Down_with_Ctown

The funny thing is that the Beauty Supply store caddy-cornered to the CVS at Monticello and Noble is an old Rite Aid building that was constructed right around the same time (1998 or so).

IBM letters coming down! (Sorry for the “salty” view thru my windshield. Taken during standstill traffic on the Opportunity Corridor.

Agreed. There's also the Severance Place condominium complex (a converted 6-story office building) that fronts Mayfield Road between the old movie theater and city hall. Units appear available for rent online ($1,500/month for 1 bed, 1 bath, 1,050 sf). And on the eastern edge of the property is the Courtyards of Severance, a 51-unit grouping of townhomes with its own HOA and management firm (Coral). Per county tax records, the parcels appear to be worth something in the $200-250k range. It's about a 15-minute commute from the parcel to all the jobs in University Circle, so there should be plenty of built-in residential demand now and in the future.

Both pics are looking north of Wilson Mills. The first is what’s left of the Sears department store, the last structure of the old mall that is being torn down. in the other, you have the new Meijer’s store. Exterior is all done, including signage. All that’s left is the dotting of the “i” (and “j”.) :). Fwiw, there’s already a “now hiring” sign on site.

The Belle Oaks leasing office, rising at the northeast corner of Richmond and Wilson Mills/Monticello (for reference, it used to be a BP gas station).

Don't have pics because it's just a Meijer's and Firestone rising out of the ground so far on the southwestern portion of the old mall site, but construction is continuing apace on the commercial segment of this project. Still some minor demos that have to occur (the mini-plaza that hosted La Fiesta for decades and the existing Firestone auto care center) but "Phase I" of the project should see some ribbons being cut sometime in 2025. The residential portion, which will rise on the northern part of the old mall parcel, is not visibly moving forward. The old Sears building that occupies much of the future residnetial footprint still stands as I type. However, the developers are building a "leasing office" that will sit at the NE corner of Richonmd Road and Monticello/Wilson Mills. That's an encouraging sign.

Yup, and as Ken pointed out further down in his article, the pot of sin tax money that would, in all likelihood, be the linchpin of the public's contribution to the Brook Park Dome is under county, not city, control. Ronayne isn't just beating his chest here, he appears to have serious bargaining power. That said, the "worst" case scenario for downtown is a 17-acre or so "Brown(s)field" development site that also happens to be prime lakefront property. Given the quality of football that has been played there the last quarter-century, I'm pretty sure it would qualify for Superfund status when it comes to redevelopment too :).

I'm a skyline guy but even I have to admit being impresed how much this project does for DT at the street level. It's not just the addition by subtraction that we saw in wiping out the Public Square/WHD parking crater. It's the view looking west down Euclid Avenue with the HQ tower complementing the existing density of that street. Just gives everything such a more "big city" feel. On the downside, what a blunder by SW not to make the parking garage amenable to future vertical growth. Much more than "underbuilding" the existing HQ tower, being stuck with this stubby, 5-story or so parking warehouse on prime downtown land forever sucks. But it's really hard to complain given the overall impact of the project.

Eastern half (2/3rd??) of the pathology center looking north towards Cedar.

First floor progress on the Stokes Blvd. side, looking west.

Belle Oaks, again northwest from Wilson Mills. Ground is pretty well cleared away on the south central portion of the site, which is where the JCPenney was and the Meijer’s will be. Back in the fall, the plan was to start the Meijer’s building in March, and it looks like they’re on track for that. Lot of work elsewhwere on the site, though. Still lots of piles of earth, debris, and gravel behind the old Macy’s building (which is now a self-storage site and will remain standing). And demo on the Sears building hasn’t even started.

Looking northwest from the intersection of Cedar and Stokes. First floor rising on the Stokes side!

Street level view of the eastern portion of the forthcoming Pathology Research Center north of Cedar Road and east of E. 100th Street.

As someone who drives by this site most workdays, I can tell you that Meijer's has been open for business for some time now. Tuesday's grand opening is more of a ceremonial thing. But it's been worth for all the pub it's getting in the PD (front page story last Wednesday) and apparently the local TV stations. Meijer's is kind of like the "Heinen's" of big box stores, and has much more of a "grocery" history/ethos than Wal-Mart or Target. I'm thrilled that they've picked Cleveland for their first urban format store outside of Michigan (their home state). And I expect them to be rewarded handily by us locals. The location just south of the Clinic main campus and the rest of UC and Little Italy will bring them plenty of customers. I'm thrilled this store landed where it did rather than the suburbs. If this succeeds, maybe Meijer's opens a sister store on the west side around OC/Tremont/Gordon Square?

Went for the panoraric view just to get all 4 Cleve Clinic cranes in one shot! This is looking northwest 7 floors up from the corner of Qunicy Ave. and East 93rd Street. Cranes on the left are for the new Neuro building and those on the right are for the pathogenic research building.

I'm here to praise the messenger, Ken, for the all the good news in your roundup (and also the hard work that went into the reporting!) Not sure which is most exciting--the Clinic's $1B+ institutional investment in the neighborhood, Canon's selection of Cleveland as the HQ for one of its major ventures, or all the new housing.* So I won't pick, but I will comment that the residential transformation of UC continues to be remarkable. Just thrilled to hear that the Artisan and Medley are crushing leasing expectations (as is the Ascent up the hill by Cedar Fairmount). We should all be keeping a close eye on interest rates, because if/when they get into the 2-3 percent range, there's going to be an absolute residential gold rish in UC and probably Fairfax and Hough as well. Bring on the cranes! *--Bonus shout out to the sleeping giant that is CWRU awakening from its slumber. Talk about some serious synergy potential if both CRWU and the Clinic start booming right next door to each other.

The Pit is (currently) such a depressing pocket of downtown that my mind rebelled about putting a brand new JC there. But I re-read thouse last couple paragraphs of your article, Ken, and I'm warming up to it. The dropoff from the 50' lake bluff to the Pit would actually be a *perfect* spot for a 4-5 level parking garage and would enable the Courthouse tower to make an impact on the skyline (while extending said skyline a bit north). And the potential for connecting W. 6th and 9th to the lakefront would be an opportunity as well, especially if the traffic engineers can slow the Shoerway down. In fact, it would be a nice parellel to the land bridge they want to build from East 9th down to the Rock Hall and Science Center.

Dual cranes now up and running at the NE corner of Cedar and East 100th Street (future site of the eastern half of the pathology center).

The Belle Oaks site, looking northwest on Wilson Mills Road. The theater, JC Penney building, and majority of the mall’s interior are all now gone. Really only the Sears building at the far northwest portion of the parcel remains to be knocked down.

The dead mall demo proceeds apace. These pics are of the south side of the property, just north of Wilson Mills. The theater on the far eastern end of the property is gone and they’re about halfway done tearing down the old JCPenney anchor store near the southwest portion of the parcel.

The Stokes-West construction site, looking SE towards Stokes (on the left) and Cedar (background, top).

Just a note that there's a small parcel of raw land on the west side of East 105th St. (a.k.a., Opportunity Corridor) between the Medley/Fairfax Market project and Aura at Innovation Square complex that has a "For Sale sign" on it. With a notation that it's zoned for retail. Interesting... Also, I'd note how much the Frank and Hudson street extensions west of 105th St./Opp. Corrdior open up the surrounding Fairfax neighborhood of single-family homes to the bustle of all this new development psychologically.

East 100th Street north of Cedar is now blocked off for about 100 feet to the entry to the parking garage that fronts on Carneige. Also, construction fencing up on the north side of Cedar both east and west of 100th. Took a pic of the equipment on site and in use on the eastern parcel.

Three weeks later, some serious earth works have taken place! Aside from the hills of dirt above, this site looks construction ready!

Cranes!!