blinker12

Cool! I'm at work today downtown too. My bus (the #1) came right on time -- though I left at 10:30 instead of my usual 8:30! That was really nice of you to accompany your boyfriend to work... Must be Valentines Day. ;)

Tyler Village may soon have its first ground-floor tenant. Crust & Crumbs, the pastry and lunch spot at 47th & Lakeside, is considering moving to one of the storefront spaces in building 44, fronting Superior Avenue. No timeframe.

^Yeah, it might be "cheaper" to build new if you take a short-term view. But whatever we build new is going to last maybe 30 years. Then we have to start all over again. If we renovated the old building, it could last for another 100. So that option is undoubtedly cheaper if you take the long view -- even considering only the economics, not the aesthetic and historical concerns KJP brings up.

Some more details on Asia Town Center, scheduled to open June 2007 at Superior and E. 38th: The development is an adaptive reuse of an old lighting factory. The developer, the Duong family (owners of Asia Food Company and Siam Cafe) are renovating all the existing buildings at the site, most dating from the 1920s and 1930s. Although it's disappointing that no building will front Superior -- there will be a surface parking lot instead -- the Duongs are working with what was there. The poor urban design, in other words, is inherited. The buildings will have 90,000 square feet of retail and office space, which is 46% pre-leased. The tenants will include a revamped Asia Food Company (relocating from 31st and St. Clair), plus at least three new restaurants (Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese), an herbalist, a jewelry store, two publications, a charitable foundation relocating from New Jersey and possibly a massage parlor. Most of the new stores and offices are coming in from the burbs. Renovation has been underway for well on a year now, but has slowed for the winter.

Looks like a cross between Cleveland Heights and Cuyahoga Falls (Akron burb). Thanks for sharing!

I heard about this too. Very, very dumb.

That is hideous.

If they're calling the project Madonna Hall, wouldn't it have helped to keep Madonna Hall?

Plain Dealer, 01.26.07 New Web site serves entrepreneurs Northeast Ohio venture development organization JumpStart Inc. launched an online community for entrepreneurs at its annual meeting this week. IdeaCrossing is a place where entrepreneurs can find service providers, such as nonprofit organizations or fee-for-service professionals... www.cleveland.com -- Mary Vanac, [email protected]

I'm glad this competition has been started. It would be even better if, in future years, it is linked to a proposed development project so that entrants felt as if their ideas might actually happen. (e.g. Flats East Bank, Stark-Warehouse District etc.)

I too love the look of Craig Street. Imagine, a university neighborhood with actual STORES! ;)

I'd agree with others who have directed you to Shaker Square or Cedar-Fairmount. They are both a lot like Forest Hills, and within a 10 minute drive or bus-ride of the Clinic. Take a walk through Little Italy too, which is even closer. University Circle itself is a little "institutional" feeling at the moment, but that will be changing over the next few years as several infill development projects are completed. The bonus in this neighborhood is that you have a world-class art museum and orchestra in your backyard (along with a bunch of other museums), and a great art-house cinema in the Cinematheque. If you're looking to rent, check out the Park Lane Villas project, scheduled to be complete later this year: http://cleveland.about.com/od/apartmentliving/p/parklanevillas.htm

Sounds like a mini Battery Park.

I'm going to have trouble getting excited about this until we see some movement on the Warehouse District lots. I know Stark's in a "silent phase" on that project, but it's tough to go so long without hearing anything new. In the meantime, I can't help but look at this new project as a kind of crying wolf.

Surface parking lots?

The Hanna building is for temporary office space, for doing actual business. The "hatchery" is just a showcase thingy.

Thought maybe this could become a catch-all thread for new/expanding tech companies in Cleveland (except biotech). From Crain's. Rockin' the web New site by Cleveland entrepreneurs offers young rock bands place to post their videos and make a name for themselves. By CHUCK SODER 11:35 am, February 6, 2007 It’s one part YouTube, one part MySpace and one part iTunes. That’s how Cleveland “tech czar” Michael DeAloia described a new web site originating from Cleveland and aimed at promoting rock bands and changing how fans reach their favorite artists in the digital age. The site, UrPorn.tv, will allow any band broadly defined as “rock” to begin uploading music videos to the site when it launches Feb. 14. The site, which was given name with shock value, will allow visitors to view and rate videos, and it will highlight the most popular and highest-rated videos. Owned by Christopher G. Axelrod Productions, UrPorn.tv uses “the most sophisticated technology on the planet” and will promote the region by showing off Cleveland’s creative side, Mr. DeAloia said. More at http://www.crainscleveland.com/

To be fair, Stonebridge 5 will have some street presence, at least on the Centre Street side. That's where the shell of the old Cantina building is, and from what I understand it will house a coffee shop.

It's kinda sad that we cite suburbs as our best example of dense neighborhoods... That may be partly proving cleburger's point (though I've never spent time in Buffalo and can't comment on how it compares with Cleveland).

Debbie Downer time, from Crain's. Seeley Savidge heads west By STAN BULLARD 2:06 pm, February 1, 2007 Seeley Savidge & Ebert LLC plans to move the law firm’s main office to Westlake from downtown after purchasing a 5-year-old office building in the suburb for $2.78 million. Gary Ebert, a name partner at the firm, said in a news release that the decision to move the firm’s 30 employees to the Jamestown Professional Building was a difficult one because the firm has been downtown for 29 years. The firm now is in the Fifth Third Center building. However, he said in an e-mail that over time the firm has learned that clients do not like the inconvenience or cost of parking downtown. The firm looked at buying a building downtown, but it did not fit its plans to expand its reach in the region. The firm’s new home will be a brick Georgian-style building at 26600 Detroit Road that is visible from Interstate 90. Mr. Ebert, Seeley Savidge’s administrative partner, emphasized the firm is not abandoning downtown because it will establish what he termed “client conference centers,” which would also serve as a location for lawyers while they are in trial, downtown and in an eastern suburb. The size, location and staffing of the centers is undetermined. Seeley Savidge will occupy the Jamestown Professional Building’s vacant third floor. The building, which was opened in 2002, has several other tenants, Mr. Ebert said. The firm will expand its office 16% when it moves mid-year, as it will occupy about 13,000 square feet from 11,200 square feet downtown. The new owners will rename the structure “The SSE Building” at some point, he said. Cuyahoga County land records show the firm purchased the building for $2.78 million, which is slightly below the $3 million value the county assigned the property for property taxes. The building has 39,450 square feet and 116 parking spaces, and it sits on a two-acre parcel. The seller was Jamestown Professional LLC, a local realty ownership partnership. The new ownership of the building is composed of Tom Gable, a Rocky River-based real estate developer and property manager, and three Seeley Savidge principals, Gregory Seeley, Keith Savidge and Mr. Ebert, according to the release. The three lawyers are all from the western suburbs, he said.

Castaldi's was crap. I ate there once last year. The service was horrendous, the food bland.

Is this the little red brick building with the ghostly imprint "Bakers" above the storefront? I saw some work being done on it the other day. I love that building.

That's awesome! I have to imagine that MRN is offering below-standard rents, this being a small theater company... it's nice to see they're willing to be flexible in order to diversify the neighborhood. Now about that bodega... ;)

This is going to be a jazz club with tapas called Wonder Bar. It's being opened by a guy from Boston.

^^That's actually a pretty cool-looking Home Depot building.