gottaplan

For the FEB residential, the only building that was discussed the other night was the radius shaped building facing the water. The previous/original schematic someone linked above had several residential buildings. Not sure what was for sale/for rent at that time, but the only discussion now is for rent. In terms of cost and the price per square foot, the budget buster is building a parking structure vs surface parking.

I wondered how long this could go before someone made a political comment even though Edgewater has languished and been neglected by a half dozen previous administrations. When was the last time the park got a real upgrade of any sort? Who was the last governor to actually increase rather than maintain or decrease the budget? You don't really think things would be any different if Strickland had been re-elected, do you?

I've never seen this--which is the 'upper lot'? upper lot is accessed from West Blvd. Lower lot is by the beach and about 60' lower. Steep paved trail connects the two

Give em hell Believeland!!! 1. Ask how often they plan to mow the park. Weekly? Biweekly? Ask if the guys actually get off their mower to pick up tree branches & trash or just mow around it. Big difference 2. Ask what sort of annual budget for IMPROVEMENTS they have. Not just maintenance, like painting, mulching & mowing, I mean actual upgrades & improvements. How about the last time an updated master plan was done to study current & planned uses? I bet it's been 20 years since those exercise stations were last installed and that was probably the last major improvement. 3. When he/she starts giving you all the excuses about the budget cuts, ask what they've done to solicit help from other groups, charities, trusts, businesses etc? Perhaps get some corporate sponsorship for naming rights in exchange for larger pot of money for improvements. Something like "Ganley" beach at Edgewater Park, in exchange for an extra $100k for maintaining it. Or maybe "Domino's Pizza" pavillion at the lower park for upgrading the building. "United Airlines" soccer fields at Edgewater. You get the point. If his/her answer is "we've never done anything like that, well then they really don't give a damn about keeping the place up. "Friends of Edgewater" is a nice little dedicated group, but how about reaching out to local schools for student help, fraternities & sororities from CSU +CWRU for community work, soliciting the nearby local block clubs to dedicate one weekend a month.... who would really say 'no' if the State came to your block club and said "look we need your help, we can't do it ourselves".

^possibly. I would hesitate to draw many conclusions on the Avenue District's success, it's just in a weird part of town. FEB will have over a thousand people working there for E&Y, CBRE, & Tucker Ellis lawfirm, plus the hotel traffic. Plus it's a natural extension of the already established warehouse district and waterfront. RTA access at the front door as an added bonus. Avenue District has none of that going for it.

it's at least 2 years out. They are shooting for the office space to open in 14 months, I think March of 2013. The residential would be at least a year after that. Essentially they need demand to climb to justify the higher rents and get the financing before they can start construction. Fishman made an interesting comment about how the downtown apartment business is booming and everyone is running 90%+ occupancies but rental rates aren't climbing yet... need to turn the corner somehow to justify the expense of this high end new construction.

yes it still looks like that, pretty much the same layout, only talking about building #5 in the graphic you linked though. Seeing that graphic makes me think the residential building might be more like 7 or 8 stories. Whatever. Still going to be very impressive and totally change the dynamic of this section of city. I look for ripple effect from this development all the way back up to St Clair/Superior and he even mentioned they are working to change the connection of the East & West Shoreway ramps at W. 6th. The plan that makes the most sense is to extend Front Street all the way up to W. 3rd through the parking lots on the lower slope.

Had the opportunity tonight to sit & listen to Adam Fishman run through preliminary schematics of the residential portion. Looks to be about 5-6 stories, nice architectural details, building flared out in a radius to take in as much water view as possible. Definitely looking to go high end. Fishman himself said rents in Clevleand are stuck around $1.25/sf but they need over to $1.50/sf in rent to cover land, construction and financing. Also reviewed a lot of other images of the spaces inside & outside of the hotel & office building, entryway, plaza, etc. It's going to be a very cool space. In other news, someone needs to open a good dive bar within walking distance because all the new construction stuff is going to be expensive.

Anybody attend the meeting for the W65th Bike Lane project this week? Sounds like it was pretty in depth from the person I talked to. Hoping someone chimes in here with a recap.

I was at a meeting last week for Detroit Shoreway Block club leaders - every single one reported a sharp increase recently in thefts & break-ins over what they'd had in the last few years. I wouldn't blame it on the economy or lack of police presence, but there is definitely something going on causing this recent increase. More of the same, albeit drug related: "Three men robbed & shot Tuesday on Cleveland's West Side" http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/3_men_robbed_shot_tuesday_on_c.html

so why did the previous administrations all keep the secret that they had a ballooning project list and shrinking budget based on the funding formula....

Everyone who's an opponent of the Shoreway project loves to paint it as a simple time saver for BP residents. I guess proponents of the project haven't done a good enough job selling the many merits of it, because that perception remains. BP residents already bought back there and the vast majority did so with no knowledge of the 73rd interchage or the Shoreway project whatsoever. If the 73rd interchange was open tomorrow, it wouldn't increase sales in BP overnight and wouldn't really improve resale values either. Get to know people and the area & you'll realize this. The connection is for the existing side streets which are now getting pounded with traffic, coming & going to the businesses in Gordon Square & BP. Ask Jeff Ramsey, the head of DSCDO for his thoughts on how the 73rd connection is needed to benefit the businesses of the area. Ask old time residents what the traffic on 76th/74th/73rd is like on a volleyball night or Friday after work when everyone is headed to the area for a drink. I don't think any of them give 2 shits about BP resident's commute times. Or ask someone who lives there now, longterm or otherwise, how stupid it is to walk 1+ miles or drive 2+ miles to get to the park which you can throw a stone into. 327 - I get that you're no fan of the project and I won't convince you, but your criticism of the Gordon Square streetscape seems especially odd. This was a much needed investment that had huge returns for the area. Go back & see the before & after photos and see how many businesses have opened since the project finished. If there was ever a slam dunk successful project, that was it. Lighting & landscaping & benches were added, the bus shelters (somewhat hideous) are actually public art, the sidewalk was widened, the hundreds of overhead wires were buried. Ask some of the new business owners if they ever considered opening before the project or what benefit they think it had on the area. Regardless, this thread is waaay off topic now as half my post is related to Detroit Shoreway/Gordon Square. But since we're on the topic, you should volunteer as a Neighborhood Ambassador for the area on a weekend evening and talk to the many visitors who come in from surrounding areas. Ask them how it was driving there from the East side, and ask them if they had any trouble finding the place. Ask them if they'd be more inclined to come into the area if there was an interchange at the Shoreway & 73rd... it's easy to dismiss these people as "typical scared suburbanites" but reality is that these people are looking for an urban experience and the area needs them to continue coming to visit. These people will only do so as long as they feel safe & comfortable. Easy driving access, well lit streets, nice sidewalks, and parking close by are all part of the equation.

I punched a bum in the face, more of a jab really, square in the nose, several years ago during St. Pats day downtown Cleveland, he was being really aggressive and kept harrassing the girl I was with. Didn't really hurt him but if you've ever been punched in the nose, you know it stings & makes your eyes water. People around me cheered. He went & sat down on the sidewalk & thought about what had happened. I didn't want to do it but he wasn't getting the point from me telling him to get away repeatedly. Not sure what might've happened if a cop had seen it but given the crowds that day & nobody was hurt, I doubt much. I doubt he harrassed anyone much more that day.

^tons of things fishy about that case. Never contacted Parma PD, the Cleveland cop was given approval by his supervisor to leave his jurisdiction while on duty... despite all that, you don't fight & wrestle with an officer on duty

anyone been into the new "spice bar" in the old La Boca/Roseangel space on 58th & Detroit?

This project is quickly becoming a fading glimmer of hope. Zone's comments about it killing Battery Park are ridiculous - vast majority of residents buy without any knowledge of the Shoreway or the planned connection at 73rd so they won't even miss it not being built. The mayor and councilman's plan for another bustrip to Columbus is silly too, who has time for all this

Big announcement coming in the news tomorrow from ODOT about pullback of money awarded to projects but not yet under contract

Where's Dennis Kucinich when we need him???

That's huge. Even for small town rural areas, the cuts will be devastating

CMHA was recently awarded a grant from HUD to do a masterplan for redeveloping their property in this area

Cleveland Magazine not Cleveland Scene http://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=E73ABD6180B44874871A91F6BA5C249C&nm=Arts+%26+Entertainment&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=1578600D80804596A222593669321019&tier=4&id=1CA7502A5AD34C7299913758CB0D1270

Cleveland Scene magazine spelled out alot of the details in their article...

Unloading the old juvenile court complex on E. 22nd could have been useful several years ago when the Innerbelt project was being laid out. Regardless, it could still be very useful for the redesigning of the area as a "campus corridor" between CSU & Tri-C.

^so you think he got a harsh sentence because he wouldn't testify as a witness, but still gave up information that led to the entire unraveling? Not disputing that, just seems odd to give information, but not testify, in exchange for a LONGER sentencing. Related note, is it standard for attorneys to get their law license reinstated after crimes such as this?

No I haven't heard of anything but I was just thinking the same thing...