Pugu

Restaurant: Merwin's Wharf --closing---that's the first restaurant I've heard of closing for the virus. (not a permanent closing) "Cleveland Metroparks announced that it's closing "several indoor public facilities and canceling all events and programs from March 13 until at least March 31.... All indoor locations at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will close, as will all nature centers and Nature Shops, as well as Merwin's Wharf in the Flats... The Cleveland Museum of Natural History said it's "postponing all public events and meetings through March 31." In addition, all planetarium shows will be canceled through the end of the month.... The Children's Museum of Cleveland said it's closing to the public effective immediately... The Cleveland Botanical Garden said it will be closed to the public starting Friday, March 13.... Great Lakes Science Center also announced that it will close to the public effective March 13... https://www.crainscleveland.com/arts-entertainment/rock-hall-postpones-induction-ceremony-playhouse-square-cleveland-orchestra-and?utm_source=morning-roundup

I had been adding cancellations to this thread, but now, it seems, MOST events are cancelled. May be interesting to see what hasn't been cancelled.

List of school closings: https://www.wkyc.com/closings

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame postponing its induction ceremony scheduled for early May in Cleveland

another: CWRU: The Canada - United States Law Institute's Annual Conference set on April 16 and 17, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio, has been cancelled.

POSTPONED DUE TO VIRUS CONCERNS: International Health Community Center Ribbon Cutting ---was Thursday March 12 Asia Plaza, 2999 Payne Ave

City Club of Cleveland: we are rescheduling the remaining forums of this month.

^I haven't seen a list, but lots of different organizations have been canceling things. I'll add more things here if it helps.

Also, note that: "An Israeli rabbi who visited Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood in late February has tested positive for COVID-19, according to Rabbi Avery Joel, Fuchs Mizrachi head of school. Rabbi Dov Singer visited the school Feb. 27-28 to conduct professional development work with staff at the school. He also stayed for the Mizrachi family Shabbaton Feb. 28 and 29 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cleveland East Beachwood, Joel said..." I don't believe this has been widely discussed outside of Jewish circles yet. https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_news/israeli-rabbi-who-visited-beachwood-tests-positive-for-covid/article_41484cd6-63a4-11ea-9b01-7badbeaae87e.html

I'll second Parkers---they have some really good cocktails. I haven't been to Mastheads but walked by it---its more casual than Parkers if that's the vibe you're seeking. If its a bigger group then maybe Mastheads' is better. Also if the group wants more beer than cocktails. Parkers is in the Schofield Kimpton Hotel at 9th and Euclid--and the bar and restaurant are in the same big room.

Coronavirus has been confirmed in Cleveland. 3 confirmed cases. "The state’s first three confirmed cases of the disease, all in Cuyahoga County, were announced today by the Ohio Department of Health. All three are people in their 50′s who recently traveled outside the state, according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health." https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/03/three-confirmed-cases-of-coronavirus-in-ohio.html from a different article: "Two people were on a cruise in Egypt, and the other was at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington, D.C. All are aged 54-56. Two cases involve men, and the other case involves a woman." https://www.cleveland.com/business/2020/03/mayor-frank-jackson-says-cleveland-is-prepared-to-handle-coronavirus.html Just learned there are five other suspected cases in Ohio---not sure if these are all in Cleveland or elsewhere in the state.

Certainly the Cleveland Clinic is more informed than the typical person or company. So if the Clinic is banning travel, I'd say its not just "media hype", there's something real here. Cleveland Clinic suspends all international travel over coronavirus outbreak "The Cleveland Clinic suspended all international travel for its employees, known as caregivers, in response to the novel coronavirus, now called COVID-19, outbreak. The travel ban went into effect March 5 and covers all nonessential international business travel through March 31. Domestic business travel also is being limited and will require approval from hospital leadership, according to a statement from the Clinic....." https://www.cleveland.com/business/2020/03/cleveland-clinic-suspends-all-international-travel.html

That's interesting--everyone I've talked to (none of which are students) are canceling or holding off on all air travel due to the coronavirus.

I hope you're right. COVID-19 is killing the airlines--as thousands of companies are banning all business travel--which then impacts hotels, restaurants, and all the supporting jobs for these industries (laundromats, food prep, etc.). Major global conferences and events are being cancelled. All this will of course impact the economy of the world, the US, and Cleveland. And of course, there's the health side---this is HIGHLY contagious and far more fatal than the flu. Whole schools are closing--in Washington State and other places and Japan closed all schools til the end of the school year--though that's probably driven by their fear that the Olympics will be cancelled. I'm not the right thing to do is to just dismiss it only as media hype.

Yeah, I've heard this too, that drivers don't get any benefit now of working surges and overall pay is way down. I was talking to my Lyft/Uber (can't remember which it was) driver and he said he works 14 hrs a day to earn $120/day. that's pretty crazy.

If you own (or could own) a $2M house in Cleveland, at 2.5% property tax, you're paying $50,000 a year AND you still have to pay to maintain your lawn, your roof, etc. If your house is $3M (think Gates Mills and such) and you're paying 3% property tax, you're paying $90k a year, plus your own maintenance costs and headaches. So looking at it from that perspective, its not that crazy---as they are both sunk costs--except for the fact that the house may increase in equity over time and with the house you may have more space, but you no longer want/need so much space/land.

I wouldn't mind seeing all flights to/from SEA grounded. SEA is the US epicenter of the coronavirus.

How do you sign up for a tour?

^You need more than four int'l gates. We've already had times where we had three flights all arrive at the same time---MBJ, PUJ, and Iceland--all around 630pm---with 600 people all at once I'm glad I wasn't stuffed into that tiny FIS. This is to be the airport of the future--at least for the next 20-30 years---so I'd say, we'd need to accommodate AT LEAST six simultaneous int'l arrivals and an FIS big enough to accommodate this. Intl' departures don't require any special gates as planes could leave from any gate. The location where you have it is good, so CLE-bound passengers can exit directly into the CIty instead of the nonsense that happens now forcing all arriving passengers to go through security to enter the airport just to leave it. For anyone that IS connecting in CLE, you need the ability to route those passengers leaving the FIS to go through TSA security before mixing with other passengers. This should be a TSA checkpoint different than the ones for passengers originating in CLE.

A shot of the Lumen this evening framed by the Keith Bldg and CSU School of Business.

Are these numbers truly comparable? For example, in mulitfamily units: Cincinnati 2017: 534 2018: 632 2019: 992 Cleveland 2017: 36 2018: 34 2019: 19 Columbus 2017: 3579 2018: 3742 2019: 2839 does Columbus really have 150x more activity than Cleveland? Is it possible that Columbus requires say, 100 different permits for a single project, whereas in Cleveland, its just, for example, 2 or 3? In other words, are the above numbers are an accurate presentation of how many multifamily projects are underway in each city? Or just permits and the rules around permitting differ in each city?

It would be great if this was a genuine attempt of the city to get insight. But it doesn't seem to be the case. The way its written, it sounds like the city already knows who they want to give this to. The RFP says, “desired qualifications”:  Significant experience and knowledge of market operations  Experience and knowledge of tenant and landlord relations and leasing management.  Knowledgeable in all aspects in facility management.  Experience developing, managing, and executing strategic and operational plans and have strong relationship in the market/supermarket industry. These make sense. And then its says:  A strong understanding and experience with the local culture, history, and personality of Cleveland.  Experience and knowledge of the Cleveland food scene, retail industry and other public markets. And then  Strong relationships and experience with city government, corporate and non-profit management and best practices. So who would have the first set of qualifications? A retail/food retail expert. And then ALSO have deep knowledge of Cleveland---probably someone in Cleveland already----and then “Strong relationships and experience with city government”—someone they already know….. Note that in the RFP the above bullets are not listed in so obvious an order---I reorganized them that way.

Yeah, I get particularly annoyed when people think giving the airport to Cuyahoga County is some kind of magical and ideal solution even though the county has absolutely no experience AND has demonstrated itself to be both inept and corrupt, not to mention that doing so would be a very bad deal for the city. Yet people like to say it all the time.

1. The City needs to privatize the airports... -- yes, let's turn re-investment in airside and terminal facilities into corporate profits instead for certain shareholders. 2. ...turn them over to the County -- because the County has far more experience than the city in running a commercial airport---plus, why not rob the city of one its last final assets and give it to suburban control? Furthermore, the county is not corrupt AND incompetent. 3. ...form a Public Airport Authority....with the city in control, so whats the difference? Instead of running from problems, we should FIX them. Lots of crime in an area? Just put everyone in prison or on 24/7 surveillance instead of improving education and social and after-school opportunities. The problem is not that the city controls the airports--that's true in lots of cities--its the current leadership of the city. Why change a structure AND hurt the city ("turn them over to the County") when you can just elect competent leadership every four years? Why try to hurt the city instead, while pretending to help it?

Thanks for this. I'm good with a cap at 25. I guess if the city makes it to 2-3M this issue can be looked at again, so its fine for now. Regarding 11 members for "275,000 or less" that would be a sad day indeed for CLE if that ever became our population.