inlovewithCLE

?

Have we really gotten that spoiled that we would rather let a building sit vacant than have a "less than ideal" brand in it? Did we forget how difficult it STILL is at times to get development done in CLE? And as far as that not being the case, look around the city. We have plenty of examples of why deliberately leaving a building vacant when u have a choice not to is a bad idea. Be practical. This isn't Megapolis or Sim City. We have real world economic conditions to be concerned about

MTS, as a general rule I am against deliberately leaving buildings vacant until the absolute perfect tenant magically appears on our doorstep. That is the place where buildings go to die

The Greyhound station is a dump. I won't miss it. I would love though to see a unified transportation center for some RTA routes, all of the Greyhounds, MegaBus, etc. Like a legit airport terminal style transportation center. But regardless, I won't miss the Greyhound station

I actually like the design. I like the arches the most but it sounds like they're leaning against that one

I believe that phase 2 will have gambling of some sort. It would be stupid not to, but it will definitely be mixed use. I think they're trying to find the right balance of gambling and mixed use

It's great that the Higbee bldg was put to use and I don't even mind the de-facing with the walkway. But remodeling the Higbee was not what was put on a ballot, voted on, and in the constitution. A "new" casino on the specific river front parcel was/is.. That is not correct. And unless you just haven't read upthread, you know that.

?

I strongly agree with this. If Caesar's is the new expansion (which I think it will be), that IS a game changer

The gambling dollars are just spread too thin now. Look how many gambling venues are within a 2 hr drive... we're not drawing the out-of-town gambler like was promised and there's even more competition for the stay-at-home gambler. That's not necessarily true. There was an article posted in Crain's a while ago quoting industry insiders who say that there is still room for growth. The market can handle it. It's the experience that is the most important, so making this mixed use with retail and restaurants is vital.

It's not going to be residential but some sort of mixed use was always the plan, with higher end stores and restaurants as part of the complex. I actually think these articles are missing the point. I think the racinos actually make it MORE likely that phase 2 gets built in order to stay competitive

I don't know if anyone covered this (and if it's in the wrong spot KJP, please move) but there's a new nightclub in downtown at the old Cadillac Ranch called The Bank. A luxury nightclub and it looks like it's styled after The Bank in Las Vegas. Haven't had a chance to go here yet but I will at some point. https://m.facebook.com/BankCleveland?_rdr

Good!

Who you gonna call? Ghosts Busters!

Why is everyone acting like this club concept is new? It's been a part of the project from DAY ONE. It's a seasonal outdoor nightclub. It wasn't just a throwaway placeholder. They PLANNED this. I, for one, am looking forward to it. The design is iffy to me, but I think the concept is an interesting one and I think nightlife is important to any city, as has been documented here before. But I don't know why people are acting like they're hearing about this for the first time

Club Forward is one of the new Flats developments that I've been MOST excited about! Not only will I be there, but I know a ton of folks in and out of the city that are excited about it too. The design though? Meh.

...I'd much rather have the Ferrari showroom as well as the uppity glitz. We have to stop marginalizing our image to some romanticized fantasy that doesn't exist anymore. Ferrari makes much more of a statement than Harley. People outside of Cleveland are surprised that there are even people in the area that can afford Ferraris because of this stupid image that some of us seem determined to perpetuate. And from a financial standpoint, I doubt banks will be thrilled with funding a high end condo/office development with a Harley dealership instead of a Ferrari or even a Tesla for that matter. And for the record, let's stop with the "that's more Cleveland" stuff, which perpetuates that "smokestacks and hard hats" image that's not even real anymore for most people in the area. I have nothing against Harley or blue collar stuff in general, but I HATE when we make comments like that as if NOBODY in Cleveland wants or can afford high-end stuff. It's self-defeating and reinforces a bad stereotype about our city

One has little to do with the other, imo

Amen. I have a consistent, guiding philosophy. I believe that anything that you can get in the suburbs you should be able to get in the city. Cleveland is geographically big enough to offer something for everyone (or most people). If a Crocker Park on the lake is what it'll take to get some people here, fine with me. I've articulated here and elsewhere my belief that the Flats East Bank project, for example, appears to be an explicit attempt to create an urban answer to Crocker Park

U nailed that on the money! I voted for it and supported it from day one so I'm happy

I've been told that phase 2 WILL happen. They do want to add more things in the Higbee building first, which also means that phase 2 will likely have less slots than originally planned, but I've been told by people who work there that phase 2 is still a go

I doubt that there will be apartments involved but everything else I think will be part of that development. There will be tables and slots, but phase 2 will be developed much more like a traditional casino resort with the other amenities involved. From what I've been told from friends that work at the Horseshoe, they will at some point be using other floors in the Higbee building. I've been told that the building is predominately empty other than the 4 floors they currently use. They're currently building a stage, so I think after they explore more uses in the Higbee, they'll build phase 2. Phase 2 WILL be built because they need more stuff. And because they want to compete with the Hard Rock. (Which also means that they will HAVE to have a casino concert venue, which I wholeheartedly support.) Now I don't know if this is possible or if it's enough land, but since they're talking about moving Thistledown anyway, why not move it downtown, combine it with the phase 2 plans and consolidate gaming operations downtown? I don't know if it's possible but I would do it

With some better logistics, I agree. This place would make an awesome NYE venue. The way some of the tents and stages were lakes out caused some annoying bottlenecks. The worst being outside of the mew Phuel cafe and the other being outside of the Starbucks. I think Public Square is a better location logistically, but PHS is definitely a more spectacular location. Exactly. I wish all of our media outlets were consolidated there as well. You would think the media would want more public interaction. But at least you have WVIZ, 98.5 and Channel 19 nearby. I love seeing PS getting the...love. Well all the CBS stations are on Huron, in walking distance from PHS so they're there too

Those renderings are stunning. Good Lord. This has my vote

Yeah I said that and I stand by that