jborger

Could you explain this Shoreway connection? Is that a sure thing? How will it connnect and where will it go?

I'd be interested to see the back of that building and how it connects with West 9th Street. I believe there's a parking lot there. Will that remain or be an east entrance to the building?

And the Port is?

So last weekend, my girlfriend and I got soup at the Souper Market, which is currently under construction for remodeling/expansion. We were eating our soup in the park right at the corner of West 25th and Lorain. No one was in the park except for us an another guy... A dog comes wandering by. Nothing fierce or anything, just a medium sized dog. He trotted by us and the guy sitting on the next bench over without even stopping. Well the guy gets up, comes over to us and starts yelling in our faces, "WHO YOU BE? WHO YOU BE?" I told the guy that we were just trying to have lunch. I stood up and he noticed the dog headed back to his owner over by Great Lakes Brewing Company. So the guy goes over to the owner and starts yelling at him, too. We went to finish our lunch in the car. I don't know if the guy was homeless, but he looked to be in pretty bad shape. He had a big, black winter coat on with duct tape around the middle of it. I think the dog just spooked him even though the dog didn't do anything -- the guy obviously was not of sound mind. My girlfriend and I live downtown and we understand the dynamics of the various neighborhoods in the Cleveland. But if that was someone from the suburbs just trying to enjoy a day at the park and eat their lunch, they'd never come back to Cleveland again and they'd go tell all their friends what a dangerous, scary, horrible place the city is. All because of one crazy person. Sad.

Also, before seeing Toy Story, went to dinner at La Boca. Great food! But don't go if you're on a diet. :lol: We parked at the new Gordon Square parking lot right on Detroit across from Cleveland Public Theater. It's about half way between West 65th and La Boca. Leaving the movie, it was dark and we were walking down Detroit back to the car. I was fine, but my girlfriend said she felt unsafe. And we live downtown, so it's not like she's used to suburban living. It was strangely quiet. I thought I'd see more activity since it was opening weekend. Also, across from that parking lot on the east side of Cleveland Public Theater, it looks like they recently tore down a building. It's just an empty dirt lot right now. Anyone know what's happening in that spot?

I saw Toy Story 3D over the weekend at the Capitol Theater. Impressive space! The main theater is huge! Around.. 500 seats? Although the screen seems small... They could have fit a much bigger screen in there with the space they have. Looking back towards the balcony where the two additional theaters were added, they just put up a pretty plain wall at the front of the balcony. Looks... Meh. But I don't know how else you'd add two more screens. We didn't go up there. Toy Story was playing in the main theater and Capitalism and the LeBron movie were playing in the smaller theaters upstairs. Like all Cleveland Cinemas, Mondays are $5 all day. Otherwise, an evening movie is $9 for adults. Ouch...

If investors in Cleveland or the USA don't do it, someone has to. I'm for foreign investment of this type. These investors don't haven't been hearing negative stereotypes about this region for 30 years like the rest of us have. They can look at redevelopment with fresh eyes.

Well, that doesn't pay quite as much. Public money is not going to this project. It's millions of dollars in private investment, so they're gonna expect a payback. I think it's okay that they get one.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Issue 3 will bring jobs (the exact number is up for discussion) and tax revenue (the exact number is up for discussion). And they will be Ohio jobs, whether it's current residents (good thing) or "experienced casino workers" that MOVE TO OHIO FOR A JOB (good thing). Either way, they'll be Ohioans paying Ohio income taxes and spending their money at Ohio businesses. It will also lead to a brand new entertainment complex being built on what is currently a parking lot in downtown Cleveland. And new construction of this magnitude in urban Ohio is something we normally drool over. This casino will also bring people to downtown Cleveland. (the exact number is up for discussion) Will some of those people just go to the casino and never explore the city? Yes, but not all. (the exact number is up for discussion) Will some people who were going to spend money on East 4th Street on a Friday night decide to spend that money in the casino instead? Yes. Will some people lured downtown by the casino end up wandering over to East 4th Street that would have never wandered over there before? Yes. (in both of these cases, the exact number is up for discussion...) This is not the end all, be all solution to Cleveland's problems, but it's another piece of making downtown a 24/7 neighborhood with people who live, work, play and stay there. An environment full of entertainment options not found in the suburbs. There is no finish line. The city keeps growing and building off the successes of other projects within its boundaries.

Dude Ranch sounds likes a salad dressing just for guys... Hey-o! Please don't ban me.

Agreed. If the Cleveland project truly hits the market first, medical exhibitors will go there. Then even if NY or Nashville tries to launch a mart, what will the draw be? The whole point is that there will be multiple medical exhibitors in one space. Trying to lure in a tenant to a brand new location with no other tenants when there's already a mart in Cleveland will be tough. So it doesn't matter how big the other facilities are. Because the conversation with the New York facility will go something like this: "Please sign this one year lease with the World Product Center." "But we already signed a lease in Cleveland." "But our facility will be ten times as big!" "So how many other medical exhibitors have signed up so far?" "None." "..." "But our lease as three times as expensive per square foot! And we have the Mets!"

I'm really eager to see some plans and design on this. Because right now, I just picture them filling the Powerhouse with water and I don't know if that's the best use for a historic building like that.

The website has a star directly behind Tower City, where parking lots are now. I think it's the best location downtown. Here's a Google map of the spot: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=41.497393,-81.692619&spn=0.016489,0.041327&t=h&z=15&msid=111073887364519458387.0004746991616e1d6ae70

With 236 units, 668 is the second biggest residential building downtown (after Bridgeview). It's bigger than The Avenue District (current units) and IS part of the Gateway district.

Ohio City Burrito (http://ohiocityburrito.com/) is now open on West 25th next to Old Angle, where Dish Global Deli used to be. I stopped in last weekend and they were having a soft opening with friends and family but still let me buy a burrito. It's very similar to Chipotle. I think I still like Chipotle better, but if you want to "shop local", this is the place to get your burrito fix.

On a side note, as of a couple of years ago, that building still had an ELEVATOR OPERATOR! You'd press the elevator button and a buzzer would let the operator know you were there, Then he/she would push a lever that would move the elevator to the floor you were waiting at, he/she'd pick you up, ask what floor you wanted, and take you up there. Pretty cool. Seemed to always be college students operating it. Anyone know if that's still there?

The casino location has not been determined. And in Cleveland, even "the edge of Downtown" is a short walk from the center of downtown.

There would not be free alcohol in these Ohio casinos unless another change to state law was made. (and if they do that, I wish they'd allow open containers in Cleveland, but that's another discussion...)

I really hope the casino is built where Forest City wanted the Medical Mart to be built. It would boost the retail options in Tower City. And the issues that location had for a convention center would not exist here. I'd like to see something else done with Scranton Peninsula... And I'm not sure how a pedestrian bridge crossing the river would work. You'd need that with a casino. Not so much with other developments, like condos or offices...

That's what I've always thought until I read in the paper this morning about the "pedestrian bridge" going across the Cuyahoga River... Unless they were talking about the current pedestrian bridge that connects the Tower City food court with the federal building? Maybe that would tie in with a casino that would go where Forest City wanted the Medical Mart. That would make more sense to me. There's already a walkway to Quicken Loans Arena. And I'd rather see a casino in that spot than the Medical Mart.

What if the casino concert venue REPLACED the TC Amphitheater with a better one?

Yeah, but the same argument can be (and has been) made about East 4th Street. "All East 4th Street will do is take away activity from Ohio City, Tremont and the Warehouse District." Do we limit the number of restaurants that will be downtown? Do we say they have to be a certain distance from each other? Or that one landlord cannot control more than X percentage of the restaurant leased space downtown? There will be people that go to the casino and never leave to explore the city. But when it brings more people downtown that would never come downtown at all, I think SOME will leave to go elsewhere. So it will still be a net gain. And if not, then shame on the city, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and a number of other groups for not marketing downtown as having any other amenities than a casino.

I think Detroit had problems before the casinos came and I don't think putting casinos there added to any of those problems.

I'm surprised I wasn't able to find a thread on this... Does anyone know where Dan Gilbert's proposed casino will be built? The ads say construction would start "immediately" if Issue 3 passes and Gilbert said in the PD today that he'd start lining up construction plans the day after election day. The PD also mentioned "a pedestrian bridge straddling the Cuyahoga River just outside [Gilbert's] Quicken Loans Arena office window." But that would take it to Scranton Peninsula, which I believe Jacobs owns, and Jacobs and Gilbert aren't on friendly terms.

Something I read in this morning's Plain Dealer that I hadn't heard before... (and mods, I understand this applies to more than one thread so I just took a stab and posted it here. Please don't ban me :-D) The article said Wolstein has been talking with Cleveland Aquarium about putting a $50 million facility on the EAST bank that would obviously compete with Jacob's proposed Nautica proposal. I guess I didn't realize that project was still a possibility enough that they'd be having serious talks with Wolstein and that factoid would make it into the PD.