blinker12

Crain's Cleveland Business Uncertain futures Business owners affected by ODOT's Innerbelt plan worry about the project's soft timeline By JAY MILLER 6:00 am, February 26, 2007 Jerry Cohen finds himself in a dilemma. He’s not happy about it, and he’s not alone. The Ohio Department of Transportation last month notified Mr. Cohen that the agency plans to buy his building at 2975 Superior Ave., home to his Carpet Capitol Inc. flooring business, when it rebuilds the Innerbelt freeway later this decade. http://www.crainscleveland.com/

Try this link. An ad I saw recently said there were two units left. http://www.howardhanna.com/apps/propertysearch/homes/index.cfm?search_LN=2282821&action=detail&lnsrc=n&MLSTYPE=NORMLS&search_state=OH&search_county=&search_cities_list=Cleveland+Downtown%40Cuyahoga&search_cities=Cleveland+Downtown%40Cuyahoga&search_price_range_min=75000&search_price_range_max=250000&search_property_type=2&search_min_bedrooms=0&search_min_baths=0&search_Acreage=&search_ZIPCode=&search_schooldistrict=

^^So is it just tea, or is it food too? If food, what's the menu like?

Has anyone posted yet that the Arhaus Furniture on Old River Road has closed and moved to Brookpark Road in Parma?

Check out the thread cited by MTS above, which contains all the information I've been able to gather on the Chinatown bus. Flyers I've seen around the neighborhood say it leaves from Asia Plaza, but there is also a sign on a building at Payne and E. 36th, across from Payne Avenue Lofts, that advertises the bus. I will post more information if I get it.

I don't think Stark is dragging his heels, exactly. I believe what's holding up Pesht now is the TIF negotiations, which KJP has described in his Pesht thread. Apparently what Stark wants to do in that respect is pretty new for Ohio and Cleveland. Meanwhile, I agree with clvdnder about Stark's monolithic approach. I've heard there is wisdom in crowds... ;) He needs to make sure he gets other developers involved, and LOTS of different design teams. Otherwise, what gets built won't fit in with the downtown, which developed over generations under a series of different developers. Part of what makes cities special -- and attractive -- is architectural and conceptual diversity in buildings and design.

That "land south of E. 105th" bit... Could that be referring to the Cedar Road initiative being spearheaded by the Clinic?

^And it's a fraction of the size of this one. That was my whole point.

I can't believe we're spending so much time debating the merits of Steelyard while a far more egregious big box project on W. 117th Street near I-90 has garnered little attention. There, some 100 homes in a relatively stable neighborhood were razed -- and dozens of families displaced, buy-outs or not -- to make way for a prairie of parking, a Target and a Giant Eagle. At Steelyard, by comparison, we lost an abandoned steel mill. The new Giant Eagle at 117th will be relocating from an existing, far more pedestrian-friendly location on Clifton Boulevard that will now be vacant. The developer, Rysar, has -- unlike First Interstate -- made no gestures at social responsibility. I don't have love for Steelyard, but the Rysar project is to me much more of an outrage.

Lemme guess, no money?

^^Yes, Asia Plaza is also expanding. (Probably in a preemptive effort to remain competitive after Asia Town Center opens.) This is the unfortunately named "Park 2 Shop" project along E. 30th St, extending behind the current Asia Plaza, that's been referenced elsewhere.

Grays Auctioneers, an art auction house, has relocated to Cleveland from New York. They will be located near W. 107th and Detroit, at an old used car dealership. Building renovations are nearly complete, with landscaping and new fencing to get underway shortly. They hope to hold their first auction in April, and to have their Web site launched shortly beforehand.

I toured Asia Town Center today. It’s looking awesome. Lots of wall studs up, plumbing installed, etc. The grocery store space (ground floor) is gi-normous, spanning some 30,000 square feet. There’s a huge, wide spiral staircase leading to the second floor, where the restaurants will be. A wooden deck will be built out from the second floor windows onto a lower rooftop below. Both floors are filled with light from the large loft windows, and the second floor has cool downtown views. Outside, there will be several fish ponds, one of which will go down to basement level so that people on the basement level can see the fish swimming by. Unlike Asia Plaza, this place is putting a lot of emphasis on design and will incorporate lots of Asian features. Can’t wait for it to open July-ish. Sorry, no photos! This intersection (E38th/Superior) will be a sharp little spot in a year or two. This project will wrap up, Crust & Crumbs will be across the street on the ground floor of Tyler Village and there's some cute existing retail next door (China Merchandise Exhibit, Korea House restaurant and market).

Cleveland Foundation pushes agenda for advanced energy By JAY MILLER Crain's February 19, 2007 .......

I'd recommend combining the separate Gospel Press thread with this one.

I wonder if the OC can support two high-end salons? Zen is just down the street... Hope so!

^^Yeah, that's the surface lot behind the Gordon Square Arcade. Detroit Shoreway is building a garage there to support the movie theater. I begged them not to let people enter the theater directly from the garage (a la Playhouse Square) but was told, essentially, that suburbanites were too scared to use sidewalks. So.

^Because Ohio City-Near West needs an excuse to demolish Linda's Superette.

^No, I think CIA is planning on moving everything to the Euclid location. The old site would just be residential. Great news!

OK, you know that one-story extension from the WT Grant Lofts, next to the Jimmie Johns? That's where Theresa's is going. The theater is going in the ground floor of the ornate brick building shown by MayDay above (the old Cole's Shoes). For some reason, the two buildings are referred to collectively as WT Grant. I don't know why.

My central complaint is that this building, like what it will replace, fails to embrace Euclid Avenue. The front facade curves away from the sidewalk, creating pointless empty space at both cross streets. The main front entrance appears to be buried in the deepest part of the curve, creating a sense that the building is a fortress to be penetrated rather than a welcoming gathering place, open to street. There should be a fluid relationship between the sidewalk and the front door, almost as if a boundary didn't exist. And what's that absurd tube-looking thing affixed to the front? All in all, this building is bunker-like, just like what's there now. We don't know the materials yet, but the design cries out for poured concrete.

I posted some details about it a few pages up in this thread (top of page 9). The developer contacted me around the time of the Emerging Cleveland tours.

Oh, those townhousey looking buildings? No, I think that's a different developer. Don't know what's going on with them now.

I confirmed that Bang & Clatter will be in this building. Cool.

About more than just biomedical, but... $500 million invested in Northeast Ohio starts Thursday, February 15, 2007 Mary Vanac Plain Dealer Reporter In the past three years, nearly 100 Northeast Ohio companies received equity investments totaling more than $500 million from venture capital and private equity firms. That's half a billion dollars. "That is quite stunning," said Baiju Shah, a member of the NorTech Venture Capital Advisory Task Force, which is publishing a report on the region's venture investing activity from 2004 through 2006. http://www.cleveland.com/