neighborhood built up around you in a year and it never happens. That's why I liked Bob Stark's old idea for the Warehouse District of doing everything at once like a "big bang". But the market tanked and that never happened so maybe that strategy was flawed, too... I'm glad that when they finally got funding for the Flats East Bank and divided it into phases that the office/hotel is coming first. I think that's a better strategy than putting the residential first. Even though downtown needs more residential, I think that residential will be even more valuable as Phase 2 than it was for Phase 1. Maybe that should have been done with The Avenue District.

The thread title would suggest otherwise.

'Howl at the Moon' closes to make way for aquarium http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=168895 I thought Howl at the Moon was moving over to the building where Shooters is, but the article doesn't mention anything about this.

I'd be curious to know the number of people working on this project who are going down there every day that wouldn't normally be working in downtown Cleveland. 100? 200? More?

Geez, when was this picture taken? http://www.greaterclevelandaquarium.com/images/high-resolution/Flats_night.jpg I'd like to see renderings of the actual Cleveland facility and how it fits in with the Powerhouse. You would think if they're breaking ground and opening this year, they'd have renderings somewhere...

Damn sidewalks! Could someone clarify the "required off-street parking"? Is that saying if someone builds any structure they're required to build a certain number of parking spaces as well?

From the cleveland.com article: "MMPI will host a groundbreaking Jan. 14, at which the company will reveal the more than 40 companies who have signed letters of intent to lease showroom space in the mart." I'm very interested to hear about the 40 LOI companies...