Luke_S

The Brandywine Golf Course is officially part of the National Park now. You can find project updates here. Press release below: National Park Service purchases 198 acres in the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) from Conservancy Conservancy for CVNP to begin environmental remediation in early 2023 https://www.nps.gov/cuva/learn/news/national-park-service-purchases-198-acres-in-the-heart-of-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-cvnp-from-conservancy.htm

They had a lot of back office and IT functions from when their headquarters was here. I imagine a lot of that either went and stayed remote after the pandemic and/or they consolidated to their HQ in NYC.

Just posting confirmation of my earlier post: https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/about/planning-design/cheers-cleveland-harbor-eastern-embayment-resilien

Bedrock buys key Gateway District site, once earmarked for ambitious NuCLEus project https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/bedrock-buys-nucleus-development-site-downtown-cleveland

Cliffs consolidating its HQ functions downtown Cliffs sells Richfield office building as it expands Cleveland HQ https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/cleveland-cliffs-sells-richfield-office-property-31-million-deal

This is interesting. To go back to something you said earlier though, I think whatever change is made should apply to both legislative and civilian initiatives. And when changes like this are proposed, to be adopted they should be required to meet the proposed thresholds.

To add a bit of support that there is very little principle behind this proposal, if any. Rep Brian Stewart who sponsored the bill said, It is only legislative amendments that are voted on during primaries, citizen initiatives are voted on during the general election.

Two Community Open House meetings coming up for the CHEERS Lakefront Plan Thursday 2/2/2023 5:30 - 7:30p Goldhorn Brewery 1361 E 55th St Cleveland, OH 44103 Saturday 2/4/2023 1:30 - 3:30p EJ Kovacic Rec Center 6250 Saint Clair Ave Cleveland, OH 44103 I saw this on the Port of Cleveland's instagram, it looks like the Metroparks are still updating their site. I would think there will be details at the link below soon. https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/about/planning-design/cheers-cleveland-harbor-eastern-embayment-resilien/get-involved!

This has been talked about for too long, we need to get it done. Cuyahoga County expects to hire Compass Energy Platform to develop microgrid utility "CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County has selected Compass Energy Platform to be its strategic partner in the development of the county’s proposed microgrid utility that would operate independent of FirstEnergy. Compass Energy Platform, based in Los Angeles, was chosen from four applicants, said Mike Foley, director of sustainability for the county. The next step is for the county to negotiate a contract with Compass so that it can get to work. The goal of the microgrid utility is to provide electricity to customers, so they won’t be dependent on FirstEnergy and the larger transmission grid during times of crisis and power outages." https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/12/cuyahoga-county-expects-to-hire-compass-energy-platform-to-develop-microgrid-utility.html

Ohio & Erie Canalway receives $22M in funding, National Heritage Area designation through 2037 Published: Dec. 28, 2022, 5:04 p.m. By Megan Becka, special to cleveland.com "AKRON, Ohio – Congress reauthorized the Ohio & Erie Canalway as a National Heritage Area until 2037. The Dec. 22 reauthorization includes a funding increase -- from $20 million to $22 million over the next 14 years -- according to the National Heritage Area Act (S.1942). Those actions will maintain the stability of the 101-mile Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Some 2.5 million people each year use the trail, which traverses through the Ohio & Erie Canalway. The funding will also enable the canalway to build new connector trails, preserve historic buildings, offer educational and interpretive programming and conserve natural areas, according to the Ohio & Erie Canalway." https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2022/12/ohio-erie-canalway-receives-22m-in-funding-national-heritage-area-designation-through-2037.html

Akron will also be conducting a community surveys from January 9 through January 31. It looks like it will be available here: https://www.akroninnerbelt.com/

It will be good to have this part of downtown Akron reactivated. In 2023, Akron will work toward redeveloping Innerbelt property Dan Shingler December 27th 2022 6:00 AM "Akron’s roughly 30-acre Innerbelt property has been vacant for more than five years now, leaving an empty chasm of presumably valuable real estate in the middle of downtown. ... The city is waiting for a study it’s commissioned from Liz Ogbu, an Oakland architect, urbanist and consultant who focuses on “spatial justice,” including what to do with land that in the past used to house Black neighborhoods before such sites were used for projects like Akron’s Innerbelt. ... But the site has more challenges than the city initially thought, Segedy said, and it will probably be 2024, at the earliest, before Akron determines the best use for the land, identifies specific projects and possibly developers, and has the site ready for construction." https://www.crainscleveland.com/akron-news/2023-could-be-year-decision-akrons-innerbelt-property

On their balance sheet this doesn't do much, moves the HQ from an outright asset to a right of use asset and depreciation expense/accumulated depreciation to lease liability/expense. What this does for Sherwin financially tho is frees up the cash otherwise tied up in the construction of the HQ now. That's cash that they wouldn't otherwise be able to do anything with. So, depending on the interest terms of the lease they are better off having cash now to invest to be able to get a return on that investment the wait the 2-3 years to have the cash freed up. Whether that's acquisitions or R&D. As far as leasing v owning, I'm not sure how many companies own their HQs. I'm not sure I'd be surprised either way. But from the article describing how Sherwin is retaining control of the building and maintenance I'm not sure they really have less skin in the game...

@MojoRisin, see up thread for updates on that project

Someone with better insight might be able to better clarify, but I think the following 2 paragraphs shed the most light on this. "According to Cuyahoga County land records on Tuesday, Dec. 20, Sherwin-Williams sold a 90% stake in the complex to Benderson Development Co., a family-owned real estate company based in University Park, Florida, which invests in net-leased corporate properties as well as warehouses, office buildings and hotels." However; "The strategy, which Young said is common among corporate headquarters, includes a long-term lease. Sherwin-Williams intends to maintain full control of the building including facility management and maintenance as a long-term tenant." I was hoping this sale-leaseback would hand management control over to another company that might be able to manage and develop a street level presence for the property, but it sounds like this is only to give Sherwin liquidity.

This is pretty expensive so could probably go a couple places, but article focuses on projects in the Cleveland area so figured this would be the best place for it. Massive year-end spending bill includes new Great Lakes Authority and other Ohio priorities -$3 million - DigitalC, Broadband Services for Underserved Communities of Cleveland -$2 million - Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Elimination Project in Garfield Heights -$1.6 million - City of Shaker Heights, Lomond/Lynnfield Sewer Remodel -$1.28 million - Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio, on behalf of PRE4CLE, Cleveland Early Learning Spaces -$1.22 million - Cuyahoga Community College District, Smart Manufacturing Workforce -$1.14 million - University Hospitals Birth Safety Simulation Center -$1 million - Cuyahoga County, MLK Boulevard Sewer Project -$432,000 - City of Cleveland, Memorial Bridges Loop Trail -$1,190,000 - City of Cleveland, Department of Port Control - Cleveland Airport System Taxiway Victor Project I think that's all the Cleveland projects, more details on the article. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/12/massive-year-end-spending-bill-includes-new-great-lakes-authority-and-other-ohio-priorities.html

I came down with a cold this weekend. I was hoping to be over it by now, but I'm going to have to back out. Sorry to miss it, I'll try to catch the next one!

Northeast Ohio projects win state brownfield grants, as part of $88 million final round Michelle Jarboe | December 16th 2022 5:16 PM "An apartment project on Cleveland’s Scranton Peninsula, the residential conversion of a downtown office building and Cleveland State University’s plan to redevelop Rhodes Tower will get a boost from state grants for property clean-up and remediation. Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration announced $88 million grants Friday, Dec. 16, in the third round of awards from Ohio’s brownfield remediation program. More than a quarter of the money — just over $24.8 million — will flow to 14 projects scattered across Northeast Ohio." https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/fourteen-northeast-ohio-projects-win-state-brownfield-grants

So the article says 4-5 years after the contract with the manufacturer is drawn up. Can our current fleet last that long? Also, @KJP, you've mentioned in the past that RTA is being rigid with their design specs for the rail cars. Do you have any insight if that's still the hold up in discussions with manufacturers? Seems like not a lot of progress there since they had to restart the process back in the spring...

This is voter turnout of registered voters, combination of FEC popular vote totals and Census voter registration numbers. Looks like Newsweek is looking at a percentage of eligible voters, which is much lower.

Its not a Republican majority state by the margins we are seeing in the General Assembly. Gerrymandering also suppresses votes because you either do not have a candidate to vote for or you know the vote wont matter so even the popular vote margin isn't a complete or accurate picture of the divide in the state. Ohio's voter participation rate in Presidential elections since 2000 is 69% on average, nation wide it is 86%. That is in part due to voter suppression from this same Republican legislature, but it is also due to gerrymandering. Over the same period on average State Representatives run unopposed in 16 House districts and 3 Senate districts, more often these are Republicans running unopposed. Sometimes when its easy to cry gerrymandering because that is the problem.

There was! I don't believe this was the first time either for Summit metro parks, tho their video is much harder to see. https://www.instagram.com/p/CmG4KVCoMoJ/?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY=

Cleveland North Coast Connector Concepts Survey is open until 12/31/2022 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ConnectorSurvey

Playhouse Square - https://www.cityclub.org/blog/2022/12/05/the-city-club-is-moving-to-playhouse-square

Cleveland Public Square planners set 2023 for replacing jersey barriers with bollards by Nick Castele "The jersey barriers at Cleveland’s Public Square may finally come down in 2023. The square’s planners are looking to replace the barriers with bollards and to fix underlying damage on Superior Avenue next year. Representatives from the city, the Group Plan Commission and the nonprofit LAND Studio presented their plans to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s board of trustees on Tuesday. Work might not begin until the third quarter of next year, LAND Studio Associate Director Nora Romanoff told Signal Cleveland. Due to supply chain delays, it could take 16 to 20 weeks for an order of bollards to arrive." https://signalcleveland.org/jersey-barriers-out-bollards-in-at-clevelands-public-square-in-2023-planners-say/