Urbanophile

I like it. I know a lot (or maybe just a loud minority) of residents on Clinton were very opposed to this project, but I don't see why. Clinton is already mix of single family homes, multi-family homes, and even some small apartment buildings. This building is not very imposing, either. It's set back from the street, and is only a little bit taller than the surrounding homes/townhouses. And the design isn't bad (I like it better than Mariner's Watch).

Yay! I was wondering when this would go public. I've been working with Niki and Chick on this project for a few months. They didn't get the historic tax credits last round, but hopefully they can get it next round. Even so, I'm sure they can do this project without the tax credits. I've toured the space with them, and I'm confident it could be a really cool and iconic project. I could see tourists from outside Northeast Ohio driving to Tremont to see this place.

Yeah I'd actually love to see that space filled with something that's not a restaurant. Maybe a boutique shop?

Cool, thanks for the pic, Mendo! I used to despise brutalism, but recently I've come to appreciate some aspects of it. I'd much rather have a daring brutalist building than a boring suburban-style building. I hate the way most brutalist buildings interact with the streetscape, but that's not necessarily a universal thing. If it was feasible, I would love if the Justice Center added some street-level additions with retail, on Lakeside and Ontario (I'd also love if they moved the county jail, and built some mixed use buildings in its place, but that's pretty pie-in-the-sky). Anyway, now that I think of it, the Justice Center could look really great with some mild floodlighting at the top, above the windows, and along the top half of the corners. The building is supposed to look top-heavy, so that would still be respectful of the architecture, while adding some much-needed light to downtown. I'm terrible with photoshop, and also can't find any picture of the Justice Center at night, but I hope you guys basically get the gist of it.

That's a bit of an overstatement. If you're talking about that whole stretch, then you should also include Anytime Fitness and Starbucks (which I wouldn't really call a restaurant). And what about that Flower Child vintage shop? Is that still there?

^ Great news! That intersection will look so much better once they develop that lot.

They're restoring to how it was when it was updated in the 1920s. I guess the 1920s is still historic, but they should really have to restore it to its original design.

Why is the detailing at the top of the building in the rendering totally dumbed down? They aren't actually going to remove that, right?

Architectural lighting really does make a huge difference for a city's skyline. Pittsburgh, for example, looks beautiful at night. In Cleveland, the only towers with notable architectural lighting are Terminal Tower, Key Tower, and 200 Public Square. It made quite a difference when the federal courthouse was lit up. I strongly agree about One Cleveland Center. It's hard to add accent lighting to a mid-century building like Erieview or a brutalist building like the Justice Center, but I don't understand why there has never been good lighting for One Cleveland Center.

Uniqlo sound like a good fit for the NuCLEus project. Or maybe the retail component for the Garfield Building.

^ Welp, that sounds like a pretty awesome solution that should keep most people happy!

^ Yep. It's [email protected] . KJP gave the email a couple pages back. He was quite good at responding to me and seemed really open to suggestions, but seeing the current renderings, I'm not sure if I believe him now. However, your suggestion is much simpler than mine, so let's hope he's receptive!

I really don't like the concrete panels. They don't even look like they're secure. Driving past, it looked like there were spaces between some of the panels. It just looks a little uneven. Hopefully that gets worked out. I'm sure once the glass curtain wall goes up, it will be easy to overlook the concrete. But right now, it's the only exterior material we're seeing and it doesn't look great.

This is absolutely how it should be done. There was a public meeting in November regarding feedback on the bridge designs. I spoke at the meeting and also emailed the team leader at Parsons Brinckerhoff (the planning firm) regarding the termination point. The guy I talked with over email seemed to be very receptive to ideas, and said they were working very hard to make it integrate well with the surrounding area. He said they were also working with Dick Pace, to make sure that the termination point would connect with his lakefront development project. The renderings, however, do not make me optimistic.

^ But surely Ikea knew they were opening the Columbus store when they were doing the land deal in Brooklyn, right? That makes me think that Ikea is still seriously considering Cleveland. We'll just probably have to wait longer now...

^ They couldn't make it any wider without significant cost increases. I do agree that it could be better, though.

^ I think history is significant. It's legitimately interesting that this building was built by the sons of a U.S. president and it's ridiculous that a company wants to change the name to some generic made-up name with no significance.

A letter-writing campaign sure couldn't hurt!

^ I was thinking the same thing! I really hope they light up the top of that building again. It really does look cool when it's lit up. But anyway, I don't want to take this off-topic anymore. Is there a thread for downtown lighting?

I know I'm a couple days late to the conversation, but Cleveland's federal courthouse building is a good example of the importance of lighting up the tops of skyscrapers. It's a striking building at night when they light up the top, but they haven't done that for years and now it's rather boring at night. Is there any chance they'll start lighting it up again? (sorry this is a bit off-topic)

^^ I haven't gone in yet, but I've heard good things so far. It's great to see someone making use of that long-vacant storefront. I do hope it gets a proper sign eventually, though.

Wow, I had heard of Swingos, but for some reason I never knew it was that building! I assumed it was torn down. Someone needs to buy that building, spruce it up, and rebrand it as Swingos again!

I've been hearing rumblings about the lot at Euclid and East 17th. I'm surprised to see that other building at the Comfort Inn site. I would love to see that building come down!

Hmm according to the article, the design also calls for one (or maybe two) smaller "bridges" to connect the parking garages. I am a big fan of the hotel bridge. Not such a big fan of the car bridges...

^ So, was that some kind of long-winded satirical way of saying that the NuCLEus tower looks like some kind of futuristic citadel in an authoritarian dystopian society?