Map Boy

any word about retail tenants? a specialty grocer? I was all for a new full-service grocery store in the neighborhood, but that probably isn't a smart idea with the Walmart going in down the street... specialty/gourmet should work, though, in this totally underserved pocket of the city!

EAST 12th STREET!!! AVENUE DISTRICT!!! FOCUS PEOPLE!!!

This is the sound bite I'm most worried about: "We are essentially building a new city," Davis said. how is this justified? will they be pulling mass amounts of people from outside the region? what about the cities that already exist? and the one that is slated for construction out in Steele's neck of the woods (Cleveland Quarries)? ? ?

Also see: http://www.hemispheredev.com/case/lakeview.html Hemisphere is very active these days, but how about an IMG project in the City of Cleveland? I know it wouldn't be easy to assemble this much land, but we've definitely got enough brownfields for them to take a look at!

Home is where sports are IMG, Beachwood firm planning Lake County resort community Thursday, September 15, 2005 Joe Guillen IMG, the Cleveland-based sports marketing firm, is joining forces with a Beachwood development company to build a sports-themed housing community on the former site of a chemical plant in Lake County. IMG and Hemisphere Development LLC on Wednesday announced their deal to develop regional sports resort communities throughout the country. The first development will be on a 1,100-acre site in Fairport Harbor, along Lake Erie near the Grand River... more at http://www.cleveland.com

LONG LIVE AMERITRUST TOWER!!! I'm officially starting the movement to save this architectural gem! Call me the Jane Jacobs of the Modernist Movement...

Based on this and the number of other conversations on the topic throughout the forum, the underground network could be it's own thread! It applies here, though, because we're talking about ways that the Avenue District can be made more attractive to more buyers. I haven't been in the Toronto version, but I have been in the Montreal version. It's clean, safe (so I hear), and has lots of activity during peak hours. I don't know what the effects are on the street-level, though. As we've seen in the US with the above ground networks like this (i.e: Cincinnati), they can be less safe if not monitored properly and can suck the life off of the sidewalks. What life? Good question! There are already 3,000 residents of the "Avenue District" and there's hardly anyone on the sidewalks right now. But there's really no retail to speak of. There are a couple spots here and there, but the overall theme of Downtown Cleveland rings true here: the retail is contained within buildings...Galleria, Tower City, the Arcades, and the sub-levels of many office buildings (i.e: Huntington Bank). I know winters can be harsh in Cleveland, but summers can be so perfect! Euclid Avenue is making its comeback...I'd like to continue this with more vibrancy along E. 12th Street! on the other hand, I can understand links from major facilities like the Convention Center directly to transit nodes, such as a North Coast Harbor multimodal station, but I worry about doing this throughout Downtown. Expense will likely prohibit this anyways...

Here are a few shots from my visit to the site today: The concrete/granite on the sidewalk are part of the Superior Avenue improvements that fall under the "Euclid Corridor" project heading. They were being installed at the corners of the blocks surrounding the site...

I'll let MayDay do the honors in posting images (there wasn't anything new), but I'll give my response real quickly to the conference... There really weren't any surprises today, but the bottom line is that a contract has been signed between the city and Zaremba for the $200m development. Ground will be broken next year on the north side of St. Clair and E. 12th and the northeast corner of 13th and Superior. The south side of E. 12th and St. Clair will follow. I'm assuming that they'll use the lot there as a staging ground for construction over the next couple years. Marketing begins today and you can go to the Zaremba website to sound off. Prices will range from $150k to the moon and the average price point will be around $300k-$350k. The buildings will include green space, structured parking and sidewalk retail. Streetscape improvements and several actual new streets will be added Daley's role in this whole thing (as far as I could tell) was to talk about the necessity of such projects for viable downtowns and to give Campbell a pat on the back. I guess they go way back or something... He was in town for the Deal Maker's Forum... a real estate industry suaree... and probably just to get out of Chicago for a minute and escape all the haters on Lake Michigan!

my suspicions confirmed! and yes, blinker, I too am anxious to see how much money Schneider puts towards these significant public improvements. Anyone read the article in Sunday's PD about the slow pace of Towpath Trail extension and how a Steelyard Commons TIF could help move it along? http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/steven_litt/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/112634517612790.xml&coll=2

hmmm...what could it be???

I'll try to be down there at 11:30...I've been down here so much lately and would love to see the plans! And from this newly returned Clevelander, MayDay's frustration is justified... I've seen so much progress in many many corners of this city, from the Homeownership Zone and significant neighboring low-income developments in Central, to market rate infill townhouse developments in Ohio City and Detroit Shoreway...things are happening here. I guess it's just less noticeable if you're zipping in on a freeway and zipping back out without taking time to appreciate our city's neighborhoods. (this isn't a cut on anyone, just a little rant for those eternally pessimistic Clevelanders!)

Oh, this is great! I love this conversation and I, like many of you, have been having it for years! By the way, at the last Convention Facilities Authority meeting, there was mention of the CC expansion over the tracks including accommodations for a future high-speed rail/multimodal facility...

I'd been to Lima once before while in college, but didn't get much farther than the Kewpee Burger. This time, in town for a wedding, I went at it with a little more curiosity and was rewarded for my efforts! (there are a couple other similar Lima photo threads from last year, but I felt that it was time for a fresh one!)

This is all very interesting. I wonder what the fate of the project will be if the deadline isn't extended? I'd assume that they'd just have to take the loss and scale the project down with the reduced funding. I'm also curious what the 5th site will be...it could be the air rights over the RTA tracks, but that seems unlikely to me. I've been wrong before, though! There were loads of other potential sites mentioned at the meeting I attended, during one of the "breakout" sessions. If they want to do infill, there are tons of spots around the near west side. Problem is, the more sites they want to use, the harder it will be to get control/ownership of all of them. The reason I thought the Hicks lot was a winner was that they could do the kind of high-density site that they wanted to be the cornerstone of the plan and complement it will several infill sites as well. I just don't understand the major objection to building on the Hicks lot. The end result would be MORE parking spaces and MORE customers living near the market! hmmm...

the Rock Financial move might be a pipe dream, but the 350 jobs announcement is for real! It's really exciting and great to see that the owner of the team sees the connection between a successful franchise and a successful home crowd. And even if those 5,000 visitors this weekend are just here for the weekend, good for Gilbert bringing some spenders to town for a good time! I think the hotels and restaurants owe this guy a beer.

KJP, when did that plan come in? All I've heard was that building over the tracks was cost prohibitive...

From the Steelyard Commons site: Part of the approximately six mile long planned Towpath Trail Extension, connecting the now northern terminus of the trail at old Harvard Avenue with the proposed Canal Basin Park, will wind its way through Steelyard Commons. Engineered and constructed in accordance with the Cuyahoga County Engineer's standards, this portion of the Towpath Trail will be designed and constructed as part of the shopping center development cost. No public monies will be used in building the over 1.75 miles of towpath trail at Steelyard Commons. The towpath trail’s path through the shopping center will provide a continuous route with views to the industrial valley along the eastern property line and include a pedestrian tunnel under Steelyard Drive. In addition, a similar trail through the middle of the shopping center along the east side of Steelyard Drive will provide great access for Towpath users to the center’s amenities. The route along Steelyard Drive will pass by restaurants and connect via sidewalks to shops on both sides of the street, with convenient bike racks and directional signage located along the trail. As part of the master plan for the Towpath Trail, exhibits highlighting the role of the lower Cuyahoga River Valley in steel making and railroad transportation, the settlement patterns for neighborhoods, and the national environmental movement will be displayed. A trail comfort station will also be constructed to provide a welcomed stop for those walking, hiking or biking the trail. The trail comfort station will have amenities including water, restrooms, vending machines, bicycle racks, and compressed air for bicycles. When completed, the Towpath Trail will provide access to the more than 2 million users of the trail to connect with downtown Cleveland and the surrounding neighborhoods. [end] Impressive if you ask me!

I've been out of the loop since going to that meeting a couple weeks back, but I'm surprised to see all this talk about TC again because there was a movement at the last meeting to officially "lock in" the current site. I don't know that it was officially passed, but it sounded like everyone was in agreement...concentrate, finally, on making one site work! I have nothing additional to say that hasn't already been said here. I agree that FC needs to make TC economically feasible without a mega-project to do it for them. Concentrate on what makes retail work...residents! The market for retail isn't there right now? Build places for that market (residents) to live! Like, say, on the Scranton Peninsula! Again, nothing new here from me...

I wasn't wowed with what I saw in the site plan, but I am pleased to see that there are opportunities at the north and south end of the site that are marked by "outparcel" numbers (nearly 16 acres total). now, these will probably just end up being gas stations, drive-thrus, etc., but there may be a chance for something more interesting to sprout up there (offices, housing, etc). Another positive, as we know, is that they're accommodating an extension of the towpath trail and of the scenic railroad. If this project brings those extensions any closer to reality, I'll find myself supporting this much more readily! My constant question has been "why can't there be more of a mixture of uses incorporated into this plan?" But then I wonder if people would really want to live so close to other industrial facilities and brownfields. The housing on the other sides of the interstates surrounding the site will definitely see improved property values, but will this spur further housing development nearby if more brownfields can be redeveloped over the years to come? I don't know how likely that is, since there's a hospital, cemetery and city park surrounding it to the west, south and north (respectively) and industrial facilities to the east. It's just interesting to think about.

sorry, i posted this on the University Circle construction thread earlier... I did suggest that this warrants its own, though!

as much as I feel that UC needs residential and retail growth and is one of the areas of this city that can support it, I am saddened as well that there aren't more efforts at present to reuse historic structures. I'm not familiar with the ones mentioned above, but I believe that two large, historic Mt. Sinai buildings are slated to come down on the West Quad property, while at the same time, a nasty parking garage is being "preserved." On the other hand, satisfying both the aims of historic preservation and new housing provision, the beautiful Park Lane Villa building, adjacent to Wade Park Manor, will be renovated and reopened in the near future...a definite win there!

I agree that there are major compromise issues that have made the "selling" of an expanded convention center even more difficult. And I do see that there are connections between airport expansion and convention center expansion. However, these deal pretty much exclusively with the I-X Center and the contract that the current operators have with it and how an expanded CC Downtown will affect their contract and their desire to stay operational. If they shut down, the airport can expand. If not, it'll be a bit longer before the City can entertain that option. As far as building a new airport somewhere else...that's not even on the table. A couple other issues of note: the current CC conversation involves talk of adding significantly INCREASED parking facilities, not decreased as someone suggested earlier. I heard no mention of hotels during the last meeting. I don't think they're on the table at present. I think the opposition from existing hotels pretty much nixed that one for now. Though, I'm sure they'd consider accomodating one in the future.

i agree, though, that simple maintenance like that can make a huge difference to perceived safety and the feeling that someone is actually looking out for you. On the other hand, those lights sure are high up in the air! How do you change one of those anyways???

I've gotta tell you...living here in Ohio City, there are LOTS more rowhouses than I expected! I've been lazy about carrying my digital camera with me while riding my bike, but I pledge to do better. There are lots of small rows like the ones that were posted earlier by Blinker12, but finding a solid block-long row is still a challenge. I think the closest we've come in recent years has to be the Beacon Place development along Chester and Euclid and the townhomes built in Tremont along West 7th, etc. I'm going to get pictures soon!!! On my short list: updated Ohio City Townhomes, Bridge Avenue Phases 1-3, Franklin Townhomes, and more!