Clevecane

Not sure if anyone has any other recent examples, but it appears ConAgra moving to Chicago led to a decline of more than 50% of their Omaha workforce. https://www.omaha.com/money/after-agonizing-debate-conagra-moving-hq-to-chicago-cutting-omaha/article_40ef4148-6798-11e5-8f93-9bea8a0abeb2.html that said, anyone have thoughts about our skills? Sure we don’t have a UT-Austin or OSU, but this neck of the woods is home to PPG, Akzo Nobel, Ferro, RPM, etc. that’s a lot of coatings talent to poach from. Wouldn’t moving to a Chicago or Charlotte take away that ripe recruiting base?

I believe they have tried and the student body did not want to pay for it. College football is incredibly expensive. I also don’t think CSU would be able to field a BCS team, so it probably wouldn’t be too big of a draw. Even if they were, it may not bring too many down since it’s a relatively small school. For instance, even at University of Miami—which is arguably among the most winningest football programs in college history—we had weeks where the student section was full (but was 5,000/77,000 seat) and no one else came. Imagine the TV network when they had to show a mostly empty stadium on ESPN. Suffice it to say, you don’t see the Hurricanes on national televised anymore because they’re not good enough to draw non-student crowds and too small for students to show up en masse.

Just for the heck of it, S-W and PPG are both dwarfed by BASF—which granted is much more than a coatings company—but is still a coatings company. BASF’s headquarters is an integrated campus using BASF’s Verbund concept, where byproducts and energy flows of one process are seamless transferred into feedstocks of other operations. Altogether, it is home to about 2,500 acres and ~40,000 workers. I could see that as a valuable use of the VA site.

Not sure I agree here. The companies you cite have a campus-like atmosphere, but I think many companies are tuning skyscrapers into entertaining, vertical campuses. Think Salesforce in SF. I’m a corporate consultant and I’d say 80% of the HQs I visit have a “millennial-friendly” environmental in an urban high rise. Not sure why we can’t have both—in fact, I’d say the PepsiCo-, Chesapeake energy-style campus often requires too much land for the location to satisfy millennials. Also, we’re onto to Gen Z now—who cares about millennials? ?

Not sure if the Tower qualifies as Tower City, but I finally got down to the new Terminal Tower gym. Also snapped a photo of their self-serve “package room.”

Snapped a photo leaving the Browns game Thursday. Exciting to see this underway.

Being ignorant of Ohio law—is this something Congress could legislate to override ODOT’s mercurial bureaucracy? The “State of Ohio Competitive Championship and Economic Returns (SOCCER) bill—selling land to developers in Cleveland to create a third soccer team in the state, build a single-sport rivalry between the three biggest cities in the state to spark intrastate tourism? Think Miami vs. FSU vs. UF with the Florida Cup trophy.

Agreed. Love the idea of Forest City Football Club. I’m presumably in the minority in this, but I guess I’m one of those European hipsters... as us Europeans say: “c’est la vie.” I have fond memories (and an ample supply of signed football apparel) from growing up a Force fan, but I believe soccer in the US has moved past the US-style team convention. Also agree with @Gordon Bombay that it may make us feel more of a minor league team than a major soccer brand. Digging myself further into this hole, I’ve always thought Cleveland could do a better job with having team names affiliated more with our City. Philly, Miami, Houston, etc.—the team names resonate with the people and culture of the City. I think we do ourselves a branding disservice by utilizing team names that have nothing to do with our culture, our history, or our geography. Still counting down the days until we change the Indians to the Cleveland Kurents. Bringing this back to development—I would love to see this stadium be part of a larger redevelopment of the Stones Levee area and even the current MLO property. I wonder if a development is what led them to sue the City?

Early 2020!? ?

Sorry, I don’t believe I understand the argument here, have I captured this right? Side 1: The lumen blocks the view of the Keith building from the south and it’s not as pretty as the Keith—therefore it shouldn’t block the Keith. Side 2: It’s an urban center—buildings block each other, that’s the nature of the beast. Side 1 follow-on: a classy building should be showcased, that’s why CSU’s lawns are okay. Side 2 follow-on: it’s an urban center—buildings block each other, that’s the nature of the beast (inferred argument: lawns are never acceptable downtown).

Good to hear! They’ve done an awful job of maintaining TT—we hear horror stories of broken stuff and lack of resolution from many of our co-tenants. And the elevators at RS we’re habitually broken. Hopefully they’re O&M budget can mature with their square footage. Interesting—looks like they’ve added FEB to the C-line since I moved out of downtown. Unfortunately, that line only runs evenings and weekends. Fortunately, I suppose that’s when most urbanites are doing their shopping! ?

Again, just another anecdote. My office used to be headquartered in Highland Heights, not far from Progressive. At the time, the furthest away we attracted talent from was Avon. We've since moved downtown, and approximately 50% of our office is now comprised of people who have moved from outside the region (Boston, SF, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, other cities in Ohio, etc., just to work at our firm—many of whom had never been to Cleveland before their interviews. While we are a small company and don’t have the brands or benefits associated with Progressive, AG, or Eaton, our move downtown was definitely the game changer that enabled acquisition of talent from outside the region. I wouldn’t be surprised if Eaton and co. can still acquire the talent they need—but I also wouldn’t be surprised if they’re not acquiring the “top talent” they’d otherwise be able to acquire with a downtown footprint.

Preface—please PM me if you know how to quote something between threads, because I wanted to quote this but move to FEB thread. Now that that’s out of the way: In my personal, and possibly humble, opinion, the issue bigger than micro-apartments is lack of neighborhood character. I’d be happy to move into a small apartment if the community around me were desirable. I’d be happy to shell out more for a bigger place for the same reason. FEB is missing fundamental components needed for a happy community. It’s a bunch of bars and clubs with no neighborhood amenities. The office tower has an overpriced, limited-selection, always closed “grocery store.” The office tower also has an incredibly subpar—and almost always closed—coffee shop. If I’m moving somewhere, I’d want a coffee shop, a dessert place, a pharmacy, a bookstore, etc. The things that add variety and convenience to an otherwise mundane and hectic life. FEB has the same businesses in 30 different varieties (i.e., weekend watering holes), but nothing else. It’s just far enough away from CVS and Heinen’s—especially because of the psychological effect of the hill and WHD parking lots—that it feels like an island of futility. Increasing frequency of the waterfront line won’t help. For years, I traveled between my office in Terminal Tower, meetings at EY, and my apartment at Reserve Square. Grant you, I would walk from TT to EY most of the time since the waterfront didn’t line up with my meeting schedule, but even so, that walk isn’t bad. It’s more that the waterfront line doesn’t get you anywhere from FEB. Once you get to TT, you still have to walk to CVS or Heinen’s and then all the way back (with groceries). You could also take the trolley (which I often did), but even that doesn’t get you up/down the hill—and you’re stuck going around public square and around all of downtown, to get home. It often leaves walking as the most expeditious, albeit still inconvenient, option. If I have the option of settling in the Flats and adding the walks to my chaotic life—or saving some money to be at a less nice and shottily managed apartment (here’s to you, K&D) closer to the weekly needs rather than the weekend wants—I’ll take shitty K&D every time... (or follow my GF to Cleveland Heights against my will ?).

Clearing room for Target? ?

@KJP, any connection to our forthcoming surprise?

Both, but mainly DERs at this point with storage being a future desire if anyone can ever figure it out. The lack of functional storage is I believe why they’re looking at anchors that will actually need the energy—hospitals, universities, military bases, etc.

Lol. I love the photo of the tissue box. The lighting beneath the Beacon sign also looks odd to me because it’s not spaced evenly. I assume they did it purposely, but it’s just even enough that the uneven spacing looks accidental.

Does seem the City “oopsed” on that one, but you gotta question—how is it that even the sleuths on UO haven’t heard anything about these ‘discussions’? “The property has been subject of several efforts to develop it from raw land to hotel, commercial and residential uses. Such development is attractive because of the extraordinary strategic location of the property,” the lawsuit states.

It’s a pretty novel idea. I have several utility clients that are trying to “jump ahead” in this space. As was mentioned upthread, you really need some foundational anchors to realize, stabilize, and utilize the micro grid, especially if it’s using distributed energy resources (commonly called DERs because everyone loves useless acronyms).

Agreed! Lakewood has rail right through it and maintains the street grid. We can at least aim for it.

Didn’t Ambler already lose that argument back in 1926? This land is part of the urban fabric base solely on its geographic positioning within the center of the City. It has the potential to not only be an urban neighborhood, but if done correctly, one that also unites downtown with Duck Island, Tremont, the Columbus peninsula, etc., in a cohesive and comprehensive walkable manner. Think OTR but with a R! If James Metzenbaum, William Howard Taft, and the City of Euclid have taught us anything, it’s that Cleveland not only has the authority, but also the civic duty, to ensure this land is developed in a manner consistent with the density and planning prowess expected of it as an urban area in the heart of our City.

Where’s the hyper loop station going?

The problem with blocking the parking from street view is nice in some area. But this land is viewable from half the buildings downtown—which will have a view of a see of parking rather than an urban neighborhood. So much for my south-facing view improving. ?

No idea where to put this, but here is a view of the ASG shenanigans on the mall.

View from Azure, as well as the rebranded signs in the garage. I like the garage signs’ playful use of the paneling. Almost looks like DNA test results.