zippo

Anybody know what the scaffolding going up in front of the former Traveler's Shoppe on Playhouse Square is all about.

I spoke to Tony Troppe, who is the owner of the buildings on either side of what is now the courtyard. He really agonized about having the Howe Hotel torn down, because he is a redeveloper of old buildings. He just couldn't figure out a way of making it work as either apartments or office space, because of the footprint, and the fact that replacing the elevators was cost prohibitive. The courtyard was scheduled for an expansion of the United building, but it never worked out.

there dead

MTS, I don't think you have any concept of what the impact of letting GM and Chrysler fail would mean to not only NEO, but the country as a whole. Not only do you have the immediate employees, but the associated parts suppliers and services, not to mention the valuable knowledge base of manufacturing that would be lost. There are an estimated one million jobs tied directly to Ford, GM, and Chrysler. There is a lot not to like about any government bailout, but I would rather see the money go to saving good jobs, than having the potential of inflaming and already impending recession, and possibility a depression. My brother-n-law is the CEO at Delta. Prior to that, he was CEO at Northwest. He had to go to the government for money after 911. There was no choice. It was either that, or see 40 thousand employees lose there jobs. When a large company goes to the government for help, it’s only as a lender of last resort.

Probably digging up old gas tanks, and cleaning asbestos out of the interior of the building.

Anybody know how there treating the facade? Are they cleaning the brick or is suppose to match the front facing Euclid ave? Looks really bad. Is this the garage portion of the project?

If DFAS is to build a new building, adapting and existing one is unlikely for security reasons. Government buildings needs to be set back (50 feet) from the street in order to meet security requirements established after the Oklahoma bombing. In addition, critical spaces within the structure, including the lobby, mailroom, loading dock, and underground parking garage, would have to be structurally fortified - "hardened," against explosive threats from nearby public areas.

Has there been approval of any other projects in Cleveland?

I was good friends of the son of a former CEO of Eaton, who was largely responsible for locating the offices at their current location. He told me how difficult it was for his father to convince his board and his peers to keep the location downtown, due to the sorry state of Cleveland at that time, but he felt he had a civic duty to see this through and support the city anyway he could. Many CEO's make the decisions based on very personal reasons, and what works for them, be it a tax issue, a driving issue, whatever.

This is a set up. I doubt Eaton has ever been serious about a downtown location. Eaton is using Wolstein for bargaining purposes. They're want a campus, instead of a single, high-rise office building. Pretty hard if your in a downtown, even on the fringe of it. They wanted to move the loop, now they want to eliminate it. They want the port moved, they want the silo's gone. What they want is a tree line boulevard in the burbs. They will continue to make demands that cannot be met, and use the local port authority and city as the fall guys.

I believe Stark is doing everything he can to make this happen, but he has tough road to climb. The lending environment is extremely difficult. Any new stores that sign a lease would be dependent on the local (downtown residents) population in order for that to succeed, and it's doubtful the numbers are there. I'm sure if there was a shift in the air, Forest City would be making the sell. Landing an office tenant would certainly help in getting shovels in the ground, but we only can speculate whether that is even a possibility.

Thanks. Does it make sense there are still any large tenants that would still be available for this project? It seems the economics of building on a parking lots of this type would require a firm that can handle some very steep rents.

What is going to the landmarks commission mean? Are they just asking for a variance? Would it imply anything impending? Regarding the rumor, what large tenant's are still in play?

The developers tried to convert the rear half of the building into a garage, but because of cost, it ended up being more cost effective to build new.

It will be after they move out.

Anybody know what there going to do with the other 750,000 square feet of unused space in that building.

Is there really any evidence that the city is working together to pull these independent development efforts together or is this wishful thinking ? It's taken for granted that Stark and Jacobs are working together in some fashion, but there really hasn't been any indication of that.

KJP, any indication that there is anything to report, or even any announcement forthcoming.

I hope there is an announcement this Friday, but I think Stark has a tendency to get ahead of himself. Until they start ripping up surface parking lots, this is more vision than a happening. If Stark can announce a major tenant, then there is reason to believe this may be real, but it's unclear from where, or who that may be at this point.

I disagree. Downtown Akron is not filled with vacant lots. The area across the Stadium will eventually be an arena. The options are limited, short of tearing down some other renovated structures. Although Jillian’s was a fine renovation, it was an unmemorable building. What is going in its place is a vast improvement, including filling in the other half of the block which is surface lot parking. This will bring new life to that section of downtown, and hopefully spawn other infill projects.

Check out Nottingham Spirk Design Associates in Cleveland. Beautiful conversion of the Christian Scientist building into offices and studios near University Circle.

Ferchill was leading the charge on that project, but as far as I know it's pretty much dead. They may have a new developer by now. You could contact Mark Williamson at the Mayor's office and he could give you an update. They are suppose to be restoring the remaining buildings around the lock this spring into retail and apartments.

I believe the medical mart will move to be the CC site. It will force the county to move its offices, and at the same time, it looks good to the taxpayers, who would be critical of not using existing land and facilities. It also allows for the county to finance the county offices on the back of the CC in some way. Of course Forrest city will have a fit, and threaten to shut down Tower City, so the county will have no choice to move its offices, and 2000 workers to either Tower City, or the Halle building (a Forest City owned property). Personally, I would like to see them move into Stark’s project, and get that rolling, but that’s probably to ambitious in this market.

Developer, county to discuss medical mart By JAY MILLER March 6, 2008 By March 13, Northeast Ohio should learn more about the future of a medical merchandise mart for Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora said today. Mr. Dimora said executives from Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. will be in Cleveland next week to meet with the county commissioners as part of their weekly Thursday meeting. Merchandise Mart Properties has been negotiating with the county to be the operator of a medical mart and an attached convention center. The fate of the medical mart — and Merchandise Mart Properties’ participation in it — has been up in the air as the two sides have failed to reach an agreement on how the project will be financed and operated... more at http://www.crainscleveland.com

I agree KJP. I just wonder how patient Stark is. The downtown projects seem much more complicated, and require subsidies of all sorts, requiring long lead times. Even the KD group is asking for a bridge loan for 15mil from the county to carry the Amertrust site for the next two years until they can line up a hotel to locate there. Stark hasn't applied for anything that I know of. I wonder if this is the reason companies favor FEB. Maybe he just can't hit the price points. I think the FEB is still a out of the way for most companies to be located, but maybe that's why they like the location, Have you had any sense of where things stand with Stark at this point?