clvlndr

^very good news, indeed... I can't wait. To me, THIS is the BIG ONE.

I dropped in Bier Markt and talked to the official at the table a few days ago. She said Jay is still very much "on" but that presales are lagging; that right now, Heartland is focusing on their other props, like Avalon Station in Shaker, one in Warrensville Hts and a couple on the West Side... She said they expected the spring/summer season will pick up and construction will commence. It's interesting that Fries & Schuele, which is similar and just a few doors down, is always lock-tight with buyers; there's ever hardly a vacancy, despite the fact that, though nice, it's way overpriced imho, esp for the Cleveland market -- they're charging Chicago/Philly money for this building; not to put us down, but as nice as we are, we're not quite there, yet.

^I'm assuming, by Titanic Tower, you mean 1350 W. 3rd. Is the plan to bulldoze this building?... Wow, this is the 1st tangible evidence (to me, anyway), Stark really is more than just talk... This being the case, why can't the guy get going and start building something. With the increasing strength of the WHD -- and, indeed, downtown in general -- something (mixed use, preferably) screams to be built on this land... As there ANY talk of an announcement? A timetable? Proposal before the Commissioners? ... something?

That's good, but if RTA doesn't stay on top of the new station, it won't be long before it falls apart, too. That's what happened to W. 25th before, finally, RTA spent some fix-up $$ a few years ago... I thought Puritas was online to have been fixed up long ago... ... and it still remains what, if anything, RTA is going to do with the "temporary" pre-fab building at Brookpark after a promising TOD plan fell apart a few years ago. It seems JoeC & Co. aren't really motivated to do much of anything here.

^I see...

I have no doubt most, if not all of this will get done; and not that far in the distant future. Corna-Price have near-perfectly engineered a carrot-stick approach with sexy current development fanning desire (and projected home-sales) for just around-the-corner development... I can't quite tell from the schematic, but are they planning on keeping the old Spaghetti Warehouse loft apt building? I sure hope so. Melding old + new has made Stonebridge amazingly interesting, intriguing.

^In fact, in Wolstein's schematic, he planned his office tower (one of them, at least-- where DFAS was once projected) adjacent to the elevated portion of the existing Waterfront Line (WFL) where a long-range station had been planned. Wolstein's plans, overall, appeared to mesh with the WFL and not at all alter it... I think moving the WFL to the lakeshore would a counterproductive waste of $$ taking it away from a projected multi-modal Amtrak/Commuter terminal and even farther from the few (and potentially more) downtown workers who do use the line only to appease a few tourists... Some Stark ideas are good, but on this, he should leave well enough alone.

... it was actually Moreland Circle in those days, and Van Aken was Moreland Boulevard until Van Aken's death in the 1940s-early 50s -- hence the oddity of Moreland School (now Shaker Public Library) on Van Aken, when every other Shaker Hts school, sans the High School, was seemingly named for the street on which it was located ... The Vans maintained restrictive covenants barring home sales to blacks AND Jews -- thankfully completely illegal and unconstitutional, today... Interestingly, the Halle Brothers, founders of the famed Dept Store (for which Halle Berry is named), were Jews whom the Vans allowed a bye to come in and build their lavish mansion overlooking the Horseshoe Lake -- I guess they were granted "Honorary Gentile" status (a little wealth + prestige didn't hurt the Bros, I'm sure). Ironically, and thankfully, Shaker today is long-considered one of the nation's few old-line wealthy-yet liberal progressive burbs... the Vans must be spinning in their side-by-side graves at Lakeview.

Robins Book Store! my old home away from home. Nice shots... btw, the Gayborhood, esp around 13th & Locust, recently had its street signs retrofitted with the gay-rainbow logo underneath each.

^ Good Qs. The differences btw Van Aken and Shaker were planned, by the Van Sweringens, when Shaker and the Rapid were developed during the 1910s. If you'll note, Shaker has larger tracts and mansions to its north and more middle/upper-middle income housing, including lots of apartments, to its South. While, outside of excellent Shaker Sq the Vans did not plan quality, mixed-use walking districts like Cleveland Hts, they did lay aside tracts for apartments -- even developing several themselves, around Shaker Square, and down Van Aken.. ... Interestingly and ironically, after the Rapid was built in the 20s and Shaker was developed, the Vans became interested in autos and developing highways to serve their suburban district, which included burbs all the way to Gates Mills. Shaker Blvd becomes wide at Warrensville heading east to accommodate a projected Van highway to Gates Mills which, of course, was never built as the Vans empire collapsed due to the Depression. The roads that became Shaker were supposed to be marginal roads similar to those of the East Side Shoreway to Gordon Park, while large homes were built along them. Shaker has tried for years to develop condos in the bucolic median between Warrensville and Green Rd, only to face stiff fights from neighbors and naturalists, who want to maintain the semi-rural feel... at this point, I believe Shaker's pretty much dropped the idea and instead focused on the big TOD projects and Van Aken Lee and Van Aken Warrensville.

I recently noticed coming from the airport last week on the Red Line during off-peak, they were running exclusively 2-car trains rather than the dinky 1-car affairs. Then, I noted the same on a slow Sunday (with no special events or anything). Is this now RTA policy? When did it happen? If it were permanent, it'd be a breath of fresh air...

I've lived in cities where subway construction is less messy and protacted than what we've got... and we are only getting a friggin' BRT!

Actually, the crappy AOL sight I pulled this from (which had no attribution) had Cleveland as Top 5, along w/ Detroit, LA, Atlanta and Pittsburgh...

Its funny that, despite all the TOD focus for other RTA-related proposals, nobody is calling Scot Wolstein's Flats East Bank project TOD... isn't it safe to call it such? Even though he's not saying the Waterfront Line influenced his building his project, Wolstein's development will be a high-density, mixed use residential/commercial development directly adjacent to a rapid transit station... ... sure sounds like TOD to me...

March 15, 2007 - 12:47am Transit to Steelyard Commons Marc Lefkowitz Says: I asked Rich Enty at RTA about transit to Steelyard Commons. Here’s what he said: SYC/First Interstate is installing and will maintain at its own cost several bus shelters. These are being designed to reflect the area's steel heritage. Initially, only RTA's 807 Tremont Circulator will access the development (it actually already does, effective in January); as more stores come on line and demand increases perhaps additional RTA service may be routed there. The really nice things about the Circulator are its cost ($0.75), frequency (30 min.) and its connections to seemingly dozens of RTA routes including the Rapid at W. 25th Street, which enables regional access. Check out the 807 timetable The bus shelters are actually under construction. Enty also mentioned that First Interstate is building a boarding area for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

RTA introduces TOD Guidelines Posted in Rebuilding cities | Walkable neighborhoods | printer-friendly version | login or register to post comments » In its first-ever concerted effort to direct development on land it owns near or at transit stations, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) introduced its Transit Oriented Design (TOD) guidelines at a CSU Levin College forum on Feb. 22, 2007. “We want high quality development that provides maximum linkages between transit stations and development for patrons where they’re able to walk or ride a bike (to use transit),” says Maribeth Feke, RTA Director of Programming & Planning. Research has shown that TODs can increase transit ridership, RTA states. But perhaps more important, TOD can improve quality of life, and under the right circumstances, encourage development to occur in close proximity to existing transit facilities. RTA is shopping three of its properties on Euclid that it says are “ripe” for a TOD—a refueling garage across from the Agora Theater, a seven-story warehouse across from Gallucci’s, and the redevelopment of the E. 120th Red Line Rapid station, all in the Euclid Corridor. While it sends out RFPs for those sites, RTA will complete an assessment of all its properties later this year, Feke added. The location of the easterly University Circle Rapid station is the source of continued speculation. A Cleveland Foundation and NOACA-funded study is looking at current location versus moving it closer to Little Italy, where RTA owns a parcel by Sidari's and developers, including the Carney family, own a huge surface parking lot along Mayfield Road, which they've slated for development if the station is relocated. RTA has long sought TOD proposals, but deals were stymied when developers wanted to own the property or RTA couldn’t lend them money because of its status as a quasi-governmental body. Some proposals went "belly up” or weren’t deemed the highest and best use of the land, says Feke. “We see the area around transit stations as a very valuable asset, so it doesn’t make sense to have a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall at Triskett or a used car lot at our Brookpark station,” she says. RTA will provide a checklist for TOD proposals to help developers achieve land use, site design and pedestrian accessibility goals. If a proposal meets the guidelines, the agency is willing to explore new financing options, such as requests for funding for joint development as part of its capital program, as well as offering property acquisition, disposition, and management services. “We’re trying to drive demand in a weak real estate market and close the financing gap between the federal funds that are available…but cannot be used for loan guarantees,” says RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese. Lobbying Congress for a rule change is an option, or RTA could convince a public agency with bonding authority (such as the Port Authority) to be a project partner, says forum panelist Jeffrey Tumlin, an expert in the TOD field and Principal with San Francisco-based transit consulting firm Nelson\Nygaard. Actually, Cleveland lays claim to one of the country’s first TODs — back in the 1920s when the Van Sweringen brothers planned development on the east side of upscale residences within walking distance of the train lines they built—known today as RTA’s Green and Blue Rapid lines. It’s proof that “Cleveland knows how to do this,” Feke said. Strong demand along those lines in Shaker Heights has spurred a new TOD at Van Aken Boulevard and Avalon (near Lee Road), where high-priced lofts are rising above a soon-to-be updated train station. The project is part of a $60 million public-private partnership where the city invested $18 million in infrastructure that included calming nearby Chagrin Boulevard, and adding a street that bisects Shaker Town Center, a mega-block shopping center. As part of the deal, Shaker approved a rezoning but tightened design guidelines, calling for large windows on the ground floor and specific door placements to enhance how the loft building addresses the street, says Shaker Planning Director Joyce Braverman. Interestingly, the city’s building code was an obstacle to building it with mixed-uses— ground-floor retail space with residential above. “The code would have required it to be built to a commercial standard, so the developer decided it’s not worth it,” she says. (Shaker will hold a March 8 public meeting on the future of its TODs) Meanwhile, the Cleveland EcoVillage is a case where high demand for green building and a neighborhood master plan have led to early success, despite weak market conditions. The green-built EcoVillage town homes on W. 58th Street, within walking distance of the redeveloped W. 65th and Lorain Rapid Station, are the first steps in this plan, said project manager Mandy Metcalf. If some of that mojo could wear off at W. 25th and Clark Avenue, it would please Abe Bruckman, real estate manager for Ohio City Near West Development Corp. and before that for Clark-Metro CDC. That 100% corner has the highest population density in the city, taps $157 million in disposable income (source: Social Compact), and is now a main route to Steelyard Commons. Resources RTA Transit Oriented Design and Joint Development

You're kidding, aren't you? ... please, tell me you're kidding.

So Cleveland makes yet another top negative list. As Archie Bunker would say: Woopdie damn doo.. This I pulled from AOL; I don't even know who the hell is the source. Bottom line is: I don't buy it. It's crap, based on pure stereotype and some yayhoo’s opinion. Most of those smokestacks they talk about have been torn down, like those of LTV Steel -- so really, these creeps are living in the past... I raise this topic mainly to thumb my nose at it... Let's see, looking at these lists in recent years: we're the poorest; fattest; dirtiest, dumbest and fastest shrinking. In actuality, only the last is closest to being true.. ... we need to stand up to these national 'list' fools and say collectively: enough already!

I'm a little put off, but not surprised by this delay... the street/sewers reconfig and rebuilding is massive even for this relatively small plot. Wolstein has to wait for full property control either by winning in court or losing and negotiating a buy out... I'd like it to move faster but, at the very least, I'm thrilled Wolstein is saying, he's moving forward and not tying this thing up in court further if he loses; he'll settle with these jerks and move forward... ... yeah, Litt's getting tiresome with his pinhead putdowns and, yes, the Progressive slap is both gratuitous and inaccurate-- and, for that matter, given Frank Gehry's, er, eccentric style, are we really that worse off by having only his Peter B/Weatherhead building at Case? -- not that I wouldn't love a Progressive tower teaming with those 5,000+ workers downtown... a tower by the guy who, White or no White Admin, planted his huge corp out in Mayfield and, yet, has since taken every opportunity to lecture the city constantly, particularly UCI, over its supposed lack of vision (much like another major POTENTIAL downtown player-cum suburb: Bob Stark)... ... must be nice to lecture Cleveland about the problem when there's truly are, themselves, a major reason for it...

I'm hopeful for good architecture, but right now, I'm just glad to see this project is going to happen one way or another. Wolstein has shown is determination by knocking down those building's he owns and clearing most of the river frontage (and much to the ire of the holdouts who, unsuccessfully, griped Scot did this to devalue their adjacent land)... Right now, I'm more function over form. Although I don't want something hideous or acutely boring, I just want residences and retail... including a few residential and office towers thrown in the mix. Wolstein's determination to get this important project done is a breath of fresh air here in C-town.

Streetcar? Maybe. I'd have to see how it's developed. Streetcars are nice for nostalgia, but unless executed properly -- adequate space and significant private rights of way, they're not effective public transportation besides the obvious positive of using electricity rather than fuel. I lived in Mt. Airy-Chestnut Hill Philly when trolleys up narrow Germantown Ave, while quaint and historic, really slowed down traffic and couldn't move around cars. And please, not BRT! BRT's just transit-funded street landscaping. I'm glad there's some development associated with ECP on the East Side, but the only real hope I have is that someday, ECP can be converted to Light Rail and, hopefully, dropped into a subway through downtown, perhaps connecting with the current Rapid as it should, or connecting thru the Det-Superior bridge subway... Detroit Rd through Edgewater and Lakewood is, already, substantially built up, esp in Lakewood. Streetcars and BRT can't substitute for commuter rail and/or real rapid transit along the NS ROW in terms of speed and efficiency. I think a commuter rail stop at W.117, and/or a short Red Line spur to that spot, is the only real way to effectively handle traffic in that high-density area.

^that may be, but it can be really confusing to people outside OC who come to rely on the market: like friends and relatives of mine. I constantly hear the Q on a weekday afternoon: is the market open? Frankly, I can't really say for sure other than Saturday morning and afternoon. That's not good, esp for as important a Cleveland institution as the WSM is.

Ohio City is doing so amazingly well, it is on the verge of becoming a 24-hour nabe. Glad to see, btw, the West Side Market Cafe (w/ it's fancy sign -- new, to me) going 6 days a week -- interpretation: open now when the WSM is closed. Maybe, just maybe, OCNW will agitate, and city council can pony up the $$, so the Market will finally open 6 days/week til 6 (preferrably 7p) M-Sat, as opposed to the goofy, closed-now/open-then MWFS hours they have now. It's both out of step with a big-city market of its caliber and the flourishing hood Ohio City has become... ... and while I'm on it, I sure hope some attention can now be paid to the areas south of Lorain then east of W.25th. Once you cross the street from the WSM it's like a whole 'nother down-at-the heels neighborhood... A start would be bulldozing that awful, burb-ish Market Sq plaza and build Fries & Schuele-type mixed-use housing-over-retail up to the sidewalk's edge. Then fix up the handsome United Bank building before turning to sprucing up the oft rundown housing east of the Rapid station going toward Tremont in the Abby Rd corridor. All that said, I'm still thrilled to with where OC has come; by far one of Cleveland's best hoods.

I'm glad to see UCI and other groups are finally seriously discussing the E. 120 station and its potential TOD spin-offs. Let's hope they keep up the momentum. It's now looking like, more and more, the solution is not what was conventionally projected: relocation to the Mayfield Rd bridge/gateway to Little Italy but, instead, a lesser relocation just west of the current station. Methinks Case's massive new dorm complex in tandem with CIA's McCullough building has pumped so much life into that Northeastern corner of UC that locating a new RTA station there makes more sense.

Super cool. I saw a new Metra Electric set when I was there last summer -- they look compatible with double-deckers used in Metra's mainly diesel division. And, to address Electric-commuter's longstanding gripe, the newbies finally have rest rooms: an IC/Metra Electric first!.. Good to see the attractive upgrades at Millennium station. Randolph, its former incarnation, always seemed such a dingy hole. Also, I know finally Chicago has completed a tunnel/walkway (complete with retail) that connects Millennium all the way to State Street and beyond (with a large underground entrance to (former) Marshall Field/(now) Macy's: a mega boost for Metra Electric/South Shore commuters during Chi-town's elongated chilly season.