blinker12

Does anyone have historic photos of what 668 looked like in its prime? I seem to recall some being posted somewhere, but when I searched the site I couldn't find anything.

You'd probably be happy in any of the four areas you mentioned, although you might grow tired of the commute from Lakewood. Of the four, you would probably find Downtown the most consistently exciting, and it would probably offer the widest range of possible activities/going out options within walking distance. (Sports, theaters, bars, recreation - be sure to check out the Rowing Foundation down in the Flats if you're into rowing at all.) You might add Shaker Square to your list as well. It has a slightly more "adult" feel than Coventry or Downtown and doesn't have many bars, which would be a drawback on your want list. On the plus side, however, the commute would be easy, there are lots of amenities (grocery, farmer's market, coffee shop, bookstore etc.) and there's nice outdoor access with the Shaker Lakes right next door.

Sounds like 310 Prospect is a "various demolition" in the making. I *think* this is the old Goldfish stores building. What a shame if true. http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20080526/FREE/443901592/1004&Profile=1004 Parking company adds to holdings By STAN BULLARD 4:30 am, May 26, 2008 A partnership led by a Los Angeles-based parking company has increased its holdings near Quicken Loans Arena and the East Fourth Street neighborhood of restaurants and apartments in downtown Cleveland. L&R Group, through LR 310 Prospect Investors LLC, paid $1.4 million for the parking lot on the southwest corner of East Fourth and Prospect and the empty building at 310 Prospect. David Damus, L&R CEO, said the company wanted to expand its holdings beyond its adjoining block-long parking lot and parking garage because the area is growing with redevelopment.

Developers build on trend as tenant interest grows New projects have eco-friendly components By STAN BULLARD Crain's 4:30 am, May 26, 2008 Multiple buildings in the proposed Flats East Bank Neighborhood mixed-use project will have green roofs. Contractors tearing down existing buildings to clear the Old River Road site for the project are required to recycle at least half the debris, from steel to bricks, to keep it from going into landfills. At the Idea Center, the multimillion-dollar home for tech companies and the ideastream WCPN and WVIZ public broadcasting stations at 1375 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland's Theater District, the roof is white to reduce cooling costs in the summer. More at http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20080526/SUB1/718288372

Farmers markets increase, creating competition for local produce Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Debbi Snook Plain Dealer Reporter Set your alarm. It's that irresistible farmers market time. You'll need to get there early. You're not the only one craving eggplant with patent-leather perfect skin, apples that haven't marched across the continent, asparagus that poked through the rich soil right around us. Craving for local foods is rising to new highs. Market managers across Northeast Ohio have seen the growing interest among us, and many are adding markets or expanding their rosters. But some are seeing a shortage of folks who grow the food and can bring it to market. "There are so many markets now, we're competing for farmers," said Susan Hirsch, manager of the Medina Farmers Market on the city's Victorian-styled village green. Hirsch has lost two farmers to competing markets. So has Dottie Oliver, who runs the Twinsburg Farmers Market, now in its fourth year. Oliver's defectors moved to a new location closer to home. more at: http://www.cleveland.com

From today's Restaurant Row in the PD. Sounds like direct competition for Lucky's. Dante's loss, cleveland's gain . . . Dante restaurant is pretty much golden. Here's hoping that glitter shines on his pastry team of Wendy Thompson and SynDee Klingenberg, who leave to open their own shop this summer in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood. Executive pastry chef Thompson and pastry sous-chef Klingenberg plan for their store, A Cookie and a Cupcake, to feature custom-designed cakes as well as 12 flavors of hand-decorated cupcakes plus cookies, brownies and other confections. No opening date has been announced for the shop, which will be at 2173 Professor St., but if you want a preview of what the duo can do, you can look at their range of offerings and place an order online or by telephone.

Accounting firm plans to double office space Maloney + Novotny moving to Eaton Center RELATED LINKS Maloney + Novotny By STAN BULLARD 4:30 am, May 19, 2008 The Maloney + Novotny LLC accounting firm is preparing to put down roots as a full-floor tenant at Eaton Center when it doubles its office from a temporary workplace at Penton Media Center in downtown Cleveland. Matt Maloney, managing shareholder, said the firm is so crowded in its current office that it can't add staff until it moves in late June to the seventh floor of the skyscraper at 1111 Superior Ave. The company plans to add as many as eight this year to its 90-person staff, Mr. Maloney said. The 24,000-square-foot office at Eaton Center will give the firm room to grow, as it can accommodate 125 people, Mr. Maloney said. The firm is in about 12,000 square feet at Penton Media Center, which it moved to eight months ago when Mr. Maloney and 24 others exited North Point Tower to break with the RSM McGladrey firm. While Eaton Center works for the firm on several reasons, Peter Chudyk, a shareholder who runs Maloney + Novotny's tax department, said one is sentimental. “I worked there for 15 years at Hausser + Taylor. The familiarity of the location worked for us,” Mr. Chudyk said. Many of the accounting professionals who launched Maloney + Novotny hail from the former Hausser + Taylor, which became part of a national concern owned at various times by American Express, RSM and H&R Block. Maloney + Novotny considered “several very attractive” offers from suburban office buildings, Mr. Chudyk said, but decided to remain downtown. “Our commitment to be in downtown Cleveland is part of our commitment to get back to where we used to be as an Ohio-based regional firm,” Mr. Maloney said, referring to predecessor Hausser + Taylor. Staying downtown also was important to younger staffers, he said, and the firm believes it will aid in recruiting and retaining recent college graduates who want to work and live downtown.

Offer to med mart: $1 a year Big project's cost prompts look at new site as Forest City pitches cheap lease By JAY MILLER May 19, 2008 Anxiety about rising costs is slowing a decision on where to locate a new convention center and medical merchandise mart and is bringing another potential site into play: underused land at East 55th Street and Chester Avenue. It's also motivating real estate giant Forest City Enterprises Inc. to offer 200,000 square feet in downtown Cleveland's Higbee Building for the medical mart at a lease rate of $1 a year. While Cuyahoga County commissioners have kept their distance from the site selection negotiations, Commissioner Tim Hagan said last week he's hearing that cost estimates are rising significantly beyond the original budget of between $350 million and $400 million... More at: http://www.crainscleveland.com

Back to the news of the day, I'm very excited about this hotel. I believe their building in Seattle has a photovoltaic-integrated facade, so the face of the building is actually generating energy. I'm sure they'll want to do similarly cool things here. (The article should have played up the green aspirations of this chain more. That's what makes it so much cooler, literally and figuratively, than W and other high-end brands.)

That above post is ridiculous. The riverfront park will be public, along with a new boardwalk all along the river.

This hasn't been posted yet? I'm surprised. Local leaders look to future as partners Friday, May 16, 2008 Jim Nichols Plain Dealer Reporter Independence - Local-government leaders in unprecedented numbers came together Thursday to endorse plans to share their local tax dollars and surrender some autonomy for the region's greater good. The leaders - from aging major cities, suburban boomtowns and rural hamlets across 16 counties - endorsed radical "regionalism" plans emerging from the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association. More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

Maybe that's because you live and work in Solon. :roll:

Looks like an exciting place to be, though for a boom city I'm surprised at the (apparent) lack of street life...?

Machine leaving longtime Flats home Workers join new Strongsville employer; developer mulls Stonebridge expansion By STAN BULLARD 4:30 am, May 12, 2008 Tenk Machine & Tool Co. is disappearing from Cleveland's Flats in a deal that has reopened the closed Demag Plastics Group plant in Strongsville and might allow the Stonebridge mixed-use complex to expand. A skeleton crew last week arranged drill bits, lathes and cranes for an equipment auction at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, May 13, at Tenk's 2111 Center St. location. However, most of the 35 workers who were Tenk employees already are working at the former Demag plant that newly formed parts and equipment maker JSM Cleveland will use to serve Tenk customers and others, said Mike White, JSM Cleveland's sales and engineering manager.... http://crainscleveland.com/article/20080512/FREE/641695489

"I'll move to Cleveland when you get that IKEA -- never!!!" Hilarious!

Pokeable, sounds like you're on the right track w/ the downtown place! Let us know how it works out for you, and welcome in advance to Cleveland.

Cool, thanks McC. Can folks give me an idea of what they typically pay in the winter for energy/electric in a 1- or 2bdrm downtown apartment?

I am moving soon and have thought a bit about living downtown. Does anyone know if there are any buildings between Warehouse District and Playhouse Square where heat is included in rent? It seems like most places you pay separately for heat.

Also should be pointed out that this house is not actually in Ohio City -- it's in Detroit Shoreway, at W. 54th and Bridge. Detroit-Shoreway was definitely NOT gentrifying yet in the 1980s.

i heard late summer.

Hi pokeable, I've lived in Asiatown for about two years (and am roomies with another forumer, 8ShadesofGray, who may have something to contribute here too). Safety - It's incredibly safe. It's actually one of the safest-feeling places I've ever lived, which has surprised me a little. I think this has to do partly with the fact that it's a mixed-use neighborhood, so in addition to residents you have employees at the warehouses and small machine shops adding activity and "eyes on the street" at all hours. It's a diverse neighborhood racially and ethnically -- about 20% Asian, 45% white and 35% black, according to some research I did for a class project about a year ago. Uniformly, though, it's a hard-working population. There are a lot of immigrants -- Asian, Eastern European and white refugees from the suburbs looking for cheap loft space. The Asians are continually running back and forth between their houses and the import warehouses that line Payne and Superior avenues. The artists and manufacturing employees are sawing and spraying and clattering away in their warehouse spaces. This all contributes to a sense of busy-ness and safety. In my two years living on E. 33rd St., nothing at all has happened to me, my house or my car (and I park outside). Loft spaces - There isn't a whole lot that is *legally* available. (In fact Loftworks and Payne Avenue Lofts are the only two legal buildings I know of.) A lot of the loft living around here happens in violation of state codes, though the City tends to turn a blind eye and even has legislation supporting live-work. If either of you guys are artists, contact the Goulds at http://www.artspacecleveland.com. They can connect you with some available working spaces. Also try Rose Management Co. at http://clevelandspace.com/, which manages some loft buildings in the neighborhood. If I have a complaint at all about Asiatown, it's the lack of a walking culture. The neighborhood, spatially, is actually quite walkable. There's a Dave's Supermarket/Pharmacy a block and a half from where I live, as well as innumerable Asian restaurants, groceries and shops. Public transit is also good, with major bus lines connecting you with downtown in a matter of 5-10 minutes. But because the avenues are so wide, and because parking is so freely available, not a whole lot of people walk. Certainly fewer than in Tremont, Downtown, Shaker Square or Ohio City. In sum, if pedestrianism is important to you, you might be best advised to look elsewhere. If safety and availability of cool spaces are your primary considerations, you can't do any better than Asiatown.

Very good news. I'm a little worried about the form this will take urbanistically though. I hope it's not built as a low-rise, set-back, suburban style blob simply because they've ended up w/ a surplus of land.

Is it open open, or was this a preview night?

That's so true. Any other day, there are always at least a few people out on W. 25th, even on non-market days. Clevelanders love their day of rest.

Strap, I would take exception on Ohio City. That neighborhood really does come close to having it all, provided you live within walking distance of W. 25th and Lorain. I lived in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, before moving back to Cleveland and found it and the OC comparable in many ways. Just a side comment.