McLovin

WHOA!! :-o what is that?! That thing is huge....but wouldn't be a reality here to large.

HUH? There are TWO hotels attached to the Casino now. Or are you asking if a hotel will be attached to Phase II of the Casino? Actually a few says ago, Gilbert mentioned that another hotel (presumably brand new) maybe coming related to Phase II... Not sure where, though. WOW....but idk if it would be good to have three hotels right by each other but maybe it will who knows??

HUH? There are TWO hotels attached to the Casino now. Or are you asking if a hotel will be attached to Phase II of the Casino? Had a brain fart and forgot about those two hotels

Would it be a far fetched pipe dream to imagine that a hotel would try to above the Casino to capitalize on the Casino?

I don't know if you've seen them, but there are some photos on the Cleveland.com blog, but these are early; there are no countertops, appliances, etc. Not sure what else might be missing. http://photos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2012/03/f08uptownbjpg.html Click next/previous to view them all. Thank You! I like it with that modern look it's really unique so since those are earlier pics are the walls still white now or has it been painted?

Toronto. Certainly not the tallest in the city by any means. Just down the street Canada's tallest residential tower is being built. 78 floors. :-o Wow impressive....well welcome to Cleveland hopefully you enjoy your stay and when you move into Uptown you can post personal interior pics to give people who can't afford it (ME) a sense of how it looks.

So are they re-doing the entire building, just the porches, or what? I think they look great by the way

The fountain hasn't danced to music for a few years it just runs and Villa isn't local it's based in Philadelphia

The article says no design has been given but the PD released one 2 years ago it was alright. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/07/cleveland_developer_work_out_u.html

Speaking of staying open later Forest City sent around a paper to all stores in Tower City stating that while they won't switch to a 9 a.m to 9 p.m open close time just yet they are giving the stores the option of opening and closing at those previously mentioned times starting this week pending request and approval. Also some of the workers in the food court were saying that their respective stores were discussing a 24 hour operation especially Charley's Subs. Some stores will be open from 9-9 this week so I feel Forest City is testing the waters with this plan we will have to wait and see if the switch will be permanent. I'll keep you all posted.

Speaking of not closing early...on Friday Forest City sent a letter around to all the stores stating that while they won't be officially switching to a 9 a.m-9 p.m open and close time YET stores are allowed to open and close at those previously stated times upon request and approval from Tower City Management. So all this tells me is that Forest City may be testing the waters to see if these open close times are beneficial to them and if they are we will see an official switch. Actual I had a conversation with a couple of the workers in the restaurants in the food court and they told me that their respective stores were discussing staying open 24 hours and the Charley's Subs store is strongly considering it. So hour changes may be coming sooner than people think I'll keep you posted.

Ernst & Young Tower as seen from W.Lakeside:

Adding the light fixtures to the exterior of the Parking Garage/Welcome center

I was walking down 4th this morning and realized the "Go Fourth" sign was gone and in its place was a storefront that had a exterior design that resembled Dredgers Union. This leads me to believe that they are expanding.

Banners in the main entrance:

Hotels make more sense for this building given its proximity to the MM/CC. Also increased hotel space can help in Cleveland's case for a new push for the Democratic national convention next time. (Might be a long shot but I believe we came close losing to Charlotte) This is exactly what I was thinking. Also can only help us in the future when going after other big events (NCAA Tournament games, etc.). Exactly it only makes sense to have a hotel here we can leave the Residential for the empty office buildings. Also this location is too close to the casino, MM/CC and other attractions to be anything else

Forest City had Sherwin Williams workers in the building doing final touch ups (painting) Also people were buffing the brass railings adding touch ups to make it look nice and hung banners for the casino in the main entrance

Casino had its "soft opening" today seems to have left a nice impression on the people I talked to mainly the managers of the different rooms but nice to see a more diverse crowd walking around tower city.

Hotels make more sense for this building given its proximity to the MM/CC. Also increased hotel space can help in Cleveland's case for a new push for the Democratic national convention next time. (Might be a long shot but I believe we came close losing to Charlotte)

cleveland.com has a site map of Phases 1 & 2: http://media.cleveland.com/business_impact/photo/13cgflatsjpg-163b32475325c6bc.jpg I'm not sure if we have any definitive confirmations that every building shown on the map is getting built out in Phase 2 ... This might be a Phase 2a and 2b situation. Comparing the site map to the rendering you posted above, it looks like very little has changed in the way of building footprints, although there are some changes in use, and who knows if the heights, etc. will remain the same. In looking at the site plan and your renderings, it looks like the following buildings are not part of Phase 1 or Phase 2, presumably a third or fourth phase :) : - Two residential towers (with ground-level retail) along the riverfront (End of Phase 2, shown as greenspace and if I'm looking correctly, a restaurant/entertainment space. - Again, if I'm looking at it correctly, it looks like what was proposed for "residences over galleries and boutiques" is now sited for restaurant/entertainment and a parking garage to be done at the end of Phase 2. - One-third of a residential block with courtyard in the middle. Unclear what this missing third would be at the end of Phase 2. The other two-thirds are still to be residential over retail and parking. - Residences over neighborhood retail and 10-screen cinema (it looks like this was supposed to be the hotel site and where the hotel is going was to be residential?). Surface lot at the end of Phase 2. - 27,000 sq. ft. gourmet market. Surface lot at the end of Phase 2. - Second office complex, what was proposed at the Eaton headquarters. Not part of the FEB project at all, so remains undeveloped at end of Phase 2. So a lot of development to still do if it's to look like what was initially proposed. BUT ... We do end Phase 2 with 18 stories of offices over structured parking, a 150-room hotel and several street-level restaurants, 140 apartments over structured parking and riverside retail, plus what looks to be 6 stand-alone entertainment venues/restaurants/other (a couple stand-alones are unlabeled but are listed as being part of Phase 2). So, honestly, if Phase 2 goes as planned, they'll have accomplished a LOT. My concerns are not about how much they're getting done - This seems like a very reasonable amount of in-fill - My concerns are how spread out these developments are. This would be a very impressive amount of in-fill if it was all adjacent to each other, but as is, the apartments are separated from the office and hotel by a wide swath of surface parking (and then the Waterfront line). The stand-alone buildings are all separated from each other by 100 to 200 feet of greenspace, with a couple also separated visually by the Detroit Superior Bridge overhead. Doing good work, and I like the look of it so far ... Just wish they were marshaling their 23-acre site a little more effectively. I wish Phase 2 was developing the parcel adjacent to the hotel, incorporating as many of the restaurants/entertainment venues/retail into the ground floor and leave the "beach" that was proposed along the riverfront until you're ready for more residential in-fill in Phase 3. Once you've finished all your big buildings and built up a bit of an urban grid, THEN explore stand-alone buildings if needed :) Thank You I greatly appreciate that and I'm glad that a considerable amount will be done I thought it was just two buildings and that's all glad to see more is planned for the future.

I forgot about them...anyone else?

So are just Ernst and Young, and Tucker Ellis moving into the tower or has any new office tenant signed on as well?

I wonder if he has ever heard of a space bar...but good news none the less.

That dead ray building also has a curve in it as well and is glass so its not a complete "cereal box" but the Ernst and Young tower is alright but not great it may look better when completed. I was just saying Cleveland has to many "cereal box" shaped buildings is all. Not to kick a dead horse but to kick a dead horse. Key Center Terminal Tower One Cleveland Center SBC Building ATT Building Fifth Third BP Building US Bank Building Eaton Center North Point Federal Courthouse None of these are, to use your term "cereal boxes". More troubling in my mind is that some of these buildings are not great architecture while some of the "cereal boxes" are somewhat good examples of international style (which are prevalent ALL OVER THE NATION given the building booms of the sixties and seventies) So do you think the old Ameritrust tower on 9th is good architecture, or what about the Tower at Erieview, or the 55 building, or the Key building on Superior because I don't. My issue wasn't with the design of the building but that Cleveland has so many of "cereal box" structures that it's kind boring. The Ernst and Young tower may be an exception to that because of the unique features and different mixture of materials than other buildings in Cleveland (Granite with windows such as Key Tower and Fifth Third Bank Building)

I've always been confused about this...What exactly is included in Phase 1 and 2