cadmen

I think the Forum cafeteria was on Euclid Ave. and the building it was in was torn down when the BP building was constructed.

Dumb question: What is the Rock building?

I did.

Ok. I'll wait for the full renderings. Still doesn't explain what happened to the Flats East Bank. Kenect is a major failing compared to the initial plans.

WTF! The pic from Reply #847 is a beautiful design. Although when we were first looking at options a year ago I preferred the taller project. I still thought this choice (#847) was very sharp. Then we get these pics from the meeting and the whole thing is about as generic as possible. What happened?? They look nothing like the plan I thought they chose. Reminds me of multiple designs for the Flats East Bank. If you look at the early renderings the project looks amazing but the Phase III (kenect version) is downright plain vanilla. Other cities are getting great design AND a great finished product while we seem to get an initial first look that is great but when the project is finally built it looks like some plain boxes with all the style left out. We're shown a BMV but they build a Chrysler K car for those of you old enough to remember those boxy little vehicles.

Wow! Well now we know. Info like that is one reason why I love this forum.

Thank You very much for the photos KJP! I didn't make it down there but it looks like it was a beautiful day. And congrats on getting a shot of a freighter heading upriver. Seeing that takes the Flats from just another city river to something unique to Cleveland. Where else can one have a drink on a patio and watch an industrial giant cruise by?

It's the building on 9th and Lakeside. The old glass skin was supposed to be covered by a new glass skin from top to bottom. The south and west side was completed but the east and north are not. You can see part of the incomplete area in the picture above. And KJP I realize that in the scheme of all things Cleveland this is small potatoes. Compared to much of the US we're at best in a holding pattern but my comments were about this one project and not the bigger picture. Like many on this site I tune in each day to pick up (any) news on development all the while knowing that our little celebrations are trivial when compared to growing cities. I recently took Amtrak and passed through Austin Tx. I counted 9 cranes downtown just from my window. Ouch! So yeah, I wondered about one little unfinished project all the while knowing how ridiculous it is in the grand scheme of things. But it's all I got. What can I say?

Yeah, my politics comment was really an aside - a way to answer my own frustration on the problem. And believe me, I would much rather have the project complete than complain about it. I asked Michelle Jarboe about it 6 months ago and she told me she would look into it and since then,she has no answer. That's odd, don't you think? As you look up to our skyline from the lakefront the building is in a relatively high profile position. At this point, to sit there incomplete is bad enough but the reason it's incomplete is THE real curiosity for me.

I'm with you mrclifton88 on the Federal Bldg. I can't believe it was left unfinished. There must be one hell of a story behind that...government incompetence, funding issues, structural problems?? I'm a Democrat but that project could serve as a metaphor for why Repubs think the private sector is the best method for getting things done. Do we have to live with this unfinished thing? And why is there total silence on it? Weird and sad.

Yep. I got twisted around. I thought I was looking west on Superior toward E9th. Now I see that the photo is actually looking south on E9th toward Euclid. I like to think I have a pretty good handle on my city but I blew that one. Not to mention the caption also says that. Sheesh.

Yes that sure looks like the Superior Bldg. but then what is that taller building just behind it? I've seen a lot of photos from 1960 on back and I can't remember seeing a building taller than the Superior Bldg. in that location. Curious.

Tree maintenance in CLE is a huge pet peeve of mine. When I visit downtown I am interested in the health of the trees as much as I am interested in the progress of development. Same for visiting other metros and one thing I've noticed is that many other cities have figured out how to maintain a healthy tree canopy while we sadly have not. Doing a little research into the subject I find that, not surprisingly, it takes political will (often just a small cadre of leaders) more than anything. When Richard Daily was mayor of Chicago he placed a great emphasis on the beautification of the downtown AND IT SHOWED. Other cities have managed to pull that off too but not here. The finger pointing between ODOT, the city and the Metroparks is a perfect example of why we can't seem to figure it out. We don't spend the money properly. No one takes ownership and no one takes the time to research what plantings work and what it takes to maintain them, hence dead and dying trees. It's not our climate or urban environment it is simply the lack of people to champion our urban forest.

To me the best thing about the project is the added density. Plus, if the theater is high end hopefully that will add a different reason to draw outsiders besides just eating and drinking. So that's a good thing. I just wish it looked better.

I hope they've done their research on the size/demand of the units. I get they want to keep the price down and, sure millennial's tend to live OUTSIDE their apts. but that square footage seems cramped to me. The community space should be really hoppin' though. My biggest complaint is the design looks very generic, especially the theater component. The original look was bright, inviting and you could feel the energy. This theater looks a little like public housing - pretty dreary. As for the tower, well it's better but not by much. Seems like we are forced to choose between lackluster design or nothing at all. Since those are the rules here in CLE I'll have to take the lackluster vs. nothing. Sigh.

I've never been to a Shake Shack so I won't comment on the food but I do think there is a bit of the 'ol Coastal thing working here as in "Wow, we are finally getting a hip Shake Shack. Great to be invited to sit with the cool kids." Reminds me of a time back in the 70's when all of us in Ohio heard how great Coors beer was. Then I was at a party where someone had just got back from Colorado and they brought some Coors beer. Man I remember thinking "Here it is, I finally get to taste what people had been raving about." So I had a Coors and my first thought was "What? This tastes like water with a little beer added." it was nothing but still, everyone there was saying what great beer it was. At the time I was too young (17) to have the courage of my convictions so I remained silent and just went along but to this day I remember the incident as maybe my first lesson that the crowd is not always right.

CSA - MSA are nothing more than governmental distinctions attempting to define a metropolitan area. And while each definition may work just fine for cities in isolation like Denver or Columbus it doesn't work well for cities like Minneapolis (St. Paul) or Cleveland (Akron). There are those on this board who are fine with using some counties (Lorain, Lake and Geauga) but not Medina, Summit or Portage. As we have read, they have their reasons, valid or not. Politics/opinions always enter the discussion. So government has their definitions and people have theirs. It can be complicated, messy even. But for me it's not. My definition of a metropolitan area is the home county followed by all CONTIGUOUS counties. Simple as that. So with all due apologies to Akron the Cleveland metropolitan area includes the counties of Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Summit, Portage, Geauga and Lake.

Yes, there is a bar and you can stop in just for a drink.

Where's your proof KJP...oh, here, here and here! Good for you and keep it up. In this warped time FACTS still matter to some of us.

While the new tax bill is a thinly disguised sop to the wealthy I think the Repubs played this smart. By giving the ever shrinking middle class a small boost in their paychecks they may avoid serious blow-back in the 2018 election. Don't underestimate the cluelessness of the American voter. So while they are happy enough with their slightly larger payroll check they are blithely unaware that those on the top end are pocketing hundreds of thousands if not millions with this tax plan. Slick.

I'm a little late to this party (topic) but as for the booming stock market...to me this one has all the makings of a bubble. I've been investing in stocks heavily since the early 90's. Experienced the dotcom boom and bust, the bubble in the early 2000's and the Great Recession. In that time I have made AND LOST a lot of money. Times SEEM great at the moment and while I still think this market has another 4-5 months of running room I would be seriously considering taking profits now. Better too soon than too late. Greed kills people. The market has been on a major roll since 2010. History tells us it won't last.

Agreed.

Speaking of re-cladding when is the Federal Building going to finish the job? I haven't read anything on these boards or anywhere else for that matter on what exactly the hold-up is. I hope the Feds don't think its a finished product. Seriously, the whole job seems very odd to me. Complete something like 95% and then just....STOP???

nuCLEus and a failed plan to renovate the Q are connected if by nothing else then geography. And then there's this: Let's say Stark finally cobbled together his financing with the last piece necessary to bring it to fruition the TIFF component. It's not unreasonable to think it will be a close vote is it? Maybe just enough yes votes to pass. Then we get the news about the Q renovation falling through. Now what if that same small group of movers and shakers who will be voting on the TIFF proposal get spooked about the long term viability of the Q and, because both projects would be neighbors, just enough decide to vote no. I'm not saying that scenario WILL happen but it does seem plausible to me. In a town the size of Cleveland don't think things happen in a vacuum. Especially in the world of developoment.

I can think of an obvious connection between nuCLEus and the Q. Synergy. A renovated Q brings people to the neighborhood some of which will live in the apartments, stay in the hotel and use the restaurants/bars in the development. Conversely an aging Q becomes less and less a draw directly impacting nuCLEus' bottom line. Then there is the not so obvious but more important conversations taking place behind the scenes when developers/politicians/business leaders talk about the difficulty of putting together financing for ANY project in this town. Cleveland - one step forward, two steps back. Lived here all my life. I've seen it time and again.