KJP

So do state employees using the state motor pool. Fifteen years ago I had gotten some insider info on the costs, practices, etc of the state motor pool. From that, I found that the state could achieve a significant budget offset by reducing its use of the pool and use trains instead for official state travel in the 3C Corridor. That reduction was estimated to be up to $10 million per year. The 3C operating subsidy was estimated at $17 million per year. And it would be something that everyone could use. That budget offset plus the state sales tax revenue from additional travel, the state income tax revenues from new jobs, and the reduced wear-and-tear on Ohio roadways would result in a first-year direct benefit to the state's budget of $14 million, rising to $31.5 million in the fifth year of 3C service while the inflation-adjusted state subsidy would drop as more travelers became familiar with the rail service. In other words, the 3C trains would save the state budget more than $10 million per year in 2010 dollars. I posted the report here: https://neo-trans.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/3C-fiscal-impact-FINAL.pdf And the appendices here: https://neo-trans.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/3C-fiscal-impact-appendices.pdf

Cleveland, Lakewood projects boosted by Port By Ken Prendergast / February 13, 2025 Three redevelopment projects — two on Cleveland’s west side and one in Lakewood — were awarded financial assistance today by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s board of directors to advance them to construction in the coming weeks. The assistance totaled more than $97 million worth of financing, sales tax savings and bonds. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/13/cleveland-lakewood-projects-boosted-by-port/

Cleveland, Lakewood projects boosted by Port By Ken Prendergast / February 13, 2025 Three redevelopment projects — two on Cleveland’s west side and one in Lakewood — were awarded financial assistance today by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s board of directors to advance them to construction in the coming weeks. The assistance totaled more than $97 million worth of financing, sales tax savings and bonds. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/13/cleveland-lakewood-projects-boosted-by-port/

Cleveland, Lakewood projects boosted by Port By Ken Prendergast / February 13, 2025 Three redevelopment projects — two on Cleveland’s west side and one in Lakewood — were awarded financial assistance today by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s board of directors to advance them to construction in the coming weeks. The assistance totaled more than $97 million worth of financing, sales tax savings and bonds. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/13/cleveland-lakewood-projects-boosted-by-port/

Cross-posted in the retail thread

Pinecrest bought by North Carolina firm By Ken Prendergast / February 13, 2025 Tanger, a publicly traded owner and operator of outlet and open-air retail shopping centers, has acquired Pinecrest, a 640,000-square-foot open-air, grocery-anchored, mixed-use center at Harvard Road and Interstate 271 in Greater Cleveland’s eastern suburb of Orange Village. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/13/pinecrest-bought-by-north-carolina-firm/

A little more (and no charge for a press release rewrite, BTW) UH invests $3M in housing next to League Park By Ken Prendergast / February 11, 2025 Two big actions happened in the past week to support new affordable housing next to Historic League Park in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. One was a $3 million investment by University Hospitals in the proposed Gateway66 apartment complex. The other was a building permit application submitted to the city for that project. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/11/uh-invests-3m-in-housing-next-to-league-park/

Nothing that I've seen or heard.

Westinghouse property owner and developer Michael Trebilcock says those renderings posted on the AODK site are the original concepts they played with at the start of the project and are no longer relevant.

How far up river should it go? I'm thinking Collision Bend is the max for now. The Scranton Spoon Pier offers a layover point out of the way of the big ships, but it doesn't offer a destination that's much farther than a stop at GLBC's future riverfront. Perhaps someday going as far upriver as West 3rd would be worth doing if the soccer stadium gets built and/or J Roc's Tremont riverfront development happens.

I never get this right. Turns out it's in Ohio City..... UCS’s West 47th remake to include new ballpark By Ken Prendergast / February 10, 2025 For leaders of the Urban Community School (UCS), West 47th Street has been a street of dreams. But those dreams are becoming a reality in 2025, with more to come by the end of the year – including a new baseball field of dreams. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/10/ucss-west-47th-remake-to-include-new-ballpark/

UCS’s West 47th remake to include new ballpark By Ken Prendergast / February 10, 2025 For leaders of the Urban Community School (UCS), West 47th Street has been a street of dreams. But those dreams are becoming a reality in 2025, with more to come by the end of the year – including a new baseball field of dreams. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/10/ucss-west-47th-remake-to-include-new-ballpark/

There's just over 600 units down there. Roughly evenly split between NRP (316 units) and Silverhills (300). There is no retail except for a small, shipping container-like box planned at the front of the NRP courtyard.

I will inquire, but these guys aren't too chatty.

Yeah, yeah. I had that story 18 months ago. 😉 https://neo-trans.blog/2023/09/01/readyset-surgical-moves-hq-to-cleveland/

Great Lakes Brewing picks Scranton Peninsula By Ken Prendergast / February 9, 2025 There’s still a lot we don’t know about Great Lakes Brewing Company’s (GLBC) vision for Scranton Peninsula in Cleveland. But NEOtrans has learned is that there are once again plans for the independent craft brewery to make a big investment in Cleveland Flats rather than relocate to an exurban site along an interstate highway. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/09/great-lakes-brewing-picks-scranton-peninsula/

at 12:01 am

But this would be a cheaper way of getting CVSR, Amtrak, GCRTA and even Greyhound into a shared multimodal station facility near Downtown Cleveland and at much lower cost than Tower City. And an older rendering of the same basic concept....

My variation of that, which I titled "CVSR link to Tower City if money was no object" was this version which keeps the gradient at 1 percent and curvatures to allow trains to travel at about 60 mph until they hit the Cuyahoga River liftbridge which would probably have a 50 mph speed restriction. Red is CVSR only track and blue is CSX track....

MBTA announces March 24 start date for South Coast Rail https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/mbta-announces-march-24-start-date-for-south-coast-rail/

Thanks. Fixed.

University Circle tower goes back to drawing board By Ken Prendergast / February 7, 2025 Design review of East Stokes, what would be University Circle’s tallest building, was moving along at a rapid clip last fall. Things were moving so quickly that the development team, led by PCP Voyager, anticipated that if City Planning Commission could approve the final plans by Thanksgiving, a spring groundbreaking of 24-story apartment tower might be possible. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/07/university-circle-tower-goes-back-to-drawing-board/

Commission OKs Bedrock’s riverfront masterplan By Ken Prendergast / February 7, 2025 A design review panel of Cleveland’s Planning Commission today approved Bedrock’s final masterplan for its multi-phase, $3.5 billion riverfront development. But while the vote was unanimous, commission members asked some pointed questions about how all of its components would successfully come together. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2025/02/07/commission-oks-bedrocks-riverfront-masterplan/

I may not get to it until tomorrow.

Yes, but it requires a 2 percent grade which CVSR said it doesn't like. If CVSR/CVNRA bought used self-propelled diesel rail cars, like the ones Ottawa's O-train is/was selling, they could tackle a 2 percent grade easily. Meanwhile Bedrock has no idea how to return foot traffic and tenants back to Tower City, a former railroad station. A thought seems to be escaping them...