LlamaLawyer

I think probate judges are common pleas judges. Probate is a division of common pleas. General civil cases don't get assigned to probate judges, but I believe probate judges technically have the same jurisdiction as other common pleas judges. Otherwise, I don't think the administrative judge could appoint a probate judge to the general division because it would violate the revised code. RC 2301.03 doesn't say anything about probate judges in Cuyahoga County. That being said, do you have the docket number for the TRO case, because this is all just too weird to not take a look at.

I'd go even further. At 20 stories, it's both too tall to be a big feature from ground level and too short to stick out prominently in the skyline.

clevescene.com/cleveland/thirsty-dog-in-the-flats-to-close-after-st-patricks-day-rum-runners-to-make-its-return/Content?oid=38518327 I’m too young to remember Rum Runners. Is this a good thing?

By my count we still have seven stories to go on Artisan. Amazing.

Based on that statement, I would strongly suspect they are going to make some alterations that take them out of the running for historical credits.

Wages are up a lot too. If you make $15/hr and work a wee bit of overtime, $900/mo is 30% of your income. I know $15 isn't really the minimum wage, but it's a lot more common now as a de facto minimum wage at many companies. I've seen lots of fast food joints around here offering $18/hr or more to start for certain shifts. And there are lots of warehouse jobs paying over $20 per hour to start. Those jobs are a lot easier to get than they were ten years ago. $1300/mo would be 30% of your income if you make $52,000 a year. That's $4,000 less than the median household income for Ohio. Point being, I think $900-1300/mo certainly qualifies as workforce housing. $700/mo. certainly certainly does.

One other piece I have to throw out on the Bridgeworks vs. Superior Arts development issue. This is the Transformational Multi-use Development Credit. Bridgeworks is in an area that is absolutely booming. @KJPfilled us in on two new apartment developments in the west flats within the past week. And on the other side you have Hingetown, which requires no explanation. What's happening in the Superior Arts district? I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Seems to me like the Superior Arts project has a better chance of being "transformational." Not that Bridgeworks wouldn't be great (and I expect some sort of project still comes to fruition), but Bridgeworks is piling on in a booming area, not kick-starting a depressed area.

The Superior Arts development isn't just CCM. It's six total buildings with apartments, retail, and other uses that have nothing to do directly with CCM. CCM was originally proposing a 160,000 sq. ft. redevelopment that they would anchor (https://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2020/01/up-to-1000-hq-jobs-coming-to-downtown.html) What we are getting is 400,000+ sq. ft. project. EDIT: and for comparison, Bridgeworks was only 230,000 sq. ft. So even if you subtract out the 160,000 sq. ft. of development CCM was going to spearhead anyway, this would still beat out Bridgeworks in raw square footage terms.

I agree completely. It's a lot harder to create a project that qualifies for the "rural" part of this. There was waaaay more money sought for urban projects than rural ones, and I expect that trend to continue.

Based on a quick skim of the code, I'm pretty sure the cap only applies to urban projects. There's $100 million per year total, of which no more than $80 million may be within ten miles of a major city. The $20 million only comes into play inasmuch as if there is less than $20 million in credits applied for for rural projects, then they get approved without going through the ranking process. If there is more than $20 million requested, they get ranked. But it doesn't say there can't be more than $20 million awarded in rural projects. RC 122.09 is the relevant code

[NVM, this was posted above already]

This is technically downtown. Personally, I'd rather the entire CBD gets developed so the blight is gone rather than have everything hyperconcentrated in 10 blocks around public square.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/centennial-downtown-cleveland-wins-40-million-tax-credits-transformational-projects Superior Arts is one of the winners. I think this is a sleeper project that is a bigger deal than most people realize. It's not just Cross-Country. It's SIX of these big old factories, apparently over 400,000 sq. ft. (I'm not sure I get the discrepancy vs. the number in KJP's article). From the state press release: "Located in the heart of the Superior Arts District, the CC Superior Holding project will rehabilitate six continuous historic buildings totaling more than 400,000 square feet. The project will transform the mostly vacant and deteriorating buildings into restaurant, retail, office, and residential spaces and will include a new corporate headquarters. The project is expected to create nearly 1,000 jobs, 600 of which will be entry-level positions not requiring a college degree." This is jump-starting the creation of a new neighborhood. This area isn't vacant right now, but it's definitely underutilized, and if you go a little north or a little east, you get to the most vacant and depressed parts of the CBD. Anyway, big deal. I'm not at all sad this beat out Bridgeworks.

This would have been a cool project, but I want to see what does get the credit before I get upset about what didn't.

I like how you just happened to get that Alfa Romeo logo in there! Not trying to make us jealous, it just happened! 😉

I would encourage everyone to call Senators Portman and Brown and whoever your congressperson is to urge immediate adoption of a special visa program with immigration assistance and lifting of refugee caps for Ukrainian refugees. I've seen estimates ranging from one to five million refugees, which is a humanitarian disaster. They're going to start in Poland, but there is no way that Poland (a country of 38 million with a bit of a xenophobic streak) is going to be a good long-term home for all these people. We're all focused on sanctions and military conflict, but thinking ahead about the refugee crisis is an urgent problem and something we can actually do to help the Ukrainians without stepping into World War III.

Dang, this really stings. It makes me think right away of many folks I know who love "country living" on three-acre plots in residential exurbs. I love many of those people, and I lived in that sort of area for several years in my growing up. But I believe very few people are actually at their happiest in this kind of setting even if they believe they are. It really is the worst of all worlds--the isolation of the country without truly having the freedom of the country. You can't walk (or even bike) anywhere you'd want to go, but you still have to contend with the home-owner's association and the obligations of society. Obviously Manhattan-esque or Paris-esque living isn't for everyone, but I'd wager most people would be happier in a dense, single-family / multiplex neighborhood like the ones that made up the backbones of Cleveland and Cincinnati or even the rowhomes of Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc. The remainder of people ought to actually live in the actual country--hundreds of wooded acres (or a farm), no neighbors in earshot, no light pollution blocking out the milky way, nobody cares what you do on your property, etc. They'd be much happier living there driving 30 minutes to the grocery store than in the exurbs driving ten minutes to the grocery store.

AsiaTown feels like a rough part of town even though it really isn’t. Basic, aesthetic improvements would probably do a lot to bring in visitors who would otherwise just drive through.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/playhouse-square-puts-lumen-apartment-tower-sale Awesome news here. Fingers crossed for a quick sale!

Odd little comparison here, but I was in Columbia, MD a few days ago. For those who don't know Columbia, it's a planned community from the '60s-'70s with consistent growth since then, basically halfway between D.C. and Baltimore. In Cleveland, I'm used to maybe 5% of license plates being out of state, and I was shocked at how that really wasn't the case in a growing D.C. suburb. There were Maryland plates, D.C. plates, and other than highway driving, I don't think I saw more than two plates from anywhere else. Maybe it's something to do with Maryland license plate laws, or just luck, but I found the comparison fascinating.

Hopefully middle housing.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/kim-palmer-blog/intel-deal-good-all-ohio-surveyed-lawmakers-say Most lawmakers surveyed believe the project is a big win for the entire state.

Just think it's worth pointing out that national enrollment is on major downward trajectory, so the fact that CWRU is growing the student body is impressive.

This building facade looks so good I wouldn't be upset at all if 50% of developers just copy this design for everything they want to build here.

Actually this is a really bad idea. It's not just about judges. It's about criminal defendants and civil litigants who have to have trials scheduled. Scheduling is problematic enough already without having to coordinate TWO judges' schedules. FWIW, the federal courthouse has two judges to a courtroom, but the federal and state court case loads are drastically different.