The building looks cool -- a tad on the conservative side, maybe, but a marketed improvement over what's there now.  I'm just wondering why the removal of the canopies?  Don't people realize we have, er, somewhat inclement weather here in Cleveland and that, though they may not be beautiful, they serve a key function?  Why the 'beauty over function' kick?  RTA similarly removed bus canopies in the Windermere rebuild.  Fortunately, though, they expanded them down the tracks at Superior.

oooh, i love that video!  It looks like a scene out of the Sims!  The design looks good and I really like the plaza and access points.  It would be nice if this kicked a TOD proposal into higher gear over here.  I know it's possible...

 

And clvlndr, I'm not sure what canopies your referring to.  From the renderings, it looks like there will be station canopies both on the elevated (rail) platform and down on the bus level as well. 

 

Looks great to me!

MGD, I only meant the canopies on the bus transfer platform -- I know they'll keep them over the Rapid's platform.  In looking at the artist rendering, again, I suppose I can see them along the retain wall of the rapid track's.  These don't, appear, directly connected to the station head house, however, unless they are clear Plexiglas and I simply can't see it.  I'm all about passenger comfort over looks.  Even though the old CTS structures are worn out and dated, architecturally, they sometimes were superior in terms of a comfort/convenience stand point.

 

Case-in-point:  W. 25, where, before, the station served both sides of busy Lorain Ave before RTA relocated the whole structure across Lorain causing the bulk of the commuters (those, from my limited vantage point as merely a frequent visitor), who mainly go to such high trip generators as the WSM and St. Ignatius HS and Market Sq, generally, to schlep across busy, dangerous Lorain Ave.  Sure, the old station had a dark tunnel ramp under Lorain to the current location, but modern standards, not to mention a new Lorain bridge over the tracks that has eliminated the blind-spot causing pillars of the old bridge, could accommodate a ramp and stairs/escalators, to the more important north side of Lorain...

 

... just my take.

 

yeah, i'm not a big fan of the West 25th Street station.  I used it as a little Wildcat in the mid-90s and again now as a commuter in the opposite direction.  It's amazing how much deterioration that station has suffered from in just 10 years!  I hope they're making these more recent ones more durable!  As I never used the prior station, I was unaware that there was an entrance on the north side of Lorain.  That would be a nice addition now, since it is kind of tricky to get over there at times. 

 

and yes, I'm more for comfort and function at transit stations than I am for aesthetics, but I am pleased that the RTA appears to be putting a little more into aesthetics and urban context than they have in years past.  They'd treated all of their Red Line stations as if they were park-n-rides, ignoring the pedestrian, who I feel is on the rise again...

 

I still think I see a canopy over the bus depot, but it really wouldn't protect the waiting passenger from much but rain...it looks like it'll do nothing to accommodate for wind and cold/hot temperatures, but when have those ever been a factor in Cleveland???

Agree totally.  People who view W. 25 station from street level and don't use it think it's so cute w/ it's bright red (btw, when it was built, did you kinda think RTA would use a red theme in all it’s future station rehabs along the Red Line? … get it?) WSM knock-of clock tower, but it is in really terrible shape.  Paint peeling everywhere, frequent broken out glass in the track canopy, cracked/broken floor tiles and weeds galore growing up inside the canopy.  And its usually dirty, too.  And that steep, way-too-narrow stairwell (where an escalator should be -- traffic here warrants it) drives me crazy -- you practically have to single-file when you're going against the grain of commuters.

 

You'd think that w/ such a great neighborhood show piece that Ohio City is/is becoming, RTA would give this station a bit more TLC.  It's an embarrassment, however, esp being only just over a decade old.

 

I doubt RTA has ever given the West 25th station the power-washing it so desperately needs (or other stations). I often see an RTA vehicle with a big water tank on it, power-washing bus shelters along city streets. Why not with the stations? They're a bigger investment. Why can't RTA expand it's Adopt-A-Shelter program to create one called Adopt-A-Station?

 

Could RTA sell naming rights to stations and give those companies' employees a community-activism role in maintaining the stations? Adding better landscaping? More amenities? ...The Great Lakes Brewing Company Station at Ohio City?The National City Bank Station At Puritas? The Forest City Enterprises Station at Tower City? The Cleveland Clinic Station at University Circle?

 

OK, maybe the Adopt-A-Station might be as far as it goes.....

 

KJP

I'm not into re-naming the stations, but sponsorship and advertising do seem to be on the wane.  Portland did something like that with its streetcar line with print advertising at each station and automated announcements as each station was approached.  I thought it was a little weird, especially considering that the business that was being advertised wasn't always located at that station.  It would be like Great Lakes Brewing sponsoring West 65th.  An announcement would come on and people might think that this was the exit for GLB...I'm sure they've corrected that by now, and I wouldn't be opposed to that sort of thing.  But we could DEFINITELY use some more TLC at these stations.  The most notable problem at the W. 25th station is the stairs...they look like they're about to disintegrate! 

I'd be happy if they could just keep the lights changed in the stations.  I was in the W.25 on Friday night (after convincing non transit people to ride) and there were at least 6 lights burned out or missing and the platform was very dim around 10:30p or so. 

 

Let's just say that the others I convinced will probably be taking cabs or their cars in the future. 

 

This should just be a preventative maintenance program that when a lightbulb burns out, it gets replaced - even if it happens weekly.  Regardless, 6 main overhead lights should not be out at once.

Let's just say that the others I convinced will probably be taking cabs or their cars in the future.

 

Oh, they just need to get used to a little urban grit! ;)

I don't know, I live in OC and use that station frequently, and it doesn't seem so bad to me. I mean, most NYC subway stations aren't exactly in tiptop condition, and people still use them.

A dim platform scared them away from riding the Red Line again? Wow, we Americans sure are a coddled lot!

 

KJP

P.S. what do they expect to find in a taxi cab?

i agree, though, that simple maintenance like that can make a huge difference to perceived safety and the feeling that someone is actually looking out for you.  On the other hand, those lights sure are high up in the air!  How do you change one of those anyways???

So, I'm not saying their fears are warranted and I agree with you urban grit comment.

 

However, on the other hand, I think one of the best ways to improve transit is to get as many people from suburbs/inner suburbs/non-transit people to take advantage of it - and not just for big events.  If ridership could slowly increase through TOD and basic maintenance like station washing and light bulb replacement, then i think there can be a slow wave of ridership building up.  At some point there would almost always be so many people waiting for trains that you wouldn't notice that there were a few lights out or that the stairs were almost rusted through.  I've been in plenty of dumpy stations world wide, and a lot of ours aren't that bad.  These are basic, inexpensive things that don't get close to what I want as a frequent transit rider (basic schedules posted, real time arrival at main stations, all cars open on red line all day, etc.)

 

Again in my mind, these are basic things - things that any well run business would always do.  you wouldn't often see an inner city store chain (or a walmart parking lot in the suburbs) with lights missing in their parking lot or entry way.  For whatever reason, I don't think RTA is thinking of their stations as assets and magnets for ridership, but only as maintenance liabilities, and RTA doesn't seem particularly proactive in keeping up these investments through ongoing maintenance.

 

Maybe this is an extension of an "adopt a station" mentality.  If a group from each neighborhood actually alerted the RTA to these problems and volunteered to help monthly or quarterly to wash/paint/clean, i think this would make a big difference.  Perhaps an RTA column in some local newspaper?  There are plently of traffic related columns that run weekly, but  i haven't seen a  weekly column on rail/bus issues in northeast ohio. 

OK, I'm game. I'd be happy to do one for Sun.

 

KJP

Go for it, KJP, you'd be great.  Got a name for your column: "Talking Transit."

Perhaps a first topic would be the clusterf#ck that has become the 55 line  :whip:

What's up MayDay? Are you referring to the half-hour frequencies during the day? If so, I was disappointed to learn that the 20-minute headways were reduced to 30 minutes. But I don't have a problem with the rush-hour service. There's a local and express bus alternating every 5 minutes.

 

KJP

Oh, and to bring us back to this thread's original topic...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/westsidesunnews/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1125000446237130.xml&coll=3

 

Station to be replaced

Thursday, August 25, 2005

By DAVID PLATA

West Side Sun News

 

The aging Regional Transit Authority station on West 117th Street will be torn down beginning in about a month, then replaced with a new and larger station.

 

The RTA board on Tuesday awarded the entire $4.6 million contract to Ohio Diversified Services Inc. The amount is 8.8 percent lower than an earlier $5.1 million estimate.

 

The station, at West 117th and Madison Avenue in Cleveland, bordering Lakewood, was built in the 1950s, when the Red Line, moving passengers between downtown and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, was built.

 

Officials first intended to replace the station more than a decade ago, but the project was delayed while work went ahead on the Waterfront Line, the Triskett Station renovation and other projects. Former Lakewood Mayor Madeline Cain, at the time an RTA trustee, four years ago dismissed an early design as too futuristic, looking like a space station.

 

The new plans, with design cues taken from the UCAR Building across West 117th Street _ made of red brick with rounded windows _ were drawn up by Bialosky & Partners of Shaker Square.

 

It's supposed to look like an early industrial building or a power plant, said Maribeth Feke, RTA director of programming and planning. That's sort of what it's reminiscent of. It does fit really well with that building.

 

Feke said the station will remain open during the work, which will be completed in about two years.

 

It'll be tricky, because we have a lot of construction phasing, she said. It's going to be very difficult to keep that station under operation, but we are.

 

She said the existing station is small and somewhat hidden by the rail bridge over West 117th. She said the new station, taller and rounder, will be more visible. The bridge itself will be repainted, she said.

 

And she said the ugly canopies along West 117th Street will be removed and replaced with landscaping and new shelters on both sides of the street.

 

We worked with both the city of Lakewood and the city of Cleveland on the station, Feke said.

 

The station is used by about 700 rail passengers every day, said Jerry Masek, RTA spokesman.

 

Feke said the number of parking spaces will remain the same, at about 145.

 

The station is a connecting point for the 804 Lakewood Circulator and three regular bus routes _ the 75X, 50 and 25.

 

END

Sounds good so far...

 

Church is sold Marous will redevelop site

 

Thursday, October 06, 2005

 

By DAVID PLATA

 

West Side Sun News

 

A year after they were supposed to sign a one-year option to buy the former Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, Marous Brothers Construction finally inked the agreement this week.

 

The agreement lets the Willoughby-based company, one of the premier builders in the Cleveland area, explore options to redevelop the more than 80-year-old octagonal sandstone building, at West 117th Street, the border with Lakewood.

 

It takes two to tango, said Councilman Jay Westbrook, D-18, in whose ward the building is located. They took longer than we anticipated to complete their initial due diligence. 

 

Chip Marous, company president, did not return a call for comment.

 

Ownership of the church, which has stood empty more than a decade, reverted to the city after another developer, Landmark Square Ltd., couldn't follow through on development plans more than a year ago.

 

In the meantime, Westbrook said, Marous completed some $120,000 in emergency repairs at its cost _ including patching a leaky roof and correcting water damage inside the building.

 

Marous has completed or is involved in several major projects on the West Side, including redevelopment of the former West Tech High School as West Tech Lofts, and redevelopment of the former Eveready Battery site on West 73rd Street as the $100 million Battery Park, including townhouses, condos and apartments.

 

Now, Westbrook said, Marous is to look at ways to redevelop not only the church building, but also the commercial strip fronting on Clifton Boulevard between West 117th and the Giant Eagle supermarket at West 116th Street.

 

The supermarket is expected to shut down in at the end of next year and move to West 117th Street next to Interstate 90, where Rysar Properties is building a 123,800-square-foot Target and an 87,325-square-foot Giant Eagle.

 

Westbrook said conceptual plans now will include more residential units than were planned a year ago. At the time, preliminary plans envisioned up to 17 condominiums and six townhouses, along with an expanded Giant Eagle.

 

The plans now discard a supermarket component, but include more housing and smaller retail uses.

 

The plans now could include up to 30 or more housing units, Westbrook said.

 

While the neighborhood will be left without a supermarket, Anita Brindza, director of Cudell Improvement Inc., the local nonprofit development group, said she would like Marous to find alternative specialty markets that would cater to local pedestrian shoppers, also possibly including pet shops, clothing and other retail shops.

 

We also would like to see small individual business people, she said. That's been the backbone of Clifton Boulevard for years and years. There are many small specialty retailers _ independents, not chain stores _ that have done very well there.

 

 

I don't get big bookstores constantly thumbing their noses at urbanized Cleveland.  We in Shaker Sq. are still reeling from Joseph-Beth abandoning the square's beautiful 2-story facility for boring/sterile Legacy Village, (also, while punking the Square, J-B built a big store in Pittsburgh's urban Southside neighborhood -- why does it seem businesses are always out to screw Cleveland?)  ... which, to date, I still boycott Legacy Village and J-B for this very reason.  Indy bookstore Loganberry's is nice, on Larchemere is nice and we do support it... We have no large/quality bookstores in downtown; in Ohio City (though I love indy cubbyhole the Bookstore on 25th), or U. Circle, and so on...

 

... The church, in the heart of Edgewater/Gold Coast would be an excellent area for a Borders or Barnes.  But they keep spinning this "oversaturated" crap as a ruse, because we all know it's exactly the opposite here.

I agree with you clvlndr... I loved taking the rapid to Shaker Square to shop at Joseph Beth and now they sport these ads in the papers that say something like "shop at Cleveland's independent bookseller" at freakin Legacy Village!!!  Bookstores don't need to be huge to be successful, but so many of the chains are subscribing to the same economies of scale that the big-boxes are...minimum square footages that they can't find in the city and what not.  But really, what was the problem at Shaker Square???  It was beautiful, historic, accessible, and HUGE!!! 

 

So, that option appears to be dead on W.117.  I hope they find a good function for the church and that the continued growth in the housing stock nearby will eventually lure more specialty shops.  I would love to see a green grocer over there and I feel like those can function every 50 blocks or so.  Have one on 117th and another on 65th (I've already got the site picked out) and we've already got pretty good options down on W. 25th, so no problem there.  But definitely in Tremont!

 

Anyways, I love Marous and more power to them!

I agree with both of you.  In the next three years, there should be a Barnes & Noble at the Corner of Euclid and Ford.  That will be a start.  Cleveland needs and deserves better book stores.

absolutely!  And if a university retail district can't support it, I don't know who can!  On that note, I believe CSU's bookstore is run by B&N as well and they're planning for a significant expansion as part of the CSU master plan.  Go college!

CSU's bookstore will be a B&N.

 

Clvndr.  I agree with you about J-B.  and to this date i've only been to Legacy Village ONCE and that was at 10PM.  I drove thru and  was like...its a faux shaker square, with no soul.

 

I will never shop at J-B just like I will never step foot in a Dillard's.  NEVA!!

 

The Marous guys are great.  It seems they've been busy and haven't let the district park setback deter them.  I hope they could do some highrise & high density projects on the east side in thh 20s/30s/40's especiall the bluff area.  Some cool highrises there would get alot of attention.

The easiest stuff to do on the near east side is warehouse conversion on superior. It starts from about where the plane dealer is to the innerbelt. Some of the buildings appear to be ~slightly~ converted into some live/work spaces, but others are still used for some type of warehousing/light industry. That being said, I don't think that is happening anytime soon. There seems to be alot more focus on the near west side fo town, than the east side. I see that area booming when CSU  swollows up all of their surface lots with student housing/university buildings, as an area for students to live off-campus

From the 10/13/05 West Side Sun News:

 

 

Rapid rebuild coming to 117th

Thursday, October 13, 2005

By DAVID PLATA

West Side Sun News

 

A metalized ceramic mural, designed by Brinsley Tyrell, the Ravenna artist who designed parts of the memorial to fallen police and firefighters on Rocky River Drive, will be a part of the rebuilt RTA station at West 117th Street and Madison Avenue.

 

A $4.7 million reconstruction of the historic station, in Cleveland but on the border with Lakewood, began Tuesday and is to be completed in two years.

 

The mural will depict scenes from the station's past, beginning with its opening in 1955, when it was the western terminus of the Red Line. It will be placed in the pedestrian tunnel to make it a more delightful space, said John Goodworth, RTA project manager.

   

Tyrell, a retired art professor at Kent State University, designed the metal fencing and sculptures, depicting police and firefighting scenes, atop the West Park Cleveland Police and Firefighters Memorial. The sculpture runs along most of the length of the stone mural and walkway overlooking the Metroparks valley.

 

The station will be renamed Highland Square at West 117th Street, a reference to a neighborhood name used in the 1800s.

 

Ohio Diversified Services Inc. was awarded the entire contract. The company's bid was 8.8 percent lower than the $5.1 million estimate.

 

The station, used by about 700 rail passengers daily and a connecting point for the 804 Lakewood Circulator and three regular bus routes - the 75X, 50 and 25 - will remain open during the work.

 

Plans to rebuild the aging station had been percolating for more than a decade. But the work was delayed while other projects, including the Waterfront Line, the Triskett Station renovation and others, went ahead.

 

Four years ago, then-Lakewood Mayor Madeline Cain, at the time also an RTA trustee, dismissed an early station design as too futuristic, looking like a space station.

 

The new design, by Bialosky & Partners of Shaker Square, was inspired by the UCAR Building across West 117th in Lakewood, looking somewhat like an early industrial building or a power plant.

 

The work will entail replacing the existing station, which is small and somewhat hidden by the rail bridge over West 117th, with a taller and rounder building, which will be more visible.

 

Other improvements include expanding the parking area to 170 spaces, installing a large, quick elevator with glass panels, a heated platform-level waiting area, new canopies between the station and waiting buses, and an energy-efficient neon light, with the RTA logo, atop the station.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/westsidesunnews/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1129225314250360.xml&coll=3

 

I think that it is unlikely.  They have plenty of land that isn't prohibitively expensive.  Same at Steelyard Commons.  Honestly, though, something like this is what I had been hoping for at E.4th and Prospect.  A multifloor Target, with smaller retail on the ground floor and a structured parking garage.  It could even have been stacked with a multifloor Best Buy or something else above it.

 

But I agree that what you've shown here would have been better than what is proposed.

Will someone please RESPOND with information regarding any upcoming CITY HALL meetings on THIS DEVELOPMENT

 

it is a symptom and a cause of Cleveland's low self-esteem about itself when projects like this one (designed for the suburbs) get built in the city.

 

This is CLEVELAND.  We should strive for the BEST DESIGN not some cookie cutter suburban CRAP

 

whoever, know, please respond with date's of upcoming design/review meetings....PLEASE.

 

i will contact bob brown and see if i can find out anything.

I think that it is unlikely.  They have plenty of land that isn't prohibitively expensive.  Same at Steelyard Commons.  Honestly, though, something like this is what I had been hoping for at E.4th and Prospect.  A multifloor Target, with smaller retail on the ground floor and a structured parking garage.  It could even have been stacked with a multifloor Best Buy or something else above it.

 

But I agree that what you've shown here would have been better than what is proposed.

 

I agree somewhat.  Its in the middle of downtown.  Why do we need another parking structure included?

 

we've got to start weening people off of parking get them to start walking and using public transportatation.  We've got to try to change the mindset of those in the region.

 

I am against any parking lots within a 30 block radiuss of public square or ANY proposed highways in the city proper!  :x

Planning Commission meetings are held at 9 a.m. at the first and third Thursdays of each month. In fact, I encourage anyone from the Greater Cleveland area who is interested in urban redevelopment and design to attend at least one of these meetings. Here is where you get the first official notice of new development and redevelopment projects in the city, and get to see architectural renderings, site plans, maps and other cool stuff that churns the gears of New Urbanist freaks like me.

Well put KJP.  We are all freaks here on UrbanOhio.  But then again we could have worse issues.  Cities and new urbanism items are awesome.  Go Density!!! :-D

Here's to density!

 

I haven't heard mention of this anywhere but on here...but I'll be sure to post if I do!

 

I love that Target is going this route...I've been to the one in Brooklyn (quite a bit, actually!) and the one in University Heights on Cleveland's East Side.  They're both totally functional and fit in so much better to the existing landscape.  The issue about blank walls on the sidewalk is still an issue, but many old department stores remedies this with little window boxes where they'd showcase some of what was inside... perhaps Target will start to utilize these?  Anyway, I don't know enough about this neighborhood or this project to really comment, but I hope they do go for best design practice, as it makes for the most profitable developments in the long-run!

KJP, I believe the Planning Commission meets first and third Fridays. Design reviews are held Thursdays.

Oops! Thanks for the save!

here is a look at the development site courtesy of google earth

 

can someone please take this image and highlight the area to be developed?  does anyone actually know what the proposed siteplan is?  i have been in contact with the planning commission and will let everyone know of any new information i find out. I realy like KJP suggestion of attending the planning commission meetings.  we must no longer tolerate such low standards for development.

The short, text-answer (I believe) is that it's everything between the interstate north to the Home Depot store. That includes the residential areas on Elmwood, Sector, West 120th, etc., plus the self-storage facility and the Highland Party Center immediately north of the residences. In addition to a new Target will be a Giant Eagle store, relocated from Clifton and West 116th Street.

 

If a new-urbanist Target and grocery store were built, both could fit where the party center and self-storage facility are located -- possibly without demolishing the neighborhood.

^all the homes between Sector and I-90 will be torn down.  I am not sure about the space between Sector and the Home Depot.

 

There certainly is a lot of commericial space going up in Cleveland. 

Information from the Cleveland Planning Commission in quotes, below:

 

"Our West 117th Street BRD Design Review Committee meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every month, when there is something on the agenda. It is held at the offices of Cudell Improvement, located at 11650 Detroit Avenue."

Contact Cudell Improvement  http://www.cleveland.oh.us/cudell/contact.htm  to see if there is a need for a meeting

 

"As far as my personal thoughts on the Target proposal, I think that we have done a good job through the design review committee and the City Planning Commission. Many things were discussed, and Target, through their agent, explained to us what areas were not open to discussion (such as building placement) and we started from there. Our committee was more focused on potential truck traffic concerns with the surrounding industrial area, while I personally stressed incorporation of sustainable design elements, and the Planning Commission strongly supported my efforts. We are currently advocating placement of an RTA shelter on an outlot of the development, with pedestrian access clearly delineated on the site plan. But our ability to make these kinds of things happen stems more from good-faith negotiations than regulatory authority. However, at the end of the day, I think we will receive a much better product" than we would have if we didn’t have design review authority."

 

Any thoughts on this??

sounds pretty weak

I found this article from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and thought it was applicable to this development (as well as many others)....

 

http://www.biketraffic.org/biketraffic/BT1101/

 

The Moat of Parking

By Payton Chung

 

The lords of medieval castles dug moats to keep invaders out. Today, many shopping centers and office complexes seem to have the same mentality — but, instead of keeping away marauding tribes of Visigoths, it’s cyclists, pedestrians, and transit patrons who are being kept away.

 

The number of parking lots built to accommodate driving customers has grown, surrounding many buildings in impenetrable moats of asphalt, access roads, and landscaping. A typical mall in the suburbs might sit in a sea of parking five times as large as the mall itself, and the ratios are similar for offices and schools.

 

Communities across Chicagoland are working to remedy this problem. The city of Chicago requires any new store be built alongside streets and requires that parking be placed behind or beside the building.

 

PACE, the bike-friendly suburban bus network, reviews site plans (for free!) and recommends ways for developments to be friendly to transit riders. Solutions include, continuous sidewalks (sheltered by trees) through parking aisles, painting crosswalks, discouraging high speed turns with tight corners and T intersections, reducing the total number of curb cuts, and placing buildings so that they address the street, rather than the parking lot.

 

At the same time, it’s often the municipalities’ requirements that force developers to build parking lots. Almost all new developments must include parking spaces, and the numbers can be absurdly high —— shopping malls must provide enough spaces for day-after-Thanksgiving crowds, all year.

 

Having adjacent buildings share parking lots could cut huge parking lots down to a more manageable size. Bringing buildings closer to one another, making it possible for people to bike or walk between buildings, would eliminate the short car trips which create a disproportionate share of the region’s air pollution and traffic congestion.

 

Making parking scarce can also discourage people from driving; surveys show that the expense of parking downtown is a major reason why people ride CTA.

 

Parking lots don’t have to be moats girdling our buildings. Instead, smart planning can welcome both those arriving by car and those arriving on bikes, feet, or buses.

 

END

 

 

Demolition set for new center Target opening is a year away

Thursday, November 24, 2005

By DAVID PLATA

West Side Sun News

 

Demolition is expected to begin in January for construction of the $50 million Target and Giant Eagle retail development at West 117th Street, just north of Interstate 90.

 

The last person moves out the end of January, said Ken Lurie, president of Rysar Properties, the project developer.

 

All told, 109 houses will be torn down for the project, as well as the Highland Party Center.

 

A groundbreaking on the 20-acre site, on the west side of West 117th, will be held shortly after residents are moved out.

 

Target is planning on being open in October 2006, Lurie said. They have a lot of work to do.

 

The 123,800-square-foot Target will be the company's first store in Cleveland; the closest one now is in Rocky River.

 

With the project, Giant Eagle will open an 87,325-square-foot store and close its store at West 116th Street and Clifton Boulevard. Sapell's Bi-Rite, across West 117th Street in Lakewood, will remain as the only supermarket in that area.

 

Councilwoman Dona Brady, D-19, in whose ward the project is taking place, said Sector Avenue will remain where it is and will be the major entrance into the development. The project also will include a Getgo gas station, where Giant Eagle customers will be able to buy gas at a discount.

 

Brady said discussions are under way with the Regional Transit Authority to bring a Circulator bus to the site.

 

The street is so far away from the store, she said. You can't expect people to get off a bus and walk that distance.

 

She said the stores will be about half a block or further away from West 117th.

 

City Council last summer approved a $6 million loan to help with the property buy-outs.

 

Lurie said Rysar paid some $17.8 million for the properties, including the city loan.

 

Residents were paid about 30 percent more for their properties than their real value, Lurie has said, in part because Brady said all along she would not support use of eminent domain, the legal procedure that lets municipalities buy property at fair market value for public purposes.

 

The $6 million loan was to help with the property buys. The money will be repaid by Target from taxes generated by the project.

Looks like there's going to be half a block of parking fronting on West 117th Street. Bummer.

It sounds like Brady knows this is a problem -- she should be going for better design, not just a bus circulator! I don't understand why we insist on destroying our city's walkability. It's one of our best assets, and projects like this severely compromise it.

That said, I'm glad I'll be able to spend my Target money (because I admit I *do* shop there) in the city.

From the 12/23/05 Lakewood Sun Post:

 

 

Cities line up W. 117th border plans

Thursday, December 22, 2005

By DAVID PLATA

Lakewood Sun Post

 

Cooperation between Cleveland and Lakewood may be the order of the day for any redevelopment along West 117th Street, the border between the two cities.

 

Lakewood Mayor Thomas George said in a news release that the cities have reached a joint development agreement for the area between Edgewater Drive and Berea Road.

 

This agreement is a landmark start to better days along West 117th, George said in the release.

 

Cleveland Councilman Jay Westbrook, D-18, in whose ward the landmark former Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist is located - and which stands to be redeveloped as a commercial and residential center - said the agreement is still to be ratified by the two city councils.

 

According to the release, the cities will engage in good faith discussion of potential tax sharing agreements for new development.

 

Asked whether that means that taxes from the church redevelopment will be shared with Lakewood, Westbrook said, The key phrase is "good-faith discussion.' There's nothing without legislation.

 

George did not return calls for comment. Tom Jordan, Lakewood planning and development director, also did not return a call.

 

Westbrook said the status of the stalled church redevelopment remains where it was three months ago: Marous Brothers Construction at long last signed a one-year-option to buy the property.

 

The agreement lets the company explore options to redevelop the building, as well as the commercial strip fronting on Clifton Boulevard between West 117th and the Giant Eagle supermarket at West 116th Street.

 

Ownership of the more than 80-year-old octagonal sandstone building, on the Cleveland side of West 117th at Lake Avenue, reverted to the city more than a year ago after another developer couldn't follow through on redevelopment plans.

 

Other points in the pact between the cities, according to George's release, include use of uniform design standards, jointly seeking redevelopment proposals, and joint financing agreements.

 

It's one commercial corridor, which is best developed in a complementary way on both sides of the street, Westbrook said.

 

Cleveland Councilwoman Dona Brady, D-19, whose ward borders Lakewood at Berea Road, said the plan also may include provisions for maintaining industrial areas, such as the Welded Ring factory at West 117th and Berea.

 

She said the street has an average daily traffic count of about 24,000 vehicles.

 

What we're trying to achieve here is a master plan for West 117th Street, Brady said. It's very obvious that most of it is going to be primarily retail development - and most of it is already.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/lakewoodsunpost/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1135273584201470.xml&coll=3

 

OK, so Crain's came out with it's 2006 Book of Lists, which includes a list of the top regional architects.  Best yet, the PDF version contains built in links to nearly all of those architects!  Here are some renderings I found of the W. 117th Red Line Station that will be rebuilt soon.

 

Additional renderings that are too big for me to submit as attachments can be found here:

http://www.bialosky.com/index.cfm/portfolio/ontheboards/GCRTA-W.117th_

Wow, very nice!

I posted one of those pics last March....

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2675.msg26034#msg26034

 

I thought I had posted the other pics but a quick search reveals I had not. There is another string devoted to the West 117th station, though.

 

I'd like to see this station have a parking deck topped with housing. Of all the RTA West-side stations, this one can be better integrated with its neighborhood than most of the others.

 

Oops, sorry.  Didn't mean to make multiple threads on the same topic.  Maybe a mod could combine them?

Grasscat's the man.

A beautiful upgrade for a station that really needed it.  I use W. 117th Street a lot when I go to Cleveland on business and this will be a very wellcome change.  It ought to also spur some improvement around the station as well.

The layout that they've chosen does leave open a nice developable area in that parking lot.

I like KJP's idea. That area needs a boost, and it's near enough to some already-decent places to make it viable.

 

I used to use that station 25 years ago when I was dating someone who lived in Lakewood, and it was a filthy, run-down dump, then. I can't image that it has improved on its own in the intervening years.