cadmen

Yes, T. J. was certainly "difficult" as a sitting councilman. Returning him to office would not a positive move for Cleveland lMO.

Paywall. Can someone here who does have access give us a little more info such as location, size of facility etc.

That is correct sir! I am a regular reader of Crain's at my local library. Crain's plus the Economist are my first 2 weekly reads.

Somewhere on these forums l thought l read that the general consensus among downtown leaders and those involved in retail leasing was once we reached 30,000 retail would follow. Recently l read we need at least 50,000. That's a huge gap and who knows when/if we'll even get there. The best retail news for me would be a City Target either in Tower City or Millennium on 9th and Euclid. But if we need 50,000, well we'll be waiting quite awhile. Needless to say, brick and mortar retail is tough and downtown brick and mortar is even tougher.

I'm not at all unhappy about an outside developer coming into town. The more the merrier. I don't even care if he wants to hold out for the best deal he can get. That's business. My complaint (and maybe l misunderstood the reasons) is it seemed this project was delayed primarily due to lack of site control and slow city hall paperwork. That's how l interpreted the reports l read. The real reason l took that approach is this project seemed to be just another in a long, long list of failed or downsided projects that we all know too well. This is anecdotal but take it for what it's worth. Every year l spend time in Boston. Dallas and Phoenix. Love Boston, don't like the other two. But one trait all three have in common is the people expect the city to get things done. And they do! They expect more and somehow, someway they get more. And before you say those cities are very different than CLE l get it, they are. They, along with alot of other US cities are on a roll. I'm not saying we're competing on the same playing field but we CAN do better than we are and maybe the first step is to raise our expectations. In most ways Ken l think we want the same things for CLE. A strong core, better rail transport (including TOD), etc. You probably view Jane Jacob's the same way l do. We both want our home to be the best it can be although you see my missives as pointing out the negative while l see them as a plea for doing better. Perspective.

Sorry if l'm just a little jaded about the state of progress in this town Ken. I know you prefer a dispassionate approach and that's a healthier outlook but l'm just tired of the all too often second rate efforts here. Rather than be complacent about things let's hold all of us (politicians, civic and business leaders and even us citizens) to a higher standard. If we don't expect better we surely won't get it. You may think l'm just being negative but l see it as holding our feet too the fire. If we demand better we might get better.

LOL. What a sh*t show. Nobody from the developer to the city can't figure out he difference between The City Club and the parking lot next door?? And admittedly l'm not a developer but it seems to me that before you go through all the trouble of hiring contractors and filing tons of paperwork with the city the first thing you would do is acquire the friggin property. Christ. Same as it ever was in good ol' CLE.

Both the county and the city have a long history of corruption not to mention plain ol' incompetence. Any observer of how things are done here will come to the conclusion that as Pogo once said "We have met the enemy and he is us." It starts with self serving politicians and filters down to lazy government workers who put in a 2-3 hour work day. Add in a layer of general bureaucratic inertia and you get a region stuck in first gear. And because we don't demand change we've become a population that accepts a low bar. It is what it is to coin a phrase. Pisses me off but l don't see any change on the horizon.

Well if you read the article it tells you where the data is from.

Yes indeed. Thanks for the great reporting Ken. Contemplating the development it occurred to me that if the second phase of the Circle Square was ever in doubt this kind of growth should ensure it gets built. University Circle is turning into one amazing location. If this keeps up l may have to put my money where my mouth is, sell my Rocky River place and move into one of those shiny new apartments lol.

Ohboyohboyohboy!

I like it. Especially the apparent emphasis on large trees. The hillside looks more woodsy, less toboggan run. See...we can do great things when we put our minds too it.

Really looking forward to the lighting concepts. Being a paint company l can only imagine the fun and colorful things that they "could" do. Unfortunately they are also a very conservative company so l don't expect much in the creative mode. Here's hoping they surprise all of us.

Jeez. How did that garage pass inspection?

Hello, Nucleus, is that you?

I know my ideas are ambitious and would require a long timeline but think of it this way Ken; when you're 50 years old and you plant an oak sapling you are not doing it for you but for the next generation.

I absolutely love the convoluted layout of the new lakefront park. It looks organic not squared off like the downtown shoreline. Maybe some day we can create irregular islands off downtown using dredging's from the river like Toronto has although it may not be practical. The breakwall is there for a reason. BUT if it were possible wouldn't that be something? I've always thought that while we don't have a lot of geographic assets (other than the lake of course) one of the most interesting things we do have is our crooked river, which in turn created those two peninsulas in the Flats. Imagine whole neighborhoods with little canals cut out for boat slips. Add restaurants/bars, water taxi's plying the river with stops along the new downtown lakefront and those islands l dream about. Finally, really take advantage of all the unique bridges with LED lighting. Who wouldn't want to see that vision come to pass? It would put us on the map for visitors and bring in lots of cash. Ah well. I'm sure none of that will get done but can you imagine it...

I think there are a couple of components with the issue. First, in general whenever a developer takes on a mature site it seems their inclination is to clear cut it. That clean slate makes it easier to develop (not that l aprov of that method but l get it). Look at all the development taking place in the suburbs. If there is a forest involved the first thing they do is level it. And it's not just a suburban thing. When Public Square was re-done rather than design around the trees they simply cut them down. Secondly, l wasn't just referring to mature trees (however many there are on the site) l was thinking of the immense green blanket one views either from the river or just relaxing at a table in Merwin's Warf. All that will change when the hill is prepped for stabilizing. Again, l understand the necessity, l'm just saying l will miss that depth of green. Based on the renditions l've seen the hillside will have more open areas than the dense wall that we see presently.

I fully support the idea of creating a park on this site. It will connect the West Side both physically and visually with the Flats and Downtown. The only downside l can see is the elimination of a dense green belt. Of course that green belt contains mostly overgrown weeds/bushes but l'm sure there are many mature trees that will necessarily be removed in the process of stabilizing the hillside. Their removal will be collateral damage but l guess you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Great to see the recognition from its peers. And it verifies what we Clevelanders already knew, namely that the MetroPark's organization is the best run governmental agency in town. It should serve as a model for others.

Exactly.

Too bad. Based on most of the architectural renderings of planned projects AND the final results l'm often disappointed with the ultimate product. I think CLE all too often settles for second rate designs. I really liked the look of this one. What we get (if anything) will probably not be half as interesting

I like it. Looks like something you would see in New York.

Ah jeez. Is it simply beurocratic inertia or something with the developers? It is SO hard to build things anymore.

He reminds me of an old school (and not in a good way) TV cowboy detective. I come from a family of law enforcement and the stories they told about the way things used to get done and maybe still do (my connections are all retired or dead now) are nothing like l would have thought if l didn't know better. There were many rules and no rules at the same time.