willyboy

It says right in the article that it is eligible... "Once the headquarters of the East Ohio Gas Co., the building is old enough to qualify for the national list" (only needs to be 50 yrs old). "And experts say it is both architecturally and historically significant", but it first has to be listed on the National Register or for state credits only needs to be certified as being of historic significance to the district, or is listed as a historic landmark by a certified local government.

Yeah unfortunately, these types of developments tend to draw the same types of places. Not that its all bad, but tends to dilute the local identity. But thats the tradeoff with these new higher rent developments. Still as a regional attraction its better than having it in a suburb (although in some cases, like tilted Kilt etc.. I would have rather had in a suburb) Also better than having an Applebees or something like that. Oh and Cleveland already has (had?) an authentic/real Hofbrauhaus, but did people appreciate that?

Oh in the Banks...... Whatever.. There will be a Flip Side Burgers as well. And initially it was to have a Bernie Kosar Steak House, but I believe those went bankrupt. There was also supposed to be some "Magic" restaurant place that was to be opened by some guy that was from Cleveland... Not sure about that one.

It might be comparable if the abandoned structure had historic value and the homeowner in the new big house had the ulterior motive of also wanting the house torn down so that they had more parking for when all their friends and acquaintances came over. Otherwise agree. Shame on the Maloofs. Especially if the Columbia would have been able to remain had the Stanley been torn down instead (since that is likely to happen anyway). Only now we would have lost both as well as haveing a strange/odd hole, in the welcome center.

Great pics guys. Cleveland should be proud. Just another reminder of how lame it is in DC for things like St Paddy's day.

Yes, heres a story about Colossal from Freshwater. I didnt realize it was called Colossal because they were giant cupcakes. Also she moved back form NYC to open the shop. cleveland boomerang opens colossal cupcakes bakeshop and cafe downtown Thursday, March 15, 2012 Colossal Cupcakes will offer generous-sized cupcakes -- twice as big as ones you'd find at a typical bakery, Kandah promises -- for $3.75. Visitors will have 40-plus varieties to choose from, including the Colossal Classic, a milk chocolate cupcake that has raspberry filling and is topped with almond butter cream frosting. Guilt-inducing drinks such as Red Velvet Hot Cocoa will also be available. http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/colossalcupcakes031512.aspx?utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=cleveland+boomerang+opens+colossal+cupcakes+bakeshop+and+cafe+downtown&utm_content=%7bEmail_Address%7d&utm_campaign=Rock+Pays+the+Rent

I'm sure as classy as Hodges can sound. :wink: They will be open for the St. Patricks Day parade. The patio anyway.

There will be "market murals" there as part of the park project.

It might also be worth contacting the Cleveland Restoration Society about. They may have had a hand in it or know something about it.

Cleveland used to have some sort of restoration program, that I believe was used on Murray Hill Road.

What about Barroco. I know its not so much burritos, but I havent heard much about it (except for how good Lakewood was before WHD). Didnt it open on W. 6th by now?

I think this mostly just expended info of what what previously announced. Although GMAC mentioned. Its a bit hard to believe that nearly 1000 jobs and 11 floors would come from expected growth as opposed to moving work form other locations (other than the 200 expected from Seven Hills). I know when this was announced in December, the Winston Salem area was concerned since apparently there was a possibility of GMAC jobs moving from there to Cleveland (although I never saw that in any Cleveland publications). We shall see what happens. Great news for this area of downtown though. GMAC jobs could land downtown By STAN BULLARD 4:30 am, March 12, 2012 Add workers for GMAC Insurance, a better-known brand than that of its AmTrust Financial Services Inc. parent, to the list of prospective occupants of the 800 Superior Ave. building in downtown Cleveland. A total of six floors at the 23-story office building would be dedicated to auto insurer GMAC, while five floors are earmarked for AmTrust Financial, according to a construction budget that AmTrust filed with Cuyahoga County for a renovation of the building. An AmTrust affiliate bought the building last Aug. 29 for $7.5 million. http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20120312/SUB1/303129997/1053/TOC&Profile=1053

I think this mostly just expended info of what what previously announced. Although GMAC mentioned. Its a bit hard to believe that nearly 1000 jobs and 11 floors would come from expected growth as opposed to moving work form other locations (other than the 200 expected from Seven Hills). I know when this was announced in December, the Winston Salem area was concerned since apparently there was a possibility of GMAC jobs moving from there to Cleveland (although I never saw that in any Cleveland publications). We shall see what happens. Great news for this area of downtown though. GMAC jobs could land downtown By STAN BULLARD 4:30 am, March 12, 2012 Add workers for GMAC Insurance, a better-known brand than that of its AmTrust Financial Services Inc. parent, to the list of prospective occupants of the 800 Superior Ave. building in downtown Cleveland. A total of six floors at the 23-story office building would be dedicated to auto insurer GMAC, while five floors are earmarked for AmTrust Financial, according to a construction budget that AmTrust filed with Cuyahoga County for a renovation of the building. An AmTrust affiliate bought the building last Aug. 29 for $7.5 million. http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20120312/SUB1/303129997/1053/TOC&Profile=1053

Well that could be, but I think Archangel is moreso refering to the general discontent that Rockefeller started feeling towards Cleveland that led to him looking for opportunities elsewhere, mainly due to the lack of appreciation he was feeling there. That alone had pretty far reaching affects. Cleveland does have a reputation for such things, and thats part of what makes Cleveland so quirky and even a bit endearing, but at the same time miss out on important opportunities. Whether its a mayor (wife) turning down a dinner at the White House due to it being bowling night, the treatment of John D that had him giving his money to other places and turning his focus to NY, or Peter Lewis who recieved no respect (or even recognition) from City Hall when he wanted to come downtown (theres many other amusing stories that former city employees like to share, that ultimately got the heck out of dodge due to the frustration that they had experienced).

Yes, gotta love that one...

And unfortunately he has also been an on the job learner (and thus he comes across much better today than a few years ago), but for city the size of Cleveland, isn't a good thing, and has resulted in a lot of wasted time. But at this point he has certainly grown and likely the best candidate in any future campaign.

Yes it was publicly announced in March 2011 that a sale and renovation were pending. At that time all the rooms were operating but the property was in poor condition and underutilized.

No, the redevelopment and sale was already anticipated.

No not really, its a 400+ hotel room property, that had many of the rooms closed for a few months prior to the whole property closing for renovation. By that logic why would you count even the 100 rooms if the whole hotel is currently closed? And on top of that you really need to find out the status of the HI Express if that is currently/going to be closed for a rebranding, and the some of the Renaissance, since those rooms are supposedly gradually being renovated ... then those rooms shouldn't be counted either..? As opposed to starting this number thing form scratch each time, the numbers are already there per National Convention and Gay games posts. I cant imagine the rooms that were closed for a few months to wind down business for a renovation producing roughly the same number of rooms would be relevent to a before and after number (in fact would likely artificially skew them wouldn't it?)

Well the Crown Plaza closed most of its rooms (down to under 100) from the original amount, prior to closing the hotel. So they had about the same amount of rooms as the new Westin will have. So any previous numbers reported included the full amount. Besides its the same building, its not like they are carving each Crowne Plaza room into 5 Westin rooms.

Since your starting a conversation that has been had numerous times in the past (and the numbers are buried in various posts), Downtown Cleveland is pretty underserved as far as convention towns go (even compared to Cincinnati and Columbus). Its not so bad metro wide, but still pretty low compared to bigger convention regions. I think other than these few smaller ones, I think it will be a matter of waitng and seeing how business is with the MM and Convention Center, before a true converntions sized hotel considers coming in (into the old County site)

Well certainly the existing preservation organizations should be utilized in helping to guide this painful process in the most sensible way. As Zimzolla mentions, The Cleveland Landmarks Commission needs to be utilized in the Cleveland area, but it would also be smart to invite a representative from the regional National Trust Office for additional guidance. It would be good to think that a strong planning department would be capable of coming up with a plan, but I have little faith there, so I think SLPA is needed for oversight and to demand accountability.

This is certainly unprecedented. I wonder what it will actually mean.... that they would reopen those ones (if not already sold) Lawyer: Vatican overrules 13 Cleveland closings Published March 07, 2012| Associated Press CLEVELAND – The Vatican has taken the extraordinary step of overruling the closing of 13 parishes by the Cleveland Diocese, a lawyer who fought the cutbacks said Wednesday. The move represents a rare instance in which Rome has reversed a U.S. bishop on the shutdown of churches. The Congregation of the Clergy ruled last week that Bishop Richard Lennon had failed to follow procedure in the closings three years ago, attorney Peter Borre said. The 13 Roman Catholic churches were among 50 shut down or merged by Lennon, who said the eight-county diocese could no longer afford to keep them open because of declining numbers of parishioners and a shortage of priests. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/07/lawyer-vatican-overrules-13-cleveland-closings/

Yeah their initial intent was to expand to the basement.

Marcy is known for bringing home the bacon. Now if that can translate for more fed $$$ for Cleveland then we cant complain. I just hope she is able to connect with NE-Ohio though. Certainly part of me will miss Dennis though. He was a character and as friends would say "a Cleveland original", and often in the news whether for good or bad. Hopefully he can still do some good.