LlamaLawyer

Edit: I replied before I saw your more recent comment and you hit all the points I wanted to make.

Speak of the devil. https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/ohio-rolls-out-long-awaited-tax-credit-application-transformational-projects First round is open. Deadline is October 29 at 5 PM. Deadline for deciding who wins is unknown.

It's 94.1% leased, so I would say "leasing up" is more a description of time since construction than of the actual reality.

This is some really good work. You and @KJP may want to consider sending an email to Sam Allard (See https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/09/17/umm-whats-going-on-with-these-wildly-inconsistent-downtown-cleveland-population-numbers) (As an aside, I've written to Sam about glaring errors in some of his articles in the past but have never heard back...)

I'd add to the list Westinghouse unless that is dead and I didn't realize it. See, this is a lot of stuff. These could eat up nearly all of the TMUD credits for cities for the next four years, and these are just the projects we know about, just the projects in Cleveland, and just the projects dreamt up already. That's why I breathe a sigh of relief every time I see a project that's NOT seeking a TMUD, because some of the projects on that list are really, really exciting and important projects, and every additional TMUD applicant just makes it more likely the above will fail.

If the downsizing stops them from seeking a TMUD credit, I see that as a major win. We’ve already got way more developers chasing down the credit than could possibly get one. Lovely design for the project. Will scale really well with the area.

For what it's worth, a typical commercial property coverage wouldn't necessarily cover if the building fell into the river. It's more likely he's trying to rip off the city/county.

Mini bomb? Pipe bomb? No, this is a massive parking-garage-destroying bomb! Great reporting, @KJP. I know this is all tentative and early, but it would be so huge if it happened.

Thanks for posting. I assume most of the OH folks are going to Cleveland/Akron. I'd be interesting to hear further breakdown of the numbers. Sacramento already has a big Afghan community, so I'm sure lots of folks are going to be with family there. Oklahoma is the big surprise on the list.

I don't think CLE can sustain two major transit hubs right now. TC seems to be the obvious choice. Frankly, I'm not sure why the Haslams would even want the hub on the lakefront. Their plan is really stadium centric and feeds off connection to the stadium and the lake. I don't think the transit hub helps the lakefront plan much at all and it's a cost savings if they don't have to develop it. TC on the other hand really, really does need the transit hub. It's built in an insular way that has no inherent draw except for the rail lines. I think about 80% of the times I've been in TC it was because I was boarding or disembarking the rapid downtown, and I bet that's true for most people on this forum. Without transit, TC is just a way bigger and less nice arcade. I think TC can even sustain and benefit from multiple rail operators. If Brightline and Amtrak both operate lines through TC, you'll have a lot more passengers with an hour to kill in TC after taking Amtrak from Buffalo/Pittsburgh and transferring to Brightline to get to Chicago or Detroit. Amtrak and Brightline would probably also benefit because they would become convenient connections for each other in addition to competitors. I really hope Amtrak does get relocated to TC because it seems so obvious that TC will hugely benefit from the transit hub being there while the lakefront development really doesn't need it at all. When some sort of land bridge gets built (I say when because I really believe it eventually will), Tower City to FE/the lake will be a sub 10 minute walk. Having two interstate transit centers within fifteen minutes of walking distance would be ludicrous. I really hope Bedrock people are on the phone with the Haslams right now trying to make a deal, because TC really needs a transit center to be its best self and having two transit centers is an absurd waste.

@simplythisFortunately the viability of this project has nothing to do with past failed plans that weren’t even developed by Bedrock. There is no failed plan debt that has to be paid off. Bedrock gets to start fresh and sink or swim with this project all on their own.

^What you’ve said may all be true. Another thing I just realized. In November there will be an election in D-11. So the eastern wards should get a turnout bump the western wards don’t.

^ To use a bit of math to back up the above, if you assume that Bibb and Kelley will continue to get the same relative share of votes in each ward and the turnout at the general will be the same as the primary (i.e. if Bibb gets twice as many votes as Kelley in a ward in the primary you assume Bibb will win two thirds of that ward in the general; if Kelley gets three times as many votes in a ward in the primary, you assume Kelley will win 75% of that ward in the general) you get the following vote totals: Ward 1 B: 2257, K 901 Ward 2 B: 1588, K 501 Ward 3 B: 2481, K 563 Ward 4 B: 1966, K 539 Ward 5 B 755, K 361 Ward 6 B 1457, K 514 Ward 7 B 1240, K 656 Ward 8 B 1583, K 956 Ward 9 B 1369, K 574 Ward 10 B 1181, K 589 Ward 11 B 837, K 869 Ward 12 B 885, K 1260 Ward 13 B 688, K 2191 Ward 14 B 404, K 524 Ward 15 B 2057, K 618 Ward 16 B 837, K 231 Ward 17 B 2101, K 2652 Overall, Bibb would win about 60.5% to 39.5%. So Kelley needs to find a way to beat Bibb in the wards where he lost to Bibb in the primary, and I'm not sure how he can do that without endorsements.

I think Kelley really needs endorsements or he is in trouble. Bibb beat Kelly in 2/3 of the wards, and in eight of the wards, Bibb got twice or more the votes that Kelley did. Kelley got twice as many votes as Bibb in only one ward. In other words, Bibb drastically outperformed Kelley in the wards where Williams, Jones, and Reed soaked up a lot of votes. The only ward where Kelley really smoked Bibb was in his own ward. Unless Williams, Jones, and Reed all endorse Kelley it’s hard for me to see him winning any east side ward. In most east side wards, Kelley had the fewest votes of any real (ie non DiBello) candidate.

This is totally fair. To be clear, I'm not saying an experience criticism is invalid in the abstract. Of course experience is important and so you wouldn't want a 19-year-old mayor. My point is that Bibb actually has a fair amount of directly relevant experience. A lot of the "experience" folks often talk about is really just age.

I would wonder if the timing isn't mostly related to the election. Clearly Bedrock and the Jackson administration have been working on this for a while. Maybe Bedrock wants some actual rough agreement signed now so they can put pressure on both of the candidates to make pre-election commitments to honor the spirit of the deal. Seems pretty rational to want continuity in government at the beginning of a big plan.

I too don't live in Cleveland but donated to Bibb. I believe he has the right vision, priorities, energy, thoughtfulness, and motivation, as well as the right connections. When you have that the details typically fall into place. I really don't get the experience criticisms of Bibb. The way people talk about him you would think he's 19 years old. At 34, sure he's relatively young, but he has several years of experience in strategic consulting related to urban planning and government issues, including a year working for Cuyahoga County under Ed Fitzgerald. Basheer Jones never got the same criticisms, but outside of a couple years on city council, I don't think he has any city planning experience.

A pipe bomb? 😉

^^ I have interacted with her professionally and have a good impression of her.

With 40% reporting, Bibb has a 9 point lead, and only 1/4 of Ward 3’s precincts are in. It seems quite likely he will be the top spot. Now that second spot, lol…

I really don't understand why people are disappointed with the tower design. That's just how people build towers now. Look at the past few years of skyscraper construction in New York. Since 1 WTC and 432 Park were finished (in 2014 and 2015) is there any new skyscraper construction in New York that is really that much better than Pickard Chilton's design for the SHW tower? I mean, sure, the SHW tower is conservative and some of the stuff being built in New York is more interesting, but is any of it really better? I personally think that 1 WTC and 432 Park are simply better than the SHW design. But those are also probably the first and fifth most iconic buildings in New York. Of the NY skyscrapers built since then, I think the SHW tower will hold a candle to any.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/government/cleveland-city-council-releases-administrations-parking-meter-proposal Welcome to the 21st century folks!

It has broad print distribution. I suspect a large majority of readers don't ever look at print copies though.

Surprisingly late in the game for an endorsement like this. I wonder how much it will help Bibb since he’s already gonna do well in Kerry’s ward.

Following up on @Dino’s point, I have this funny image in my head of visitors from New York being like “Ya know Cleveland is a cool town but I just can’t get past that Sherwin Williams tower. Such lazy design that pales in comparison to the other big three buildings. And the small pavilion on Public Square is so out of context to its surroundings. Really puts a damper on an otherwise nice city.” Nothing wrong with pushing for good aesthetic design, but let’s not pretend it’s actually that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. I think most of us on the forum get that even those who hate the design.