Sammy Voz

I don't think they want to wait that long for that secondary retail function to develop. It seems to me like we may be thinking about their plans too small and too regionally. I don't even think they're going to be marketing this thing to locals. It seems like they're going to use this to be more touristy, attract people from the suburbs, people who work downtown and mainly, people who are here visiting. That's what it seems like to me, leveraging the casino and the hotel and building off of that. So I don't even think they're attempting to target locals, other than the residents that will be actually living in terminal tower. I'm optimistic because as someone pointed out earlier, Gilbert's TC co-owner has done this before in Detroit. Looking at where the wealth is in greater Cleveland, TC is going out of the way to get high end as compared to Crocker and Legacy. Poverty rate in the city rules out a huge chunk of local residents. The rest may shop at TC but there are a faction that won't due to what they see as "safety concerns" which we know is BS but Cleveland.com-ers do exist. With all that said, you may be right in assuming that this will be a tourist attraction that supports the casino like the hotel does. A place for non-gamblers to spend time and money while the people who brought them gamble. The thing I'm worried about is the 5 months (or more) of brutal cold and rain where tourism may fall off. Businesses during this time rely on locals and special events to bring in customers and I don't know if that's enough knowing that past tries at this have failed. To pull this off I think there needs to be a huge push to market this high end mall as THE thing in the city. Bigger than the Rock Hall, East 4th, and the West Side Market. There needs to be signage on the building, highway signage, bus tours from other close by cities, TV commercials, etc... If Gilbert's group can do all this, it may work but I pick places like the Cleveland Clothing Store over Bergdorfs any day so I may not be the target consumer. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it works tho, if this is indeed the plan.

I like the high end residential idea and the rehab of the movie theater. Instead of removing the food court, can it be rehabbed? There's not a lot of places for fast/cheap food downtown and I think it does serve the working lunch crowd and transit riders. I just don't think high end retail will work right now. High end malls in this area traditionally bring in the suburbanites but there's also a mass transit hub in the same building which sends them running for the hills. I feel strongly about bringing in retail that supports or will support the residents like a market, drug store, home goods, daycare, gym, coffee/donuts, restaurants, etc... Once you have a good base of supportive retail then you can bring in a secondary retail function like high end but you can't put all your chips in the high end basket or you haven't learned from the past.

With all of the indoor "mall" space (ie. Galleria, Arcades, Tower City) or even the commercial space to be built in already planned projects around popular downtown amenities, I'm surprised at not only the remote location but their plan for new construction. I know it's a part of a bigger plan for the lakefront area but I'd expect them to want to see more progress on residential north of the highway. If the lakefront project plan with highway and mass transit access is enough for them to bring this to the table then maybe we're starting to see commercial timidness start to fade? At the very least it'll be a great indoor restroom for December tailgaters. :drunk:

It will be a constantino's. There will be a large addition to the back of the buildings. Cleveland, land of the awesome looking grocery stores!

North of Lincoln Park was what I had in my mind.

Another decent sized apartment building being planned for a vacant lot on the North End. Plans should be making their way through soon. I think I kept that vague enough. Constantinos plans will be popping up within the next month as well for their West 14th location in the old mansion/art gallery by Fairfield. Sign was up on the Tremont Black site that said they were 100% sold. Also, ODOT is putting in a new park east of the new I90 bridge where West 14th used to go. Metro Parks will oversee it's maintenance. I wasn't surprised but still almost cried when I heard that the new lots around and under the new bridges were going to become pay lots down the road. I'll miss my free downtown parking :|

The Milton to offer 16 upscale town homes on Superior Avenue http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/Milton040516.aspx

Current trends for a successful mall in this area are for them to resemble an urban environment with narrow landscaped streets and storefronts facing those streets like Crocker Park or Legacy. The Arcade and the Galleria are other similar downtown examples of what we are dealing with with the Avenue and they haven't been able to pull off the whole mall thing. Plus the whole mall crowd in this area doesn't seem to me to want to deal with downtown shopping. Recent successes downtown have shown that mixed use is the way to go and the big thing missing from the Avenue and Tower City is a built in residential population. This could be an already built TOD with the potential to have stores come in to support residents such as a pharmacy, small grocer, home furnishings, etc... Existing stores could stay as well on a floor or in an area to continue the shopping experience for visitors. Restaurants are already there. The ground floor could be a great place for a monthly farmers or flea market. I'm sure that I'm missing something as far as putting apartments here but what an address to have!

Isn't it a part of that "Dream Neighborhood" project?

Heard a few rumors this week about the Jacob's master plan for the West Bank from a Flats area resident and employee that include: notching out the area between Music Box and the Powerhouse to create docks for a yacht club new (possibly mixed use) residential on the old surface lots sorta depressing news about them planning to tear down the building that houses the harbor inn (sale pending) Now of course these are rumors but you have to think that Jacob's and the west bank has to be a tad envious now, right? I know they were planning to sell their buildings in the Warehouse District to focus on the flats. Any word about further development on the West Bank?

Demo starting on the remaining house on the Tremont Black site.

Demo starting on the old gas station at Fairfield and West 10th where Tremont Black will go.

I believe they said the corrugated metal was chosen because it went along with "the vertical flow of the neighborhood"... I think that was a runner up neighborhood slogan one year. Tremont - The Neighborhood with Vertical Flow

^ Yes, they intend to demolish it. They kept mentioning in the block club meeting that it was in terrible shape on the inside and they were shocked that people actually lived in it. I'm sure it was to soften the fact that they wanted to demo an old building but there was really no push back on it. Questions that came up were about drainage, tree lawn landscaping, and snow removal from that small dead end driveway.

I wished my Uncle Jud a happy retirement through my Aunt on Facebook. I also asked for any sort of tid bits on what the new CEO plans to do with this property. I couldn't not ask right?!? Anyways, it's nice to see family members in the news and finally have a reason to post on here instead of lurking. We'll see what he says...