Luke_S

Lakewood City Council was set to vote on final approval of the CASTO development last night (12/16), I wasn't able to find the minutes yet online. Anyone know the outcome?

One Star Bar opens as Lakewood’s latest corner hangout, restaurant Published: Dec. 16, 2024 By Alex Darus, cleveland.com One Star Bar, 13601 Detroit Avenue, opened on Sunday during the Browns vs. Kansas City Chiefs game. Large TV screens, two large bars with ample lounge seating and plenty of comfort food made it the ideal opening day for the ultimate game-viewing spot. ... Bacha described the vibe of One Star Bar as “aesthetically pleasing dad’s basement.” The space is equipped with a small stage with couch seating, a pool table and other bar staples like a pull tabs machine and TouchTunes audio. It sounds simple, but the space features dim lighting and walls of kitschy artwork to give it a refined vibe. ... When it comes to the food, Oryszak hopes to bring the same kind of bar fare that Heart of Gold in Ohio City started with. In the new year, he hopes Heart of Gold can introduce more upscale, small plates and entrees onto its menu. Initially, Heart of Gold opened as the fine-dining restaurant The Plum before transitioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2024/12/one-star-bar-opens-as-lakewoods-latest-corner-hangout-restaurant.html

This is sounding like fiduciary malpractice from the governor. I appreciate Bibb working to get whatever he can to lessen the blow of the Browns leaving downtown, but the problem of pulling matching state funds for lakefront development as a consolation is it would pull funds from other projects or initiatives ODNR, ODOD, or ODOT is pursuing that have their own merit. If we were going to get those funds anyway then it's not really much of a consolation prize... In addition, the state will be pitching in $600M when they could have otherwise contributed only $250M is very hard to square. And that's all before other cities and counties look over to see what Cleveland/Cuyahoga is getting and (reasonably) put their hands out to get state funds for whatever project they want to get pushed across the finish line.

Yeah, I really think you missed the point I was making to post a rant you've already posted on this thread several times...

My impression of what is going on here is that Jimbo has contracted the site plans and designs, promising a total $3B in development to sell the $1B he's requesting in public support. It allows him to (1) claim that the private investment will double the public investment and (2) promise jobs, economic activity, and tax revenue in the hopes that is betters his chance of maximizing the public funds and he has no real intentions of building anything other than the stadium and surrounding surface lots. If that's his grift, then any public dollars need to have claw-back provisions linked to employment and job creation targets and timelines.

I'm not saying which side they should endorse, all I'm saying is Dee should remove herself from the decision and not leverage her position on the board to influence the decision in any way. Especially, as you say, because they likely do not want to set a precedent of dictating to one another where they should locate their operations.

If the decision of the GCP to back the city/county or Browns in the development decision had no import then Bibb and Ronayne wouldn't have made the effort to meet with the board, and Dee wouldn't have felt the need to preempt their presentation. As a public facing board that hopes to speak with some credibility on economic and development matters for Cleveland and the region I would think they would want to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. You may be right that their bylaws do not cover conflicts of interest, but in the matter of public perception, I think this conflict of interest very much matters.

Shouldn't Dee have to recuse herself from all matters regarding the Browns stadium and only communicate to the GCP on any related matters through official channels as anyone else who is not a member of the board would have to do? I can't think of a clearer example of a conflict of interest and she is quite clearly abusing her position on the board for personal benefit. I would think the board would have bylaws defining and prohibiting conflicts of interest. If that is the case then GCP should take disciplinary action against Dee.

Some positive news for Akron's Metro system. Metro RTA reports ridership surge in Summit County in 2024 Published: Dec. 10, 2024 By Megan Becka, special to cleveland.com AKRON, Ohio – Metro RTA, the public transportation provider in Summit County, has seen a 23% increase in ridership in 2024, the transportation provider announced Tuesday. The increase in ridership can be attributed to the increasing demand for efficient, sustainable and affordable transportation options in the Summit County area, according to Metro RTA. At the same time, the transportation provider has worked to improve the overall transit experience and better meet residents’ transportation needs. To better meet passenger needs, Metro RTA redesigned its system in 2023 to focus on streamlining services, enhancing frequency and expanding regional connections to Brimfield and Cuyahoga County. https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2024/12/metro-rta-reports-ridership-surge-in-summit-county-in-2024.html

Salt and El Carnicero seems to be the ownership group wanting to step back or explore new opportunities, not an issue with Lakewood specifically. And El Carnicero's old space has already been replaced by Wine Dive. Personally I was not a fan of Deagan's; Solstice seems to have had issues among the management group that lead to its closure. Also it had a limited menu that didn't rotate enough and they never really found their identify IMO. Griffin seemed to be another case of the owner wanting to step away and they were bought out by Buildings and Food, not sure what their hold up in getting another concept in there is. But you're also focusing on what's closed and not what has opened recently in Lakewood; Pachamama, Cleveland Bagel's Lakewood location, Artis. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Lakewood has its problems, I'm just not sure this is a fair characterization of one of them.

COhatch unveils plans, renderings for new Lakewood location Stan Bullard December 4th Columbus-based coworking provider COhatch has unveiled its plans to transform the First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Lakewood on the 14800 block of Detroit Avenue into its third Cleveland location. The company acquired the downtown Lakewood building for $1.5 million on Friday, Nov. 15 but the financial institution intends to retain its landmark headquarters on the same block. The building was previously a former Society Corp. (now KeyCorp) branch that the S&L bought in 1993. ... All told, the 16,285-square-foot building will accommodate around 80 workers and amenities include 36 private offices of various sizes — from single-person rooms to nine-person spaces — as well as multiple meeting rooms, a wellness room, six available desks and eight phone booths. https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/cohatch-unveils-plans-renderings-new-lakewood-location

Council to consider tax incentives for developer of Lakewood school board buildings Published: Dec. 03, 2024 By Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- City Council this month is expected to approve a package of tax incentives for the developer turning a pair of historic former school buildings on Warren Road into office spaces. The city agreed earlier this year to grant Liberty Development Company a 75% commercial-tax abatement and 100% residential-tax abatement, as well as create a tax increment financing district at the property to reimburse the company for energy-efficient renovations, for the project at the 130-year-old elementary school buildings. ... The tax abatements would be good for 15 years, and the 30-year TIF would apply only to the addresses of the former schools. https://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/2024/12/council-to-consider-tax-incentives-for-developer-of-lakewood-school-board-buildings.html

Comparing the average attendance of an entire league to the average attendance for a team in a completely different league and sport with the highest attendance in said league isn't the most honest argument. But if we run with your argument—average AHL attendance last season was 5,920 and the Lake Erie Monsters were well above that with an average attendance of 10,263. The WNBA average attendance last season was 9,807, over the AHL average attendance and just behind the Monsters. I'd bet the same ownership group could beat the average league attendance with their WNBA team as well.

Agree. If each are thoughtfully redeveloped there is a lot of potential from a change in use to change the dynamic of Downtown Akron, especially after the shift to work-from home. But to have all of these buildings turning over increases the risk that any one of these building's redevelopment plan fails. If each include a significant conversion to residential and they come online around the same time I would think that would also over saturate the Akron market. Remaining cautiously optimistic.

There's already a Huntington branch a half mile east on Detroit. I'm not sure I understand the benefits of opening a second branch so close, unless they're planning on vacating their current location.

Huntington Bank announces pending sale of Akron's Huntington Tower, Cascade Building Jeremy Nobile November 27, 2024 Huntington Bank has announced that it is under contract to sell what has long been branded as Huntington Tower, Akron’s tallest building, as well as the nearby Cascade Building to a yet-to-be-disclosed real estate developer. ... Kris Dahl, spokesperson for the Columbus-based bank, said the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025. Dahl said that there is no worker displacement expected as part of the pending relocation of staff from those buildings to its nearby operations center. That relocation is expected to take place sometime during the second quarter of 2025. https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/huntington-bank-selling-akrons-huntington-tower-cascade-building

I posted this over in the Akron-Canton business thread about Summit County's foreign trade zone. The article included the following, The primary zones are based at customs points of entry — in this case, the Akron-Canton Airport. The zone has subzones as well, including areas within the 10-county area of Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana, Portage, Summit, Stark, Medina, Wayne and Richland counties, that are specifically permitted to be used in designated industrial parks, often for manufacturing. Excluded from the subzones is Cuyahoga. Does anyone know if Cuyahoga has a primary zone of its own; either at the Port or Hopkins? If not it would seem like a prime opportunity to create one and extend subzones to Lake and Lorain counties. I think my preference would be for Cuyahoga's primary zone to be at the County airport, but I'm just learning about these so not a well formed opinion. Burke is another obvious candidate. Edit: A quick Google search would have given me my answer... The Port is designated as a Foreign Trade Zone https://www.portofcleveland.com/foreign-trade-zone/

Though this already existed, the Development Finance Authority taking this over seems well timed as they are better positioned to market this to businesses. It will hopefully offer some stability to local businesses. Takeover of Summit County’s Foreign Trade Zone could be timely switch to help businesses avoid, delay tariffs by Arielle Kass November 27, 2024 With President-elect Donald Trump pledging to increase taxes on goods from China, Canada and Mexico with the intention of bringing manufacturing back to the United States, some companies might benefit from a local opportunity that could help them delay — or even avoid — paying the higher fees. It could also make the Development Finance Authority of Summit County’s plan to take over the administration of the Foreign Trade Zone particularly well timed. The zone is now administered by Summit County; the DFA is not a county agency. ... The Summit County-based Foreign Trade Zone is a secure area that is under the supervision of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Even though it’s physically located in Ohio, for the sake of tax purposes, it’s considered to be outside the United States. https://signalakron.org/takeover-of-summit-countys-foreign-trade-zone-could-be-timely-switch-to-help-businesses-avoid-delay-tariffs-development-finance-authority/

The building designs look fine to me, I just wish there was more ground floor retail incorporated into these plans. And a stand alone bank is interesting, I thought banks were closing more branches than they were opening.

This would explain why Lake Erie is warmer relative to the other Great Lakes, not why Lake Erie is warmer than its historical average temperature...

About to make a lot of assumptions here; I assume the pool of fans for the WNBA and NWSL will be smaller (at least initially, or at least the hope is it grows) and there will probably be significant overlap in the interested groups, but I would think the Guardians would pose the biggest obstacle to drawing larger crowds. Assuming the ownership groups play nice I think the teams could do a lot of cross-promotional events to build awareness and support one another. And, as @Ethan pointed out, because the season doesn't overlap with the Cavs/Monsters this will basically activate RoMoFiHo all year. A WNBA team, along with the Guardians and hopefully a NWSL team, would ideally create a virtuous cycle of increased and more consistent activity all year around to support more restaurants and retail>>creating more interest for residents>>creating a larger base to support the sports teams.

I noticed it was fenced off the other day, can you remind me what the plans for that site are?

There's a new thread for this, Crain's is reporting they'll be playing at RoMoFiHo.

About time Dan Gilbert throws Cleveland's hat in the ring for a WNBA team. It would be great to add this activity to the slate of events at RoMoFiHo, unclear from reporting if the WNBA team would move with the Cavs from Independence to the River Front facility once completed, almost sounds like they would keep the Independence facility for their own use. Cleveland wants a WNBA expansion franchise. Here's an inside look at the bid. Joe Scalzo November 20, 2024 Dan Gilbert’s Rock Entertainment Group (REG), which owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, is joining a crowded group of cities bidding on the WNBA’s 16th franchise, which is expected to be in place by the beginning of the 2028 season. ... Cleveland’s expansion team, which may or may not keep the Rockers’ name and colors, would play its home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and would use the Cleveland Clinic courts in Independence as its practice facility. The Cleveland Cavaliers will vacate that practice facility in 2027 following the completion of the Cleveland Clinic Peak Performance Center, the first vertical development for Bedrock’s $3.5 billion Cuyahoga Riverfront Master Plan. ... At least 10 other cities are planning to bid for the 2028 expansion team: Austin, Texas; Philadelphia; Milwaukee; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami; Nashville; Charlotte; Houston; Orlando and Denver. The bids are due at the end of January. https://www.crainscleveland.com/sports-recreation/cleveland-enters-bidding-2028-wnba-expansion-franchise

Meanwhile its left to the citizens to try to claw back their rights... Ballot board clears Ohio Voters Bill of Rights, organizers can begin collecting signatures By: Nick Evans - November 19, 2024 Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and the state ballot board cleared supporters of a citizen-led initiative aimed at enshrining greater voting access in the state constitution to begin collecting signatures. ... The proposed amendment would grant counties the ability to set up multiple early vote centers or ballot drop boxes, create a system to update voter registration automatically when someone visits the BMV, and allow for same day voter registration. ... When they might actually see that amendment on the ballot remains uncertain. Although they’ve now cleared the initial administrative hurdles, organizers will need to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures from across Ohio to make it onto the ballot. Asked whether they’re aiming for 2025 or 2026, Bennett only said they’re “exploring what we’re going to do next.” https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/11/19/ballot-board-clears-ohio-voters-bill-of-rights-organizers-can-begin-collecting-signatures/