Coneybear

Sounds like a post from cleveland.com

Wow, I just got significantly more excited about this project and I was already pretty excited!

I think $17 million is the amount MMPI was expecting, but the property owners are asking for something around $24. I may be wrong but I think I'm close.

Sometimes I wish eminent domain wasn't such a long process.....

I don't believe that there's no way that they can reach a compromise between MMPI and the property owners on St. Clair. I don't think they're trying hard enough.

Home Savings, a local bank in Youngstown.

I'm sure they could try a little harder than that. I wouldn't be angry if they were built like that (since any construction is good) but I'd be pretty disappointed. I think I could even draw up something better than that in Google Sketchup (which I'm terrible at using)

I know this news is a week old but no one has posted about it yet: Planners' approval of waterfront plan is sensible By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer December 05, 2009, 5:49AM Despite extreme turmoil at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, the beleaguered agency is doing at least one thing right. The port's real estate director, Eric Johnson, has led the formulation of a strong new plan to transform 100 acres of downtown waterfront from industrial shipping to an urban neighborhood with parks, offices and a continuous public promenade. http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2009/12/planners_approval_of_waterfron.html check out the image in the story.

Yeah, that link leads to the old, much less realistic plan.

I really hope Cleveland can get the stimulus funding needed for this. This could be a very serious problem if it collapses.

I'm not too worried about the Nashville mart even if it looks nicer. Cleveland has University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic. If* our mart is built Cleveland's should have the upper hand over Nashville's because of those two world-class medical facilities. *I hate using the word "if" for things like this...

Does anyone know if anything has happened with the "Asian Town Center"? It looks like it could be promising

I think everyone should send a letter to Cimperman in regards to where the MM should be built. Building it on Mall C is bad for Cleveland in the long-run. I'm sure there's a way to negotiate the St. Claire site so everyone is somewhat happy. It doesn't seem like there's been much talking with the property owners there.

I walked by the building today after watching a show at playhouse square. I can hardly believe the progress.

Yes, a casino like that would sure be nice. But this is about the medical mart/convention center. Mayor Jackson really needs to start hammering down on MMPI. The original plans at the St. Claire site (plus the renovation of Public Auditorium) are what needs to happen. The Mall C site just spells trouble for Cleveland in the long run. I hope the private reviewer finds that MMPI exaggerated just how bad PA is (and I have a feeling they did). Cleveland needs to not settle for just what they can get. The original plan for the MM/CC is best for Cleveland and I think it should be possible to negotiate around all these problems.

What will be done with the current Public Auditorium? There's problems with every location... I'm sure something would eventually be done with public auditorium. The city will renovate it in the future, but it won't be to its fullest potential, just enough to pass.

Sorry for the triple post, but this is a pretty relevant story: Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson to seek outside review of Public Auditorium's condition By Henry J. Gomez, The Plain Dealer November 25, 2009, 6:15PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mayor Frank Jackson fears that event promoters could cancel shows at city-owned Public Auditorium because of a private developer’s report that last week revealed potentially hazardous conditions there. Jackson, who is skeptical of the detailed findings from MMPI of Chicago, said Wednesday in a phone interview that he will hire an independent consultant to assess the 87-year-old building. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/cleveland_mayor_frank_jackson_9.html

A good editorial about why the Mall C site is no good in the long-run, and why MMPI should stick with the original plan: MMPI plan for medical mart may be best for the company, but not the best for Cleveland By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer November 25, 2009, 4:00AM The price of getting the nation's first medical mart suddenly got a lot steeper for Cleveland. In a presentation last week, MMPI Inc. of Chicago showed Cleveland City Council how its new desire to put the medical mart atop Mall C at the north end of the city's convention center would simplify the project and cut costs dramatically. http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2009/11/mmpi_plan_for_medical_mart_may.html

While putting the med mart/convention center there would certainly have it's pros, what would be done with the current underground location? Besides, I think it's already decided that it will happen on the current site. There's just a bunch of different ways it could play out...

clvlndr is absolutely right. I can't believe that there is no plan for a large convention style hotel to be attached to the convention center. I think the St Claire site is a perfect location for a large hotel to be attached to the underground convention center. In fact, I think the County Administration Building should just be demolished to make room for one very large hotel, and perhaps some shopping.

Wow, it's really starting to look awesome. I hope sometime in the future some buildings can be built on both sides of 668 so it's dirty sides aren't so exposed.

I can't believe I never thought of that! I would definitely support something like this, if it is done correctly.

Hopefully that's just a very rough draft and it will look a hell of a lot nicer than that when (..if) it's completed. But I agree, I really don't like the location. Maybe there's still hope for the St. Claire site... but I'm probably being unrealistic. Wherever it's built, it better be a world-class facility.

I never saw that photo. Is there a way I can find it? I tried searching for it.

Absolutely. I agree it could work, but I still prefer the St. Claire location for a number of reasons. I'm most concerned about the quality of the facility. They put it just about wherever they want as long as Cleveland gets a world-class Medical Mart.