^^I'm not happy about it either, bizbiz.  Still, nothing is certain until they actually buy the property and get in the ground.  I'm holding out hope that they'll lose interest and leave the area alone. 

Didn't know if anyone had seen this, but I received a notice a week and a half ago about a public hearing to discuss a Zaremba group plan (I live right behind CVS/Huntington).  It concerns the CVS on the corner of W117th and Clifton.  From what I can gather, they are asking to have some codes relaxed to add a mixed use property on that site, it seems that the project would go from W117th all the way to Hird. 

The docket number is 3-5-08, if anyone wants to look it up.

That's interesting; when/where is the public hearing?

March 5, 7pm, Lakewood City Hall.

I've read it twice and still don't understand it fully.  Sheesh.

 

Sean McDermott, Zaremba Group, 14600 Detroit Avenue, #1500, Lakewood, applicant and representative for the property owners and CVS/pharmacy, request a Mixed-Use Overlay.  The applicant is requesting conditional use for mixed-use overlay pursuant to Chapter 1135 to include the footprint of the western addition, and gateway identification.  Approval pursuant to Chapter 1133, demolition of an existing structure at 11730 Clifton Boulevard.  The applicant is requesting the Planning Commission relax the following: Section 1135.09 – Landscape buffer not less than 10 feet.  A 5 foot variance along the rear (north) property line.  Subsection 1127.09(a) maximum lot area coverage of principal structure of not more than 20%.  An 11% variance to allow principal structure to cover 31% of total area.  Section 1141.02 required fencing along property line.  A variance to allow a hedgerow in lieu of a fence along the north property line.  Existing conditions requiring variances to bring property up to current Zoning Code, to Section 1127.07 – setbacks.  A variance to allow the existing building to remain on the north property line.  A variance to Section 1153.02, fences in front of the building line.  A 40 foot variance along Clifton, a 20 foot variance on Clifton next to Hird, a 5 foot variance along Hird and a 5 foot variance along West 117th Street.  Public sidewalks to be replaced along Clifton Boulevard as a result of the construction of the brick wall shall be concrete.  A variance to Chapter 1143, Off-street Parking requirement to allow the 8 compact car parking spaces to remain.  Conditional Use requests include: Section 1161.03(u) 24-hour operation, and a conditional use to allow an existing drive-thru and the addition of another drive-thru in an MH, Multiple-Family, high density, Residential District.

 

http://www.ci.lakewood.oh.us/boards_rev_plancomm.html

This wasnt the corner I expected Zaremba to be proposing something for.....

This is less than three blocks from where I live. I think this is an awesome project. I hope others agree. My fear is that some brainless cleveland.com mavens or fossilized neighbors of this project will raise a baseless stink about it.

 

This corner could be amazing if this project happens, as well as the proposed Marous redevelopment on the Cleveland side of West 117th where the abandoned church is.

Woops, I was confusing Zaremba with the Marous project.

This is less than two blocks from where I live. I think this is an awesome project. I hope others agree. My fear is that some brainless cleveland.com mavens or fossilized neighbors of this project don't raise a baseless stink about it.

 

This corner could be amazing if this project happens, as well as the proposed Marous redevelopment on the Cleveland side of West 117th where the abandoned church is.

 

Have you seen the plans?

No. Have you? I'd like to. Our reporter is going to the meeting tonight and I asked if she could take some pictures.

 

She's also interviewing the folks doing the Brothers Lounge and she'll be taking pictures of that, too.

^Nope, I haven't seen them.

Isn't this CVS fairly new? I mean, yeah, tear the sucker down, it's an awful location for a suburban setback drug store. I'd rather see a 5-12 story mixed use right there. Also, to powers that be out there, please remove the gas station and build out that corner too!!!!!!!!

^actually, I think that the CVS is an older building. I remember that it was a somewhat fancy restaurant back in the 1980s. I could be wrong, but I think it dates back well before the 80s.

The CVS was originally built as a Clark Restaurant back in the 1930s. Clark was a pretty popular chain back in the day. It later became the Blue Fox restaurant in the 1960s and was a mob hangout with gambling in the back and valets out front. One of our employees was a valet there and had quite a few stories about the clientele and what went on there.

 

The place was raided by police in 1984. Here are two article listings on Cleveland News Index:

 

Ex-Blue Fox bartender, Michael P. Rini, & bookie, Joseph A. Spaganlo face Lakewood gambling charges

        * Plain Dealer 02 Mar, 1984, pg. 11 sec. A

 

Blue Fox raid evidence barred

        * Plain Dealer 23 Aug, 1984, pg. 07 sec. A

 

I think the Blue Fox changed its name and possibly its ownership before Tony George (a colorful restaurateur and convicted felon) bought the property for his chain of Slam Jams sports bars in the late 80s or early 1990s. It was still a Slam Jams when I moved into the neighborhood in 1996, and Revco was across the street on the northeast corner of Clifton and West 117th. The Revco drug store chain was bought by CVS and a year or two later moved across West 117th to where Slam Jams was after the building was expanded slightly and remodeled. CVS reopened there in 1998 or 1999.

what will I do without my cvs?? Ok, I will live.

Before it was SlamJams, it was The Dock, an upscale seafood restaurant - there was a second Dock on the east side on Euclid Ave just east of I-90 in Wickliffe.  I know that in 1997 it was SlamJams because that's where I watched Game 7 and the Jose Mesa meltdown.

 

Here's a pic from the Cleveland Memory Collection from the days of Clark's:

 

 

and one from 1977 when it was Blue Fox (after a windstorm apparently)

 

That's it!! The Dock. I knew there was another name in there! See my memory doesn't suck!!

 

There's also an interior shot of the Blue Fox in 1977 somewhere on Clevelandmemory.

 

what will I do without my cvs?? Ok, I will live.

 

Hey, I practically live there! Or at least I did until I quit smoking. Now I go there only once or twice a week. There's always Walgreen's at Detroit-West 117th or the dreaded Drug Mart on Detroit near Fry.

So was anyone able to go to the meeting re: the proposed project on the site of the current CVS?  Any news to share...?

The public hearing was postponed until next Wednesday. Same time and location.

When it was Clark's, it had a cheesy faux Colonial interior ... neat place, my grandfather used to tend bar in their cocktail lounge there ... which was a haul from his house in Euclid.

The Brothers Lounge has finally opened up!  It is located at 11609 Detroit Ave!

 

I stopped in for dinner and drinks last week!  The service along with the food was GREAT! 

 

http://www.brotherslounge.com/

 

Thanks ClevBoi.  We've been discussing Brothers Lounge here  -- http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7249  (edit:) and here too actually  http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,10097.msg265231.html#msg265231

 

I'm going to try to check it out this weekend.

So was anyone able to go to the meeting re: the proposed project on the site of the current CVS?  Any news to share...?

The public hearing was postponed until next Wednesday. Same time and location.

 

Did the meeting ever occur?  Did I miss a PD or Sun news article? 

There was a reference to it in a Lakewood Sun Post article a few weeks ago. Proposed is a Minute Clinic but apparently housing is still being considered. There supposedly are some renderings. I'll see what I can do to get them and post them.

^Thank you sir!

I still wish it could be a bookstore :-(

Carol, I'm referring to the northwest corner of West 117th and Clifton -- in Lakewood. The first building to be demolished would be at Clifton and Hird. The bookstore proposal was for the old church at West 117th and Lake on the Cleveland side. There is still an emerging development proposal for that area.

Carol, I'm referring to the northwest corner of West 117th and Clifton -- in Lakewood. The first building to be demolished would be at Clifton and Hird.

What, the Huntington bank building?  That's my bank, I hope it doesn't disappear.

I was just re-reading the beginnings of this thread, KJP and lamenting that the bookstore idea may be dead.  I will hold out hope lol

What, the Huntington bank building? 

 

Yes.

 

As for the church on the Cleveland side, I'm not sure what would go in there under the new plan by Marous and the owner of the commercial strip along Clifton.

I didn't see anything about this already posted...

 

I was talking to someone about the mass property acquisition that took place on West 117th and I-90 for the new Target and Giant Eagle, and he told me that his parents live across the street and that a developer is eagerly trying to buy their property.  He indicated that someone is pursuing an additional retail project on the east side of the street to feed off of the new stores.

 

Anyone have any details, i.e. who the developer is, the scope of the project, what retail is going in?

No, but I know who to ask and will do so. Stay tuned.

^^I posted a few pages back that one of my friends who lives on W 116th has been talking with a developer as well. 

Anything new on the Clifton area projects?

The I-90/W117th area is gonna be more big box stores on the east side of W117th, that one is so obvious. Sam's Club was what someone was mentioning and I am sure a Wal-Mart could follow. It all started with Staples/Home Depot followed by Target now Giant Eagle. The big boxes are like maggots, they work together.. or they don't work.

People do not shop at "big box" stores becasue they are stupid, though I am sure you believe that to be true. 

As has been pointed out in this thread, having these stores on the edge of Cleveland is NOT a bad thing.  It's where the majority of this country shop, whether we like it or not.  Cleveland is smart to allow these stores.  Now if they were only smart with the downtown area...

I never insinuated that anybody who shops at a big box store is stupid. I wouldn't promote big box stores because that is where everyone else shops. I would rather market and encourage smaller, specialty and independent stores. Eventually, when Wal-Mart takes over the world and that is where we are required to shop, we'll only be able to watch the movies and listen to the music that they decide to offer. We'll only be able to eat the food that they decide to sell. And we'll only be able to use the brand of vitamins that they decide to offer.

I don't think retailers with 12,000-mile-long supply chains are long for this world unless they start getting products made closer to home. Then these huge stores, built in car-dependent sprawlburbias no longer have an advantage over locally made goods that travel shorter distances to market. This is already being discussed in the fuel prices response thread, how fuel prices are acting as a defacto tariff to goods made in distant lands having cheap labor.

KJP - That would be nice, though I am sceptical.  I can't stand the Made in China stickers on everything these days.

We can discuss the geological basis for my beliefs at the peak oil thread. Let's keep this about development on the 117 block west of Public Square.

I asked my friend living on West 116th about whether or not any developers are aggressively seeking his property and he said that they are continuing to make him offers.  He also told me that several of his neighbors have told him that they already settled on a price. 

Ugh, just an expansion of CVS nothing more (except this... "The plans submitted also included a possible gateway feature, such as a "Lakewood" sign").

Oh and OompaLoompa, its looks like your bank will just be moving across Clifton. 

 

 

Bank may have a new home just across Clifton Boulevard

Thursday, July 31, 2008 By Julie Kreuz [email protected] Sun Post

Huntington Bank, with its neighbors, may be moving across the street from its Clifton Boulevard location.

 

Since CVS/Pharmacy, at 11706 Clifton Blvd., purchased the building directly west of its facility on Clifton Boulevard to raze it and expand its facility to include services such as a MinuteClinic, the tenants have been searching for new spaces to occupy.

 

"We are actively relocating the tenants," said Nathan Kelly, director of planning and development. Tenants may move to the facility across the street from the former building to 11801 Clifton Blvd., he said.

 

"We are very excited to stay a part of the community," said Rob Soroka, senior vice president of Huntington Bank.

 

Soroka said the new bank location could open as soon as the beginning of December. "We'll be putting about $600,000 in improvements into the building. We'll be updating the furniture, adding new power lines, new everything. We'll be gutting it and redoing everything," he said.

 

The new location will be slightly smaller. The bank will be moving from its former space of about 2,300 square feet to 1,950 square feet in the new facility, said Soroka. The new location will include a single car drive-through window, he said. It will be the second drive-through window the bank will provide in Lakewood, including one at the Huntington Bank at 15111 Detroit Ave., which was placed at the location in 2007, he said.

 

Construction of the CVS expansion will not take place until the spring of 2009, with a goal to be done by summer 2009, said Sean McDermott, architect with Zaremba Group representing CVS. The expansion will extend the CVS building by about 5,000 square feet and include two drive-through windows for the clinic and pharmacy and additional parking spaces. The plans submitted also included a possible gateway feature, such as a "Lakewood" sign.

 

 

 

I didn't know the Giant Eagle was closing next month!!!!!! Not happy.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/other/1218443506136590.xml&coll=2

Dude, I had an article from February that Giant Eagle was moving next to Target at I-90. Once they're out of the old store on Clifton, that block is slated to be redeveloped -- including possibly with a "boutique" Giant Eagle.

 

Here's the article......

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,925.msg255093.html#msg255093

I know, but I didn't know it was closing next month!

It's closing next month. Deal with it.

 

Actually, I'm not happy either -- I don't want to be forced to drive to get my groceries, which is what I would have to do to continue going to Giant Eagle. Funny thing though -- why go to Giant Eagle when the Target next door has a grocery AND lower prices!?!?

It's closing next month. Deal with it.

 

Actually, I'm not happy either -- I don't want to be forced to drive to get my groceries, which is what I would have to do to continue going to Giant Eagle. Funny thing though -- why go to Giant Eagle when the Target next door has a grocery AND lower prices!?!?

Yeah, guess we gotta deal with it!  Now, a Heinens in the old church like building - how cool would that be!

Giant Eagle to open store on West 117th Street

Posted by Janet Cho September 10, 2008 17:48PM

Categories: Retail

Pittsburgh-based grocer Giant Eagle Inc. will open its newest store at 3050 West 117th St. in Cleveland at 9 a.m. Thursday.

 

The 92,000-square-foot site will feature a GetGo gas station, a WetGo carwash and a drive-through pharmacy. The 24-hour supermarket will also house a Dress for Success dry cleaning location, a Charter One Bank branch and an Eagle's Nest children's activity center for ages 3 to 9.

 

Giant Eagle said a majority of the store's 200 employees transferred from its stores at 11604 Clifton Blvd. and at 10950 Lorain Ave. in Westtown Plaza, both of which were to close Wednesday night.

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/09/giant_eagle_to_open_store_on_w.html

 

If I have to go down there to buy groceries, I'll go to Target next door. My sister says "you'll miss getting the gas discount." I reminded her that I go grocery shopping perhaps once every two weeks and so I get maybe 10-30 cents off per gallon each time I refuel. That saves me $1 to $3 per fill-up. I saved that much by buying one Beritioli frozen Italian dinner at Target where it costs about $6.50. At Giant Eagle, it costs about $2 more -- for one freaking item!

That's the Fuel Perks scam!  Do the math, Fuel Perks do not payoff when you buy items that are available at Marc's, Walmart, or Target.  Not even close.