^"Within the last five years....a 200 percent increase of children 5 to 9 years old shifted the paradigm." that's great news. Of course, those are only population estimates. I wonder where these kids are going to school.

 

We live downtown and my little one goes to Campus Inyernational. We can afford a private school but never considered one. She loves the school. It’s like a mini UN. I also know that a few playgrounds for downtown are in the works

 

If you don't mind me asking, where do the educational standards rank and how does the school ensure that for you?

 

Of course not. Campus International is the highest testing elementary school in the Cleveland School district. She sang to her mother in three languages for her birthday - Mandarin, Spanish and English. Teaching a foreign language early on was important to us. The fact that she’s learning two simultaneously is a bonus. They also have a strong core of advanced placement subjects.

^Also, to add:  Campus Int'l is the only IB school in Cleveland (metro Cleveland, that is).

^^ stpats44113[/member] that's awesome. Thanks for the answer.

Hey guys, after seeing some posts on here re: people from out of state living here, I decided to do a little audit of my apartment building at 29th and Detroit today:

 

- 3 Maryland plates

- 3 Michigan plates

- 2 Georgia plates

- 1 New York plate

- 1 Florida plate

- 1 Massachusetts plate

- 1 Vermont plate

 

 

now this is what you call news we can use -- excellent work and that is definately encouraging to hear about.

 

maybe somebody else can do this too if you have time?

 

just dont ask me to count the ohio cuyahoga, lorain, etc plates around nyc -- you dont want to know. meaning yeah, i see them around. hopefully they are just visiting though!

If you want to see where a sh!t ton of out of staters are living, drive/walk thru The Edison's parking lot.  I'd guesstimate over 25% of the residents there aren't from Ohio.

^ Western New York is a huge (and potential) population source. I get the sense though, that a lot of them and others don't necessarily want downtown high rise living, and they definitely don't detached single family neighborhoods. They want traditional urban neighborhoods. Something Cleveland doesn't have a lot of stock of currently.   

 

Certainly a fair point, they want South Buffalo on steroids, which is currently only available via Ohio City and Tremont - hopefully D-S and maybe even Midtown will join in the coming years.

 

South Buffalo?  It's not horrible, but certainly not a "hot" neighborhood.

 

I think you're thinking of North Buffalo.  The Elmwood Villiage and Hertel Ave neighborhoods are on fire.  Elmwood runs about 3 miles north of Downtown with non-stop storefronts filled with shopping, bars and restaurants.  Many of it is mixed use.  Hertel continues to grow as people are priced out of the Elmwood Villiage.

South Buffalo?  It's not horrible, but certainly not a "hot" neighborhood.

 

I think you're thinking of North Buffalo.  The Elmwood Villiage and Hertel Ave neighborhoods are on fire.  Elmwood runs about 3 miles north of Downtown with non-stop storefronts filled with shopping, bars and restaurants.  Many of it is mixed use.  Hertel continues to grow as people are priced out of the Elmwood Villiage.

 

I was going to say. South Buffalo is heavily industrial and suffers from a lot of abandonment. Unless of course you're talking the Larkin District which is up and coming.

^ Western New York is a huge (and potential) population source. I get the sense though, that a lot of them and others don't necessarily want downtown high rise living, and they definitely don't detached single family neighborhoods. They want traditional urban neighborhoods. Something Cleveland doesn't have a lot of stock of currently.   

 

Certainly a fair point, they want South Buffalo on steroids, which is currently only available via Ohio City and Tremont - hopefully D-S and maybe even Midtown will join in the coming years.

 

South Buffalo?  It's not horrible, but certainly not a "hot" neighborhood.

 

I think you're thinking of North Buffalo.  The Elmwood Villiage and Hertel Ave neighborhoods are on fire.  Elmwood runs about 3 miles north of Downtown with non-stop storefronts filled with shopping, bars and restaurants.  Many of it is mixed use.  Hertel continues to grow as people are priced out of the Elmwood Villiage.

 

I just used Google streetview to run the length of Elmwood in Buffalo and down to Allen St in the Allentown neighborhood of Buffalo.  It's shocking how much good

and beautiful building stock they have and how much continuous retail is on Elmwood and Allen St.

 

Frankly, it blows away any retail streets or retail areas in Cleveland.  I think Elmwood is probably even better than High St. in Columbus because of the amount of original building stock.  I'm really surprised at how much Buffalo has.

^ Western New York is a huge (and potential) population source. I get the sense though, that a lot of them and others don't necessarily want downtown high rise living, and they definitely don't detached single family neighborhoods. They want traditional urban neighborhoods. Something Cleveland doesn't have a lot of stock of currently.   

 

Certainly a fair point, they want South Buffalo on steroids, which is currently only available via Ohio City and Tremont - hopefully D-S and maybe even Midtown will join in the coming years.

 

South Buffalo?  It's not horrible, but certainly not a "hot" neighborhood.

 

I think you're thinking of North Buffalo.  The Elmwood Villiage and Hertel Ave neighborhoods are on fire.  Elmwood runs about 3 miles north of Downtown with non-stop storefronts filled with shopping, bars and restaurants.  Many of it is mixed use.  Hertel continues to grow as people are priced out of the Elmwood Villiage.

 

I just used Google streetview to run the length of Elmwood in Buffalo and down to Allen St in the Allentown neighborhood of Buffalo.  It's shocking how much good

and beautiful building stock they have and how much continuous retail is on Elmwood and Allen St.

 

Frankly, it blows away any retail streets or retail areas in Cleveland.  I think Elmwood is probably even better than High St. in Columbus because of the amount of original building stock.  I'm really surprised at how much Buffalo has.

 

Do the same on Delaware Avenue from downtown north to Forest Lawn cemetary.  Buffalo still has most of their "millionare's row" intact. 

 

I just used Google streetview to run the length of Elmwood in Buffalo and down to Allen St in the Allentown neighborhood of Buffalo.  It's shocking how much good

and beautiful building stock they have and how much continuous retail is on Elmwood and Allen St.

 

Frankly, it blows away any retail streets or retail areas in Cleveland.  I think Elmwood is probably even better than High St. in Columbus because of the amount of original building stock.  I'm really surprised at how much Buffalo has.

 

Elmwood is even better in person. And it's pretty self-sufficient during a Buffalo snow blitz since you can get basic needs within a short walk (or climb-over). Only Detroit Avenue in Lakewood is similar, but of course that's not Cleveland.

 

I just used Google streetview to run the length of Elmwood in Buffalo and down to Allen St in the Allentown neighborhood of Buffalo.  It's shocking how much good

and beautiful building stock they have and how much continuous retail is on Elmwood and Allen St.

 

Frankly, it blows away any retail streets or retail areas in Cleveland.  I think Elmwood is probably even better than High St. in Columbus because of the amount of original building stock.  I'm really surprised at how much Buffalo has.

 

Elmwood is even better in person. And it's pretty self-sufficient during a Buffalo snow blitz since you can get basic needs within a short walk (or climb-over). Only Detroit Avenue in Lakewood is similar, but of course that's not Cleveland.

 

I'd say that's a good comparison--Elmwood is similar to Detroit in Lakewood, and Hertel is similar to Madison. 

 

BTW--Buffalo gets a bad rap when it comes to snow thanks to their suburban Orchard Park football stadium, which is the start of their "snow belt".  During that white-out game last week vs Indy, it wasn't snowing in the city of Buffalo at all.    It would be the equivalent of moving the Browns to Chardon, which may not be a bad idea.... ::)

Yes, the South towns get 120 inches of snow.  But Buffalo airport averages 95 inches of snow. It's still far more than Cleveland's 60 inches of snow measured at Hopkins, and is comparable to Chardon's 100 inches.

I was just hanging out around Allentown last month. Allen and Elmwood is a great little intersection, for sure. The Greek restaurant, southeast corner is very good, if anyone ends up around there hungry!

If inner city Buffalo can have that, so can we.  "Market forces" affect Buffalo the same as Cleveland but the results are markedly different.  Cleveland should send a delegation there, or invite a delegation here, and find out how they've done it.

^I've long held that the advantage that Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh have is that they happen to be in the same state as NYC and Philadelphia. Although those two Eastern cities are very different from their Rust Belt brethren further west, those Rust Belt cities are able to capture some fringe benefits at the state level that results from being directly politically and economically tied to the Northeast megalopolis. None of the 3C's have that same sort of lifeline, which puts them at a decided disadvantage compared to the Rust Belt cities of PA and NY. I'd argue that this is a pretty significant reason why Pittsburgh has managed to come around faster than Cleveland has.

^I'd agree with that. And because they are part of NY State and PA, they are in smarter, more progressive, and forward thinking states that isn't trying to kill the cities. For example, those states understand the value of public transit. In Ohio, they would shut down all the transit systems and redirect that money to the roads if they could.

I don't even think you have to go that far as to say that the governments are necessarily that more progressive, it's more that they really have no choice but to make those monies available if they want their states' major metro areas to keep functioning. Smart people at the local level in the western parts of the state(s) are able to snatch up some of those funds simply because they're there and they have to be. If you didn't have the moderating forces of Philadelphia and NYC, I'm sure the state governments in New York and Pennsylvania wouldn't be too terribly different from Ohio's.

I can see how that might work, but the sense I've gotten from WNY people is the state forgets them and they have to battle NYC for every penny.  As usual I don't accept that the universe is structurally aligned against Cleveland.  I think we can do what others can.  I'd like to hear from the Buffalo delegation about alternative policy choices that may actually be available to us.  It's at least worth looking into.  I mean, we have a ton of new and affluent downtown population that Buffalo doesn't.  That's gotta help, right?

If inner city Buffalo can have that, so can we.  "Market forces" affect Buffalo the same as Cleveland but the results are markedly different.  Cleveland should send a delegation there, or invite a delegation here, and find out how they've done it.

 

If we can count the near westside of Cleveland as inner city, then I think Lorain Ave is well on its way to be an Elmwood. Bridging I 90 in an attractive way will take some innovation though. I think Lorain is only behind streets such as Elmwood in Buffalo becuase it bottomed out harder and lost more of it's stock. Inner, near east side, will take a lot more work and bright ideas. Most everything seems to have been wiped out so there isnt a template to work on. We need to rebuild in the densest way possible here ()

I can see how that might work, but the sense I've gotten from WNY people is the state forgets them and they have to battle NYC for every penny.  As usual I don't accept that the universe is structurally aligned against Cleveland.  I think we can do what others can.  I'd like to hear from the Buffalo delegation about alternative policy choices that may actually be available to us.  It's at least worth looking into.  I mean, we have a ton of new and affluent downtown population that Buffalo doesn't.  That's gotta help, right?

 

Western NY actually takes more than it gives to the state treasury (something the suburban Buffalo Trump crowd never wants to admit). 

Its starting.

 

Beginning next month, my building (Stonebridge condo tower) will begin selling off the apartment units as condos. According to our monthly news letter "The current plan is to have two units renovated and ready for sale by the end of January 2018. Additionally, as the units are visited by perspective buyers, additional units will be prepared and sold."

Nice, at least somebody paid attention to the big article in the PD about condo shortages.

The 'build it and they will come period is over' for downtown Cleveland apartment market

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180114/news/148386/build-it-and-they-will-come-period-over-downtown-cleveland-apartment

The 'build it and they will come period is over' for downtown Cleveland apartment market

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180114/news/148386/build-it-and-they-will-come-period-over-downtown-cleveland-apartment

 

What does this mean for the future of some of the big projects such as the Playhouse Square apartment tower, NuCLEus, and the Weston CityMark Warehouse District project?

The 'build it and they will come period is over' for downtown Cleveland apartment market

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180114/news/148386/build-it-and-they-will-come-period-over-downtown-cleveland-apartment

 

Would've been nice to have tenants locked in with mortgages rather than rents...

 

Who's been saying that? Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

Downtown still has 95% occupancy rates. That is still healthy. 

 

Would've been nice to have tenants locked in with mortgages rather than rents...

 

Who's been saying that? Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

 

So I'll put this out there -- NEOtrans, an arm of the nonprofit All Aboard Ohio is willing to buy or, more likely, receive by donation a piece of vacant downtown land next to a Waterfront Line rail station. NEOtrans would own the land, pay no real estate taxes on the land and will make the land available at below-market lease rates to a high-density, mixed use to bring more ridership to the transit system. Meanwhile, a condominium association forms with buy-in from up to 300 would-be homeowners. Each provides bank-verified statements that they have the financial wherewithal to provide anywhere from $250,000 (for a condo in the lower part of the tower), to $350,000 for a condo in the middle part of the tower, to $450,000 for a condo in the upper part of the tower, to $1.5 million each for two penthouses. The extent of buy-in would determine the final height of the tower. The goal is to raise upwards of $100 million from pre-sale activities. There would also be a ground-floor tenant such as a restaurant, convenience store, coffee shop, etc. Would a bank be willing to finance this arrangement? What's missing from it?

The only issue I see is the tax free land thing.  Tax exemption would be based on use rather than ownership.  I don't think you'd be able to have tax exemption on the land in this scenario.  Someone, correct me if I'm wrong.

Would've been nice to have tenants locked in with mortgages rather than rents...

 

Who's been saying that? Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

 

So I'll put this out there -- NEOtrans, an arm of the nonprofit All Aboard Ohio is willing to buy or, more likely, receive by donation a piece of vacant downtown land next to a Waterfront Line rail station. NEOtrans would own the land, pay no real estate taxes on the land and will make the land available at below-market lease rates to a high-density, mixed use to bring more ridership to the transit system. Meanwhile, a condominium association forms with buy-in from up to 300 would-be homeowners. Each provides bank-verified statements that they have the financial wherewithal to provide anywhere from $250,000 (for a condo in the lower part of the tower), to $350,000 for a condo in the middle part of the tower, to $450,000 for a condo in the upper part of the tower, to $1.5 million each for two penthouses. The extent of buy-in would determine the final height of the tower. The goal is to raise upwards of $100 million from pre-sale activities. There would also be a ground-floor tenant such as a restaurant, convenience store, coffee shop, etc. Would a bank be willing to finance this arrangement? What's missing from it?

 

A guarantee that RTA will be providing (X amount) level of service on the Waterfront line for X amount of years.

If RTA hasn't shut down the Waterfront Line yet, I doubt they will.

Problems at the Vue in Beachwood. .news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/oh-cuyahoga/luxury-beachwood-apartment-complex-floods-again-residents-fed-up

@DowntownCLE

2m2 minutes ago

 

What transportation methods and users should cities' prioritize? Can cities meet the needs of residents, businesses, and tourists alike?

Join us for a conversation with local and national leaders on these issues in #dtCLE May 10th @TheCityClub!

http://ow.ly/v0Bt30j7vma

 

Some on Urban Ohio wonder if we're over-building residential in Cleveland's urban core, be it downtown, Ohio City, University Circle, Duck Island, etc. etc. There was a reason why I don't believe this is the case but I couldn't remember what it was until I saw the statistic that Cleveland has only 0.75 percent of its metro area population in its Central Business District. The average for American cities is 1.3 percent. So we've still got a lot of work to do.

 

Think about this -- we will exceed the national average IF we nearly double the CBD population. That's a lot of development remaining.

 

Downtown Cleveland Alliance says that the projects on the books now will get us to 20,000. That pretty much fills up the last of the zombie office buildings downtown. To get the CBD to 1.3 percent or 26,000? Think about how many new buildings that is. The 34-story Playhouse Square tower will have 319 units. There's about 1.5 people per downtown unit. So that's 478.5 people. That's 12.5 more Playhouse Square towers. Or 25 17-story towers. That gets us only to the average. Of course, we want to be better than average!!

Cleveland's multifamily boom not slowing yet

http://www.rejournals.com/cleveland-s-multifamily-boom-not-slowing-yet-20180618

The construction boom has certainly hit its stride. Some of the largest projects to date are finally starting up. Though I'd like to see some new projects get announced to fill the pipeline for the coming years.

I see plenty of new office/factory conversions into apartments and condos. In no time we will definitely hit 20,000 downtown. Cant wait to see a Macy's downto... EHEM... I mean, an Ikea Mini Shop...

Yes, the conversions that are on the books will get downtown to 20,000. After that, there are no more zombie office buildings to convert. My blog: http://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2018/06/clevelands-core-to-enter-new.html?m=1

Article isn't just about downtown multifamily but it gives some insight into trends affecting it...

 

Bellwether's Jeff Musser: It's still busy out there

https://www.rejournals.com/bellwether-s-jeff-musser-it-s-still-busy-out-there-20180703

Can anyone confirm how many apartment projects are currently underway (not planned) but actually being built?  I know several projects but not actual number of units

 

1. May Company

2. Play House Square Tower

3. Terminal Tower

4. Beacon Building (515 Euclid)

 

Flats East Bank (planned)

Tower at Erieview (partial conversion to residential planned)

 

If anyone can help weigh in with actual units and timelines, it would be great - thanks

CAC should be added to the list of projects underway.

As well as the Halle Building

I know it's not technically downtown...but The Quarter on Detroit and 25th

I cannot recall the name of it but also the small (I think 16 units) Pace is building on the Lakefront by the Rock Hall.

^Harbor Verandas

Kassouf-led group nears big deal for Tower at Erieview

 

Cleveland parking lot operator and longtime real estate owner James Kassouf heads an investor group that is closing in on buying the 40-story Tower at Erieview and the Galleria, 1301 E. Ninth St., from lender-owner RAIT Financial Trust of Philadelphia.

 

Tenants in the building have received a legal document indicating Erieview Acquisition LLC, an Ohio limited liability corporation that lists Kassouf as its president, is the prospective owner of downtown's fourth-largest skyscraper and the attached glass-topped Galleria, a mall with multiple vacancies.

 

The circulation of such a document indicates the pending transaction is in its final stages. Sources familiar with the situation said the Kassouf-led group expects to close within the month and will pay about $30 million for the long-troubled property. Joseph Kassouf, one of James Kassouf's sons, has met with brokerages seeking to represent the office tower and has indicated the new owners are considering following through on a plan to convert part of the tower to apartments.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180729/news/169886/kassouf-led-group-nears-big-deal-tower-erieview

 

 

Wow I have never seen that video before. Obviously the likelihood of anything proceeding as described in the video is low but I do like the concept of turning the Galleria into a kind of food hall experience. It would be incredibly popular with the lunch crowds who in that area don’t have much. Loved the idea of bringing back Top of the Town. If this deal goes through it would be nice to impliment some of the ideas presented in that video...

I love the idea of turning it into a giant indoor greenspace. The video showed Opryland as the inspiration - anything remotely like that would be incredible. The idea of adding apartment towers to it is also great, though not in the form he illustrated. Too bad that's said to be ruled out now. Hopefully a plan for them comes back when the apartments in the tower do well.

I wonder how old that plan and video has been in the works.  The tie in with The Malls and Lakefront development plan are very different than what has been built and designed.  Th e plan for The Galleria reminds me of the atrium at The BP Building prior to it's renovation a year ago. 

Downtown Boom Drives Demand in Cleveland

The metro’s urban core reached a milestone of 15,000 residents and more than 95,000 jobs in 2017, making it the largest downtown in Ohio.

https://www.multihousingnews.com/post/downtown-boom-drives-demand-in-cleveland/

Residences at Terminal Tower site is up...www.terminaltower.com

 

Fall 2019 occupancy