CtownD

Thought that this might be of some relevance in the Regionalism thread as she was one of the more important players in both the OfficeMax and UH proposals. Shaker Hts. mayor won't seek re-election Tuesday, February 13, 2007 Michael O'Malley Plain Dealer Reporter Shaker Heights -- Mayor Judy Rawson announced Monday that she will not seek re-election when her four-year term expires at the end of the year.

I'll go ahead and agree with everyone else that the concept sounds great. I've just had more of an opportunity recently to get to know the westside retail corridors now that we have a studio project focusing on one. I think the one great point you bring up is the overall density (in suburban terms) of the area surrounding Glenway, which could feed into a pedestrian-oriented retail area pretty well. The scope seems appropriate, as anything on a more piecemeal basis could likely be lost in the shuffle of parking lots and strip malls.

^ He was married to Ruth Ratner Miller if I'm not mistaken.

^ I like how your analysis got straight to the point. Saves us all some reading.

^ Previous reports on the office market have noted that while Class A vacancy (Key Tower, 200 Public Square et al) has declined considerably, the vacancy rate for Class B space (Leader Building, Hanna Building) has increased due to tenants leaving these buildings to take on space in some of the more high profile buildings in downtown. The 21 percent number is just an average of the vacancy rates for all types of office space in Downtown Cleveland. EDIT: looks like punch beat me to it.

There's about to be a nice piece of real estate available come December at Detroit and Bunts. When compared to the current Giant Eagle and Tops, I think Lakewood residents would stand with open arms if Zagara's decided to come.

That's the exact reason I'm not shedding any tears over the departure of Kimball Hill Homes and the downsizing of Ryan Homes' local office. I don't know that any of us expect a growth boundary soon, but seeing builders that work almost exclusively in exurban areas cutting back can be nothing but a good thing in a low-growth region such as NE Ohio that can't support any sizeable influx of new homes without having a detrimental effect elsewhere in the area, namely in the central core and first tier suburbs.

I gave my vote to Slavic Village. With projects like Hyacinth Lofts and other infill/renovation projects the awareness of the neighborhood should grow in the next few years. Also, being between the Downtown and Rockside Road office districts can only work in its favor. That, coupled with with The local film industry which has a strong footing at Hyacinth Lofts (NY Times article) it could very well be on the path to being one of the next hot areas by 2016.

Great Pics! They certainly help to show the amount of progress being made. I really like the new sidewalk pattern throughout Playhouse Sqaure. I'm looking forward to watching all of the streetscape elements come together over the coming months. Judging by the pic of the sidewalk pattern it looks like it will have a more dramatic effect than I had initially expected.

^ In response to the article that jamiec posted above, I have to agree that there is a pretty decent silver lining to the departure of these builders from NE Ohio (aside from the job losses). IMHO, Ryan is the worst of the worst in terms of sprawl housing. One of their projects comes to mind, which sits off of I-90 near Sheffield. It's just a treeless wasteland with these vinyl-clad shoeboxes with one of what appeared to be 4 different facades (I'll get off my soapbox now). I see the departure of the national builders as a good thing simply because the only place that they built was on greenfields, and most of all it was housing that did nothing but add to the surplus that we already have.

^ Despite closing at 1:15 the trains still pack plenty of people in well into the evening. Works well to take it down and then hail a cab to either get home, or back to one of the park and ride lots further south along the line toward the airport. Edit: Maintenance is usually one of the concerns brought up in editorials and new articles that discuss extending the hours. Also, due to the unexpectedly high ridership of the line they don't have the spare trains that they were counting on, making it a lot tougher to put a replacement train into operation if one goes down.

Sorry to jump into this one late, but the Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis closes at 1:15 am heading southbound from downtown. The only section that remains open is the link between the two airport terminals, which is 24-hour. There has been some talk of extending service when some of the other lines are completed (The central corridor to St. Paul, SW corridor to Eden Prarie) but in the near future 1:15 is where it ends until it reopens at 4 am. Still not bad but it'd be nice if they stayed open until last call at 2am. I think they can be cut some sack though for working aggressively toward expansion of the system.

He's the CEO of Continental.

I'll take a shot at #15... My guess would have to be the entrance to Lake View Cemetary off of Mayfield. I never realized how elaborate the bays were on Huron Square. Great pics.

I'll apologize for the non-sequitur in advance, but did Fairmount Properties either merge or acquire Heartland Developers? After browsing through their website I noticed that all of Heartland's properties (Sussex Courts, South Park Row, Jay Hotel, and Avalon Station) are listed on Fairmount's website. Sorry if this was posted elsewhere and I simply overlooked it, but it was just something that caught my attention.