KJP

Parking crater resulting from car dependency bomb going off in Green Bay (before and after images in case it doesn't show up)

Photos and discussion of the foundation and caisson work started on this page (December 2021) and continues for several pages into April 2022. In addition to a 6-inch thick concrete mat foundation, 26 caissons were dug to bedrock. It appears that one or more caissons were dug in the vicinity of the site of a future HQ2 but it appears to be only several at most. @NorthShore647got photos of one of the caissons being dug in the area for HQ2. But there wasn't much photographic evidence of any other caissons that I could find. This one caisson may have been done for site stabilization. There was some bulkhead work done on the worksite side of the sidewalks along Superior and West 6th with significant amounts of soil and possibly some historical foundations removed. They apparently were replaced with crushed stone to provide a stable setting for a construction staging area. I see no evidence of a mat foundation or other caissons here, nor any construction permit information available online to suggest that caissons were dug here for a future HQ2. Here are two of NorthShore's photos of the only caisson I could find being dug/filled in the area of HQ2...

Speaking of overthrowing the will of the people

While this PR is a month old and affects a freight railroad, it has potential intercity passenger rail implications for Ohio. This rail line has been considered for Cleveland - Toledo - Chicago passenger rail rerouted via Fort Wayne which has far less freight traffic than the current route via South Bend. These fairly substantial investments will help ensure the future of this rail line so that it can be available for whenever Ohio and Indiana get their act together on passenger rail. https://kaptur.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-kaptur-announces-more-10-million-award-bipartisan Congresswoman Kaptur Announces More Than $10 Million Award from Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal to Napoleon, Defiance, & Western Railway in Partnership with Ohio Rail Development Commission October 4, 2023 Press Release Defiance, OH – Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) announced a $10,792,157 award for major rail upgrades for Napoleon, Defiance, & Western Railway (NDW) in partnership with Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) though funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This project involves development, final design, and construction activities for various track improvements, upgrades to multiple grade crossings, and bridge rehabilitation work — part of a multi-phase effort to improve the NDW. This project will improve safety, and increase ability to meet existing and anticipated demand, while enhancing performance with upgrades to the track to FRA Class 1 track standard from excepted track. NDW interchanges with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway, and freight traffic must travel on NDW’s tracks before rail cars are interchanged with the Class 1 railroads. ORDC and NDW will match 30% of Federal funds being allocated for this project. “I am encouraged to see new investment in rail coming to Northern Ohio, and I know that this will be transformative for Patriot Rail, and the people of Defiance. This proposal promises to turn one of the worst railroad tracks in America into an engine of economic development in Ohio,” said Rep. Kaptur. “This line saw 48 derailments in 2022 alone, underscoring the importance and urgent need for safety and reliability of commercial rail in Northern Ohio. Our communities have seen the harm that comes, after major derailments such as the ones seen in Sandusky and East Palestine, Ohio within the past year. Rail safety was a major impetus for our desire to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and now we are seeing investment and opportunity coming back to our region. We must continue to work together to make our communities safer, and this is an important step forward in doing just that.” “The Patriot Rail Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railway provides first and last mile service transporting products to and from customer facilities in Ohio to locations across the country,” said Patriot Rail CEO John Fenton. “We are privileged to work with the Ohio Rail Development Commission and the Ohio Congressional delegation including Rep. Kaptur to receive this federal CRISI award and invest these vital grant funds to increase safety, reliability, and efficiency for our customers and the communities we serve. We deeply appreciate our continued partnership with ORDC to enhance the rail services and options we provide to shippers in the State of Ohio.” This investments follows a September 22, 2023 roundtable discussion on the future of passenger rail in Northern Ohio and the Great Lakes Region hosted by Congresswoman Kaptur, with participants including international, national, regional, and local transit, labor, and civic leaders, including Amit Bose, Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, Stephen Gardner, CEO of Amtrak, and Eddie Hall, President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Please reach out to the office of Congresswoman Kaptur for a full list of participants. # # #

I intend to write a follow-up article and will get into this stuff. It's a function of weight and the subsurface conditions. A 12-story parking deck might need caissons whereas a skinny, 25-story building might not. But the typical weight of a 25- to 30-story building or taller probably would require caissons.

Signature play for a signature win

From that angle, a 300-foot HQ2 just west of HQ1 wouldn't be tall enough to offer symmetry with the Stokes Tower, although it would for the Rockefeller. Given SHW's rapid job growth, perhaps they might consider a 350-footer?

Sprawl = traffic

Hawthorne School conversion starts Monday By Ken Prendergast / November 11, 2023 While classes aren’t starting on Monday morning at Hawthorne Elementary School, 3575 W. 130th St., in Cleveland Jefferson neighborhood, that is when Sustainable Community Associates (SCA) is going to school. The Cleveland-based real estate development firm has repurposed many an old Cleveland building into apartments, some with shops or restaurants. But this is SCA’s first lesson in converting a school to apartments. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/11/hawthorne-school-conversion-starts-monday/

NPS oversees the National Historic Landmarks program for the Department of the Interior.

@Htsguy Source says that doesn’t include Breen’s employee count, which is an additional 330. Furthermore, it sounds like there are about 310 employees included in the 3,800 that don’t physically work in the building. They’re tied to the HQ count but work completely remote (training? sales? quality control?) across the US. So it’s more like 3,500 for those actually located in Cleveland.

A Canadian commented on Twitter -- "With this 10 kilometre Amtrak extension into Canada, President Joe Biden will have added more new intercity rail route kilometres than any Canadian Prime Minister in at least the last 30 years." Meanwhile, here are renderings for the East Harbour Station on Toronto's near-east side.....

Checking.... Higbee Building. More info is in the article.

If I had that employment data before I wrote the article, I would have probably written it very differently. Not only does the data scream for a new tower, but it also screams for the development of the perimeter of the parking garage with almost exclusively offices over retail/restaurants. It will also put a lot of pressure on Welty to sell the Gilman to SHW who will want to demolish it.

An old source chimed in with new SHW employment data. Article updated. If this is correct, they're building HQ2 ASAP.

Sherwin-Williams may advance 2nd tower in 2024 By Ken Prendergast / November 10, 2023 One year from now, as Sherwin-Williams employees are scheduled to begin moving into their new, 616-foot headquarters tower in Downtown Cleveland, there are renewed rumblings that the global coatings giant will pursue the development of the west half of its HQ site. The HQ site is west of Public Square and the west half of the HQ site is along West 6th Street, between Superior and St. Clair avenues. That’s where Sherwin-Williams has proposed a new office tower and a row of low-rise, mixed use buildings extending around the corner of St. Clair to partially wrap its five-level, 920-space parking garage. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/10/sherwin-williams-may-advance-2nd-tower-in-2024/

Yeah, this probably qualifies as one. Duck!

Looks like Via rail/Amtrak service Between Toronto - Detroit and Chicago could start in 2027 https://www.iheartradio.ca/am800/news/dilkens-believes-amtrak-via-rail-link-is-an-exciting-opportunity-1.20532111#:~:text=Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens is,expected to start in 2027

Let's see who else is "unwilling to uphold the Ohio Constitution" Sabrina Warner, who ousted former Attorney General Betty Montgomery from her seat on the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee in 2022, has resigned her seat. She cited the passage of Issue 1. https://x.com/AndrewJTobias/status/1722802197463789765?s=20

Journalism is absolutely a contest. A highly competitive one.

Is it fair to say I scooped Bedrock? By three months? https://neo-trans.blog/2023/08/04/bedrock-to-start-riverfront-work/

An awful lot of outflows on that map and very few inflows. I realize that one outflow should not necessarily equal one inflow. It does mean that somebody's getting an awful lot of inflow, according to them. And it looks like it's the Bay Area. Is that really the case? Does that have anything to do with EIG's founders being tech-oriented?

Zoom!

FYI...

Ohio Savings Plaza has a buyer, plans By Ken Prendergast / November 8, 2023 NEOtrans has learned that the two-structure Ohio Savings Plaza in Downtown Cleveland has a buyer who has put the property under contract while its real estate team does its due diligence. NEOtrans has also learned that the buyer intends to partially convert the half-full, 500,000-square-foot. two-building property to residential. The larger of the two buildings, an 18-story tower at 1801 E. 9th St., is tentatively to be converted to apartments. The smaller building, called Park Plaza at 1111 Chester Ave. that faces Perk Park, will likely remain an office building. MORE https://neo-trans.blog/2023/11/08/ohio-savings-plaza-has-a-buyer-plans/