Quilliam

Before it was the Empire, the building at 1012 Sumner Court was New Dimensions, a gay dance club (back then, a disco) from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s.

^ I'd love to see that. Believe it or not, up until sometime in the 1960s, the Coventry one was a Sohio gas station. The pump lane was parallel to the Shaker Blvd. westbound left lane, and right next to it.

On the Main Ave. Bridge’s condition discussed on the last page: The bridge deck was essentially replaced and other elements refurbished in the late 1990s. I remember it being closed a couple of years for this job. So, some parts of it are newer than its age of record.

I like the five-panel closet doors and double-hung windows. The windows do open, right? I don't see screens on them.

The zone for this area probably has a maximum building height, similar to surrounding buildings. (That said, I recall decades ago WCUY jazz and later WLYT rock, 92 FM, had an antenna tower well over 100 feet tall atop their studios on the second floor of Marshall Ford, which is now the CVS parking lot across from the theater. But that was an antenna, not a building.)

The residential phase of Pinecrest is moving forward and headed for design review. Plans now include two 7-story apartment buildings plus duplexes, townhouses and single houses. It's on the land to the east of the buildings on the east side of Orange Place, north of the now-completed commercial phase of Pinecrest, extending north almost to Chagrin Blvd. The Walnut Hills Residences at Pinecrest will feature "large, luxurious" units, says its architect. Detailed story at: https://www.cleveland.com/community/2024/12/residential-project-at-pinecrest-to-feature-large-luxurious-units-architect-says.html

The fences are partly down at the Marquee Lee Road building. The banner reads, "Now Touring, Now Leasing." The fences are still up at the Cedar building. Also, next to that building, there seems to be no activity at the former (and future?) Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips. It still has a For Lease sign in the window.

Organizers of the St. Patrick's Day parade want the proposed Superior Bikeway to be narrowed so that the north roadway can be wider for their parade. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/12/organizers-say-clevelands-st-patrick-day-parade-being-pushed-out-by-new-bike-lane-on-superior-ave.html The city has already agreed to eliminate trees on the north side of the bikeway. "Parade organizers and city officials have been meeting for close to two years now, resulting in some compromises. Along the parade route, for example, the city has agreed to not plant trees or bushes on the north side of the bike lane — making room for spectators." "Parade organizers are asking for the landscaped area to be made narrower along the route, with 5 feet on either side of the bike lane instead of 8 feet. That would allow the north side of Superior Avenue to be 30 feet wide, two 12-foot lanes and 6 feet of striped off extra space." If you ask me, changing the design of a permanent street for a once-a-year-event is not wise. St. Clair Ave. would be fine. Organizers don't like it because it because it doesn't end in Public Square, and, from the article, "It doesn’t have as many bars, restaurants or hotels . . . Murphy said trying to get the parade route to make a 90-degree turn from St. Clair Avenue onto Ontario Street would look like a scene from the movie Animal House.”

KJP had several stories on this in the last couple of years. The info may be obsolete due to CSU's finances, but here they are: https://neo-trans.blog/2022/11/17/csu-releases-campus-master-plan/ "The Wolstein Center arena is proposed to be demolished and replaced with a collection of buildings described as the Partnership District but with few details as to what users would occupy them." https://neo-trans.blog/2023/07/25/new-csu-arena-in-play-by-years-end/ "CSU’s potential [new, smaller arena] development site totals 10 acres of land along the south side of Payne, from East 22nd Street to Interstate 90. The arena will be on Payne and overlook the highway, potentially with a multi-level parking garage immediately south of it on a 5-acre block."

So they figured out a mechanism for a state university to get more state money. Okay. Whatever works. I’m happy the tower will be renovated.

Thanks for the info, but I still don't get it. The Cleveland Stater story says that EADC is a non-profit. Who is getting the tax credit?

Did I miss something here? Isn't Rhodes Tower owned by Cleveland State, a public university? How does such an entity, which I guess pays no taxes, get a tax credit?

Nobility Court groundbreaking is next Thursday. I hope they have better weather than today. From developers TWC and Start Right CDC: Date: Thursday, December 12th, 2024 Time: 4:00 PM Location: 2228 Noble Road About Nobility Court: This transformative development will feature 52 thoughtfully designed units, offering a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. Nobility Court is dedicated to serving families and individuals with incomes between 60% and 30% of the area median income (AMI), providing quality housing and fostering a vibrant, inclusive community. It will also include a community-requested commercial space for a future coffee/sandwich shop. Join us as we celebrate this milestone and honor the collective effort that made this vision a reality. Your presence will add to the significance of this special occasion. Please RSVP by December 6 to [email protected].

^ Glad to see some movement in this location, although I hope the land doesn't sit vacant for too long. On an historical note, the 1979 building at the south end, at left in the photo, replaced an earlier (also 1939?) building on the same footprint. The earlier building housed Clark's restaurant (part of a local chain with another in the Hanna Building on Playhouse Square) and later the Red Bull Inn. That restaurant burned down in the late 1970s and was replaced by the present building which was a CVS pharmacy. The north end of the one-story strip, at right, was once one of the first Heinen's grocery stores.

^ It's because Ontario Street bends to the east after it goes under I-90, and thus becomes an avenue. In the early-1900s Cleveland street system that gave us the numbered streets, most north-south roads have numbers instead of names and are designated "street." (Ontario is unique since it passed through Public Square, which would have made it 0 -- Zero -- Street.) East-west roads are designated "avenues" and have names. Their addresses correspond to the street numbers. This system extends into the suburbs, although many name their streets and drop the initial "1" from the longer east-west addresses to keep them at four digits. Oh, and one more fun fact: "Evens on the right." If you stand in Public Square and look east along the avenues, the even numbers are on your right, on the south side of the avenues. Turn to your right and look south along the streets, and the even numbers are still on the right, which is their west side. Turn again and look west along the avenues, and the even addresses are still on the right, which is now the north side.

Work has begun on the Taylor Tudor buildings, at least fences have been put up around them.

The long-ago former Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips on Cedar Road is about to reopen as . . . Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips. This is the small storefront building at 13261 Cedar, immediately west of the Marquee development. Now vacant, and obstructed by the Marquee's construction barriers, it was most recently the Barber & Beauty Supply Outlet. Since the old Arthur Treacher's closed in the 1990's, I think, it has also been a Pizza Hut carryout and a check-cashing place. (I remember when the original restaurant was built in the early 1970s; they tore down a one-story 3 or 4-storefront building that had housed Michael's diner and Al's Cedar-Lee Bicycle and Lawn Mower. As a kid, I had two bikes from that shop.) The story linked below says they plan to open before year's end. It is behind a paywall. https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2024/08/arthur-treachers-plots-comeback-with-third-location-in-cleveland-heights-set-to-open-in-2024.html

" . . . I have no idea what caused the original Nighttown to fail . . ." If I remember correctly, it didn't fail. It was doing fine until the covid closing. After reopening for a few months later that year, then-owner Brendan Ring closed it again, saying he didn't want to subject his staff to the risk of covid (pre-vaccine), and also wanted to retire. Later he sold it to the present owners (he may have been talking quietly with them earlier). Along with the Nighttown building, he also sold the yellow-brick bakery building to the east, and the former Cardinal Bank (now Chipotle) building on the corner.

It's a shame they couldn't make it work right next door to the new Ascent apartments. They spent years (and maybe too much money) renovating the restaurant and also the two floors of apartments above it. Have those apartments been leased?

After only ten months, Nighttown is closing https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2024/08/iconic-nighttown-restaurant-bar-closing.html

Nobility Court's NIMBYs seem to have some funding. After a few days out of town, I returned to find this slick 5½ by 8½ inch postcard in my mailbox. It is anonymous except for the mail permit number 647 -- anyone know who that is? It also has a printers' union label, like many political mailings.

Brick facing going up on the corners of the Marquee Lee building. In the renderings, the brick alternates with gray siding. At left is the saw for cutting half-bricks. Marquee Cedar, as seen from Cedar. Both photos taken Saturday.

Also, the Noble Library has set a June 2 grand opening for its new wing and original building. 2 pm.

Noble Station, renamed Nobility Court, is on its way to city approvals. It seems they have redesigned it again as it is now five stories instead of four, according to Thomas Jewell's story linked below (behind a paywall). Council may get the final agreement next month, with completion in 2 or 3 years. https://www.cleveland.com/community/2024/04/a-transformed-nobility-court-apartment-complex-may-be-on-its-way-to-cleveland-heights-north-end.html

"Anyway, I would upload some pics with the very good to amazing changes they did in both left and right field, but unlike usual, the system isn’t letting me upload photos from the iOS Photos app." Same here, with iPhone A workaround I use is to attach the photo to an email and send it to myself, then open the email in a new window next to the Urban Ohio reply box, then drag and drop it from the email to the reply. However, I am doing the last two steps on a Windows computer. Hope this helps.