bluemeanie

Crain's Cleveland reports today that WRL is moving out of 925 Euclid to a full floor of the Hanna Building. So 925 is set to lose E&Y, WRL, and Tucker Ellis next year.

Ok now I finally believe all the "world class"references MM&CC people have been throwing around all these years...

This is great news! The P&H buildings, to me, are the worst blight on downtown CLE right now and I'm extremely happy to see them go. A new building(and 750 office workers) on E9th and Prospect will do wonders for that intersection. And of course, the importance of adding new housing options downtown cannot be overstated. I think it's also very significant that Geis is the developer- I would think that one of the biggest suburban developers in the area pursuing development projects downtown should make a lot of developers and end-users in the suburbs take a closer look at what's going on downtown.

I read an article just now about the DNC and Charlotte's hotels. As of February 2011, the occupancy rate was 55.00% and average room rate was $80.60 a night. It's largest hotel is 700 rooms. Uptown Charlotte has 4200 and the article said the DNC required 15,000 rooms within a 30 minute drive and access to another 15,000 beyond that.

Well we know Fitzgerald wants the county's real estate transactions to have a 'big bang' type impact on economic development downtown. The county will get money from its building and land sales plus there is still the county's "100 million dollar" downtown development fund floating around out there...Consultants and experts from the convention industry are probably telling Cuyahoga County that our $465 million dollar investment in convention facilities will be at an immediate competitive disadvantage because we lack an industry standard convention-sized hotel property. I hope this is the next logical step for them.

The city has two years until it officially has to enter a bid. Hopefully we get some news on a possible convention-sized hotel this Tuesday.

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/12/readying_a_2016_convention_bid.html#incart_2box I think Cleveland has a very decent shot for a 2016 political convention. We'll have more hotel rooms, the Q and a new convention center, adequate transportation infrastructure, and loads of leisure and entertainment options in a surging city center. And of course, the road to the White House will once again hinge on Ohio's electoral votes. Maybe you don't directly increase votes by holding a convention in a certain city, but it certainly increases enthusiasm and activism among volunteers and supporters. Democrats need to maintain the energy and turnout they had in '08 and '12 in Ohio and the GOP needs to dramatically increase its energy and turnout if it is going to take Ohio. Cleveland and NEO offers the chance to both parties.

Tuesday is when Fitzgerald presents it to county council for review and approval.

So you can bid for multiple properties? That makes sense, i just hadn't thought of it until you posted your (impressive) analysis, KJP. So say my imaginary company wanted to bid for county buildings...I could put in an offer to buy 900 Euclid, 925 Lakeside, and the county administration building all in one bid?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunsthalle MOCA is a "kunsthalle". CMA is a "kunstmuseum". Thanks, Germans.

It's very beautiful. But, it makes me thankful that our(Cleveland) convention center is compact and underground. That seems like a MASSIVE piece of infrastructure.

That's right. This is a $125 million capital campaign. Fundraising in University Circle is very competitive right now. CMA has $90 million more to go until it reaches it's $350 million goal. The Orchestra has been quietly raising $10s of millions in its efforts to stabilize itself and still aims for $10's of millions more by its centennial(2018) and Case is $250-ish million shy of its $1 billion goal. But, I am optimistic the CMNH will be successful- it's in need of major renovation and is just as worthy of funds as any of the others mentioned. I'm confident they'll be successful, though it may take alot longer than I'd like!

The opening gala, mrnyc, was the weekend of October 6th. Through #hashtags on twitter and instagram, I was pretty surprised to discover the art world (nyc/LA) did, in fact, focus on Cleveland for MOCA's opening. Private tours of CMA and the Progressive Collection were also given that weekend to visitors. MOCA did make quite a splash. I've been twice(having never been to the old museum) and am in love with it.

I find the above article very annoying, actually. It's written portraying Cleveland as a Rust Belt backwater with MOCA being the saving grace of the city's cultural scene- quite a sensational inaccuracy. While MOCA's new building is absolutely stunning and the team that brought it to fruition deserve major accolades for their achievement, it's only a small piece of the city's impressive arts and cultural scene. I mean the thing might literally be able to fit in CMA's new atrium. To suggest there was little, if any, cultural tourism in the city pre-MOCA- I'm sure that would give a good laugh to the people over at Playhouse Square, CMA, the Orchestra, and on and on and on..You're dumb, lady. Rant over.

There's actually a profile piece on Joel Ratner this week on freshwatercleveland.com(timely coincidence). It sheds light on his opposition or tepid support for the Upper Chester project. In the article he describes himself as 'not a real estate guy' and instead advocates a hollistic neighborhood building approach(very generally- "good schools, public transit, and little league") as community and economic development. He argues that solely building market-rate housing for neighborhood economic development is largely a policy failure and it must be led with building community and neighborhood assets and amenities to make our neighborhoods attractive and healthy. So that will be NPI's track from now on with him at the helm, and I think that's great. But the train has long left the station on Upper Chester and I personally don't think it is necessary that it be delayed any further. It might be good to have NPI around demanding Upper Chester have strong design and community connections to the Hough neighborhood.

The official groundbreaking for Near West Theatre's new home at w.67th and Detroit Ave. is set for November 27th, 2012 at 4pm. It's a $6.82million dollar project designed by Richard Fleischman Architects. The building will be on w67th setback from Detroit Ave behind the Near West Lofts building with a small plaza connecting the theatre to the main road. The last rendering I saw wasn't anything too spectacular, but the project has since been upgraded to achieve a "passivhaus" design, using similar principles of the PNC Smarthome's ultra-energy efficient construction. So, more good news for this amazing little 'hood.

WCPN's 'Around Noon' was broadcast live from MOCA yesterday and included an interview with Ari Maron. The interviewer asked him about future phases of Uptown and he gave a vague answer about lining up financing; there was no mention of time-tables or any features of upcoming phases.

Thanks, gottaplan! I'll take a look! It's also worth noting that The Coral Company took over management and leasing operations of all DSCDO's residential and commercial properties a few months back.

I think it's amazing, too. And I applaud the demonstration of cooperation and shared-services between the non-profits to provide Detroit Shoreway with access to equipment and man-power that the neighborhood wouldn't be able to afford on its own. It's a 'win' for everybody and a small-scale demonstration of regionalism that others should take note of. I'm very interested to learn the details of their agreement.

Hey everybody! I'm a once-in-a-blue-moon poster, you could say, but something exciting is afoot in Gordon Square that I'm very happy to share... Downtown Cleveland Alliance Safety Ambassadors and Cleaning Crews will now be a permanent fixture in GS. I've already observed them power-washing the decorative pavers at 65th and Detroit, sprucing up the planted areas along the sidewalks, emptying trash cans, sweeping sidewalks, connecting with neighborhood residents and visitors and smiling while doing it all:) I've been living in GS for about 2.5 years and very recently have noticed maintanence of the streetscape becoming an issue so the DCA's arrival couldn't be more timely! I called Matt Zone's office for details and was told DCA has partnered or contracted with the neighborhood's CDC. I also introduced myself to an ambassador named Juanita and she told me (paraphrasing) after their initial 'shock-and-awe' campaign, they'll staff the neighborhood with 3 permanent ambassadors. Another important milestone in the continued restoration of the neighborhood and it makes me even more proud of my little corner of the city!

Well I can't speak for the rest of the state, but I'm happy with gay life in Cleveland. I'd say its an emerging and expanding gay city/region, with a well established community. Scene wise, u have about 10-12 clubs and bars, plus a handful in akron. I don't go to church, but I know there are a couple gay and gay friendly churches around town. People are generally accepting, as I personally think most people in the county have a live and let live attitude about social and moral issues. There are a lot of gay people in CLE, mostly centered in lakewood, and the city neighborhoods of edgewater, detroit-shoreway, Ohio city, tremont, downtown, and some neighborhoods and suburbs on the eastside, which an eastsider will have to let u know about. Plus, Cleveland will play host to the 2014 gay games...so we are doing something right:)

i went back and immediately read the job opening and noticed the posting says specifically that the Director of Development is NOT raising money for the capital campaign...so, yea. haha. guess its interesting, nonetheless.

I've been wondering about the board's scheduled June 15th vote as well. It doesn't appear that they've made any mention of their decision to any media yet, but on GreenCityBlueLake's website, dated June 16th, 2010; they've posted job openings of which one is Director of Development. I have no qualifications for the job, so I barely read the requirements. The thing that caught my eye was a "planned 2012 opening" of the new building. While this is certainly not definative in answering whether or not the board issued it's final approval, it looks to be a sign of a little forward momentum. Here's hoping final renderings come out VERY soon... http://www.gcbl.org/action-areas/jobs

Hi everybody! I live in Gordon Square and have been admiring these 'shelters' for a few weeks now. They are absolutely stunning! Form definately gave function a swift kick in the nuts on this project, but they fit the Detroit/65th intersection perfectly. Not a good model for other bus shelters throughout the city, but perfect for Gordon Square.