KJP

Need to see more development along it. The CSU report report showed how much of those parking lots along the WFL are city owned. Development with uses that create a transit lifestyle and ridership will go up. As bad as the Blue Line ridership is, the Green Line ridership is abysmal. Unless a better ridership anchor to it than an empty parking lot is built at the east end, it will surely die. GCRTA could build a short connecting track to link the Shaker Trunk Line with the Red Line. But they'll want to gold plate it by double-tracking it because RTA doesn't trust its train operators to avoid crashing into other trains.

I don't see Deadman's Curve ever getting eased. It will cost $500 million to do it. It's finally in the hands of a motivated owner. Costly clean up and leveling of the land required: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/01/24/lakefront-megasite-for-housing-or-distribution-hub/ Scranton Peninsula is 80 acres but only 25 acres was part of the Thunderbird development. Most of the rest is locked away in the abyss of Scranton Averill Co. and isn't going to be developed anytime soon. The next phase of the Flats lost traction only temporarily.

For years, Chicago also paid down the federal capital improvement debt it had incurred for Meigs so that when "sudden" closure day happened, there would be no debt left on the airport. Cleveland has tens of millions (for some reason $48 million sticks in my head) of federal debt on Burke. In reality, Chicago planned Meigs' sudden closure for many years. The railroad line predates Gordon Park. The park resulted from when industrialist William J. Gordon died in 1892, he donated the land to the city. The Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Railroad was built in 1851. Ironically, if you want to find a descendent of Gordon, ask them to sue to the city to get the land back from the highway. Gordon donated the land to the city under the condition that it forever remain a free, public park.

An "Emergency" demolition takes place 2+ months later....

RTA Waterfront Line returns with limited service By Ken Prendergast / July 31, 2024 Starting Sunday, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) will restart regular service on the light-rail Waterfront Line in Downtown Cleveland, a 2.2-mile extension of the Blue/Green lines from Shaker Heights. But the service will be limited to weekends and most federal holidays only, and then from just 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/31/rta-waterfront-line-returns-with-limited-service/

GCRTA can't. They used federal funds to rebuild the long bridge and rebuild street crossings. If you shut down the line without using it for 20 or 30 years (I forgot which), you have refund the money to the feds.

Boom!

City Club Apts has new owner, Skyline 776 name By Ken Prendergast / July 30, 2024 Faced with a difficult financial situation involving multiple development projects nationwide, City Club Apartments of Farmington Hills has sold its interest in the nearly completed 23-story mixed-use tower at 776 Euclid Ave. in Downtown Cleveland. The buyer was its primary financial backer, Detroit-based Finance Michigan. And, as a result of the change, the building will be rebranded as “Skyline 776.” MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/30/city-club-apts-has-new-owner-skyline-776-name/

The smart part about what they're doing includes the creation of the North Coast Waterfront Development Authority to provide continuity of work from one administration to the next.

They've applied for federal funding, which is where the money is, for elements of the project that don't depend on the stadium being there. The trade off is that it's very time-consuming and feds require lots of public meetings, public engagement, stakeholder reviews, etc. Remember that the AVERAGE time it takes for a federally funded transportation project to go from idea to ribbon cutting is 10 years. That's the average. Opportunity Corridor took longer (15 years). So did the HealthLine (23 years).

Cleveland hosting lakefront Future Forum Aug. 5 By Ken Prendergast / July 30, 2024 Mayor Justin Bibb and his lakefront development team are inviting the community to a Lakefront Future Forum scheduled for from 4-7 p.m. Aug. 5, on Mall C in Downtown Cleveland. The site is located between City Hall, 601 Lakeside Ave. and the old Cuyahoga County Courthouse, across from the entrance of the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/30/cleveland-hosting-lakefront-future-forum-aug-5/

Where does Casto have Meijer as a tenant?

Downtown Lakewood development to go without grocery store By Ken Prendergast / July 29, 2024 Developers of the proposed Downtown Lakewood mixed-use development said it was a mix of good and bad news that a grocery store chain backed out of the project. The good news is that the developers can proceed with a previous plan to offer a larger public plaza facing Detroit Avenue. The bad news was that revising the plans to accommodate the grocer cost the developers eight months of time and inflation in delivering the $100-plus-million project. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/29/downtown-lakewood-development-to-go-without-grocery-store/

Both, as well as the Board of Elections' new building. I forgot to note in yesterday's article that a private developer could build/renovate the courthouse and the county could sign a lease-to-purchase like it did with the county administration building.

Just a little bump since my post was the last one on the previous page 🙂

Courthouse site decision still months away By Ken Prendergast / July 27, 2024 Should it stay or should it go? That’s the question about the location of Cuyahoga County’s Consolidated Courthouse facilities which could lead to one of the largest and most expensive real estate projects in Greater Cleveland. But county officials don’t appear to be in a hurry to answer that question, according to a source who spoke to NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/27/courthouse-site-decision-still-months-away/

There's no evidence that retail at Church + State is failing. And while developers would love to plan for the future, projects are financed in the here and now. Hopefully the plan is adaptable for the future, however.

Cleveland, Bedrock seek $1 billion for riverfront development By Ken Prendergast / July 26, 2024 City Planning Commission today voted unanimously to recommend that City Council approve a 45-year, project-specific tax-increment financing (TIF) deal with Bedrock Real Estate to generate $400 million for infrastructure to support Bedrock’s $3.5 billion riverfront development. This would create a second, albeit smaller TIF district downtown to support major waterfront and urban core improvements that could ultimately generate up to $1 billion in public funds for the riverfront. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/26/cleveland-bedrock-seek-1-billion-for-riverfront-development/

Despite everything that's wrong with Cleveland's transit system, we're still very fortunate to have this and need to capitalize on it more.

Love the first shot and the five-crane shot @MayDay

CRE industry lauds Bibb’s construction permit overhaul By Ken Prendergast / July 25, 2024 Commercial real estate and construction interests hailed Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s signing of an executive order today to simplify and speed up the construction permitting process at City Hall. Bibb was quick to point out that this reform will affect small projects by homeowners as well as downtown skyscrapers. However, it could take up to a year before all of the approved changes are implemented. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/25/cre-industry-lauds-bibbs-construction-permit-overhaul/

The four ground-floor apartments (below a garage!) also are surprising. It shows how difficult the developers expect a restaurant or other commercial space would be there.

Bridgeworks design evolves again – minus hotel By Ken Prendergast / July 25, 2024 An ever-changing lending market has caused designs to change again for the proposed Bridgeworks development, 2429 W. Superior in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Some things were noticeably different in the plans — no hotel, no retail/restaurants, a big increase in the number of apartments, and a variety of colors and materials in the façade which, at first glance, makes the long building look like five or six structures. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/07/25/bridgeworks-design-evolves-again-minus-hotel/

Wait until America returns Trump to the White House. Canada is going to have a massive housing and transportation crisis.

2401 West Superior was there first. That's the existing Boxcast Building. Even though Bridgeworks is shorter, I thought it would be as tall as Stonebridge condos considering it's up the hill a bit. I'm disappointed to see it is noticeably smaller.