MuRrAy HiLL

I definitely dig Parnell's as well! Time to party in the theater district.

I'm hearing this demolition has begun. Any confirmation?? EDIT: nevermind, question answered... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,925.630.html

Check out these accomplished chicas under 30...all listed individually: ”Forbes” selects four CWRU women for ”30 under 30” Four of Forbes magazine’s list of the year’s 30 most innovative young thinkers in science and healthcare come from Case Western Reserve. Forbes annual “30 Under 30” list highlights Cindy Chang, a fifth-year medical student at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University; Paige Cramer, who completed her doctoral degree in neurosciences earlier this year; Christine Fleming, who earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees in biomedical engineering; and Halle Tecco, a 2006 graduate who earned her bachelor’s degree in management. “Each of these young women has distinguished herself through extraordinary achievements,” President Barbara R. Snyder said. “We are pleased that Forbes magazine recognizes their intelligence and ingenuity, as well as their commitment to making a positive difference for others.” http://cwru-daily.com/news/forbes-selects-four-cwru-women-for-30-under-30/

I'm not quite sure what I think of all the additions, but I'm definitely in favor of more lighting. UC is going to frikin glow at night!

Should be perfect for worldwide exposure to the new center.

UC getting more pizzazz and lighting: SOURCE: http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2012/12212012/index.php

WOW. And look at the retail space expansion to the back!

Cleveland school district renews search for downtown office space Patrick O'Donnell, The Plain Dealer By Patrick O'Donnell, The Plain Dealer on December 17, 2012 at 6:00 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland school district is again looking for downtown administrative offices in case the school board sells its the E. Sixth Street headquarters in March. Several downtown property owners offered leases to the district when it first looked for offices last year. But two of the three finalists no longer have enough space and the third has since changed its terms, according to the district's real estate consultant. So, today the district started seeking proposals for 90,000 square feet of office space again. "We felt it was best to just start over," said Mark Horton, president of Weston Commercial Real Estate. The district has been discussing a plan to sell its headquarters, built in the 1920s and located close to the new medical mart and convention center, to a hotel developer for more than a year. The district would then lease downtown office space for administrators, while consolidating some district offices and training areas that are now spread among multiple buildings into the former South High School or East High School. www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/12/cleveland_school_district_rene.html

Rink at Wade Oval is finally using REAL ice this year (not the synthetic stuff of the past): http://www.universitycircle.org/events/2012/11/the-rink-at-wade-oval plus...a cool new commercial:

LEEDCo awarded $4 million to launch offshore wind development on Lake Erie By Teresa Dixon Murray, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer on December 12, 2012 at 2:04 PM, updated December 12, 2012 at 2:21 PM In one of the first projects of its kind in the United States, the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. will launch an offshore wind development project on Lake Erie using $4 million in federal money. LEEDCo is a nonprofit company working to build wind turbines in Lake Erie. The funding to LEEDCo was announced today by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, who has pushed for such alternative energy projects for years. The money is being provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. Brown said offshore wind could eventually help create thousands of new jobs in Ohio and nationwide. "These funds mean that we are one step closer to achieving our goal of making Lake Erie home to the first freshwater, offshore wind development in North America," Brown said in a statement. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/leedco_awarded_4_million_to_la.html

2013 is looking to be a good year for Downtown Cleveland for new apartment units coming online: DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND NEW RESIDENTIAL New apartment units 2012: (147 total units) Avenue District Luxury Apartments (59 apartments) http://www.zaremba.net/community/index.php?cid=2667 The Langston Apartments -- Building 1 (48 apartments) http://campusdistrictobserver.com/read/2012/09/05/the-langston-welcomes-first-tenants-near-csu Under Construction: (679 total units) The Langston Apartments -- (270 apartments) remaining -- $54 million http://www.csuohio.edu/class/com/clevelandstater/Copy/140101.html Rosetta Center Building (85 apartments) -- $7 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/06/cleveland_developers_win_prese.html Hanna Annex Apartments (102 apartments) -- $23 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/playhousesquare_to_sell_downto.html Embassy Suites hotel into residential @ Reserve Square (232 apartments) -- $3 million www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/kd_group_will_close_embassy_su.html In the pipeline: (136 total units) 1120 Chester Ave (36 apartments) http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/bza/agenda/2012/crr04-30-2012.pdf Truman Building at 1030 Euclid (26 apartments) -- $9 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/06/cleveland_developers_win_prese.html The Park Building and Southworth Building apartments (34 apartments) -- $21 million http://development.ohio.gov/Urban/OHPTC/documents/Round7ApprovedApplications.pdf Schofield Building (50 apartments) -- $40 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/06/four_northeast_ohio_projects_i.html Planning Stages: (590 total units) 28-story Ameritrust (Breuer) Tower (215 apartments) -- total project $180 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/geis_coss_plan_to_build_a_new.html Flats East Bank Phase II Residential (140 apartments -- $120 million http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/04/flats_east_bank_project_lines.html East Ohio Building at 1717 East Ninth St (223 apartments) http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/03/kd_group_plans_to_buy_redevelo.html 1224 Huron Rd (12 apartments) http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/09/kd_group_closes_hanna_building.html Proposed: Warehouse District mixed-used Transit Hub http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/post_536.html Halle Building at 1228 Euclid Ave (200 apartments) http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20120716/SUB1/307169992 Arcade (100 apartments) http://crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=TOC Baker Building at 1940 E 6th Street When pigs fly: 515 Euclid Ave (240 units) http://www.desman.com/hotproperty/task,view/id,59/Itemid,168/ Huntington Bank Building at 917 Euclid Ave http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/11/huntington_moving_to_200_publi.html Standard Building at 1370 Ontario St http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/01/railroad_union_nhttp://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/Themes/default/images/bbc/glow.gifations_oldest.html Lakefront Residential http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2011/11/new_lakefront_plan_from_clevel.html Playhouse Square parking lot across from Palace Theater http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/playhousesquare_to_sell_downto.html

Presentation: http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/537510-121211-property-consolidation-power-point-full.html Page 21 has specific reasons for choosing Geis.

Awesome! Ironically I was coming on here to post it. Great to hear about the people planting roots to rebuild a new foundation and future for a cultural gem like Slavic Village.

VIDEO: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/cuyahoga-county-to-sell-distinctive-cleveland-office-tower-ameritrust

Update from Michelle: Cleveland Metropolitan School District may auction off headquarters By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer December 11, 2012 at 6:12 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With Cuyahoga County well into its real estate consolidation, another public body will seek bidders for prime property in downtown Cleveland. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District could auction off its headquarters in March, as part of a cost-cutting plan that involves unloading real estate and moving to rented offices. The CBRE Group Inc. brokerage said this week that the historic building will be offered for sale March 7, during a public auction at the Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel. The school district has set a reserve - a minimum price for the real estate. But David Browning, managing director of CBRE's Cleveland office, said that reserve is private. "The truth is the school board ultimately is going to have the last say, and they will make the decision as to what bid is sufficient to get them to sell the asset," Browning said. "I think in their minds they have a number, and we have an unpublished number." Built in 1930, the district's six-story headquarters is located at 1380 E. 6th St., near the medical mart and new convention center projects. In need of significant repairs, the building is a costly challenge for the schools but a potential opportunity for developers looking to capture demand for downtown hotel rooms or apartments. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/cleveland_metropolitan_school.html

Definitely shocked and pleasantly surprised. I'll be intrigued to know how many apartments can be carved out of the tower.

Breathing new life into the Cleveland Museum of Natural History: editorial Published: Monday, December 10, 2012, 6:50 PM Updated: Monday, December 10, 2012, 6:50 PM The Plain Dealer Editorial Board By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's newly announced transformation plans promise to renew its status as one of the region's premier cultural attractions and to further enhance University Circle's growing national reputation as a beehive of education, research and creative employment. Museum officials announced last week that they have begun raising money for what they anticipate will be a bold $125 million renovation and expansion on Wade Oval. Spearheaded by Evalyn Gates, the particle physicist who came from Chicago to take the museum's helm in 2010, the new design will better show off both the museum's collections of dinosaur skeletons and other treasures and its staff of scientists who continue to do breakthrough research in paleontology, botany and other disciplines. On that front, just this fall, Michael Ryan, the museum's curator of vertebrate paleontology, was the lead author of a study that identified a new species of horned dinosaur from fossils initially collected in 1958. www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/12/breathing_new_life_into_the_cl.html

If we're counting University Circle, I think we should count the hotels rooms at the Cleveland Hopkins Airport as well.

Holy crap!!...please be good news! Cuyahoga County to sell Ameritrust buildings to unnamed buyerPublished: Friday, December 07, 2012, 7:51 AM Updated: Friday, December 07, 2012, 7:58 AM By Laura Johnston, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County has a buyer for the long-vacant Ameritrust complex, but county Executive Ed FitzGerald declined Thursday to release details of the proposed deal. FitzGerald said he will take the Ameritrust deal, and a plan to lease or buy an unspecified downtown building to consolidate county offices, to County Council for consideration on Tuesday. "We wanted to get the Ameritrust complex out of the county's hands and back into the stream of commerce," he said in a phone interview. "We wanted to make sure it could be part of the revitalization of Euclid Avenue. Ideally we wanted someone who was going to develop it and pay taxes on it and recoup some of what the county paid for it." County commissioners bought the Ameritrust property -- which includes a 28-story tower, historic bank rotunda and cluster of surrounding buildings at Euclid and East Ninth Street -- in 2005 for $21.8 million. They envisioned converting the complex into a headquarters for county government, but abandoned the plan two years later for lack of money. http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2012/12/cuyahoga_county_to_sell_ameritrust.html

County Executive Ed FitzGerald expects to announce a headquarters deal, along with a plan to sell the long-vacant Ameritrust complex at East Ninth Street and Euclid, on Tuesday.

I had to google 1269 East 99th Street....check it out: http://www.clevelandareahistory.com/2009/12/looming-over-rockefeller-park.html

More news and discussion: Upper Chester plan in Cleveland's Hough gets OK despite institutional concerns By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer on December 04, 2012 at 6:00 AM, updated December 04, 2012 at 7:22 AM CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Finch Group can start putting together a $94 million project in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood, after City Council support overrode the objections of several powerful institutions. In a 19-0 vote Monday evening, the council approved legislation that will help the developer seek tax credits and loans to remake a district known as Upper Chester. The city now can enter a development agreement and, eventually, sell land to the Finch Group, once the company lines up financing, gains control of other properties and produces more detailed plans. The vote was a big step for Upper Chester, a blighted area viewed as one of Cleveland's greatest redevelopment opportunities. But the decision won't quash the debate over the best way to transform vacant stretches of land between East 93rd and East 101st streets and running north from Chester toward Hough Avenue. "This is not an end. This is a beginning," Wes Finch, founder and chairman of the Finch Group of Boca Raton, Fla., told council members during a committee meeting Monday morning. He plans to meet Thursday with officials from the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University and nonprofit groups with significant investments in the area. Meetings with Hough residents, organized by Councilman T.J. Dow, could be held early next year. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/upper_chester_project_plan_in.html

Workers Reveal Extent of Plain Dealer Layoffs Posted on: 10:28 pm, December 3, 2012, by Bliss Davis savetheplaindealer2 CLEVELAND — The Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild says the city’s largest newspaper in circulation is set to significantly reduce its staff in 2013. According to Harlan Spector, the unit chair of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild, membership will be reduced to 110 members in The Plain Dealer’s newsroom. http://fox8.com/2012/12/03/guild-announces-extent-of-the-plain-dealer-layoffs/

More coverage...but I feel slightly dissing toward Cleveland: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/new-museum-of-contemporary-art-in-cleveland-shines/6869?tag=main;featured-stories

"Save the Plain Dealer" Party https://www.facebook.com/events/431224410277355/