WoollyBear

Is that a joint or a tampon tattoed on his stomach?

There are so many titles that just make me laugh. I live out in Toledo and there seems to be a lot of "Farms" in names for subdivisions. Another title that makes me shiver is "Young Professionals".

This company is simply not performing. I wonder how much longer they will be open. Maybe if they would have saved money by choosing Cleveland they wouldn't be in such bad financial shape. OfficeMax will shutter 110 stores in N. America Wednesday, January 11, 2006 Dave Carpenter Associated Press Chicago -- OfficeMax Inc., struggling to keep up with its competition in the crowded office-supplies business, said Tuesday that it will close 110 retail superstores across the United States and make other restructuring moves in the first quarter. For more info, click the link www.plaindealer.com

^ Columbus BlueJackets. Plus, I don't know if the city could support the Cavaliers and an NHL franchise.

I am glad that the PD decided to finally give a run-down of all of the projects going on in/around downtown Cleveland. Hopefully these articles will spark positive discussions about the cities future in homes throughout NEO.

I didn't think they had any rookies?

Here is mine: 75% General American English 15% Dixie (You guys aren't going to kick me off the board are you?) 5% Midwestern 5% Upper-Midwestern 0% Yankee

Findlay is about 150,000 tops It's small but is quite intact and healthy. It somehow escaped the fate of Ohio's other small metropolitan areas like Lima, Mansfield, etc. It probably has something to do with their free trade zone and heavily Red voting patterns if you believe in things like political payback and such. George Bush hates Toledo and Cleveland. George Bush loves Findlay. Hancock county is listed at 131,000. However, there is a lot construction going on. When Ohio's unemployment numbers were released, Hancock county had 4.2% unemployment. Yes Findlay is a "red" city, but I do not see how they have benefited from having Bush in office. The University of Findlay is really starting to expand. Although there has not been a lot of construction, they have started a PharmD program, and the plan on offering a bachelors in nursing in the future.

^ Do you mean the one's that are about 10 miles north of downtown Atlanta by Marietta? If so I agree, and when I started reading about the Quarries project in Amherst that was the first thing that jumped into my head.

Not that I am an expert, but I do know that Akron will be building those new govt. blimps, and I believe they landed a factory that will produce fuel cells. Toledo's economy still seems to be centered around the automobile (thus it is pretty stagnant).

I respectfully disagree. I think this is one site in Cleveland that HAS to be re-developed. It is highly visible, and I think that it is embarrassing to have a vacant high-rise hotel right on the marginal. Also, I think that putting condo's in this building could spur more development on that side of the marginal.

I am having a weight loss contest with my girlfriend, and the winner gets a free dinner.

This is good news. I would rather see it knocked down then sit vacant for another 5 years. Hopefully Ms. Scott is working on something.

My best guess is that open means that move in day will be sometime in 2008. If phase 1 of this project moves forward and materializes, I think that this will truely transform downtown Cleveland. I can't wait until the final two articles are available. KJP, is there any news as to when construction is going to start? I am assuming that if they want to open in 2008, construction would have to begin sometime this year ('06)

Here are my thoughts on the Pesht analogy. After reading the synopsis posted by KJP, I think that the entire city of Cleveland is very similar to Pesht. I know the people on this board (me included) absolutely love Cleveland, but I think the the region and country have forgotten about us. Hopefully this project is so big and unique that Cleveland, like Pesht, will make people from outside the region want to re-make their lives in our city.

I was born in Euclid, Ohio so Tony Fisher (Packers), and London Fletcher (Bills). I go to school in Findlay, Ohio so Ben Rothlisberger (Steelers).

I saw an article in Crains that said downtown office vacancies were tailing off. I was wondering if anyone who is a subscriber would be nice enough to post this article? :-)

The Merchandise Mart intrigued me so I found their website. www.merchandisemart.com even after the looking at the website I have absolutely no clue as to how medical products fit into this project. 500,000 is a huge space, so I am guessing that it will be new construction. That Technology and Innovation Center for Stonebridge sounds interesting. It would be great to see an office building over there instead of just condo's.

I am really impressed with their website. It will be interesting to see how better advertising helps their pre-contstruction sales. Zaremba seems to be on the ball. I signed up to receive more information about the project, and someone from Zaremba wrote me back within 1/2 an hour (and it was at 10pm). Also, I was just on their website and I was looking at the site plan and they have two more sites listed for "potential development". I know there is still a lot up in the air with this project but it is encouraging that they have an optimistic outlook and that they are already looking into the future.

That Julio Franco deal was for 2 years! I have to give that guy credit though he is in great shape (I don't think he is on 'roids) and he is a great person. Also, I have heard that ticket sales have already topped 1 million, and that they are 3 months ahead of where they were last year with ticket sales.

It is good to see that the companies associated with the Flat's seem to be working together. I would imagine that they would have to build quite a few more buildings before they would do anything with the Main Avenue Bridge. Although, if they add 1 building a year there could be a decent sized population on the West Bank by 2009-10.

^ I had the same thoughts. If they stay here for another 20 years the city may be a completely different place by then. There are some huge projects that will be finished in the next 5 (Flats East Bank, Avenue District, ECP, Steel Yard Commons), and if we add a few more developments in the WHD and on the West bank of the flats downtown Cleveland will be a completely different place. As long as we can hold onto all of our big companies and keep them downtown, I do not see why the momentum that has been established in the past year can't be carried, and even multiplied in the future. I hope Forest City stays in town, and hopefully in the next 10-20 years they see a need to develop Scranton Penninsula, or Burke.

B.S. Pharmacy Administration, University of Toledo 2005 Currently I am enrolled in a Pharm.D program at the University of Findlay

It would be nice if downtown could pick-up a few of the small but growing IT firms that are/will be looking for new homes. Are IT firms hot again? Sunday, November 20, 2005 Looking for signs of life in Northeast Ohio's information-technology industry? A handful of area IT firms - ranging from the small and scrappy to the well-established - are on the prowl for larger office space. A handful more already have moved. Could it be a resurgence after the dot-com bust that left Cleveland high and dry in the 1990s? Henry J. Gomez covers technology for The Plain Dealer. He writes regularly on his Web log at www.cleveland.com/weblogs/techlink. Contact him at [email protected] or 216-999-5405.

I know it is a long shot due to security reasons, but I would like to see them fill-up some of the old buildings downtown. i.e. 668 Euclid. I would really like to save the "parking lot" for private investment even though it may take another 20 years.