ethlaw

^ Wow, this is pretty huge. A Cordray-DeWine race would be interesting for a lot of reasons. It's a rematch from the 2010 race (which was the closest statewide race that year), which is always interesting. But most of all, these are two long-time politicians (both can be considered rather "establishment"), and they both have quite a lot of experience. That's good for name recognition, but maybe not so good in these anti-establishment days we're living in. Even though it's early, I'd be very interested to see a hypothetical poll for Cordray vs the Republican candidates and see who fares best.

KJP, I'm glad you also think there's a good possibility that the new Justice Center and police HQ will be on the Weston land. I think that would be the best way to do that, and would also give Weston the boost they need to build the retail/residential portion of their project along W. 6th. However, I'm not sure if I can imagine the former Justice Center tower being converted into housing. I almost feel like the floor plates are too large with not enough windows. It's hard to imagine a functional layout for housing units that will allow each unit to get windows.

On the other hand, isn't Cleveland's downtown still behind other similar sized cities in terms of how many hotel rooms they have?

Does anyone have any insider information on this at all? I'm wondering if any of Weston's Warehouse District lots are in play. They own all of that property, right? They're clearly having trouble securing financing for their proposed project, and I'm sure a tenant like the Justice Center would be a reliable source of income that any developer would seek out. Why don't they just adjust their proposed development, with an office tower for the justice center offices? That would also help them finance the remainder of the project later on.

That garage entrance won't fly with the theater-going suburban crowd. What I'd like to see is the ground floor set up for either or--meaning it can be parking to start, but have another entrance in the design so if they ever decide to convert the ground floor it can be turnkey. I think the influence of the "theater-going suburban crowd" is way overstated. But regardless - that's irrelevant here. The garage entrance for the theater-goers is on the E. 17th side, and I have no issue with that. I just want the residential garage entrance to be moved to Brownell Court, and I do not buy the excuse that residents will refuse to move into this building just because their garage access is in the back. I mean, have you seen some of the awkward parking garage accesses for many of the existing high-end residences downtown? The Pinnacle, E. 4th residential, etc. I also don't think Euclid is even a particularly convenient spot for the garage entrance (it's not always an easy street to drive on with all the transit and pedestrians to contend with. I remain unconvinced that there's any good reason to not move the residential garage entrance to the back court. I'm also unconvinced that they can't justify retail currently. Right now, there are no retail vacancies in the immediate area - plus consider all the new residents at this tower (and at the Edge as well) who would make use of ground-floor retail at this location.

I 100% agree that the design is boring. However, I'm willing to live with a boring (not outright ugly) tower, as long as they ADD RETAIL AND MOVE THE GARAGE ENTRANCE TO BROWNELL COURT.

^ Honestly, I can't imagine that site becoming some kind of significant TOD - at least not one that involves residential. That area is totally locked in between freeways, rail, and various heavy industry. It's also just up the street from some of those seedy strip clubs on Brookpark Rd. Maaaaybe it could be a hotel because of its location close to the airport? Or maybe some offices? Otherwise, I can't picture something very exciting for that spot.

Dyrone Smith - a total unknown - was able to get the required signatures in time, yet these guys were not? That's not a good look for them.

I think Carnegie knocked it out of the park for either of their proposals. That plaza is exactly the kind of thing Lakewood needs in its city center. Now I really hope the developer tries to get Einstein's Bagels for one of its retail tenants, so that it can move from its location at Detroit & St. Charles and sell that land to a developer who will build something right up to the sidewalk there.

I agree it's disappointing that Coleman doesn't appear to be showing any interest at all. Can you explain why you think Whaley has the edge? I like what I've heard of her, but from what I understand, she may have the lowest name recognition of all the candidates.

Okay that does make sense. Hopefully he sells to someone who is actually likely to go through with such a development.

There's probably an obvious answer here as I am no expert on the program, but why would he apply for the historic tax credits if he didn't plan on using it?

I'm hearing such conflicting things about this. I've heard there was some kind of huge mess involving permits and property ownership. I hope that's wrong though.

Are they planning on expanding both Father Frescati and Battery Park Blvd to W. 70th? I hope so. They really need a couple stop signs on that street to regulate traffic flow and speed.

From what I've gathered they want to remain at the Rose building. However it's just not a reality because the end goal is to bring those from Strongsville and Beachwood back downtown. There are certainly buildings downtown big enough to house them all but not sure if any have the occupancy available. So, are they not even considering a new building?

Do you know for a fact Franklin used to go right across West 25th? On my old maps it looks like it did so, but I don't know how accurate they are. After all, all cities seem to have streets with the same name that don't quite connect when crossing another street. Yes, according to historic maps, Franklin Blvd. intersected at a 4-way intersection at W. 25th (or Pearl St.) since it was first built. The attached pic is from 1951. After 1979, the next available satellite image is from 1979, which shows Franklin Blvd. moved to its current position, which makes me think it was moved during the construction of Riverview.

.... ^ what does this mean?

I really like the proposals for Irish Town Bend. Both proposals have strengths that I hope they combine and utilize in the final design. I like the way the first design interacts with W. 25th Street (particularly the "entry plazas" at Detroit and Franklin). I also love the amphitheater and terraced farming in the second design. And I'm a huge fan of how they are planning to re-position Franklin so that it will once again become a continuous street with a 4-way intersection at W. 25th.

Hopefully some "world class" retail signage will be placed in that blank area between the first and second floors, which could improve the overall look a bit.

I'm so disheartened by our current lineup. Can someone please force Chris Ronayne to run? I wanna be on the Ronayne trayne.

It's also kind of unfortunate how Shaker Blvd was placed in relation to Methyl Avenue to the south (which I'm assuming was an existing street when Shaker Blvd was punched through the east side by the Van Sweringens). Look south from Shaker Blvd, all you can see are a bunch of overgrown foliage and the backyards of the houses on Methyl. There's a narrow strip of land between the backyards and Shaker Blvd, which is owned by the City of Cleveland. Hopefully it's not too narrow to negate any kind of potential future development.

^ Still not a good idea. They can still have 2 separate entrances without using Euclid at all. They could have an entrance on E. 17th and another entrance on Brownell Ct. IMO, I don't think we should be supporting anything that promotes more vehicular traffic on Euclid.

There's an almost endless amount of parking lots in the West Bank, and Jacobs wants to tear down more buildings...

Yeah it's a terribly stupid strategy to not initially include retail. This is in the heart of Playhouse Square, and there are no significant nearby vacancies. I hope someone puts some pressure on them to add retail right away (as well as diverting the garage entrances to E 17th). Is there going to be a public meeting about this?

I'm still unclear about ground floor retail. Going by the rendering, it doesn't look like there is any retail which would be a huge mistake. It also looks like there is garage access from Euclid which I also think is a mistake. I think all garage access should be limited to E. 17th St. and Brownell Ct. I don't want any unnecessary curb cuts on Euclid Avenue, which should be a place that is focused on pedestrians and transit.