NorthShore64

$15M Near East Side apartment complex nearing completion Bonnie Meibers - Columbus Business First 0 Sep. 17, 2021 "The Arch City Development project is on Broad Street, but is one of several underway near Long Street and the historic King-Lincoln Bronzeville area. ... The building will have 67 units, with about two-thirds of the units' rents capped at 80% to 100% of the area median income. The remaining third will have market-rate rents. ... Higgins said the majority of units will be one bedroom, with studio and two-bedroom options mixed in. ... Higgins now anticipates the building will be completed this upcoming January."

I'm guessing at this early stage it's just way too early to have any idea of what type of jobs it could generate. Could be anything from one big or multiple small warehousing or manufacturing operations, redevelop the indoors for pop up shops, an indoor market, a shopping center with unique destinations, another giant food hall, one of those indoor adventure places, co working or permanent office space, museum or art installations etc. There's a lot of possibilities! Including the 2nd floor, the total square footage is 670,000 square feet. That's a very large space to work with. Connect has taken on some more difficult redevelopment projects in the city though (rather than just building new), so hopefully they can do something creative with this space.

The SomeraRoad apartment development just got conceptual approval from the Planning Commission at todays meeting. The project seemed to be very well received by the commission. Here is a "design aesthetic/precedent image" from their presentation:

More details on the Connect Realty redevelopment of the former Value City site: Jobs hub, affordable housing in plans for long-vacant Schottenstein's store site Jim Weiker - The Dispatch - Sep. 14, 2021 "DeHays said he is working on plans that would include two apartment buildings on the north side of the site, now occupied by a parking lot. The complexes would include about 150 affordable apartments. The plan would repurpose the existing building. 'We hope whatever we put in there will be an employment hub for that area, to develop something that's a job generator,' he said. ... DeHays said he is working on details, but hopes to present a plan to the city later this year or early next year if the annexation is approved. The site is in one of the Columbus area's 52 opportunity zones, which provides some tax breaks for investors."

Lykens hoping to bring new life to former Weinland Park Beer Barn Bonnie Meibers - Columbus Business First - Sep. 17, 2021 "Developer Kevin Lykens said the four-story development he wants to build at 200 E. 5th Ave. on the corner of 4th Street and 5th Avenue will have four dozen apartment units and space for two restaurants on the ground floor, one at 3,500 square feet and one at 1,000. Before the developer can break ground, the project must get final approval from the Columbus City Council as well as building permits. The project is not currently on council's zoning agenda for this month. Lykens said he hopes to start construction early next year. It will take about 14 months to build the mixed-use building." https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9868979,-82.9995839,3a,75y,314.81h,83.97t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1soB4_A8VudFeYfDmT880j-Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

Along with the mayoral primary, ten wards had city council primary votes. All eight incumbents appear to have won their primary elections. The remaining elections without incumbents are to replace Basheer Jones (Ward 7) and Ken Johnson (Ward 4). Both of these primary elections had eleven candidates with none receiving more than 30% of the vote. 2021's voter turnout was 117% of 2017's total. Nine wards saw increased turnout over the last election. Here is a breakdown by ward:

I threw together a few maps based on the Sep. 14 Primary Election. Along with the mayoral primary, the ten wards that had city council primary votes are marked. 2021's voter turnout was 117% of 2017's total with nine wards seeing increased turnout over the last election. Here is a breakdown by ward: Here is 2021's Primary Election voter turnout by ward: And here is a map of turnout and each wards winning mayoral primary candidate:

Cleveland Thermal's gas boilers are at their plant on Hamilton and 18th. The coal powered Canal Road Steam Plant was closed when the switch to natural gas was made ~4 years ago. Cleveland Thermal still owns the Canal Road facility.

Its official: WKSU And Ideastream Public Media Enter Into Merger Agreement Ida Lieszkovzsky - Ideastream - Sep. 15, 2021 "The Kent State University Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to approve a merger that hands over operations of its public radio station, WKSU, to Cleveland-based Ideastream Public Media. Under the agreement, Ideastream will take over the management of WKSU starting on Oct. 1. WKSU employees are being offered jobs at Ideastream Public Media, and some of those jobs will be moved to Ideastream’s downtown Cleveland headquarters. Kent State will retain WKSU’s FCC license. ... Under the plan, by April 1, 2022, WKSU will become the region’s main NPR affiliated news and information station, and the two Ideastream stations will in essence trade places on the dial - and switch call letters. ... The agreement will expand Ideastream’s audience from 2.4 million to 3.6 million people, reaching 22 Northeast Ohio counties. Ideastream will now employ roughly 150 people, including 40 in the new unified newsroom."

Spending bill includes $350 million for a new Great Lakes icebreaker Sabrina Eaton - Cleveland.com - Sep. 15, 2021 "A $3.5 trillion budget bill being crafted in Congress includes $350 million to build a new U.S. Coast Guard heavy icebreaking ship to serve the Great Lakes. ... The Westlake-based Lake Carriers’ Association has sought a new ice breaker for years. It estimates that over the past seven years, shipping delays caused by ice cost the Great Lakes economy $2 billion and more than 10,000 jobs. ... According to the Lake Carriers Association, during three of the past six years the Coast Guard has been unable to keep Great Lakes waterways consistently open to commercial navigation when conditions became icy."

Denison University expanding to Arena District with space to prepare liberal arts grads with marketable skills Hayleigh Colombo - Columbus Business First - Sep. 15, 2021 "Denison University has secured the former Sparkspace location in the Arena District to create a hands-on learning environment where industry experts will help liberal arts majors launch into or pivot into new careers. The 10,000-square-foot space in Marconi Square will be called Denison Edge and it will serve not only Denison students, but students from other Ohio liberal arts colleges as well. ... Denison is currently doing a soft launch of the space and making some updates to the physical environment. A grand opening is planned for early November. The selection of a location in the Arena District was designed to be convenient for industry partners and attractive to new or early college graduates."

Latest proposal reduces number of homes on Worthington Methodist site Jim Weiker - The Dispatch - Sep. 15, 2021 "The new plan, by Lifestyle Communities, calls for 600 residences, fewer than the 730 proposed by Lifestyle in October. Lifestyle has requested that the Worthington Planning Commission consider the new plan at its Oct. 14 meeting. ... The proposal also continues earlier plans for commercial development along High Street, on the eastern edge of the property. Under Lifestyle's current proposal, the commercial district would include a three-story medical office building with one of the company's Goat restaurants on the ground floor, along with two four- and five-story buildings that would contain commercial space on the ground floor topped by a total of 420 apartments. Much of the rest of the site would be occupied by clusters of three-story townhomes – 86 of them for sale and 72 for rent."

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s company announces vision for thousands of homes, development along Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland Eric Heisig - Cleveland.com - Sep. 15, 2021 "The plans for hundreds of acres, which includes the “Collision Bend” area across from Tower City and portions of Canal Road, would transform a long-underused area near several booming neighborhoods into a bustling area, Bedrock CEO Kofi Bonner said in a virtual news conference. ... Bonner noted that Bedrock, which owns Tower City and the recently removed May Co. building near Public Square, owns about 30% of the 130 acres needed for its plan, but said it would work with landowners, along with city, state and federal governments, to try to position the area for its best possible future."

Live election results at:https://www.livevoterturnout.com/cuyoh/LiveResults/en/Index_16.html

FWIW I believe the two members who voted against the Pavilion were the youngest.

Historic downtown mural will be brought back to life, mini-park spruced up Lee Chilcote - TheLand - Sep. 14, 2021 "One of Cleveland’s oldest downtown murals is being brought back to life as part of a celebration of the role of public art in the city. “Life is Sharing the Same Park Bench,” a mural by artist John Morrell at East 9th Street and Rockwell in downtown Cleveland, will be restored this month along with the city-owned mini-park around it. ... In addition to Morrell’s historic mural, which was last restored in 1993 and is now marred by fading and chipped paint, the park around the mural will also be spruced up with new benches and plantings."

Scaled-Down Merion Village Project Lands Approval Brent Warren - Columbus Underground - Sep. 14, 2021 "A plan to build a three-story townhouse development in Merion Village got a vote of approval from the Development Commission last week. ... Kreais said that he hopes to break ground on the project next spring. The three-bedroom townhomes will be offered for sale, but prices have not yet been set."

Construction of several Worthington Gateway buildings on track for completion in 2022 Stephan Borgna - ThisWeek News - Sep. 8, 2021 "A series of four 1- to 2-story retail and office buildings planned along West Wilson Bridge Road are expected to be completed in March after an initial target of fall 2021 did not come to fruition because of “supply chain interruptions, financing issues and slow lead times” caused by the pandemic, according to the application for a new building permit for a 1-story Gateway building at 53 W. Wilson Bridge Road submitted to the Worthington Board of Zoning Appeals on Aug. 6. ... The Worthington Gateway site is directly across the street from the Shops at Worthington Place mall at 7227 N High St., which will be the future site of the mixed-use High North project in development by Direct Retail Partners."

Oldcastle Lawn and Garden to renovate long-vacant Portage County factory Rachel Abbey McCafferty - Crain's Cleveland Business - Sep. 13, 2021 "The company already has a site in Springfield, Ohio, and a new location in Suffield will help it "meet their customer service level expectations," a news release said. Oldcastle will renovate a long-vacant factory in Suffield with the help of a JobsOhio Revitalization Grant, the release said. The project is expected to bring 40 new jobs to the area. The company worked with an economic development team made up of the Portage Development Board, JobsOhio and Team NEO." https://www.google.com/maps/place/61+OH-43,+Hartville,+OH+44632/@40.9945617,-81.3532417,844m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x88312d77884bfc6b:0x477c740411f29f0e!8m2!3d40.9945577!4d-81.351053

Platform tennis facility nears completion in Cleveland’s Flats Marc Bona - Cleveland.com - Sep. 13, 2021 "So far the organization has spent $600,000 on the infrastructure, and as of last month needed about $150,000. Money has been raised through donations and with some corporate backing. The Pittsburgh-based American Platform Tennis Association, the national governing body, helped with the largest grant in APTA history, Stewart and Nejedlik said. ... Pending finishing infrastructure touches and permits, target date for balls to start flying is October or November, though the warming hut probably will take longer to complete. ... In addition, an all-volunteer-run, youth-mentoring program is in the works, for middle and high-school students to learn the game. The plan is to have half the group on the court while the other half will be in the hut working with life skills and homework."

Kerry McCormack Had to Threaten Jackson Admin with Lawsuit to Get Parking Meter Study He Pushed For Sam Allard - Scene - Sep. 9, 2021 "But the plan, which was created in 2019 by the firm Desman Design Management, was kept under wraps by Mayor Frank Jackson's administration. Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack has long been council's most vocal advocate for modernized parking meters. He told WEWS Channel 5 that he had to file a public records request to obtain the plan from the city. And in comments to Scene, he said that city council's lawyers were hours away from filing a lawsuit against the administration in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas to force their hand."

Equipment delays push back Trolley District opening — food hall, market on the way Jim Weiker - the Dispatch - Sep. 8, 2021 "Equipment delays have pushed back the opening of the first phase of the Trolley District, the long-awaited Near East Side food, office and entertainment development. The district's East Market food hall is now expected to open in early December, months after its August target date. ... On the good news side, DeHays said all 20 stalls in the market building have been spoken for, although some prospects who have not signed leases may change. In all, 15 tenants are expected to occupy the stalls."

The Jackson administration tried to block complete and green streets legislation Lee Chilcote - The Land - Sep. 3, 2021 "Ward 3 councilman Kerry McCormack introduced a new complete and green streets ordinance protecting vulnerable road users in August 2020, yet for more than a year, it’s been stalled at city hall. ... With the help of city council’s staff attorneys, he recently learned that the administration is required to provide a mandatory referral within 30 days of council submitting a request for one. If the city refuses, then it is deemed approved and city council can begin hearing it at its committees due to the administration’s inaction. McCormack said council attorneys submitted the official referral August 5th, yet the planning commission didn’t put it on their August 6th, August 20th, or September 3rd agendas. As of Tuesday, August 6th, McCormack said, the 30-day term will be up. Given this, McCormack expects it to now appear on the next agenda of the Development, Planning and Sustainability (DPS) committee." Here is a link to City Ordinance No. 676-2020:

The Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater has just recently opened. The first show at the venue will be by the New Albany Symphony on Friday Sep. 10 at 7:30pm.