Oldmanladyluck

WHOHOO! Good stuff!

My question is if Sears... SEARS... is worth $400 Mil? Kasich can find $400 million for Sears, but couldn't find the funds for rail? No funding for schools? Housing demolitions in neighborhoods where people are hurting in the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis- that's not important enough. SEARS- a company no one expects to be around in another 10 to 15 years- is worth $400 Million. No one else gets heated when they think of this?

Talk about stomach turning... didn't "we" (Governor Kasich) turn down the expansion of rail (100% paid for by federal dollars) in our state because we "can't afford it"? Yet we can afford to continue corporate welfare to the tune of $400 MILLION?

^LOL CSU should take note- THAT'S a much better project. Thanks for the links!

OK, but WHY aren't the laws of economics applying to downtown? LOL Apartment rents aren't rising fast in downtown Cleveland, despite high occupancy and waiting lists Published: Saturday, November 26, 2011, 6:00 PM By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It seems like basic economics: With the supply of apartments tight and demand growing, landlords have the power to raise rents. Yet high occupancy levels in downtown Cleveland aren't spurring a dramatic increase in rates. That's good news for tenants already living in downtown buildings. But it's a challenge for developers trying to meet growing demand by converting office buildings to apartments or venturing into new construction. More at: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/11/apartments_occupancy_is_up_but.html

Great news! And yes, the beginning of FEB Phase 2 is exciting! Those are going to be booked the first week they open- with views of both the river AND the lake.

That is a GREAT looking park!

Musky- what type of businesses have been looking to locate in Euclid, and where? It would be great to see some reuse of some of the buildings and land along St. Clair, along with the large swath of land east of the mall.

I needed a french fry because I'm a pimp! LOL!!

I really like this plan. I think that the timing of this plan couldn't be better because of all the construction which is currently going on downtown right now. If we see some movement along the lakefront within the next 5 years, as the article suggests, this decade could the game changer for downtown.

Excalibur photos! These photos make me want to take a trip to the Cuyahoga Valley soon! They also show how Cleveland still has great urbanity left to it- I wish more people realized it.

The Alhambra was completely open, gutted, and drew WAY more problems than people may realize. There was an attempt to bring it back by an investor a couple years ago, but the work was never completed and scrappers quickly either stole the new materials and windows which were installed or kids in the neighborhood broke them out. Yes, it was a large apartment building, but trust me when I say that many residents who live around Wade Park won't mind it being gone. Its a bittersweet loss since the building was open to drugs, crime, and prostitution but was a beautiful building nonetheless.

That would be GREAT!!! I would LOVE to have the train come out to Euclid!

WOW!!! This hotel is STUNNING!

Does anyone know if there would be any potential growth at the port due to the use of marcellus shale in eastern Ohio for oil and natural gas?

With all the greenspace left over from the shrinking of the original plan, there's really not too much for Wolstein to complain about. He has more than enough land to build the apartments on. And yes, the health and potential growth of the port is MUCH more important than 300 apartments.

I think Bratenahl would be dead set against incorporating. Just to play devil's advocate (I'm ALL FOR regionalism, and the potential savings from continuous overlap in the county)... Some potential issues which comes to mind: Who would represent Bratenahl in Cleveland's chaotic city council? What would the chances be of someone being elected who lives on the "other side of the bridge"? Would the Cleveland police have the same presence in Bratenahl as the current police department does (for better or worse)? Does Cleveland currently pick up Bratenahl's garbage? Fix Bratenahl's streets? Plow Bratenahl's streets? And would the overall services enjoyed by Bratenahl residents decrease? Just thoughts which don't necessarily pertain to Bratenahl alone. Any city which would consider joining would be forced to consider these issues, if from just a political standpoint alone.

That aerial shows how much space the project will take up when fully built out- we won't get close to that with the first phase.

^^AGREED. I think some are taking the issue of the Columbia's demo and the new welcome center too far. If PEOPLE are brought back downtown due to the loss of one, just one building which will be replaced with another building- including street-level storefronts, to me it's not that bad of a loss. Before the Columbia's demolition, I don't recall anyone putting up much of a fuss as to why this building should be rehabbed, why there's a market for any particular type of rehab at this building's location, etc. I will agree that the welcome center's design is uninspiring... but how inspiring does it need to be? I don't think that people coming into the city to gamble will be judging the city by the architecture of the welcome center. Instead, they'll be judging the city by venturing into the WHD, E.4th, a Cavs game before or after they leave the casino, Playhouse Square, etc. I think that's what really matters.

I think that if this site were deemed "residential only"... it would be maybe 15 to 20 years before it's developed. There is nothing wrong with the proposed usage of the site. The site is currently a brownfield, and would require higher remediation costs if it were to be a residential development, which would raise the cost per unit of housing. That's not to say that there isn't a market for higher end homes in the area (I think there definitely is), but we have actual NEIGHBORHOODS which have been long forgotten by the middle to upper-middle class years ago. The old mansions in the surrounding area are there for a reason! I just can't see this project as a negative based on it's location. The market will bring newer apartment buildings to the area sooner or later, and we'll all have the density we would love to see. However, this $270 million project isn't going to stop anything from happening in the area in the future, and is a great project for today, IMO.

AmrapinVA- are those numbers for this year? I think the Cleveland MSA added roughly 40,000 jobs last year. If we added another 23,000 this year so far, then we're doing pretty good. Let's hope these jobs stay this time around, if indeed we're headed into another recession.

Great news! I'm hoping that we indeed do get jobs from outside of the region to relocate to this location. Enough musical chairs with existing Greater Cleveland businesses! I'm all for those that come to downtown from the suburbs, but there is no regional net gain by these types of moves. KJP- The EOG building should definitely be residential!! If the rental market tightens up even more downtown, I could see that type of conversion happening in the not so distant future!

^Not even worth the time... they have Cleveland's unemployment rate at 10.7%. We're currently at 8.3%- up from 7.7% in May but due to more people entering the labor market http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.oh_cleveland_msa.htm

^That would be the best option. The county should have done that a while ago. It would be GREAT to have all the extra foot traffic from an apartment conversion which would be the best option at this point.

I think artists can have a positive (or negative) effect on how people view the city. Heck, Bone had a positive effect on how the hip-hop world viewed Cleveland, and in fact changed hip-hop overall through their own unique style of rhyme. That's pretty much unquestionable. MGK could have that same effect on how the hip-hop world views Cleveland, depending on how big he becomes in the national spotlight. I just don't think that will happen with Bad Boy. In my opinion, hip-hop definitely played an economic part in the popularity of Atlanta, and still does to this day. It would be interesting to see a study showing the impact of hip-hop on Atlanta's tourist economy, among other factors. It's my opinion that hip-hop made "Hotlanta" that much more enticing to visit (and the Freaknik in the 90s and early 2000s helped that as well).