Luke_S

They tried... They offered the Georges $360k for the site. Property records show the Georges purchased to parcel for $248,300 in 2018, but that excludes the billboard cost of $851,800. In 2020 CMSD valued the market value of the land and building at $350k. https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/port-cleveland-offer-georges-360000-contested-corner-above-irishtown-bend So the Georges could have come out with a $100k gain on the sale of the land and building and retained the billboard, which is what they say they value.

Well yes, but IIRC one of the offers to the Georges was to allow them to keep the billboard since they claim it is one of the most valuable locations for a billboard in Ohio. If that's what it takes to get this park done, so be it, the park would still be transformative for the area. But obviously the Georges are not good faith actors and they turned that offer down (it involved another billboard along 480 too FWIW...). Port of Cleveland lays groundwork for eminent domain at Irishtown Bend MICHELLE JARBOE September 09, 2021 03:13 PM https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/port-cleveland-lays-groundwork-eminent-domain-irishtown-bend

My understanding is that there are ways to stabilize the bank without acquiring the property but it would be much more expensive and require a lot more engineering

The Gorge Dam doesn't doesn't feed the canal. Even if it did I think a free-flowing Cuyahoga is more valuable than feeding a canal. If not only for the environmental and ecological benefits of a free flowing river, removing this dam will expose a long run of class II - V rapids which will be a huge draw for kayakers to the region.

Summit Metro Parks takes first steps in Gorge Dam removal project AUTHOR Zaria Johnson PUBLISHED December 6, 2022 https://www.ideastream.org/news/summit-metro-parks-takes-first-steps-in-gorge-dam-removal-project

ODOT claimed there was 100k+ cars traveling on I-90 daily as recently as July. I assumed those were mostly commuters... If this is the traffic volume during rush hour do we really need I-90 running through Cleveland still?

Towpath Distillery releases 2 limited-edition holiday spirits Published: Dec. 06, 2022, 5:30 a.m. By Marc Bona, cleveland.com https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/12/towpath-distillery-releases-2-limited-edition-holiday-spirits.html

Just eyeballing it, but still seems like Kentucky and Tennessee are underserved. A Cincinnati-Lexington-Knoxville line would help to fill in that hole a little bit.

Infrastructure improvements are also costs that the city is going to have to incur (to some extent) if this area is redeveloped and the improvements would presumably benefit parcels beyond what Bedrock currently owns, making those adjacent parcels more attractive for (re)development.

Removing, relocating, and treating/containing 832,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment that has accumulated behind the dam. Better get moving though, the cost is only going up. https://www.ideastream.org/news/price-tag-for-gorge-dam-removal-is-expected-to-exceed-estimates

Ohio will contribute $25 million toward Gorge Dam removal AUTHOR Zaria Johnson PUBLISHED December 3, 2022 "Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday the state will contribute $25 million towards the Cuyahoga River Gorge Dam Removal Project." "At a November community meeting, Summit Metro Parks estimated that the cost of removing the Gorge Dam would be $20 million. However, before the dam can be taken down, a disposal area for sediment trapped behind the dam will need to be built and a sediment remediation project needs to take place. That part of the project is estimated to cost $100 million, with 65% of funding coming from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and 35% coming from the state. The sediment remediation is projected to begin in 2024." https://www.ideastream.org/news/ohio-will-contribute-25-million-towards-gorge-dam-removal

Do you know if they live stream their games on YouTube or anything? I would think making it easy to watch would broaden their fan base pretty quickly.

The Charge moved last year so it would have been accounted for in their 2021 analysis. Presumably they would have done a future cashflow analysis anyway and things like league play would be fairly easy to forecast with a predictable schedule and ticket prices.

A small update on Lakewood's progress towards addressing and remediating its storm water and sewage system. Lakewood eyeing Lake Avenue property purchase for sewer system modernization Published: Nov. 30, 2022, 7:00 a.m. By John Benson, special to cleveland.com https://www.cleveland.com/community/2022/11/lakewood-eyeing-lake-avenue-property-purchase-for-sewer-system-modernization.html

The widening project of RT82 in Brecksville was a silly waste of money, but the sidewalks were always a silver lining. And that lining seems to have gotten a little brighter. Brecksville will connect Cleveland Metroparks to Ohio 82 with a mile of trails, sidewalks Updated: Nov. 29, 2022, 12:04 p.m. | Published: Nov. 29, 2022, 11:54 a.m. By Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com https://www.cleveland.com/community/2022/11/brecksville-will-connect-cleveland-metroparks-to-ohio-82-with-a-mile-of-trails-sidewalks.html

One thing that's been nagging at me about this new plan is the expanded housing given how Akron U over extended themselves with their new housing development. Was Akron's situation more a problem of timing with the crash of the housing market + broader mismanagement by leadership or is this something to be concerned about?

This alone sounds like it could be transformative for the neighborhood; it will hopefully complement the work that Slavic Village Development is already doing. The Land: What makes a successful city block? Fleet Avenue looks for answers

Not to derail the Slavic Village thread; Ken, I saw you touch on the W25 BRT line that's planned but it's been a while since I've heard anything, any updates on that?

There's a difference between being bypassed entirely by freeways and being bisected by highways. I'm not sure there are many who would argue at this point that we should get rid of highways entirely but the costs of urban highways seems to far outweigh the benefits; in noise and air pollution, in poor land use taken by interchanges and on/off ramps, by dividing neighborhoods and resources.

IIRC from one of Ken's other articles it is a potential site of a new Browns stadium, but that's a better question for @KJP I'd like to see them combined. Not sure why it couldn't function like RoMoFiHo with the Cavs/Monsters, just close off the upper bowl for soccer matches if there isn't enough draw. There's also the I-90 of it all which really separates that site from what could be a cohesive arena district.

It's in the article: "Their favored location for a soccer stadium was on 30-acres of mostly vacant land owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation just south of the Interstate 90 Inner Belt around downtown Cleveland. The site is off Ontario Street and the new East 9th Street Extension, next to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s rapid transit rail lines. The 30 acres was part of a larger, 49-acre property for which ODOT began organizing an auction in spring 2020 — right when the pandemic hit."

The impact of COVID the past few seasons can't be discounted either.

The men's basketball team has been performing well the past couple of years and getting some good attention/interest... The article was pretty clear that the Wolstein Center is currently running a $1M annual deficit and is too big to house events that are better suited for Playhouse Square and too small for events that are a better fit for RoMoFiHo. Seems pretty obvious CSU should right-size the facility so they can improve its utilization and not operate in a deficit.

Google Arts & Culture launches website devoted to the riches of Cleveland’s ‘outsized’ cultural scene Published: Nov. 16, 2022, 5:30 a.m. By Steven Litt, cleveland.com https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/11/google-arts-culture-launches-website-devoted-to-the-riches-of-clevelands-outsized-cultural-scene.html

I was thinking Western Reserve Historical Society