clvlndr

This is a feel good story as well as a win-win for University Circle. The Commodore is a grand, beautiful building right at the core of one the City's hottest/up-and-coming neighborhoods. As Chris Ronayne asked: why shouldn't it be there for people of all income levels? But as Michelle's story notes, it would have been easy for such a building in such a location to be sold to market rate developers ... as in, ridiculous, crazy rental rates, but UCI held on to it and insisted it remain accessible for all. And yet, I haven't heard any widespread stories of "problems" at this building, even though I'm sure there are bumps and bruises as there are in any large apartment complex. Ronayne's stature just grew even higher in my eyes.

Heard Rush Limbaugh in his morning radio drop-in on the conservative station. He cited an Atlantic article which cited University studies, including one from NYU, stating that the poor in the USA are suffering economically because of lack of adequate public transit in our cities that can get them to jobs and other needed destinations. He also noted "liberal" complaints about infrastructure issues, but I wasn't sure of the context. Rush's response? He see's these economic problems of the poor as stemming from a 2-headed monster which, of course, is other than a lack of adequate transit: 1. Obama's economic programs which are (allegedly) anti-business and have (allegedly) sent the country's economics into a tailspin, and 2. Poor people's lack of initiative and their belief that jobs are an entitlement which, according to Rush, "... [t]hey wear around their necks like a badge of honor." ... So the Rushter's got it all figured out. Good to know.

County records called the transaction in 2007 (actually Nov. 30, 2006) a "rental disclosure" by University Circle West LLC which was still listed as the owner until the deed transferred to "1990 Ford Drive Owner LLC" was recorded On Nov. 24, 2015. University Circle West LLC bought the building on Nov. 24, 2004 for $6,150,000. Thanks... that's a BIG difference. Crain's needs to step up its game.

These clowns are an affront to Cleveland.

Good stuff. But looking at that 2007 map is painful when you realize how much service we lost... and how much we're going to lose, potentially, with the latest proposed round of service cuts. This is a time when Cleveland should be expanding mass transit options, not limiting them.

^UCI bought the bank-owned building for $418,000 in 2007, according to Cuyahoga County land records, which did not disclose the latest sale price for the property as of 2 p.m. Monday. That's got to be a typo.

And 35,000 in downtown Detroit!? No way. If your measuring populations inside the downtown district, Cleveland has one of the largest downtown populations in these listed Midwest secondary markets, but to go by these numbers, Cleveland's has the smallest. These other cities are being measured by having downtowns inclusive of considerable residential areas adjacent to, or near their downtown, while Cleveland's numbers are limited to within downtown... Yes, it would be interesting if we included Goodrich, Slavic Village, Central, Tremont, Ohio City, Clark-Fulton, Detroit-Shoreway, etc., which this study seems to be doing for other cities.

Wow, no more bus service from the W. 65-Eco Village Red Line station to Gordon Square... That really sucks. Economics are slowly chipping away at RTA's continued viability thanks to the stinginess of conservative state pols. Why is nobody questioning our Governor, John Kasich, about this on his presidential campaign trail? Clvlndr, can we reasonably assume you'll be offering comments on this proposed change, either in person or in writing, prior to the comment deadline? As is noted, "a public hearing is required before any final decision is made". No, this forum does not count as an official comment channel. I'd be happy to offer the comments online.

^Nice. More and more countries are developing HSR, even little South Africa... And even though America's Congress doesn't seem too much interested in funding/developing HSR, I sure hope states like California keep pushing forward with their HSR plans as well as states in partnership neighboring states, like Cali and Nevada are with their so-called DesertXpress proposal between LA and Vegas. Obviously NEC's Acela is the best we've got to date, but it currently only has limited newer track sections north of New Haven where trains are authorized for 150 mph speeds while the numerous slow sections, like the old New Haven RR section and the infamous Baltimore & Potomac tunnels under Baltimore, offset whatever advantages Acele's HSR portions give. I'd like to think new ideas being batted around could find traction, like replacing those B'more tunnels and a fascinating proposal to bypass the current Philadelphia trackage with a new tunnel and station under Center City ... or even crazier, a new HSR line creating service between Philly and Chicago (via Cleveland, of course). These advancements would be great but with the current partisan dysfunctional nature of our national legislature these days, I'm not holding my breath because the situation in Washington doesn't seem likely to change for the foreseeable future... It may even get worse!

Would a P3 be a possibility?

The point isn't that this new WHD development should eliminate parking garage space options entirely for future residents, but that they should reduce the parking space-per unit allotment compared to a large-scale apartment development in, say, Beachwood.... and that reducing this allotment would significantly reduce the cost of the project which makes sense in such an urban pedestrian and transit friendly location.

There were 2 words a UOer up-thread used to describe this situation: death spiral. Last month Scene noted the 40th anniversary of RTA. Ironically RTA was created to replace the old Cleveland Transit System because CTS was ... broke, raising fares and cutting service.

Hmm, that's curious. It's been discussed for 2 or 3 years, at least. 327 raises a point. If RTA doesn't even choose the Red Line extension as it's LPA, then it's hard to criticize the lack of local external funding sources. As Angie Schmidt points out, at some point we have to look at what are priorities are locally. And we should really look with jaundiced eye if RTA choose not to proceed with the Red Line extension because it thinks it won't be funded. When it comes to rail expansion, Cleveland too often is it's own worst enemy. We can make external funding excuses til the cows come home, but unless we really want to expand rail and, say, lobby pols and powerful local corporate stakeholders to increase state and local public, and private funding sources, then the Rapid will never be expanded... ... The Opportunity Corridor, an unneeded, expensive and problematic highway/roadway (creating more auto traffic and potentially endangering pedestrians which is why another $150K is being/has been raised to "study" potential OC/pedestrian traffic problems in University Circle), overcame tremendous obstacles to become reality ... initially it had been relegated to the dust bin of large local public works projects.... But local officials insisted that this terrible roadway be included as part of the very necessary rebuild of the badly-deteriorating Inner Belt bridge; local public and private power brokers ponied up the funding while simultaneously lobbying conservatives like John Kasich and, boom, the taxpayers of Cleveland, and Ohio, are getting this (West Side) commuter-oriented, transit-injurious roadway down their collective throats... ... if only this kind of emphasis, drive and creative funding angles could be perused for Cleveland's very valuable mass transit system ...

Wow, no more bus service from the W. 65-Eco Village Red Line station to Gordon Square... That really sucks. Economics are slowly chipping away at RTA's continued viability thanks to the stinginess of conservative state pols. Why is nobody questioning our Governor, John Kasich, about this on his presidential campaign trail?

Only that it will never happen absent significant new funding from local or state sources. It will be able eligible for federal New Start funding, but only if a 50% nonfederal match can be found. It would be a huge asset for reducing University Circle traffic and for getting inner city residents to suburban jobs, including via Laketran and RTA bus connections much more quickly, addressing many of the jobs-access concerns raised by the Cleveland Federal Reserve, Fund For Our Economic Future, and Brookings that are holding back our region's economy. Maybe it's time to raise the heat on our supposedly moderate, Every Man governor-turned-presidential candidate, soon-to-be high-profile RNC host right here in Cleveland. No one seems to want to press him on the transit mess he's perpetuated in this City and in this State, especially with his high-profile veto of the 3-C's Amtrak that would have help Smart-growth Ohio and created thousands of jobs. And now, here in Cleveland, comes a golden opportunity to showcase TOD/Smart Growth in one of the major "downtowns" of the State: University Circle... Even though Mr. Kasich's stingy, anti-transit stance dooms this very worthwhile Red Line expansion that would facilitate University Circle's viability even more. Worse yet, Mr. Kasich's anti-transit philosophy is putting Cleveland's rapid transit operation in jeopardy but adversely affecting RTA's ability to buy new rail cars and retire its old worn out ones. Why is Kasich getting a free pass on these important issues for Cleveland? Won't somebody question him publicly about it ... or are we just content to not spoiling his little GOP party here next summer? Where are our priorities?

^Interesting... Any news or whispers about the Red Line extension proposal?

Like what? ... And if its true, why are more Americans, esp younger ones, turning away from their parent's suburban/ex-urban isolated/cul-de-sac lifestyle and heading back into urban locales like, say, Cleveland? Such statements are just rationalizations created by the entrepreneurs who have historically made the big bucks on sprawl: Detroit, Big Oil, realtors, road builders, etc.... I believe this just as much as the old canard: 'The American love-affair with the automobile,' brought to you by our aforementioned, seriously failing big city neighbor to the NW.

In Europe and even older Canadian eastern cities like Montreal and Quebec city, premiums are placed on urban walk-a-bility and convenience was well as preserving natural rural areas around cities. The urban cores are meticulously maintained. Here in America, the automobile along with its cousin libertariabism, wrecked our cities with the push to create living areas further and further from the downtown core. Then add the this country's incessant capitalism which dictates that all fallow land = a failure to reap a profit. These are the roots of good old American sprawl.

Nice set. What a truly historic and photogenic city.... I'm thrilled about the new streetcar, but town with so many multi-unit, mixed-use buildings and so much density deserves true rapid transit. Let's hope RT system gets built soon, hopefully using the tunnels.

^True. I'm not saying everybody should abandon their cars (hell, there are many, many Manhattan apts with garages and parking). The point is that the the percentage of parking spaces per unit can and should be reduced for such newer downtown Cleveland apts. Also I still think the walking environment in/around this new development would be greatly enhanced by closing Public Square to traffic completely. There would be fewer cars simply because through-route drivers would have to detour around PS.

I'm glad to hear this. Clevelanders are sometimes a little too fearful to give up, or even de-emphasize, their car usage and, concomitantly, developers and lenders seem skittish about building and lending to projects that cut down their parking-per-unit allotment. Hopefully this new Weston development will signal a paradigm shift regarding Cleveland's downtown/dense neighborhood parking lot/space needs. One of the main objectives people look for when opting to live attractive, dense urban environments like downtown areas is the convenience of being able to walk (bus, train, cab/Uber, etc) to key places like employment, entertainment, food (stores and restaurants), without driving ... so why is clutching the Tin Lizzie so paramount? Superior is such a wide street it sometimes seems like it's a physical barrier to walking to-from the WHD from the downtown core. It would be nice, though probably unrealistic financially, to develop tunnel access from the Weston development to RTA's Tower City transit hub. I sure wish Public Square re-designers had, had the balls to close off through Superior traffic which would have made the new PS completely car free. Downtown would survive this. The evidence? Even with the current torn up conditions of the Square during its redevelopment, downtown has been able to adjust to traffic moving about the Square's perimeter. Why couldn't this be a permanent thing?

I'll let you guys have at it with the tunnel tours. The only time I prefer being in subway tunnels is when I'm sitting on a train zipping through them or waiting for a train on a station platform. Large enclosed dark spaces like these freak me out. Even Jake's photos make me queasy. However like most on this board, I just hope someday Cincy puts these tunnels to the use they were built for, meaning not for tours, storage, electrical conduits and the like.

Great set! I love all of the unique views. It was sad to see the Steve's Lunch pictures though, as well as the building in picture above, which we also lost to a fire this year :( Which building is now lost? Left or right? The one on the left. http://www.newsnet5.com/homepage-showcase/live-huge-fire-breaks-out-at-w-92nd-and-lorain-in-cleveland That sucks. The great news is that there were no fatalities. Lorain Ave has sure taken its hits in terms of historic buildings lost to fires and demolitions in recent, like the building demolished at W. 58th in the antiques area. Not good for a street already pockmarked with a zillion used car lots.

^Interesting... The news re NEO is difficult, but not all bad, as these caught my eye: - The Downtown—University Circle—Ohio City corridor is also the largest by far of any employment center in the region, and, in terms of job density, is unparalleled in the entire State of Ohio despite much economic hardship over the years. - While the metro areas to date that have established TOD funds are strong markets like Minneapolis, Boston, Denver, and Seattle, parts of Northeast Ohio such as the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County boast comparable public transportation systems in terms of coverage and service frequency. - Though a weak market, Northeast Ohio is home to strong CDFIs and philanthropic institutions that are necessary to make such outside-the-box solutions work.

^Very interesting take on C-Town; nicely done... Yeah, seeing a "healthy" Steve's Lunch, in their recently renovated historic building, is painful now... And while I love me some WSM, sometimes viewing their vendor's raw meat prep makes me want to become a vegetarian.