Thanks for the tip. I couldn't get it to work in Iphone, so emailed to Windows desktop. This is Marquee at Cedar-Lee's Meadowbrook site as seen from the garage today.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, it looked fine in the reply box.

20 hours ago, Quilliam said:

Also, three houses were demolished this month on Taylor between Desota and Altamont.  Is the Oak Tree veterinary, next door, expanding?

Yes. 

So much parking!

54 minutes ago, Growth Mindset said:

So much parking!

By my count, they currently have 14 spaces. The drawing appears to show at least 36, more than doubling the current amount and removing housing all at once. Between this and each business across Taylor down to Superior having their own parking moat, the bigger vision of the Taylor Tudor project for redeveloping the Taylor Commons section is looking more and more necessary.

3 hours ago, Growth Mindset said:

So much parking!

 

2 hours ago, SeaLibrarian said:

By my count, they currently have 14 spaces. The drawing appears to show at least 36, more than doubling the current amount and removing housing all at once. Between this and each business across Taylor down to Superior having their own parking moat, the bigger vision of the Taylor Tudor project for redeveloping the Taylor Commons section is looking more and more necessary.

Looks like an increase to 20 spaces adjacent the building.  That isn't enough?    They currently have a building right on the corner of Desota and Tayler with parking behind it -- I'm guessing that that expanded parking lot across the street in the drawings means that they intend to tear down that current building on the corner (in the future -- after the new construction is complete).

 

Has this project gone through Planning and ABR review yet?

Next ABR meeting on September 7 includes preliminary review of the Noble Station development.  No drawings online yet.

It was on the Planning Commission meeting agenda for July, but withdrawn.  (https://www.clevelandheights.gov/1568/July-2023-Cases)

 

(The ABR's September agenda also includes an odd request for a mid-block residence on Scarborough -- "request to install bollards in front yard" -- I wonder what this all about.)

https://www.clevelandheights.gov/306/Architectural-Board-of-Review

 

 

11 minutes ago, Foraker said:

 

Looks like an increase to 20 spaces adjacent the building.  That isn't enough?    They currently have a building right on the corner of Desota and Tayler with parking behind it -- I'm guessing that that expanded parking lot across the street in the drawings means that they intend to tear down that current building on the corner (in the future -- after the new construction is complete).

 

Has this project gone through Planning and ABR review yet?

 

Answering my own question, it was approved by Planning in January 2023, with a conditional approval on that south parking lot being the only potential holdup in this project:

Quote

2.  The applicant shall continue to work with staff to determine if a code-conforming south parking lot is possible, if not, the parking lot plan must receive all required variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals;

https://www.clevelandheights.gov/1562/January-2023-Cases

 

Also approved by ABR at their January 5, 2023 meeting.

https://www.clevelandheights.gov/306/Architectural-Board-of-Review

 

Zoning approval was granted in March.

https://www.clevelandheights.gov/1551/March-2023-Cases

On 8/29/2023 at 6:24 AM, Growth Mindset said:

So much parking!

Indeed. The city needs to do away with it's minimum parking requirements. A larger building doesn't mean that it always needs a larger parking lot. There's no way that they would ever need that many parking spots all at once. 

37 minutes ago, nickmgray said:

Indeed. The city needs to do away with it's minimum parking requirements. A larger building doesn't mean that it always needs a larger parking lot. There's no way that they would ever need that many parking spots all at once. 

And also do away with overnight street parking bans on most streets. I recall that being a thing in areas like Shaker Square (only in the SH areas) and Coventry

23 minutes ago, metrocity said:

And also do away with overnight street parking bans on most streets. I recall that being a thing in areas like Shaker Square (only in the SH areas) and Coventry

Lee/Harvard does that as well, it's totally silly as there is tons of room for parking on the street. 

57 minutes ago, metrocity said:

And also do away with overnight street parking bans on most streets. I recall that being a thing in areas like Shaker Square (only in the SH areas) and Coventry

 

I thought the reason for that is to keep the street clear for snow plows to work, and to keep people from leaving derelict cars on the street.  Both reasons seem suspect -- you could issue a parking ban during snow storms only.

 

A related question is why should the city provide the land and pavement for private parking? 

Maybe the compromise is to allow on-street parking but charge homeowners on streets with on-street parking the cost to pave/maintain the parking zone.

 

By the way, I have heard that the city is looking into changes to zoning to reduce/eliminate the offstreet parking "requirements" for different zoning classifications in the city.

On 9/7/2023 at 9:48 PM, Foraker said:

I thought the reason for that is to keep the street clear for snow plows to work, and to keep people from leaving derelict cars on the street.  Both reasons seem suspect -- you could issue a parking ban during snow storms only.

Chicago streets that are marked "Snow Route" ban street parking overnight when the snowfall reaches 2 inches. They are mostly arterial commercial streets. During the warmer months  periodic steet cleaning bans go into effect on certain days for one side of the street. Both would deal with the derelict car issue.

Noble Station development voted down by CH City Council. Generally in favor of development, but as this was lacking mixed use or market rate apartments, I can see the point of the Noble residents who felt they were getting a second rate development. As we've seen with Severance, bad development is a lot harder to replace with good development than it is to wait and plan good development to start with. https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/09/noble-station-development-agreement-voted-down-5-2-by-cleveland-heights-city-council.html?outputType=amp

 

And follow-up article with the developer partners TWG and Start Right on what went wrong (any timely effort to get community input or buy-in).

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/09/cleveland-heights-looks-toward-more-community-buy-in-for-noble-neighborhood.html

18 hours ago, SeaLibrarian said:

Noble Station development voted down by CH City Council. Generally in favor of development, but as this was lacking mixed use or market rate apartments, I can see the point of the Noble residents who felt they were getting a second rate development. As we've seen with Severance, bad development is a lot harder to replace with good development than it is to wait and plan good development to start with. https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/09/noble-station-development-agreement-voted-down-5-2-by-cleveland-heights-city-council.html?outputType=amp

 

And follow-up article with the developer partners TWG and Start Right on what went wrong (any timely effort to get community input or buy-in).

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/09/cleveland-heights-looks-toward-more-community-buy-in-for-noble-neighborhood.html

What we have here -- is a failure to communicate. 

 

The general idea to build moderate-income housing wasn't that bad, and they had good partners, but really bad execution in the design and communication -- they needed better support from the community and they didn't go out and get it. They did a half-ass job and thought they could maybe do more later (maybe "because that's the way it worked with Top of the Hill").  Only, no one was happy about how Top of the Hill went down, so that's a poor basis for comparison.

 

I hope that TWG and Start Right start over -- refile the application, continue to meet with ABR and Planning and hold public meetings.  Maybe adopt some of Paul Volpe's suggestions.  And try again.

 

And maybe the city could really pay attention to the issues raised by the residents.  There were calls for coming up with a development for the neighborhood -- the city should listen. (Even the ugly building that TWG proposed wouldn't have been as objectionable if it was just a small piece of a larger plan.)

While we're looking forward to the Music Hop Saturday, some good news for the Heights music scene -- Nighttown is back in early November!  The music will come later, but this is a step in the right direction.

 

https://clevelandmagazine.com/food-drink/articles/nighttown-to-reopen-in-early-november

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the location of the commercial frontage for the Cedar-Lee Meadow Brook apartments changed with the redesign? It looks like the original plan was just fronting Lee and Cedar, but I'm curious if that changed at all since the update site plan doesn't show ground floor uses. 

1 hour ago, Ethan said:

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the location of the commercial frontage for the Cedar-Lee Meadow Brook apartments changed with the redesign? It looks like the original plan was just fronting Lee and Cedar, but I'm curious if that changed at all since the update site plan doesn't show ground floor uses. 

I’m not sure.  I thought all the commercial/retail space was on the Lee-Meadowbrook site, and maybe immediately adjacent the parking garage, I don’t think any was planned for facing Cedar.  But it has been a long time since I looked at the plans.  Was there a recent update?

 

Project seems to be moving along.

14 hours ago, Foraker said:

I’m not sure.  I thought all the commercial/retail space was on the Lee-Meadowbrook site, and maybe immediately adjacent the parking garage, I don’t think any was planned for facing Cedar.  But it has been a long time since I looked at the plans.  Was there a recent update?

 

Project seems to be moving along.

Here is the original site plan for reference. 

 

 

Updated plan doesn't show uses. So I was curious. You can see the updated plan below. 

 

https://neo-trans.blog/2023/03/19/cleveland-heights-cedar-lee-meadowbrook-a-done-deal/

1 hour ago, Ethan said:

Here is the original site plan for reference. 

 

Updated plan doesn't show uses. So I was curious. You can see the updated plan below. 

 

https://neo-trans.blog/2023/03/19/cleveland-heights-cedar-lee-meadowbrook-a-done-deal/

That is not the approved plan.  (Unlike KJP to be behind!)

 

See -- https://www.clevelandheights.gov/1154/Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook

and "Design Presentation by Applicant Approved by ABR on March 1, 2022 (with conditions satisfied at the April 5, 2022 ABR meeting) (PDF)"

 

Looks like there is a retail space (pink color) on the corner of the building on Cedar and the behind-the-theater roadway.  And on the Lee Rd.-facing portion of the Meadowbrook building.

Edited September 22, 20231 yr by Foraker
Resized images

6 hours ago, Foraker said:

That is not the approved plan.  (Unlike KJP to be behind!)

 

 

 

 

 

Can't be everywhere all the time!

 

But I've got a Cle Hts scoop coming!

Cain Park Village is a TMUD applicant...

 

 

6 hours ago, DinaB said:

^Great article. There's only ONE project in Downtown Cleveland and its only asking for $2M? 

 

("Playhouse Square; Cleveland; Playhouse Square Foundation; 1307-1317 Euclid Avenue, 1365-1375 Euclid Avenue, 1407-1501 Euclid Avenue; $1,950,000.")

 

And suburban thing in CLE Hts is asking for $15M?

 

Where's Bridgeworks, Lumen 2, 2nd Circle Square tower, or ANYTHING big in Downtown/University Circle?  That list is very disappointing. Cleveland pays so much into that fund and the money is all going to go to Columbus/Cinci???? I'm pretty angry.

 

 

I share your disappointment with the lack of downtown applicants, but I'm excited about this Cleveland Heights project! Creating small urban nodes in suburbs is absolutely something we should be rooting for on Urban Ohio, and this project is basically adding another major walkable node to Cleveland Heights. (Which certainly seems to qualify as "transformative"). 

 

I got even more excited after rereading through the proposal. As I have said, this is basically creating a mixed use urban node from scratch. It saves and preserves some fantastic old buildings, and creates new ones with good urban form. This is adding a good bit of density, it's nothing to scoff at. 

 

By creating new urban nodes more people are able to drive less and public transit becomes more practical. Indeed the proposal given to the planning and development committee even has this nice graphic suggesting a Cleveland Heights trolley. (Does anyone have more information on this proposal?)

 

 

The trolley proposal isn't going to happen, but it is the kind of thing that becomes possible with proposals like this. That said, it would be really cool! Extend the western edge of this to connect with the red line at Cedar-University and it would be perfect! 

 

https://www.clevelandheights.gov/1443/Taylor-Tudor-Plaza-Redevelopment

 

Edit: also, the potential of this project really makes me wish University Heights would get with the program, at least for the small section of Taylor Road within its jurisdiction 

^I hadn't heard about the trolley idea connecting the various nodes, but that's a very cool idea. But it should connect with the Rapid at either Mayfield-Little Italy or Cedar/CWRU station--then it would be really meaningful--otherwise its just an insulated little Cleveland hts thing and not part of the greater city. (I assume "trolley" would mean rail, right?)

14 hours ago, DinaB said:

^I hadn't heard about the trolley idea connecting the various nodes, but that's a very cool idea. But it should connect with the Rapid at either Mayfield-Little Italy or Cedar/CWRU station--then it would be really meaningful--otherwise its just an insulated little Cleveland hts thing and not part of the greater city. (I assume "trolley" would mean rail, right?)

This trolley idea is new to me too, but I agree that this is a good idea.  I think it would be like the "trolley" buses running in downtown Cleveland by RTA, not rail. 

 

Bringing rail back to Cleveland Heights would be awesome, but for many reasons, including cost and population density, it's not likely to happen in the foreseeable future.  (I'm more hopeful for a Bus Rapid Transit line (like the Healthline) down Cedar to Beachwood.  Nodes of density are forming at about the right distances for that to be a possibility within a decade, but all the cities along that route will need to cooperate and push RTA to start such a service.)

 

I'm glad to see the city is thinking about transit though, and more frequent transit between our business districts would be wonderful.  If the trolley stops were coordinated with RTA buses, that would provide the connection to the Rapid stations.

 

What's missing here is both a stronger business district in the Noble area (what is the city's plan for revitalizing NN?)  and an extension of this trolley route or another trolley route to the north of the city.  Severance seems to be the main connection point between northern CH and southern CH, and it's continued blight hinders that transport connection as well.

1 hour ago, Foraker said:

This trolley idea is new to me too, but I agree that this is a good idea.  I think it would be like the "trolley" buses running in downtown Cleveland by RTA, not rail. 

 

Bringing rail back to Cleveland Heights would be awesome, but for many reasons, including cost and population density, it's not likely to happen in the foreseeable future.  (I'm more hopeful for a Bus Rapid Transit line (like the Healthline) down Cedar to Beachwood.  Nodes of density are forming at about the right distances for that to be a possibility within a decade, but all the cities along that route will need to cooperate and push RTA to start such a service.)

 

I'm glad to see the city is thinking about transit though, and more frequent transit between our business districts would be wonderful.  If the trolley stops were coordinated with RTA buses, that would provide the connection to the Rapid stations.

 

What's missing here is both a stronger business district in the Noble area (what is the city's plan for revitalizing NN?)  and an extension of this trolley route or another trolley route to the north of the city.  Severance seems to be the main connection point between northern CH and southern CH, and it's continued blight hinders that transport connection as well.

 

Anyone know if there was ever a plan for Streetcars down Monticello? It has the median in it and have been wanting to know if it was just meant for decoration or if there was a plan to extend street car lines down the median?

3 hours ago, Mov2Ohio said:

 

Anyone know if there was ever a plan for Streetcars down Monticello? It has the median in it and have been wanting to know if it was just meant for decoration or if there was a plan to extend street car lines down the median?

 

Not that I'm aware of, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was built that way to allow for a dedicated ROW for a streetcar in the future. A single-track interurban line along Mayfield was upgraded in the late 1920s to a double-track streetcar line on Mayfield Road east to near Warrensville Center. Here are the east-side Cleveland Railway Co. streetcar lines and their interurban connections in 1929.

2 hours ago, KJP said:

 

Not that I'm aware of, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was built that way to allow for a dedicated ROW for a streetcar in the future. A single-track interurban line along Mayfield was upgraded in the late 1920s to a double-track streetcar line on Mayfield Road east to near Warrensville Center. Here are the east-side Cleveland Railway Co. streetcar lines and their interurban connections in 1929.

How awesome it would be if we could have this back. Arrrgggghhhh

21 hours ago, Foraker said:

This trolley idea is new to me too, but I agree that this is a good idea.  I think it would be like the "trolley" buses running in downtown Cleveland by RTA, not rail. 

Agreed. While a streetcar would be nice, a bus is far more likely. But as long as the headways are nice, the bus is clean and safe, and it doesn't add far too many stops, a bus would be fine. A trolley bus following the proposed route with an added stop at the Red Line with 5-7 minute headways would be fantastic! A game changer for the area. 

Just came from a neighborhood meeting where we got an update from the Tudor Commons developers and combers from city planning department. 

 

They shared details with us regarding the renovations of the Tudor apartments, stating that work is slated to begin in early 2024. They'll be using the federal and state tax credits to fun the renovations and hope to have everything completed within 18 months. 

 

For the new construction across the street, they are waiting for the city to officially approve rezoning of the lots that they will be purchasing for the project. The city said that with this project, they are working to rezon the ensure stretch of South Taylor Road, to mixed-use, from the corner of Euclid Heights BLVD to... I didn't catch where the rezoning would end (forgot to ask at the end), but I'm assuming all the way to Cedar. The reason for such a large rezoning district is because most everything on the street as need grandfathered in with seven different distinct zoning types that are not being used for their appropriate designation. 

 

With the zoning change proposal, the city will also be trying to write in a specific rule that will require buildings of a certain height to have a step back on the back side of the property as they approach single family housing on the side streets so that there won't be issues with developments in the future that have a 5 story building that butts up against a 2 story house. 

 

The zoning change proposal should be approved by the end of this year. 

 

Once the zoning change is completed, the developers will deliver their actual proposal for the entire project. What was initially proposed was a concept. I asked the architect who worked on the initial design how much would change and was told that a lot of thought was put into the concept, so the next draft should look very similar. They were very adamant about the flow of the project, public spaces and retail being intertwined to create a sense of place rather than just another building with some shops. 

 

The synagogue portion of the project will be treated as it's own separate phase as they will be seeking tax credits in order to renovate and preserve the space. One great idea that was brought up at the meeting was to treat the building as a place where people could learn more about the large Jewish community in Cleveland Heights. 

 

When I asked about the timeline for the new development, they said that construction would take 18 to 22 months. If they are able to get the proposal out by early 2024 and don't run into any snags, construction could begin in early 2025. 

 

Most the 25-30 people who attended has no clue what the project was, so it was hard to gauge the feedback. Most people were excited to hear that something new was coming, but they were all told to visit the project web page to get more details. I was surprised that no one brought a tablet to show off the designs. 

Interesting that you said most at the meeting didn't know much about the project. I would have thought people attend to show support or disapproval. 

 

If they don't know much why are they there? 

23 hours ago, Ethan said:

Agreed. While a streetcar would be nice, a bus is far more likely. But as long as the headways are nice, the bus is clean and safe, and it doesn't add far too many stops, a bus would be fine. A trolley bus following the proposed route with an added stop at the Red Line with 5-7 minute headways would be fantastic! A game changer for the area. 

 

That would be awesome to have 5-7 minute headways but probably unrealistic to expect.  Do any RTA routes have less than 15-minute headways?   If we could get 15-minute headways that would be great.

 

My guess is that the city will approach RTA about this, and RTA will estimate low ridership and then argue that that justifies longer headways (half hour at best), which will lead to the confirmation of low ridership....

 

I am hopeful that once Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook and University Square are built we will have sufficient population densities at spaced nodes to push for RTA to study Bus-Rapid-Transit from the Cedar Hill Rapid station to Beachwood.   Once they "study" it and then go seek funding, we're probably looking at 2030 for operation?!? (Best case?) 

On 9/27/2023 at 11:47 AM, cadmen said:

Interesting that you said most at the meeting didn't know much about the project. I would have thought people attend to show support or disapproval. 

 

If they don't know much why are they there? 

This was a neighborhood meeting, not something that was put on my the city or developer. We have regular meetings, which have mostly been online the past few years. We also have a summer neighborhood picnic where 50 to 60 people attend. We also have had the developers of Park Synagogue call into a few of our online meetings the past 18 months to simply get feedback from us as they work towards their initial proposal (which should be right around the corner). 

 

For those in Cleveland Heights or who might live close by, there will be an open house hosted by WXZ to get feedback on the Cain Park Village development alone Taylor. It'll be held at the Cain Park Colonnade on October 10 from 6pm till 7:30pm. 

 

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/10/university-cleveland-heights-make-plans-for-federal-grant-application-on-taylor-road-reconfiguration.html

13 hours ago, nickmgray said:

For those in Cleveland Heights or who might live close by, there will be an open house hosted by WXZ to get feedback on the Cain Park Village development alone Taylor. It'll be held at the Cain Park Colonnade on October 10 from 6pm till 7:30pm. 

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/10/university-cleveland-heights-make-plans-for-federal-grant-application-on-taylor-road-reconfiguration.html

Thank you very much.  I was really impressed with WXZ's project, and the scope of it, including how they got the across-the-street strip-mall owner involved.  I may have to make an extra effort to go to this meeting.  (It's already taking too long for my patience -- why haven't they started working on the Tudor buildings?!?)

 

Moving forward on the Taylor Road Corridor Project is great, but will have an impact far beyond the Cain Park Village area. Here is the final report of the Taylor Road Corridor Study, which is what this recent grant application would fund implementation of.  Recommendations start on page 73.

https://www.flipsnack.com/conesky/taylor-report_final_2021.html

14 minutes ago, Foraker said:

Thank you very much.  I was really impressed with WXZ's project, and the scope of it, including how they got the across-the-street strip-mall owner involved.  I may have to make an extra effort to go to this meeting.  (It's already taking too long for my patience -- why haven't they started working on the Tudor buildings?!?)

 

Moving forward on the Taylor Road Corridor Project is great, but will have an impact far beyond the Cain Park Village area. Here is the final report of the Taylor Road Corridor Study, which is what this recent grant application would fund implementation of.  Recommendations start on page 73.

https://www.flipsnack.com/conesky/taylor-report_final_2021.html

Thanks for the info.  I LOVE WXZ. Big fan boy. I will admit, however, that they move at a deliberate pace when it comes to planning a project and even once construction begins. Good examples are via 126 and the primo Vino projects in Little Italy.

1 hour ago, Htsguy said:

Thanks for the info.  I LOVE WXZ. Big fan boy. I will admit, however, that they move at a deliberate pace when it comes to planning a project and even once construction begins. Good examples are via 126 and the primo Vino projects in Little Italy.

I'm with ya.  There is something to be said for making sure you're doing it right, and I really appreciate that WXZ is willing to take the time to do it right.

 

I'm still impatient for the results!  😄

The Marquee at Cedar Lee is going vertical. Retaining walls at Tullamore have been up for a week, and the elevator shaft scaffold went up there last Thursday. Footers are being poured on the Cedar side, where the Cedarbrook steps by Boss Dog's patio have been removed for reconstruction.

Top is Tullamore side of Marquee last Thursday.  Bottom is Cedar side.

The Marquee elevator shaft is nearing its top today.

Noble Library addition today. Oddly, little activity on a Wednesday afternoon.

Oak Tree Veterinary Hospital today.

The Chesed Center is expanding into the vacant storefront next to it. This is adjacent to Taylor Tudors.

4 hours ago, marty15 said:

The Chesed Center is expanding into the vacant storefront next to it. This is adjacent to Taylor Tudors.

 

Never heard of it until just now.  I looks like they only serve the Jewish community, so that may be why I hadn't heard of them.

On 10/3/2023 at 8:46 PM, nickmgray said:

For those in Cleveland Heights or who might live close by, there will be an open house hosted by WXZ to get feedback on the Cain Park Village development alone Taylor. It'll be held at the Cain Park Colonnade on October 10 from 6pm till 7:30pm. 

 

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/10/university-cleveland-heights-make-plans-for-federal-grant-application-on-taylor-road-reconfiguration.html

I wasn't able to attend -- any updates?

The boulders at the Fairmount and Taylor "Where's My Guardrail" house have caught two cars.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/10/boulders-put-up-line-of-defense-twice-at-the-wheres-my-guardrail-house-in-cleveland-heights.html

Marquee Tullamore side today

 

Marquee Cedar side today

Does anyone know what's happening with the Dollar General building on Lee Road, where the brick veneer fell off a few months ago?  The former home of Cleveland Typewriter appears to be owned by a New York company.

Anyone have news on the Cedar-Fairmount grocery store? Last update I found was cleveland.com's August article about Trader Joe's and another national chain being interested

Edited October 19, 20231 yr by bikemail

10 minutes ago, bikemail said:

Anyone have news on the Cedar-Fairmount grocery store? Last update I found was cleveland.com's August article about Trader Joe's and another national chain being interested

I do wonder if that location will suffer since Meijers is opening down the hill.