heightsfan

I agree with many of the points the author raises. I do, however, think the piece would have more credibility if it wasn't couched in terms of "you should have hired a local architect." There are obviously some great architecture firms in town, but that doesn't mean everything those firms have done has been great. And of course, the screed loses a lot of its punch when you consider that some Cleveland firms are retained to do work outside of Cleveland. Does that mean those cites are not design focused? That said, I do hope the design review board takes note of his concerns, some of which are valid IMO, especially the Euclid Avenue garage frontage, height of the tower, and facade material.

The top floors are full of equipment for cell network. Floors 1-8 are still the central exchange, filled with switching equipment/fiber optic lines. Would cost tens of millions to move.

Can we kindly limit the rampant speculation. Some of us check these boards for actual information/intel. Also, 811 is getting a makeover and going to reopen as something else in the fall. There's an article in Cleveland Scene about it. The current concept/menu wasn't working apparently.

Williams Sonoma owns Pottery Barn.

Seems hard to believe when this property is still mired in ongoing litigation. Speaking of, the case is scheduled for oral argument tomorrow in the Court of Appeals.

The grant money isn't growing; it was earmarked for and expended on a depreciable asset.

A full-funding grant agreement with the FTA does not have an expiration date. Jackson showed the opposite of leadership by refusing to abide by agreements (federal, for the Superior transitway; local, for the design of Public Square) that his administration signed after extensive public engagement processes, by using false information and bullying the RTA board to get his way, by forcing an already financially distressed RTA to devote significant expenses to reroute buses, by forcing RTA staff to spend much of their time negotiating/fighting with the city when they should be working to address its declining financial situation. He was doing the bidding of Key Corp and other Public Square sponsors who didn't want "those people" messing up their beautiful playground. What mayor Jackson showed was cowardice, by kow-towing to the privileged few and ignoring the working masses who actually make the city run -- secretaries, janitors, restaurant servers, laborers -- who use transit and were greatly inconvenienced by a mayor who showed he has forgotten from where he came. So FTA has an unlimited clawback period? That seems crazy, especially when the value of the grant obviously depreciates over time.

Well, folks are already disregarding the concrete bollards they're installing and walking through the landscaping to cross at no designated crosswalk at all. Good job city with these safety improvements.

To walk around the square to Ontario rather than cut through the lawn is ~ 130 feet or ~30 seconds added to a pedestrian's travel time from the door of Terminal Tower. Now that buses will return to the square the perception of the cut through being faster will diminish, plus with all Those People milling about, maybe more people will go around the perimeter :roll: How bad is the grass, really? How can the following assertions both be true: (1) They removed transit, therefore the square is empty most of the time. (2) So many people are going through the square that the grass is being ruined by people cutting across it. I do sort of agree that some hardscape path through the lawn makes sense. Or maybe we can get Miguel Rosales to design a $2M pedestrian bridge over the lawn. It doesn't take that many people walking across the lawn each day for the lawn to be quickly destroyed. My office overlooks the square. The lawn is a total wreck; mostly mud where folks have been cutting across. I agree that a hardscape path is probably ultimately going to be needed.

I would have much rather seen something more like a Rittenhouse Square, which serves pedestrians moving through a core of a city, than this nonsensical playground they came up with.

Add to this the fact that the lawn portion has just been totally trashed by people cutting across it constantly. When will designers learn that people will always take the shortest route. The more time passes, the more I'm finding the overall design to be flawed in several significant ways.

It's too bad we didn't have the political will and/or foresight to make this decision from the get-go. Instead, in typical Cleveland fashion, we've wasted tons of dollars on a consultant (whose conclusions we now ignore); a design that now needs be re-worked; and costly infrastructure that now proves to have been unnecessary. Also, notwithstanding James Corner's comments, you have to ask yourself how much better the whole design could have been had the decision to close Superior been made at the outset. Now I fear we're going to be left with a lot of hard surface to the exclusion of green space.

No doubt. Classic case of form over function. People will always take the shortest path, even if it means trampling the lawn.

No doubt. Classic case of form over function. People will always take the shortest path, even if it means trampling the lawn.

I read the Design Review comments as suggesting just that--i.e., that the garage should be updated to conform with the tower; not that the tower should conform to the garage.

Okay. I am not misremembering. See the below blurb from the Cleveland.com article discussing Design Review's concept approval. Doesn't seem like the architects have really addressed any of these concerns. Excerpt from Cleveland.com piece: The design-review committee asked Nadaaa and Westlake Reed Leskosky, the other firm working on the project, to explore ways to better integrate the new tower with the existing, glass-paneled garage. Committee members had mixed opinions about the tower's metal-clad facade, where six shades of paneling ranging from bronze to copper to near-silver will create an ombré effect. "I like the pattern quite a bit," said Jodi van der Wiel, an architect who sits on the committee. "I think it's just the imagery is not doing it justice." Committee member Jack Bialosky, Jr., another architect, encouraged the Beacon designers to push their boundaries. "I don't find this particularly iconic," he said. "It almost feels like your building's being camouflaged to me."

Maybe I am misremembering, but I thought design review's original comment was that the parking structure was not well enough integrated with the tower. The latest renderings do not appear to have addressed that concern. If anything, the parking deck seems even less integrated than what was shown in the original renderings. Also, the addition of the shed-like structure on the roof looks absurd, like a total afterthought.

Overall, I think the project looks good, though the near-finished result looks to have far more paved surface than was depicted in the renderings. It would have been nice if the south side could have incorporated a little more greenspace. The renderings also seemed to depict lots of wild grasses and flowers in the areas that are now covered in mulch. Does anyone know if more plantings are in the offing? Also, will there be crossing signals at the walkways crossing the bus lanes? Given how the space is configured it seems conducive to folks just walking out in the middle area, perhaps not realizing that buses travel right through the middle.

According to the court docket, the developer is closing on a financing package this week that will allow it to resolve the litigation and proceed with the project. In the meantime, the docket indicates that the receiver was given authority to retain Hanna to market the property for sale. If a bidder comes through, the current developer has the right of redemption. Hopefully though the financing closes this week and this project moves forward.

Well, according to Michelle Jarboe's last article, tomorrow [sept. 1] is the deadline established by the Ohio Department of Development for this project to secure financing and start construction. Will be interesting to see if these guys are able to pull this off. I haven't noticed a lick of work being done since Michelle's story other than three folks checking out the facade from the lift pictured above about three or so weeks ago. Here's hoping that wasn't a ruse by the developer to argue that construction has commenced.

Well, the June 1 deadline came and went, and no indication that any façade work has commenced. I'm growing more skeptical of this project by the day. Michelle Jarboe, any updates to this story?

What would be next to Heinen's that could hold a Geiger's? The Truman Building, which is currently being rehabbed. The entire first floor is slated for retail.

Oh, there were several panes on that side that appeared compromised/fogged up--probably 10-15, randomly situated. It was very obvious the way the sun was hitting the building that morning. It was also very cold out in the morning, which when coupled with the sun hitting the building, could explain. I could easily see the seals on certain of the panes being defective in some way; or certain of the windows being improperly installed. My recollection is that this project is costing somewhere in the $130M range. It would seem that it'll take a long time to recoup that investment.

Two comments: 1. I think the pyramids were built faster than this project is taking to complete. 2. When viewing the building this past Saturday while the morning sun was reflecting on the East façade, it was clear that there are a number of windows on that side that are sweating/fogging up. The overall impression was not a good one. Looked cheap and poorly constructed. I wish we had some good investigative journalists who could look into this boondoggle. That is all.