KJP

It may be an emotional take (do we not love cities?), but our cities are the result of choices, not some natural phenomena beyond human control. Urban realities are what we make them to be. American cities are not loved as much as we used to love them a century ago, not human oriented anymore and excessively car-centric and made dangerous for people. By choice. And yet we love the people-oriented places that endure or have been remade. What I do know from places like North Boston, U.S. Route 62 in Hambur, NY or even Crocker Park Boulevard in car-crazy Westlake is that streets can be places where humans can dominate and cars can be put in second or third place. If that's what you like in other cities, then the only thing stopping us from having it here is us.

CSU narrows finalists to develop Arena By Ken Prendergast / November 17, 2023 Four finalists were invited by Cleveland State University (CSU) and its development arm Euclid Avenue Development Corp. (EADC) to submit proposals to build, at minimum, a new multi-purpose arena for the university. In addition, their proposals could also include a parking garage and mixed-use district of housing and shops that were proposed as part of its $650 million campus master plan unveiled last year. The arena, parking deck and mixed-use district were all proposed to rise along Payne Avenue, just west of Interstate 90 in downtown Cleveland. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/17/csu-narrows-finalists-to-develop-arena/

Tremont’s Lincoln Hts apartments start By Ken Prendergast / November 17, 2023 Hidden away behind houses and trees, construction on another large development in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood got under way this week. And while this latest development project is largely shielded from view, it simultaneously reveals the continuing strength of Cleveland’s multi-family market as well as the comparative weakness of its for-sale housing market. That’s especially true in certain neighborhoods that, starting next year, will lose their ability to offer 100 percent property tax abatement for new, for-sale homes. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/17/tremonts-lincoln-hts-apartments-start/

The height district for the two corner parcels on which ACS sets is a 5 -- or 250 feet. Just north of that corner, the height district drops to 3 -- 115 feet. ACS would make a nice ground-floor commercial tenant for a 20+ story tower. Put the garage just north of it.

Brad Stainbrook... The #Browns are working out veteran quarterback Joe Flacco today, per a league source. Flacco is 10-1 at Cleveland Browns Stadium. So Browns twitter finally got one right...

Major storm brewing on the Great Lakes for Thanksgiving! Check updates as the forecast is refined.

Update from a couple days ago. Nice urban setting. Saving this for a future update on Circle Square.

Bedrock seems to think it can take on multiple big projects at the same time, as it did and is doing in Detroit. They apparently are trying to do the same here with the riverfront and possibly another project in downtown Cleveland (I hope to be able to confirm it). That "other" project isn't Gateway, or at least not that I've heard. There is movement here (as noted with the Guardians' two big property buys), but is likely to be very slow and probably won't see anything happen unless and until David Blitzer becomes majority owner of the Guardians in five years. In megaproject duration, that's not a very long time and I suspect planning work will happening behind the scenes, once the Guardians take title to the Gateway East Garage.

This listing for one of their properties tells you all you need to know: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1857-Carter-Rd-Cleveland-OH/28004601/ It's a 1.84-acre parcel on a redeveloping Scranton Peninsula. Are they offering it for sale? Nope. Scranton-Averell usually doesn't sell. If they did, they wouldn't be sitting on dozens of acres of rotting land for 200 years. They're leasing it. For what purpose are they marketing it? "The property is the ideal location for a semi tractor-trailer parking, construction staging, and/or equipment storage." Way to create a dynamic urban setting, fellas.

Now arriving: Woodhill Station East By Ken Prendergast / November 16, 2023 A neighborhood-level design review panel today gave thumbs-up, with a few conditions, to conceptual plans for the next phase in the effort to replace the 83-year-old, 487-unit Woodhill Homes public housing in Cleveland’s Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood. Woodhill Station East, a 64-unit mixed-income apartment complex with ground-floor retail at 9615 Buckeye Rd., is proposed to be the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s (CMHA) third phase in its Woodhill Redevelopment efforts that would ultimately result in the construction of 640 mixed-income housing units on the city’s east side. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/16/now-arriving-woodhill-station-east/

Dix & Eaton grows, buys St. Louis ad firm By Ken Prendergast / November 15, 2023 With a new Downtown Cleveland headquarters in the works, Dix & Eaton will move into it as one of the largest, employee-owned communications companies in the United States. That change in status occurred on Nov. 1 when the 71-year-old strategic communications firm acquired Standing Partnership, a 32-year-old, St. Louis-based marketing communications consultancy. The acquisition was announced today by Dix & Eaton. Terms of the transaction between the two privately owned firms will not be disclosed. MORE https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/15/dix-eaton-grows-buys-st-louis-ad-firm/

Ugh. Too late to trade for Jacoby Brissett? There aren't many options.... https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/browns-will-regret-not-trading-for-a-better-backup-quarterback

Thanks as always to @Agreenefor the use of his awesome aerials! Next round of Brownfield grants starts Dec. 5 By Ken Prendergast / November 15, 2023 Several things have long slowed Cleveland’s post-industrial transition to embrace new economic drivers. One of the biggest is the lack of large, clean properties near existing labor. The city recently announced a $50 million land assembly program that could be boosted to $100 million with other funding. While some of that funding could come from the private sector, another source may well come from a new round of state funding to aid redevelopment, announced today. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/15/next-round-of-brownfield-grants-starts-dec-5/

The second rule of government contracting in a city and county that was run by the Mafia, "Why have one tower crane when you can have four at four times the price?"

More piX from X and County Exec Ronayne. BTW, while I was looking through my phone at old photos earlier today, I noticed that SHW's HQ had yet to go vertical in August 2022 and Library Lofts had already built its first floor. Since then, both are near to topping out except one climbed about 36 stories and the other only nine. https://x.com/chrisronayne/status/1724212027860644318?s=20

@jeremyck01 Since you haven't seen the site in a while, any thoughts, comments, analysis?

These are both busy guys. Somebody needed something big/important enough to get these two together. So who needed what from who and why? https://x.com/chrisronayne/status/1724189929389830352?s=20 Great to see Lourenco Goncalves Chairman & CEO @ Cleveland Cliffs today. Under Goncalves ten year run Cliffs continues to see year after year growth (11 x during the team’s tenure). Using clean production technology Cliffs is now 27,000 jobs (21,000 Union) a growing # in #CLE

You can have an interim surface parking lot while a development plan is being developed. There's a deadline when the property owner has to come back to the city with a building plan. But as you can tell from the former New York Spaghetti House on East 9th that was razed in eight years ago, the city doesn't exactly hold the property owner to account.

Cleveland Greyhound/Barons station situation

True. Two more things... 1. I never knew that garage had color-coded interiors. 2. Nice juxtaposition in the photo. One structure going up; another one coming down.

That's MUCH better, @MayDay 😎

When the walls -- go tumbling tumbling -- down photo by Kevin DeFranco @Kevin_DeFranco

It's actually a little more complicated than that..... Greyhound, Barons may offer downtown, west-side stops By Ken Prendergast / November 13, 2023 With the clock ticking down to an eventual departure from the 75-year-old Greyhound station in Downtown Cleveland, the operator of long-distance bus services is seeking new stations to serve area travelers. After an earlier plan to relocate Cleveland’s station to the Triskett Red Line rapid transit station on the west side met civic resistance, Barons Bus Inc. is pursuing two stations locally. Cleveland-based Barons operates bus service under a license with Greyhound. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/13/greyhound-barons-may-offer-downtown-west-side-stops/

Yes, it is good news and yes, that's the right of way along US24. The first time I drove that road was in 1986 and the last time was in 2009. Both times, the condition of the railroad looked about the same -- unusable! ORDC just came out with a press release dated last week (but e-mailed today) about the news Kaptur shared last month! See below.... Napoleon Defiance & Western Railway Successful in Federal CRISI Grant Award On November 9, 2023, the Ohio Rail Development Commission (Rail Commission) approved $264,000 in grant funding to the Napoleon Defiance & Western Railway and authorized staff to administer a recently awarded Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant. A total of $10,792,000 was awarded in CRISI funds, with $4,361,000 in private railroad funds contributing to the total $15,417,000 project. The Napoleon Defiance and Western (NDW) partnered with the Rail Commission on a December 2022 submission to the Federal Railroad Administration. The project is a continuation of previous partnerships between the railroad and the Rail Commission and is the second federal grant received for this rail line. NDW owns and operates 43 miles of track from Woodburn, Indiana to outside Napoleon, Ohio. The railroad has suffered from years of deferred maintenance and ranks among the highest derailment rates in the country, leading it to hold the unfortunate distinction as the “Worst Railroad in America.” With ownership changes at NDW in 2019 and 2022, the preservation and rehabilitation of the NDW became a high priority. The awarded project will complement the work undertaken by previous projects in 2020 and 2021, focusing on the portion of the line between Defiance and Napoleon. “We are privileged to work with the Ohio Rail Development Commission and deeply appreciate the Rail Commission’s direct grant to the Patriot Rail Napoleon Defiance & Western Railway. The Rail Commission’s funding commitment to this project, in combination with NDW’s private contribution, enabled the award of this very significant Federal Railroad Administration CRISI grant that will continue our transformation of the NDW and increase safety, reliability and efficiency for the rail shippers we serve in the State of Ohio,” said John E. Fenton, CEO Patriot Rail. Matthew Dietrich, Executive Director of the Ohio Rail Development Commission, said “After decades of deferred maintenance of this rail line, the Rail Commission is happy to partner with the railroad to continue these critical investments in the line. This project ensures the rail line continues to be an asset for the region’s economic development efforts for many years to come. The enhanced safety improvements make this project a huge win for all involved.” **