Is this new information? I saw it on the DCA’s Instagram page. I don’t recall seeing it.  Here’s their website: www.cleptf.org

 

 

 

That's going to be an awesome addition to the park! Maybe it'll even help to push along the whole Canal Basin plan

4 minutes ago, tykaps said:

That's going to be an awesome addition to the park! Maybe it'll even help to push along the whole Canal Basin plan

 

That's Merwin's Wharf

31 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

That's Merwin's Wharf

I thought that Canal Basin park extended further South to Merwin's Wharf, but looking at the plans again I guess not ?

Still, hopefully it will help development momentum for the whole peninsula

It's actually on Cleveland Rowing Foundation land I believe. Bottom line is it will be a great all-season addition to the area. 

Pulled these from Flags Platform Tennis Center’s Instagram page!

 

Not sure if these have been shared/discussed before but this is my first time even hearing about this project. Seems really cool!

 

For additional renderings and information:

 

https://www.cleptf.org/ 

 

 

On 8/26/2019 at 5:04 PM, KJP said:

 

Thankfully, Planning Commission sent NRP Group back to the drawing board after what they proposed for Scranton Peninsula. I hope that NRP finds that to be instructive rather than destructive, killing their desire for anything resembling urban design.

 

And yes, the Jacobs master plan is nothing more than a marketing fishhook. In fact, when I wrote that short piece about Nautica a couple of months ago, a friend reached out to Jacobs to inquire about anything going on there. He basically told my friend that he wasn't going to build anything here, but he would love to make his properties available for someone who would. When asked if he had any joint-venture opportunities pending, he said his VP of development David Grunenwald was talking to some developers but didn't have any agreements signed.

 

With the SHW news, I'd be shocked if the Nautica property / Flats West Bank don't start getting more interest soon. That's a key piece of riverfront property that's about to be in very close proximity to a bunch of new development soon (HQ, R&D, Cityblock, Justice Center, etc...plus just down the hill from booming Hingetown and OC).

 

.8 mile route from the middle of these lots to the new R&D site. 1.4 mile route to Public Square. Easily driveable/walkable/bikeable for prospective employees.

 

Have you heard any recent rumblings or developer interests yet for this area @KJP?

 

 

Edited January 10, 20205 yr by urbanetics_

4 hours ago, urbanetics_ said:

For additional renderings and information:

 

https://www.cleptf.org/ 

 

 

I remember reading a post a few years ago somewhere most likely a FEB thread showing a map of the flats and

naming all of the peninsulas. Is this the Columbus peninsula. That post could be in the stone levee thread.

 

 

 

49 minutes ago, urbanetics_ said:

 

With the SHW news, I'd be shocked if the Nautica property / Flats West Bank don't start getting more interest soon. That's a key piece of riverfront property that's about to be in very close proximity to a bunch of new development soon (HQ, R&D, Cityblock, Justice Center, etc...plus just down the hill from booming Hingetown and OC).

 

.8 mile route from the middle of these lots to the new R&D site. 1.4 mile route to Public Square. Easily driveable/walkable/bikeable for prospective employees.

 

Have you heard any recent rumblings or developer interests yet for this area @KJP?

 

 

 

Nothing definitive. Nautica isn't developing anything. Instead they're making their properties available for joint ventures. But I've heard some developers lamenting having to work with "that attorney" ...aka Nautica's development director.

Might want a Columbus Road Peninsula or Cleveland Centre-type thread someday....

 

 

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020

Cuyahoga River's last grain mill to close; mill's fate uncertain

 

The last grain mill left on the Cuyahoga River is due to close in July, leaving 24 workers to wonder about their employment future and the fate of the mill property. Those lost jobs include seven trucking and two railroad jobs who serve a mill that's stood in the 1600 block of Merwin Avenue for more than 150 years.

According to an article published at World-Grain.com, Chattanooga, TN-based Grain Craft Inc., the largest independent flour miller in the nation, informed employees on April 22 that it will close its Cleveland operation at mid-year. The mill primarily grinds hard winter and spring wheat. Company officials said the mill has seen its business decline in recent years.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2020/04/cuyahoga-rivers-last-grain-mill-to.html

Normally companies are going to ORDC to get a loan or grant to do some kind of improvement or help with a ROW.  What would they be asking for here? Forcing the rail company to honor their deal?

38 minutes ago, audidave said:

Normally companies are going to ORDC to get a loan or grant to do some kind of improvement or help with a ROW.  What would they be asking for here? Forcing the rail company to honor their deal?

 

Possibly to seek funding to help acquire and rehab the railroad. ORDC has assisted in the creation of shortline and industrial switching railroads in Ohio.

 

BTW, admittedly, it's a long-shot. There isn't a heck of a lot shipping-wise left along the Flats Industrial Railroad. There's only 15 mill jobs involved here, plus the seven trucking and two railroad jobs. I suspect that the redevelopment of the area could lead to more jobs, both short- and long-term.

 

EDIT: here's the mill and a still-building Terminal Tower probably in about 1927, courtesy of the lens of Margaret Bourke-White....

Edited April 28, 20205 yr by KJP

From the outside it looks like the building would be really chopped up funny and hard to re-purpose.  Would be fun to get on the inside and see what it looks like!  

Hopefully it can stay a functioning mill. I guess there are no ships that drop off grain then if it is coming in via rail. I thought there were ships that drop off grain in Buffalo at the Cheerios plant south of the harbor.  Interesting how that dominates the smell of downtown Buffalo in the mornings. 

There's so many lightly used industrial properties down in the flats. I'd love to see much of that redeveloped into denser uses. What a great location that'd be for residential.

Once or twice a week I walk the DS bridge. That mill has some kind of air compressor release valve on the outside and it makes an annoyingly almost-regular, but random ‘clink’ as the value cover drops back. Really bugs me and would drive me insane if I worked there! 

Another photo. This is post-1937, after the 5x9 concrete elevators were built. If they were converted into housing, it would be a 15-story building including the cupola on the roof.

 

Edited April 29, 20205 yr by KJP

KJP's pics really show how fowl the river was in ~1937, and I presume it only got worse in the 40s, 50s and 60s.  When I see rowers on it nowadays I can hardly believe it's the same body of water.

25 minutes ago, jbdad2 said:

... show how fowl the river was ...

 

 

12 hours ago, KJP said:

 

Note that sources I referenced in my article said that the dominoes fell in the opposite direction. The railroad is shutting down, which is causing the mill to shut down. Everything is for sale and their owners can make more money selling to real estate developers rather than to new railroad and mill users

 

1 hour ago, Dougal said:

 

I hate to see the whole industry shut down.  It would be nice to see the operation move to Opportunity Corridor, but the current owners are probably content to just let it go.

 

26 minutes ago, roman totale XVII said:

^ Yeah, they probably are. Tiny margins in that industry and being next to a railroad may well have been the only thing making it relatively sustainable. 

 

 

Redirecting from the Cleveland general business thread....

 

Owners of the railroad and the mill are content to let both go, if not downright eager. I wish I could say more right now. But the railroad made its last shipment a week or so ago. There's a video of it on youtube.

 

Suffice it to say, some of this amazing plan for the Columbus Road peninsula, mapped out nearly 200 years ago, has a chance of happening. That plan was dramatically redirected when Cleveland's first railroad (much of the right of way is used by the Flats Industrial RR) built a yard and a locomotive roundhouse on the Columbus Road peninsula. It stopped the residential/mercantile plan for the peninsula and took things in the direction of heavy industry. Now it's got a chance of moving more in the direction that its original visionaries had hoped two centuries ago. Imagine what a vibrant setting this could be. ....  EDIT: I've posted a larger version of the image below at: http://freepdfhosting.com/a339617938.pdf

 

 

Edited May 10, 20205 yr by KJP

4 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

 

"File not found".  @KJP can you reshare the pic?  

@Cleburger Is it working now?

4 minutes ago, KJP said:

@Cleburger Is it working now?

Yep it's imbedded in post now.  Before it was just an attachment.   

Impressive denisty!  

 

Thanks! 

Edited May 10, 20205 yr by Cleburger

59 minutes ago, Cleburger said:

Yep it's imbedded in post now.  Before it was just an attachment.   

Impressive denisty!  

 

Thanks! 

 

I think very little of that was ever built.

 

It'd be really cool to see that peninsula turn into something of a mix of residential/retail/park.  It's one of my favorite spots in the city.  I'd love to see RTA build an "L" style Redline station off their viaduct.

The flats have so much potential, it is remarkable.  I have been recently exploring thanks to the towpath and other trails.  Its good to know people are starting to finally realize the untapped potential, I just hope they can save what is left of some of the beautiful original brick structures that remain and not demolish them all for new construction.  I am excited to learn more about what KJP knows here!

I’m not sure “gravity place” is going to work so well. It’ll quickly be called collision corner. Perhaps someone can open an indoor trampoline center on the corner and call it gravity place showing off the old map. 

It’s like we used to kind of take the Flats for granted- like it “was what it was“ - an industrial area that we could stick a bunch of bars in - and that was pretty trendy for a time.. But recently, you can’t help but get the sense that the fantastic potential of the area is being appreciated, rediscovered and reimagined.  The energy of that sensibility, instead of the lethargy or even acceptance of a negative self-image is way cooler and exciting. Now can we make the next big step - from reimagining to redesigning and building? Let’s hope...

On 5/10/2020 at 3:13 PM, audidave said:

I’m not sure “gravity place” is going to work so well. It’ll quickly be called collision corner. Perhaps someone can open an indoor trampoline center on the corner and call it gravity place showing off the old map. 

 

Considering it was designed nearly 200 years ago, I think something more like this was envisioned for Gravity Place....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 20205 yr by KJP

On 5/10/2020 at 1:09 PM, KJP said:

 

 

 

 

Redirecting from the Cleveland general business thread....

 

Owners of the railroad and the mill are content to let both go, if not downright eager. I wish I could say more right now. But the railroad made its last shipment a week or so ago. There's a video of it on youtube.

 

Suffice it to say, some of this amazing plan for the Columbus Road peninsula, mapped out nearly 200 years ago, has a chance of happening. That plan was dramatically redirected when Cleveland's first railroad (much of the right of way is used by the Flats Industrial RR) built a yard and a locomotive roundhouse on the Columbus Road peninsula. It stopped the residential/mercantile plan for the peninsula and took things in the direction of heavy industry. Now it's got a chance of moving more in the direction that its original visionaries had hoped two centuries ago. Imagine what a vibrant setting this could be. ....  EDIT: I've posted a larger version of the image below at: http://freepdfhosting.com/a339617938.pdf

 

 

 

1) Ken this is really cool! Thank you for sharing...

 

2) Not to be a turd, but is the town square called Obesity Place? 

Edited May 11, 20205 yr by YABO713
I'm an idiot

On 5/10/2020 at 1:09 PM, KJP said:

Suffice it to say, some of this amazing plan for the Columbus Road peninsula, mapped out nearly 200 years ago, has a chance of happening.

 

I'm going to guess that a couple of those streets are named after the father of the endower of Case School of Applied Sciences (or maybe the son).

 

https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/case-leonard-sr

2 hours ago, KJP said:

 

Considering it was designed nearly 200 years ago, I think something more like this was envisioned for Gravity Place....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful pedestrian scenes.  I love pedestrian villages but Columbus Rd is a thoroughfare. I would be astounded if that were to change. I could see a pedestrian neighborhood if it was focused around the grain mill ala quaker square of Akron

20 minutes ago, audidave said:

Beautiful pedestrian scenes.  I love pedestrian villages but Columbus Rd is a thoroughfare. I would be astounded if that were to change. I could see a pedestrian neighborhood if it was focused around the grain mill ala quaker square of Akron

I've argued this point on Reddit when someone was complaining about their commute being held up by a freighter. The state of Ohio just spent 600B on a new innerbelt and are consistently and unnecessarily upgrading all of the highways surrounding the downtown core. There's no reason for this to be a throughfare, there's plenty of other places for single occupancy vehicles to hang out/drive and ODOT makes it very easy (too easy IMO) to get from A to B, the last thing somewhere so close to downtown needs is to acquiesce to vehicles.

On 5/10/2020 at 1:09 PM, KJP said:

 

 

I love looking at old maps. Computer and CAD drawn just aren’t the same

46 minutes ago, audidave said:

Beautiful pedestrian scenes.  I love pedestrian villages but Columbus Rd is a thoroughfare. I would be astounded if that were to change. I could see a pedestrian neighborhood if it was focused around the grain mill ala quaker square of Akron

 

I'm just saying what Columbus Peninsula was intended to be 200 years ago. It took a very different direction soon thereafter. Most of the peninsula could be developed similarly, albeit with Gravity Place set off to the side or with traffic calmed on Columbus Road. 

1 hour ago, audidave said:

Beautiful pedestrian scenes.  I love pedestrian villages but Columbus Rd is a thoroughfare. I would be astounded if that were to change. I could see a pedestrian neighborhood if it was focused around the grain mill ala quaker square of Akron

 

So what? Reconsider what this city could be. Sorry western suburb commuters, but Columbus can be something better.

 

1 hour ago, w28th said:

 

So what? Reconsider what this city could be. Sorry western suburb commuters, but Columbus can be something better.

Cleveland can’t even close little Market Avenue to pedestrians without creating a huge uproar.  I personally thought that was a done deal.  I definitely can see what this city can be.  I just know what it is which is certainly better than its been in last 60+ years. 

25 minutes ago, audidave said:

 

Cleveland can’t even close little Market Avenue to pedestrians without creating a huge uproar.  I personally thought that was a done deal.  I definitely can see what this city can be.  I just know what it is which is certainly better than its been in last 60+ years. 

 

I hate when people have a really good point I don't like. ?

 

EDIT: on the other hand....

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 20205 yr by KJP

I think it's interesting that the Western Reserve Rowing Association's launches line up almost perfectly with the spot that the original plan called for a "Public Landing".  I'm sure they must have realized that at some point.

14 hours ago, audidave said:

Beautiful pedestrian scenes.  I love pedestrian villages but Columbus Rd is a thoroughfare. I would be astounded if that were to change. I could see a pedestrian neighborhood if it was focused around the grain mill ala quaker square of Akron

 

 

there is no problem at all with a road next to a public piazza.

 

columbus road can hug the edge of gravity place plaza as it does and be fine -- with a few added bollards on the plaza side and traditional high street type development on the other.

 

if there is going to be a push for a switchover to residential here, i always hoped something of this charming old plan could be revived. i really like the radial street layout and america could use more traditional old world style plazas, they are magnets for development and streetlife.

On 5/10/2020 at 1:09 PM, KJP said:

Owners of the railroad and the mill are content to let both go, if not downright eager. I wish I could say more right now. But the railroad made its last shipment a week or so ago. There's a video of it on youtube.

 

I was on the river yesterday.   There are still rail cars at the mill, and a worker was climbing down in one doing something.  

 

 

On 5/10/2020 at 1:09 PM, KJP said:

 

 

 

 

Redirecting from the Cleveland general business thread....

 

Owners of the railroad and the mill are content to let both go, if not downright eager. I wish I could say more right now. But the railroad made its last shipment a week or so ago. There's a video of it on youtube.

 

Suffice it to say, some of this amazing plan for the Columbus Road peninsula, mapped out nearly 200 years ago, has a chance of happening. That plan was dramatically redirected when Cleveland's first railroad (much of the right of way is used by the Flats Industrial RR) built a yard and a locomotive roundhouse on the Columbus Road peninsula. It stopped the residential/mercantile plan for the peninsula and took things in the direction of heavy industry. Now it's got a chance of moving more in the direction that its original visionaries had hoped two centuries ago. Imagine what a vibrant setting this could be. ....  EDIT: I've posted a larger version of the image below at: http://freepdfhosting.com/a339617938.pdf

 

 

So I assume that the

Flats Industrial Railroad will sell their right of ways property on the Scranton Peninsula to either the Thunderbird Project Partership OR to NRP to allow them to build a larger apartment project and or a large mix use project?

 

Especially IF they can buy at least part of the rest of the Scranton Peninsula that is owned by the 100+ year old Trust.

Edited May 14, 20205 yr by Larry1962
Typos and more details

10 hours ago, Larry1962 said:

So I assume that the

Flats Industrial Railroad will sell their right of ways property on the Scranton Peninsula to either the Thunderbird Project Partership OR to NRP to allow them to build a larger apartment project and or a large mix use project?

 

Especially IF they can buy at least part of the rest of the Scranton Peninsula that is owned by the 100+ year old Trust.

 

Both options better be damn sure they keep whatever existing structures are there. We can't afford to lose any more of the historic building stock in the flats.

11 hours ago, Larry1962 said:

So I assume that the

Flats Industrial Railroad will sell their right of ways property on the Scranton Peninsula to either the Thunderbird Project Partership OR to NRP to allow them to build a larger apartment project and or a large mix use project?

 

Especially IF they can buy at least part of the rest of the Scranton Peninsula that is owned by the 100+ year old Trust.

 

I responded here.....

 

 

And here

 

 

Edited May 14, 20205 yr by KJP

More about a Red Line station on the viaduct above Canal Basin Park, done in concert with the Metroparks' Red Line Greenway/Towpath Trail linkage....

 

 

A nugget on the city owned land next to the, now-closed, grain mill on Merwin Ave. Looks like the Port has an option to renew the lease that Grain Craft was using for truck parking. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I have to imagine the city has other plans for this land moving forward.

 

http://clevelandohio.gov/sites/default/files/planning/drc/agenda/2020/CPC-Agenda-WebEx-meeting-060520.pdf

 

Quote

11. Ordinance No. 369-2020(Ward 3/Councilmember McCormack): Authorizing the Director of Port Control to exercise the first option to renew Contract No. CT 3001 NF 2017-061 with Grain Craft, Inc. fka Cereal Food Processors, Inc. to lease of certain city-owned property generally located at 1635 Merwin Avenue.

 

7 minutes ago, Mendo said:

A nugget on the city owned land next to the, now-closed, grain mill on Merwin Ave. Looks like the Port has an option to renew the lease that Grain Craft was using for truck parking. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I have to imagine the city has other plans for this land moving forward.

 

http://clevelandohio.gov/sites/default/files/planning/drc/agenda/2020/CPC-Agenda-WebEx-meeting-060520.pdf

 

 

 

Stay tuned.... 

Flats South Innovation District finalizing deal with Cleveland Whiskey as a key future tenant

 

https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/flats-south-innovation-district-finalizing-deal-cleveland-whiskey-key-future-tenant?utm_source=afternoon-report&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200701&utm_content=article1-headline
 

Wow!! This is awesome!

I AM SO HAPPY to read they plan to restore the Malcom Building.  SUCH a cool structure you can easily see from the Towpath that I always wish could become something.  What a surprise this is!