KJP

Of course ColDayMan jumped on this first! I'm thinking he actually lives in Detroit but has us all believing he lives in C-bus, or is that Dayton, or is that Cincy. Anyhoo, here's a PR from the land of the Flintstones... https://bedrockdetroit.com/press-releases/bedrock-and-general-motors-share-vision-for-redevelopment-of-renaissance-center-and-detroit-riverfront/ Bedrock and General Motors share vision for redevelopment of Renaissance Center and Detroit Riverfront Transformational plan offers housing, hospitality, and new public spaces November 25, 2024 See HERE for high-resolution renderings Companies partner to preserve the RenCen and redevelop a vibrant, mixed-use waterfront destination A new 27-acre entertainment district would be a catalyst for development along the riverfront DETROIT – Bedrock and General Motors announce a conceptual plan to redevelop the Renaissance Center (RenCen) and 27 acres along the Detroit riverfront. The plan preserves the essence of Detroit’s skyline, “right sizes” the RenCen’s footprint, and connects the site to the heart of downtown. The surrounding entertainment district would become a vibrant waterfront destination, drawing international visitors and featuring restaurants, hospitality, residential and market space—complementing Detroit’s award-winning Riverwalk, which draws more than 3.5 million annual visitors to the city. Earlier this year, GM and Bedrock, with the city of Detroit and Wayne County, established a partnership to study redevelopment opportunities for the Renaissance Center site. A team of urban planners, architects and engineers analyzed several possibilities to determine the best possible outcome. First opened in 1976, the Renaissance Center is Michigan’s most iconic and recognizable building. When GM purchased the building in 1996, it was a catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Detroit and development of the Riverwalk. To date, GM has invested more than $1 billion in improvements to the RenCen site, however, it must be reinvented to be viable into the future. Kofi Bonner, CEO of Bedrock, emphasized the Renaissance Center’s significance: “This iconic landmark’s future is important to Detroit and Michigan, and our shared vision with General Motors ensures that its redevelopment aligns with Detroit’s economic advancement. Additionally, our collaborative approach makes certain that the reimagined Renaissance Center and the riverfront further augment and support the city’s continued growth, benefiting the community and region at large.” A New Vision The conceptual plan calls for the iconic property to be reinvented to serve the people of Michigan, drawing international tourism, and providing opportunities for growth and connectivity by: Creating a new pedestrian promenade connecting the heart of the city to the riverfront. Removing the low-rise base of the complex and the two office towers nearest the river, creating an inviting destination and reducing obsolete office space. Redeveloping three towers into a mix of hospitality and housing, preserving the essence of the skyline. Turning reclaimed land into signature public spaces. Reconfiguring the flow of the site to allow direct access to the buildings and the riverfront. “GM has the best possible partner with Bedrock in this effort to redevelop the Renaissance Center,” said Dave Massaron, Vice President of Infrastructure and Corporate Citizenship for General Motors. “Nobody has repurposed more buildings in Detroit than Dan Gilbert and his Bedrock team. This is another chapter in their unprecedented commitment to building the best possible future for the city and Michigan.” Bedrock and General Motors have committed to funding the majority of the project, with the remainder contingent on public financing. Over the coming weeks, the proposed redevelopment plan will be presented to local and state leaders to determine if, based on public support and legislative funding approval, it is possible to move forward with the redevelopment. ### General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM's Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry's widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com. About Bedrock Bedrock is a full-service real estate firm specializing in innovative city building strategies. Since its founding in 2011, Bedrock and its affiliates have invested and committed more than $7.5 billion to acquire, develop and operate more than 140 properties in Detroit and Cleveland with landmark developments at Hudson’s Detroit, Book Tower, City Modern, Tower City Center and the May Company Building. Bedrock’s projects include new construction, adaptive reuse and a portfolio totaling more than 21 million square feet of office, retail, residential, industrial, hospitality and parking. For additional information about Bedrock, please visit bedrockdetroit.com or engage with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

New Shaker Square apartments stir again By Ken Prendergast / November 25, 2024 Development projects in Shaker Square and elsewhere in Greater Cleveland that have languished in recent years are showing signs of life again. That new energy is thanks in part to new state funding that was awarded to make their development sites ready for construction and renovation. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/11/25/new-shaker-square-apartments-stir-again/

This PR was issued a few minutes ago....... Department of Justice REBECCA C. LUTZKO UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Former Cleveland City Council Member Charged with Bribery and Fraud CLEVELAND – Basheer Jones, 40, of Cleveland, Ohio, has been charged in a two-count information with conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud for using his role as a public official for personal financial gain by seeking to defraud multiple community stakeholders out of more than $200,000. He previously served as an elected Cleveland city council member representing Ward 7. According to court documents, from about December 2018 to June 2021, Jones allegedly misrepresented and concealed material facts to induce nonprofit organizations to enter into a variety of arrangements that would benefit Jones and his romantic partner co-conspirator. Under the guise of working on projects to benefit the city of Cleveland and revitalize Ward 7, Jones fraudulently sought and obtained funds from local nonprofits while he concealed his connection to his romantic partner, through whom he benefited from these arrangements. Jones’s schemes were devised to deceive nonprofit entities into making payments toward projects they thought were for the community’s benefit. Instead, the money ultimately went into bank accounts controlled by Jones’s romantic partner. Jones would then direct her to divert those funds to herself, Jones, and to other associates who were involved. The information alleges that Jones deceptively advised nonprofits to provide funding to move community projects forward or to hire a purported “consultant,” with the full knowledge that the funds would flow back to himself. For example, Jones recommended that a nonprofit hire a consultant for community outreach. Unbeknownst to the nonprofit, the “consultant” who quickly submitted a proposal and whose business was ultimately contracted, was Jones’s co-conspirator and romantic partner. She submitted the proposal and requested $5,000 per month at Jones’s prompting. The investigation discovered that she did not provide the nonprofit with substantial services in exchange for payments she received. Jones later defrauded the same nonprofit out of an additional $50,000, again through his romantic partner’s consulting business. Jones claimed that he needed $50,000 to plan a community event, which included buying backpacks for schoolchildren, and falsely promised that the city would reimburse the organization. Instead, after the funds were paid, no event was held, and Jones directed his romantic partner to divide the money amongst herself, Jones, and others associated with the scheme. Some of the projects Jones pushed included seeking community funding to rehabilitate certain distressed properties while concealing his financial interest in them. In one instance, Jones devised a bribery scheme under which he arranged for co-conspirators, including his romantic partner, to acquire a dilapidated property on Superior Road, and used his position as councilperson to pass ordinances allocating city funds to buy that property from them. Jones arranged for a co-conspirator to buy the property a minimal cost. After asking a nonprofit to purchase and rehabilitate the property, and promising city funding, Jones sponsored an emergency ordinance to fund the nonprofit’s purchase and renovation of the property. When Jones was unable to convince the nonprofit to proceed, he arranged to transfer the property to his romantic partner’s consulting business, with the understanding that she too would share the proceeds of the sale with him. After sponsoring another ordinance to reauthorize city funding for the same project, Jones sought to finalize the nonprofit’s purchase of the property from his partner’s entity for $80,000. Ultimately the scheme failed when the nonprofit decided not to proceed with the purchase. Jones and his partner did succeed in obtaining funds for the sale of a different property to another nonprofit. He misled them to believe that he was helping them to acquire the property from the original owner. Instead, he was simultaneously arranging for his romantic partner to acquire the property from the original owner in the name of another business entity, and then immediately to resell it to the nonprofit. Jones and his partner arranged to purchase the property for only $1, promising to pay a $40,500 city demolition bill. But without paying that bill or disclosing it, Jones’s partner immediately re-sold the property to the nonprofit for $45,000. These charges are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial. It will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, their role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum. This case was investigated by the FBI Cleveland Division, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, and the IRS – Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erica Barnhill and Elliot Morrison for the Northern District of Ohio.

@Mov2Ohio Found this from a quick Google search.... The space originally opened in 1959 as a lynchpin in the once flourishing Stouffers Restaurants chain. The former John Q's Public Bar & Grille became John Q's in 1987. https://www.cleveland.com/dining/2013/05/john_qs_a_downtown_cleveland_l.html So the answer is yes, it was there as John Q's Steakhouse for a couple of years (and longer in its prior incarnation) when the two Public Square buildings were demo'd for the Ameritrust Tower.

The properties are available but not being marketed. They've also been trying to sell the Standard Building but with no takers yet. Interesting. They wouldn't be accepting bids yet, but they might be soliciting input from experts on projected costs and timelines for major components of a second tower to help shape their planning. They were doing the same thing in the fall of 2018, one year before they admitted they were seeking a new HQ.

@Htsguy Where do you see that Toronto has 4x times as many cranes as the next closest North American city? That map suggests NYC is close behind and Toronto is only double that of Vancouver and 3x more than Miami.

Look at what's happening right across the lake from us in southern Ontario. Not just Toronto. It's London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Hamilton, too. But wow, look at Toronto! Look at what's not happening on the US West Coast. There are currently more high-rises under construction in Miami than every West Coast state combined.

We could learn from Leeds

@coneflower The salespeople at the Collins said they are using Intro and the Welleon as their comps for rent. Those places leased out very quickly. Studios at those places start at $1,425 and $1,421, respectively. That's $500 less than what they asking for the studios at the Collins. We shall see how patient NRP Group is.

If any developer is ever able to get the fossils to give up their shares in the Scranton-Averell Company, they will have bought a veritable gold mine.

Amenities unknown. Direct access is noted in article. I don't have an opinion about it

Downtown Heinen’s store to be reconfigured By Ken Prendergast / November 23, 2024 Work is underway to reconfigure what many have called America’s most beautiful grocery store. The work represents the most significant renovations to the Downtown Cleveland Heinen’s store, 900 Euclid Ave., since it opened in 2015. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/11/23/downtown-heinens-store-to-be-reconfigured/

Ex-Leisy Brewery site back on the market again By Ken Prendergast / November 22, 2024 Only 18 months after buying the former Leisy Brewery property, 3400 Vega Ave. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, an affiliate of Sanctus Capital LLC of Westlake has put the site back on the market again. It’s the second former brewery this year that was put up on the market in this part of town. Across Fulton Road, the closed Platform Brewery was put up for sale in May. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/11/22/ex-leisy-brewery-site-back-on-the-market-again/

Thanks! Fixed. That's what I get for being in a rush to make it to a lunch meeting....

Good stuff. Lots of new residential product in that second picture.

A covered stadium also helps protect the stadium (plumbing, concrete, steel etc) from freeze-thaw cycles. A climate-controlled interior should help a stadium last longer in our climate. Yeah, last night's game was awesome. Reminds me of the 2007 blizzard game against Buffalo. But that's 17 years between snow games. That's two games out of roughly 170 during that period. Is that really worth the climatological damage to a stadium?

Weston's getting away from residential development. Not because it's a bad market but because the warehouse/data center/chip-making market is so much better and they want to focus on it.

Congestion pricing could help finance a subway to LGA

I was fully expecting to hear an announcement as early as today.

Land Bank, Loiter Cafe call truce in East Cleveland By Ken Prendergast / November 22, 2024 Cuyahoga Land Bank and Loiter Cafe and Marketplace are pleased to announce they have settled their dueling lawsuits concerning the Mickey’s Building, 12550 Euclid Ave., in East Cleveland. The land bank and Loiter said they realized an amicable solution was achievable and in everyone’s best interest. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/11/22/land-bank-loiter-cafe-call-truce-in-east-cleveland/

OK this is awesome

Probably because Thanksgiving weekend will be the weekend before they normally hold the November-December meeting. So there's a chance they could announce something Dec. 16.

Agreed. I think this decision was made last month.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority meets the last Monday of each month. The exception is for the November/December meeting which occurs the first Monday of December. I doubt we'll hear anything on Dec. 2. So it's probably going to be Jan. 27.

"Where are they moving it to?"