KJP

Big developer moving HQ to Chester in Midtown By Ken Prendergast / June 20, 2024 For more than 20 years, or roughly half of its organizational life, CHN Housing Partners’ headquarters has been in the same location at Cleveland’s Asia Plaza. But with a growing staff and a desire for more growth to increase the supply of affordable housing, it’s taking steps to move to larger, more visible quarters at 3711 Chester Ave. in Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood.

Just like SHW was denying that a new HQ was in the early stages of planning in October 2018. They didn't admit to it for another year. Part of me is surprised there is a new headquarters being considered. Far fewer employees come into the office on a daily basis than they did before the pandemic, even though their HQ employment is way up. But at the same time SHW keeps adding new employees and office space for them outside of the Landmark building and Skylight Office Tower. And this amount of new office space is far beyond what can be accommodated in the new HQ. I will say that the rumor mill has gone quiet in the last couple of months. I don't yet know what that means.

CVSR would have to use a small portion of the to-be-vacated Canal Road right of way south of here for a track. Bedrock wasn't interested in letting CVSR use the right way north of here, but maybe they would welcome CVSR using a sliver of the right of way south of Cleveland Thermal?

Travel corridors that have or recently had good rail infrastructure are the most cost-effective places to gain it back or improve it for passenger rail. Those that didn't have to spend a boatload to build from scratch. Example #1: Miami-Orlando was sort of like that (the last 50 miles into ORL was a brand-new rail corridor along a highway) so that project cost a few billion. Example #2: LA Basin to Las Vegas is definitely like that. Las Vegas didn't become a city until after the railroad construction era was over so Brightline has to start from scratch and use highway rights of way for much of its route. Even so, its still not going to get within walking distance of The Strip in Vegas or within 40 miles of Downtown LA (thankfully it will connect to a relatively frequently commuter railroad line that uses recently enhanced freight tracks). Despite those cost-savings measures, this is still going to be a $12 billion project for a 220-mile rail line. Akron's well-engineered passenger routes (the B&O and Erie) ran from Chicago to Akron to Youngstown with the B&O going to Pittsburgh and on to Washington DC and the Erie heading up through New York's Southern Tier to Jersey City/Hoboken, NJ. The latter route is mostly gone west of Youngstown and pretty substandard until you get east to Hornell, NY. But it paled to New York Central's Chicago-Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-NYC mainline that was so well engineered that a passenger train hit 112 mph east of Buffalo in 1893 and a 180 mph test train ran in western Ohio in 1966. It's still a great piece of railroad. Canton's well-engineered passenger route was the Pennsylvania RR which was the New York Central's competitor, traveling from Chicago-Fort Wayne-Canton-Pittsburgh-Harrisburg-Philadelphia-New York City. The Pennsy, like the NYC, had 15 passenger trains a day in each direction up until the 1950s and a half-dozen each way into the late 1960s. PRR was also a well-engineered railroad. It broke NYC's 1893 speed record in 1905 in western Ohio, when a late passenger train hit 127 mph. The sad irony in all of this is that there never was a decent railroad heading north-south linking Cleveland-Akron-Canton --- except for the Northern Ohio interurban which ended service more than 90 years ago. Almost none of that ROW is around anymore. So we have to start from scratch. Very expensive.

Hopefully this doesn't happen. My wife and son are due to return from Europe on Aer Lingus next month. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kkdzn7djyo.amp

HQ and R&D updates (with links to videos) https://s1.view.sfmc-marketing.com/view_email.aspx?qs=d024e4bfec0ab029adcb08eaf9d6ef18bc26c4e46597f031026e34b2d440b4d45c5c95ac04312246bfd03a32e0aceecfed886d974eef5bd4cb3596324dcdab99b6e550f5829458aa12cf15482ff3d229

HQ and R&D updates (with links to videos) https://s1.view.sfmc-marketing.com/view_email.aspx?qs=d024e4bfec0ab029adcb08eaf9d6ef18bc26c4e46597f031026e34b2d440b4d45c5c95ac04312246bfd03a32e0aceecfed886d974eef5bd4cb3596324dcdab99b6e550f5829458aa12cf15482ff3d229

Wait until AI starts taking lots of office jobs.

Actually having a wife makes things easier, financially (and she helps keep me centered on things I can control which is very calming and more productive).

@TBideon How is your personal economy?

Key Tower in financial distress, too By Ken Prendergast / June 19, 2024 According to a national real estate data and analytics firm, the 57-story Key Tower, 127 Public Square in Downtown Cleveland, is in financial distress. The distress is reportedly on the loans which the building’s owner secured to purchase the property in 2017. The owner itself is facing a growing number of financial issues, as well. But there may be a resolution on the horizon. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/06/19/key-tower-in-financial-distress-too/

Tough to play any sports on Irishtown Bend though. In fact, one of the big sports training companies like Spire, D1, HoopTech, etc might do well on Scranton Peninsula. The lack of these facilities in the urban core compared to the suburbs is very noticeable.

This one's on the county. It's in their land bank.

That's going to be tough to do when land on Scranton Peninsula is now fetching $1 million or more per acre. NRP paid $1 million per acre. Silverhills paid $1.4 million per acre for its riverfront land. The Great Lakes Property is 8 acres and includes the inland parcel and a riverfront parcel. Would the city, county or Metroparks pay that kind of money?

It's like the old saying: all safety regulations are written in blood.

This is like 20 years ago when drug stores were popping up on every corner, or in the 1980s when fast food joints were popping up on every corner, or the 1970s when convenience stores were popping up on every corner, or the 1950s-60s when gas stations were popping up on every corner.

Indeed. But even in the freight industry, there's little competition. Most system users are also the rail system's owners, even at Amtrak (ie Northeast Corridor). If a non-profit B Corporation owned the rail infrastructure and awarded franchises based on earnings and performance, NS after East Palestine wouldn't get its franchise renewed to be the operator of freight service on the A Line between Chicago and the East Coast.

So despite all our riches, America, maybe this is why so many people are unhappy?

I somehow ended up on ALLRAIL's email distribution list.... PRESS RELEASE In the Land of Enterprise, it’s Time for More Competition in Intercity Rail ▶Last week, a Hearing took place in Washington D.C., organized by the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. ▶The Committee is concerned about the lack of improvements at Amtrak - following the record levels of funding that it has received. ▶Some comparisons were made to rail in the European Union (EU), but they did not tell the whole story. Our non-profit association ALLRAIL represents independently owned passenger rail companies active around the world, many of whom do business in Europe. During the Hearing, some participants referred to high-speed rail in Europe as being a role model. ▷However, high-speed rail in Europe only became affordable for most citizens and more efficient after intramodal competition was introduced. ▷That meant: competing operators on the same route – like the examples in Italy and Czechia - leading to huge improvements. ▷Furthermore: directly awarded taxpayer funded contracts to operate passenger trains are not even permitted anymore. ▷Instead, the EU has introduced mandatory competitive tendering, to “encourage railway operators to become more responsive to customer needs, improve the quality of their services and their cost-effectiveness…(and)….to enable savings of public money”. ALLRAIL Secretary General Nick Brooks says: “To improve service and accountability, all taxpayer funded Intercity rail contracts in the US should be competitively tendered. There are many independent US operators that could provide a better service for less money”. There is no need for Amtrak to remain the preferred Intercity operator anymore. In the Land of Enterprise, it’s time for more competition in US passenger rail.

I remember that too!

Although the auction offering was titled as a foreclosure, the managing member of the partnership assured me it was not. So I reworded the piece.

And The Bell is the only one of these properties that's gotten within a whisker of opening. And it will, but under somebody else's ownership.

No, the economy is booming with jobs and incomes rising faster than inflation. Discuss here:

Tough times in a great economy... Ownership stake in The Bell to be auctioned off By Ken Prendergast / June 18, 2024 With a certificate of occupancy in hand and leasing to start in two weeks, The Bell, 45 E. 9th St. in Downtown Cleveland, will be the subject of an online auction scheduled for next month. The auction is intended to make available a portion of the interest in a general partnership that owns the office-turned-residential building. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/06/18/ownership-stake-in-the-bell-to-be-auctioned-off/

Oops! I lived in Tabor Ridge apartments -- Emerson and Rocky River Drive, from September of 1993 to November of 1996. After I moved out of there to Lakewood, I haven't moved since....