smith

Not suggesting Starbucks, just using them as an example of a national retailer that is moving into Cedar Center North.

I agree with all the sentiments on this being a different product that CH does not have. On the office discussion, while I know the developer is marketing the first floor space as mixed office, I met them and I got the feeling that while this is how they are advertising the project, they will lease to whomever they can get. Don't be surprised if we see a national chain restaurant use here. Not that they indicated this, but as we all know, chains like new product. Think 5 guys, chipotle, menchies, starbucks all going to Cedar Center North.

Sometimes I talk to people on the east coast for business and they think ohio is in the central zone and I get offended!!

I see they got the Beards & Hats catalog on the charging station table!

I don't have experience renovating a bank owned home, but I have done improvements to my 100 year old house (or I should say I helped my dad do them). That said, I think you probably need to give more info on the house you are looking at. I think size and neighborhood have a lot to do with it. Is it 1,000 sf or 3,000 sf? If it is in a higher end neighborhood you probably want higher end finishes like granite counters in the kitchen. I know you have not been inside it, but does it have water pipes? Furnace still there? I have been in houses that were completely striped of all pipes and even the furnace. How does the exterior look? Does it need to be painted? Roof?

I am not, but I certainly appreciate the question! I have a lot of practice seeing how my sister and brother-in-law own a restaurant, which also means I can just walk into the kitchen and start shooting, which obviously I couldn't do at other restaurants.

SOHO Kitchen & Bar - 1889 W 25th, Cleveland This isn't so much a review as it is food porn. My review: very very good. Although I admit I am biased as my sister and brother-in-law own the joint. These are some pics from a recent beer dinner.

How about late September or Early October....something like...an Oktoberfest??? Seems a natural fit to me. Didn't think of that! Great idea Agreed. Obviously weather is pure luck. If the event was Saturday or today, it would have been fine weatherwise.

Did anyone go to the parade/streetfest yesterday? I went and while the rain sucked, it was still pretty fun. There still seemed to be a lot of people down there and the food vendors seemed pretty steady throughout the day. I guess they cancelled Carlos Jones who was to be the headliner. I hope they make it an annual thing - just move the event to September. I took a few pics, but with the rain, I mostly kept my camera in the bag. If I have anything good, I will post.

I signed up for this but never started. I meant to do it.....

I live in CH and I believe the city has said pizza boxes are not recyclable.

Yeah, I don't really talk sports in general on UO. As a UC grad, I'm a fan, but unfortunately we don't get every game up here in Cleveland. I did see last week's game and it was an incredible finish. I thought for sure we were going to lose.

Does anyone use the photo editing software Aperture? Thoughts on it?

cleveland.com also says Shapiro and Antonetti will be back next year. That is complete BS! This is all about the Dolans and the front office shifting the blame to the players and coaches on the field and not taking any of the blame themselves. Acta can only do so much with the junk players provided to him by the front office.

^ What business are you referring to as "we wont be staying here much longer either." Just curious.

I drive by all the time and think to myself "I should snap some shots to post on UO." Then I think to myself "Ugh, do I really want to have these pics on my computer?"

^ ditto!!

he never said HE would pay for the dome

Amen. I hate them so much. Every one I have met has a major holier-than-thou attitude. Every time I need one, I cross another shop off the list of places I might go. And this is just from buying parts, not having them do work. Though maybe that's part of what they don't like. I also don't like some of the car-salesman attitudes I have encountered. Online ordering definitely seems like the way to go, when possible. I've gotten a few tune-up, spoke repair work at Cain Park Bicycles in Cleveland Hts. The prices were very fair and I found absolutely no pretension (sp?) by the staff there.

No - I didn't see Scenic. Was the 1981 version less touristy? Is that why you prefer it?

These were taken outside of Rapid City: Deadwood, final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok, namesake for the poker hand known as "dead man's hand", aces and eights, supposedly what he was holding when he was killed. Deadwood was an awesome show on HBO by the way. Is that a swastika? Items left at the gravesite - jack daniels bottles, money, cigarettes, a bullet At Mt. Rushmore late in the day with the sun setting behind. I guess the time to go is in the morning when the sun is facing the monument.

I agree. This is a must happen project and the reality of the situation calls for these tax abatements. It will more than pay for itself in countless ways. These are the type of developments that will be necessary to keep these areas stable. Couldn't agree more to both comments. See the comments on this article: http://clevelandheights.patch.com/blog_posts/facts-do-not-support-a-tax-abatement-for-meadowbrook-lee

Yesterday (or maybe the day before) I saw people working on the facade of this building. Does anyone have any idea what's going on with it? The Mayor said he just made them clean up the facade so it wasn't such an eyesore. ------------------------------------- Apparently some people take issue with a tax abatement for development of the Lee/Meadowbrook site. Info on the development: http://heightsobserver.org/read/2012/08/28/major-development-planned-for-cedar-lee-district This is what I say about tax abatement: Economics of tax abatement by Kevin Smith Residents often question the need for tax abatement for real estate development. The argument against tax abatement is that it takes money out of the coffers of already tightly budgeted municipalities and school districts. However, the unfortunate fact is that tax abatement is often necessary to justify the cost of construction. more: http://heightsobserver.org/read/2012/08/28/economics-of-tax-abatement

sounds like how i'd ride out a storm

One can only hope. Unlikely. Here is what I found: The parcel does not have any transfer history prior to 1/1/89. Likely this means it was part of a larger parcel and split off in 1989 and I would guess that's when the building was built. They have paid their property taxes every year for at least the past 10 years (paid $68k last year), which indicates they have good, positive cash flow. If I am not mistaken, the building has a pretty high occupancy, again indicating they are probably making money. Last, I checked the recorder and there was not anything listed, which typically means they did not put any debt on the property, at least with a traditional lender. The owner is Market Plaza Properties Ltd. Research on that entity seems to indicate the following as members (as least when the entity was formed): Darrel A Young, Neil T Young, The Center for Plastic Surgery, Norman Gutmacher, Harry Brown, Lloyd Mazur, and Arthur Lawrence. I recognize some of these names as attorneys and real estate people in town. All this tells me that they have had the building for a long time, have a good occupancy, and with renewed interest in Ohio City, I imagine they are charging higher rents. They are likely doing well enough that they wouldn't want to redevelop the site themselves and their cost to sell would be way too high to make sense for another developer to come in. Of course I could be completely wrong on all this and they are in dire financials straights!