Map Boy

More action on the brownfields front...from Crain's: Three sites seek assistance from environmental funds By JAY MILLER 6:00 am, May 29, 2006 Three Cleveland properties are in line for environmental cleanup money to help bring them back to life. Two of the projects will help business expansion plans move ahead. The third will help assess how much it will cost to turn a former factory site on the city's West Side into housing. In the residential project, the state of Ohio has awarded the city a $152,290 grant for an assessment of the environmental problems at a former paint factory that was destroyed by fire at 8001 Franklin Blvd. Rysar Properties Inc. of Cleveland would like to turn the former Acorn Chemical Co. plant into 18 to 20 townhomes, said company president Ken Lurie. Rysar currently is transforming an adjacent three-story office building into Painters' Lofts, a condominium building where units start at $136,000. Mr. Lurie said 13 of the 20 loft units have been sold. More at http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-146496786.html

It's hard to tell from these renderings what will be built on top of the old structure and what will be part of the new structures. From what I can tell, the dark stuff on top is all on top of the old hotel building and will be penthouses for the condos there. The new, colorful stuff will be the townhomes. I agree, though, B12. I don't really like it. It's a little too "something" for that spot. I think this could be ironed out in design review (I think it will, to a certain extent) and I think in the end that well get a dramatic improvement over what has been there for the past several years. That being the low-rise warehouses and a boarded up post office/flop house. I think the major error for me in many of these new townhouse buildings is the abandonment of traditional, high quality materials (brick & stone) in favor of corrugated metal and vinyl siding. The latter two often look tacky and don't wear as well. Some would tell me I'm wrong though...

Thanks for those observations Peabody! It's true that more people are choosing to live Downtown these days for those very reasons. And we'll all invariably have friends living in the suburbs, so when they come in for dinner or drinks or a festival or something, make sure they notice that the crowds and activities aren't all just the "drink and get the hell out" set. We're residents and we love our neighborhoods! I think we're going to see this getting more and more prevalent. Gen-X-ers and others have moved away and seen the world and have come back to roost. We love our city, but we want to incorporate some of our favorite elements that we've experienced elsewhere. The market will demand it and we'll make it happen!

^This was a big point of discussion at the Young Professionals Advisory Committee last week. There are things going on right now that fit the bill (Parkworks daytime and evening events, Sparx in the City, etc.), but they haven't yet made the impact that we need. We can build from these, though, and hopefully create a non-stop vibe Downtown that clicks in people's minds, telling them that they can pop in anytime and there will be something going on.

Hey Grasscat, should those weekly updates be their own thread? I don't know if it matters... This one caught my eye: The neighborhood and CDC fought this one to no avail. Rite Aid is doing little, if anything, to fit its new building into the neighborhood context. And as these things go, it'll probably be an empty cookie-cutter shell in 5 years anyway. I actually did a significant project on this site that showed the potential of doing a mixed-use development on-site. Something like 24 townhomes and plenty of room for 30,000 sq. ft. of retail space (and ample parking!). That may have been a bit aggressive, but it's 2.24 acres of land and the new building will occupy about a quarter of it...right in historic and architecturally rich Franklin Blvd and Gordon Square. Rite Aid is dead to me now...

Great "essay" B12! I was all over that on Friday night as well! My crew took in the US Men's footie at Browns Stadium and walked through the Warehouse District (I'll admit that we stopped for a few drinks) and the place was just alive! And it wasn't the raucous, drunken asses that I'm used to seeing down there...it was the sidewalk scenes that you depicted so well in your photos. We walked the Detroit-Superior Bridge home (I've probably walked across that bridge a dozen times so far this spring) and reflected on what a beautiful night it was in Cleveland. The only think we didn't have was our camera...so thanks for that!

^Sorry, not the best image (why I left it out, initially), but this is a shot from the east end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge. Right at the top of W. 10th and Superior.

By the way, yesterday was the first time that I could see the new construction from the bus passing over on the south side of the bridge. Also, there were two cranes hard-at-work, instead of the normal one.

Nice shots, Musky. Though, it looks like you actually got there early, while I was still sleeping! Here are a couple more shots from the lower deck of the bridge, around 1-ish: It's definitely gotten taller!

Or you could decide Sooner! :wink:

The Heartland sales team has been out at the Bier Markt on W. 25th for the past two weekends, working on pre-sales. Apparently, this first phase includes only the old hotel/post office building and the empty lot next door. The cheap warehouses next door that front Bridge and the commercial buildings that front W. 25th are in the plans down the road, but are not in the immediate future. Here's a better image than what we've been looking at so far...this is from Jay Avenue, looking southeast towards the site:

Let's hope ODOT isn't involved in getting the cables for these bridges...we wouldn't want them to be too short!

That's a Heartland Developers project...Gordon Priemer...who are also doing the Jay Avenue Lofts. (see update momentarily on that thread!)

BTW, that 30k attendance was the largest ever to see a US Men's soccer match in Ohio. That's something worth noting!

Ok, I haven't been keeping up with this conversation, but seriously, wtf? I went to Browns Stadium last night for the US v Venezuela match and the place had 30,000 fans jammed in, singing, cheering, and hooting. We all poured in and out and spent money on tickets and restaurants and bars and cabs and I couldn't help but ask the same question as JamieC...why don't we have a team play up here instead of building another Richfield Coliseum way out in podunkville? Isn't this a Wolstein-led venture? Isn't he trying to build a neighborhood just around the corner from Browns Stadium?

Well, I am guilty of taking pictures of buildings and cityscapes and not intentionally grabbing shots of people, but you're right that there should be many more coincidental crowds in those shots. I am constantly disheartened by the lack of activity in our beautiful parks...like Settler's Landing and Willard Park, which had a total of four people using them while I rode by. Three of the four were asleep on the pavement. On the upside, several people rode and walked by me on the bridge and the next day, there were about a half-dozen people taking advantage of the beautiful weather at Settler's Landing.

Well, good for Shaia moving forward. I would say that the City should be able to accept this proposal with the stipulation that steps towards ground-breaking must be done by "X" date. Design proposals and approvals, engineering & environmental studies, permit applications, etc. If these deadlines are not met and the City deems the project to be insincere, then it will be subject to eminent domain in much the same way as the other properties. Any reason why this couldn't happen?

ewwww...gross!

Sorry, I often confuse the architect and developer over at Stonebridge. Now that Price is working on Reserve Square as well, I'd better get it right! MTS, you're absolutely right...Downtown Cleveland should be the one place where everyone can find what they're looking for in a neighborhood...young, old, single, married, even with [gulp] kids! I know we're a long way from promoting Downtown Cleveland as a place to raise kids, but I can see it happening. As many of us who attended Tuesday night's Young Professionals Advisory Committee meeting (part of the new Downtown Cleveland Alliance) heard, Philadelphia has seen a major turnaround and now has many families living in Center City Philly, even some who attend public schools!

I may be out of town...but if not, I'll try to meet up for the Ohio City lunch.

This tour serves as a follow-up to the recent bike ride over the Detroit-Superior Bridge. This time, me and my lady took a walk down under...through the Flats and back. Leaving Ohio City, via 28th & Clinton One of our faves, Halite: Don't forget! This Saturday! A little house on Washington Ave: Another oldie a little further downhill: A glimpse of the new Stonebridge construction (phase 5), along with the County Engineer's offices on the right and the city beyond. I hope they do up all the streets down here with those nice street lamps. McCarthy's, on the West Bank's Elm Street: In the same building, lofts available: Looking across the mighty Cuyahoga, you catch a glimpse of Old River Road and the Warehouse District beyond: Watermark...nice patio...this place should be buzzing on a day like this... is it still open? More Old River Road and Warehouse District: Looking across the river and Settler's Landing, up W. 10th Street into Downtown Cleveland: Some older apartments on the Viaduct...each has a unique wrought iron balcony, different from the next: Looking back up the hill at the impressive number of new units that make up Stonebridge: The view from the Center Street Swing Bridge up the Cuyahoga towards Riverview (this provides a reference for the hillside that may become a park...being discussed elsewhere on this site): Also from the bridge, looking east towards Downtown: Now on the East Bank, looking back towards Stonebridge: A bend in Old River Road where the rapid runs through at the top of Settler's Landing: Peek-a-boo! That's phase 5 poking up behind the ampitheater and the Powerhouse: Part of Old River Road that is not included in the Wolstein plan: Housing density...conversions galore! A rapid runs through it: An architecture firm at the W. 10th base of Bridgeview: Looking up the hill of St. Clair: Another hill, W. 10th: We put the camera away, hiked up the hill, and had a lovely sidewalk lunch of sushi and key lime pie outside Constantino's Market on W. 9th. What a day!

I'm putting this here until we know more about it. Vine Industrials: I'm betting it's in Ohio City, possibly part of the Coral Company's new project on the site adjacent to the Townhomes of Ohio City. Vine Court is the little alleyway between Clinton and Franklin and has a number of small warehouse/industrial buildings, which would account for the name: courtesy of recent PURE brochure...

There's a cheesy new sign up for the project on the old hotel/post office building and they've been working inside recently. There's a new dumpster in the adjacent lot as well. Little by little!

The meet-up page looks great, MayDay! As does the itinerary!

Have Cleveland & Cincinnati's COC's made similar moves?