jborger

Sad to see historic buildings go, but there obviously wasn't a viable use or else it wouldn't have sat vacant for decades. The good news: new $480k+ housing is coming to the city of Cleveland.

I was on the mall late last week and there were several people laying on the lawn, catching some sun, reading, etc. There were also some business guys throwing around a football and a nearby construction worker joined the pickup game of catch, which was a really cool example of the types of connections and things that can happen with that space.

There was an interesting snippet in a recent WSJ article about office buildings being converted into apartments in downtown Cleveland and other cities (http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303626804579506073419741570-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwNzEwNDcyWj): "The conversions have been so profitable, says Mr. Price, that K&D is now selling properties in the suburbs to focus on downtown and is in talks to buy at least two additional office buildings that it plans to convert." Hmmm....

Except for that rusty, phallic skywalk penetrating it.

This is no where near where Heinen's will be. I don't think it's advertising for that.

The steps make it so passersby aren't starring directly into your windows and provide some level of privacy.

Looking at the pictures of the apartments under construction, that building seems closer to the river than the renderings made it look. Maybe it's just the angle.

Another problem with closing Superior (and maybe even with just closing Ontario) is that the buses aren't going anywhere. The relocated bus stops would form a wall of people and the bus stops themselves around the square. Plus, in this square roundabout, you'd have all the buses stopping and idling around the perimeter. I don't think crossing into or out of the square would be a very welcoming situation. I think this still may happen with the current design: you're eliminating the bus stops on Ontario and forcing them to move to other spots along the perimeter. The density of buses around the edges is going to increase and I don't think that's a good thing. The solution would be to make Public Square less of an RTA hub, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen either.

My concern is that the owners of these buildings/lots see the development happening around them but instead of rehabbing or building themselves, they hold out for a really high price to sell the properties. No one wants them at that price, so the buildings sit there - a dead area in the middle of what could be a much more lively neighborhood.

I know, I've never seen that before!

Question? What do you mean "clean up the space"? Are suggesting that because a certain section of the residents/tenants are on Section 8, they are a drain on the property? No, but thanks for reaching. I was referring to the previous post by DougNagy where he said, "National Terminal was in pretty terrible shape when I toured last month. Management doesn't seem to put much effort into basic things like a 24h front desk, decent gym equipment, way-finding, etc. The rental office was so cold that the staff was wearing their coats. And the whole building could use some pinterest-type love to brighten the dreary hallways & units."

Hopefully National Terminal will get new owners that will clean up the space. I've always heard a certain percentage of it is Section 8. Is that still true? What percentage?

Or not.

Some people complained when Wolstein tore down the old buildings on the East Bank for this project and most of those buildings were short. Now people complain the buildings taking their place aren't tall enough. Well, you can't please everyone. I think demand is the number one driver. If the developers thought they could fill taller buildings at the rental rates that would require, I'm sure they would.

I've made that assumption multiple times, however, things just don't add up. In addition, I can't imagine Wolstein wouldn't have announced that months ago. What's there to hide? You're not talking about DDR, are you? I thought you were referencing this earlier in the thread, but the East Bank of the Flats is not a DDR project. It's a Wolstein Group/Fairmount Properties project. And although Scott Wolstein's family started Developers Diversified Realty, Scott left the company in 2011. So I was confused as to why you thought there'd be any DDR connection here.

I'm worried they're prepping it for another billboard.

UrbanOhio, you never let me down with your in-depth sign commentary. :)

There's a small surface lot behind the Lincoln Building on the corner of East 6th and Theresa Court. Too bad they couldn't build on that, too. And it would be nice if the new parking entrance was actually on Theresa Court instead of East 6th.

You gotta click the link to read the actual lawsuit. Juicy details in there.

There's already six hotels in the works and downtown residential occupancy is around 97%, so that's probably why you're seeing a push for residential over hotel.

I can't believe there still isn't any residential connected to Tower City. The red line right in your building to take you to Shaker Square and Ohio City. The idea that you could go down to retail stores without leaving your building would be very appealing to some people. And I agree with MidwestChamp that attached residential could really improve the types of stores that Tower City has. Plus, doesn't the name "Tower City" feel like you should be able to live there? :)

So your business logic here is that when someone starts to lose market share to a new competitor, their reaction to combat this will be to do nothing?

Less seats means less people coming downtown for games. That's less people paying for parking (or public transit), less people going to bars and restaurants, less people staying at hotels, less people going to other venues before and after the game. And less people doing those things means less money for the city.

Ha! I just posted "Please have a sauna" on their Facebook page before reading your post, jrosen.

Yeah, because the distance from the mall to the science center is so long, the bridge needs to have some sort of stops along the way: lookout points, kiosks, something.