The Eco Village is thankfully expanding with the addition of some buildings fronting Lorain (IIRC) - someone posted about this a few days ago. I can't find it at the moment.

The Eco Village is thankfully expanding with the addition of some buildings fronting Lorain (IIRC) - someone posted about this a few days ago. I can't find it at the moment.

 

It's in the Detroit-Shoreway thread in NEO Projects/Construction:

 

Here's some TOD coming to the W65th red line station! 

 

Cool, here's a press release and a streetview of the site. Now if they could just get rid of that damn used car lot next to the station!

 

 

 

 

http://www.enterprisecommunity.com/news-and-events/news-releases/detroit-shoreway

 

Contact:

John Keaten             

212.784.5701 - office                             

[email protected]

 

Dimit Architects to Design Aspen Place

Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization and Enterprise Community Partners Select Dimit Architects to Design Aspen Place

A transit-oriented, mixed-use affordable housing development that will anchor revitalization efforts along Lorain Avenue, Aspen Place was the subject of an innovative, competitive design process

 

CLEVELAND - Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO) and Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise) announced today Dimit Architects as the winner of an innovative, competitive design process for Aspen Place, a transit-oriented, mixed-use affordable housing development that will anchor revitalization efforts along Lorain Avenue.

 

Located within the EcoVillage, designated as the country’s first urban EcoDistrict in 1998, and adjacent to the W. 65th Street Rapid Transit station, Aspen Place will feature 34 units of affordable housing above community and commercial space. Using an Enterprise Pre-Development Design Grant awarded through a national competition, DSCDO engaged local architecture firms Dimit Architects, Marous Brothers Construction, and Dale Serne Architects to participate in the design visioning process for Aspen Place. DSCDO worked with the Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC) to craft a design brief and facilitate the architects’ final presentations. Diverse stakeholders evaluated these presentations and selected Dimit Architects to work on the Aspen Place development as it moves forward. The review committee included representatives from DSCDO, Enterprise, Neighborhood Progress, Inc., EcoVillage residents, the Kent State Urban Design Collaborative, Councilman Matt Zone and the EcoVillage Steering Committee, which includes representatives from Enterprise, Green City Blue Lake, and Cleveland State University.

 

“Aspen Place will be a catalytic project that builds on our recent revitalization efforts in our community,” said Matt Lasko, assistant director, DSCDO. “Our unique approach to community design and development is guided by resident input and action, and we look forward to working with Dimit Architects as we continue to strengthen the fabric of the neighborhood through well-designed affordable housing.”

 

“Enterprise Pre-Development Grants provide funding for design exploration and collaboration during the early stages of affordable housing development when, often, it can have the most impact on building within the local site and neighborhood context. Aspen Place will be a project that creates a new design standard for Cleveland,” said Mark McDermott, Ohio market leader, Enterprise.

 

The building will meet the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, which will ensure high standards in energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, and accessibility, as part of Enterprise’s pioneering Call to Action to green all affordable housing by 2020. Residents of Aspen Place will have easy access to the recently revamped Zone Recreation Center across the street, which offers 22 acres of green space and ball fields that are open to the public.

 

For more information, visit: http://www.enterprisecommunity.com/designgrant.

###

Apologies for "woefully underused", but that's how it looks to me on airport-downtown trips. Passenger counts coming and going always seem to be single-digit numbers.

 

Single-digit numbers is still an improvement though.  This station used to have -0- passengers especially during its pre-renovation years.  I've noticed more passengers using this station now and expect it to only increase in the future.  I think it's a good location with great street access, like W 25th Street.  Stations like Triskett, West Park and Brookpark don't have good street (ie. pedestrian) access and I think pedestrian access is crucial to building ridership.

^I always wonder why, at West Park, RTA compounded CTS' mistake of rebuilding the station on the foundations of the old one rather than moving it to the bridge over Lorain Ave.  The current station is so far off the street you can barely see it from Lorain; it has no interaction with the street where it literally takes a long walk or a short bus ride just to reach the street -- all done in order to build one of those typical, suburban-oriented, huge CTS/RTA park 'n ride lots....  Lorain, unlike Triskett, is a busy commercial street.  You can see those low apartment buildings around Lorain & W143rd which now look rundown were an early attempt at TOD.  Unfortunately that strip is dominated with fast foods and used car lots.  I know Ganley's dealership is also nearby... Not the kinds of things one could call bustling TOD.

^I always wonder why, at West Park, RTA compounded CTS' mistake of rebuilding the station on the foundations of the old one rather than moving it to the bridge over Lorain Ave.  The current station is so far off the street you can barely see it from Lorain; it has no interaction with the street where it literally takes a long walk or a short bus ride just to reach the street -- all done in order to build one of those typical, suburban-oriented, huge CTS/RTA park 'n ride lots....  Lorain, unlike Triskett, is a busy commercial street.  You can see those low apartment buildings around Lorain & W143rd which now look rundown were an early attempt at TOD.  Unfortunately that strip is dominated with fast foods and used car lots.  I know Ganley's dealership is also nearby... Not the kinds of things one could call bustling TOD.

 

You're right, although that Ganley dealership gets my business because they're accessible via train.  It's super convenient.  Station location is terrible though.  There's not even a complete sidewalk path to Lorain, they make you cross back and forth over the access road.

The Kamm's Corners came up with a great land use plan for that area in 2013. Unfortunately I've not seen much happen with this since then...

 

 

 

 

The Kamm's Corners came up with a great land use plan for that area in 2013. Unfortunately I've not seen much happen with this since then...

 

 

 

Until the neighborhood demographics change, this redevelopment is fantasy.

^I always wonder why, at West Park, RTA compounded CTS' mistake of rebuilding the station on the foundations of the old one rather than moving it to the bridge over Lorain Ave.  The current station is so far off the street you can barely see it from Lorain; it has no interaction with the street where it literally takes a long walk or a short bus ride just to reach the street -- all done in order to build one of those typical, suburban-oriented, huge CTS/RTA park 'n ride lots....  Lorain, unlike Triskett, is a busy commercial street.  You can see those low apartment buildings around Lorain & W143rd which now look rundown were an early attempt at TOD.  Unfortunately that strip is dominated with fast foods and used car lots.  I know Ganley's dealership is also nearby... Not the kinds of things one could call bustling TOD.

 

Most likely the cost of relocating and then distancing the station from the parking lot.  The station dates back to 1958, part of the 1st expansion of the line, and parking lots were needed to accommodate not only suburban but West Park residents as well.  The parking lots were quite full until the 1980s; downtown declined, as did RTA use.

 

I've stated many times the Red Line has a bad route generally and station placement in particular.

Until the neighborhood demographics change, this redevelopment is fantasy.

 

The redevelopment is based on market trends, including seniors wishing to downsize yet stay in the neighborhood (with few quality housing products available to them) and the move of auto dealerships from city thoroughfares to suburban highway interchanges.

One of the steps toward this goal requires acquiring the land formerly held by the Harley Davidson dealership. They built and moved into a brand new facility located 4985 W 150th St within the past year.

 

I don't recall if there is anybody currently occupying the former dealership, but it is still owned by Pleasant Valley Enterprises. According to Google Street View (https://goo.gl/maps/h8eUQcn42sr) it was vacant as of October 2015.

 

 

^So is someone actively working towards this?

^So is someone actively working towards this?

 

Don't know. I haven't followed it closely since I left Sun's Kamms news beat several years ago. But since we haven't heard anything publicly in three years, I'd say the chances of any meaningful activity is unlikely.

I find it so amazing that the area that has such high TOD is one of the most neglected. East Cleveland at the Windermere station, and especially the Superior station which is busting at the seems to have mixed use development/residential built around it.  The street directly behind the station has homes that could be renovated, the  high-rise by it could be renovated and the store fronts with apartments on top would add to the TOD use. Not to mention the gas station and the corner and the former white castle can be razed and built upon to bolster ridership. Add in the plaza/shopping center and you could create an unbelievable boost in ridership solely due to a redeveloped area from the Superior station to the intersection of Euclid and Superior.

 

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

 

^East Cleveland is so depressing that I really do hope the Cleveland merger happens, and soon -- happily EC has moved the process along... EC has 2 modern stations on Cleveland's heavy rail rapid transit line, but hasn't done a thing to capitalize on them... At superior the Rapid station is sitting out in the open by itself due to so much that's been torn down.  In fact, the Rapid station itself is the nicest looking building in the immediate area.

What a disgusting waste of land....

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,3594.msg820202.html#msg820202

What a disgusting waste of land....

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,3594.msg820202.html#msg820202

 

So the moral of the story is, despite all the blather, RTA has no real TOD program to speak of, no?

That is embarrassing.

And to think at the time I thought the animal kennel proposed near the West blvd. Station was as bad as it could get as far as TOD and overall land use.

I guess the large mixed-use proposal at the W. 25-Ohio City station is either dead or in limbo.

I guess the large mixed-use proposal at the W. 25-Ohio City station is either dead or in limbo.

 

It's a slow moving process. The current Plaza that is there is doing quite well, despite it's awful design. There's little incentive for the owner to change the status quo

Just a reminder that the owners of that plaza never really proposed anything. That shiny visioning document was from RTA, OCI, and other neighborhood stakeholders. The plaza owners were no doubt cooperative, but I don't know if they even spent any of their own money on that exercise.

I guess the large mixed-use proposal at the W. 25-Ohio City station is either dead or in limbo.

 

It's a slow moving process. The current Plaza that is there is doing quite well, despite it's awful design. There's little incentive for the owner to change the status quo

 

Indeed, I think we will see all the other developable land in the Ohio City/Market Square area get built on first before anyone decides to tear up a retail plaza that is full with rent-paying businesses.

.@gcrta's Blue Line ripe for transit-oriented development, @TRBofNA finds https://t.co/yY5xS6K66f

I noticed from the Airport Rapid the other day that those new (senior?) residential buildings along Madison Ave near the W. 117 Red Line station appear to be complete, or nearly complete.  While visually they are an upgrade over the industrial property they replaced, it seems like, once again, we had an opportunity for something better get away, and that's a shame... The W. 117/Madison location is an urbanized area and it appears that, although there is a small parking lot there that's usually full, a lot of commuters walk or bus to this station.  It's a walkable area with quite a bit of multi-unit housing both north along W. 117 and, especially, NW into Lakewood.  Just a short walk away in Lakewood's Birdtown along Madison, the commercial strip is quietly emerging from its scruffy, run-down appearance of a few years ago.  There are a number of clubs, restaurants and viable retail there now.  This area is not fancy or upscale like Market Square or Uptown/Little Italy, but it appears stable with a significant population base, esp on the Lakewood side.

 

It's just a shame that the W. 117/Madison corner is defaced with strip-suburban style fast-foods and other small buildings set behind a sea of asphalt parking.  Of course the NE corner only has the one small, viable mixed-use building next to the new seniors housing... This area screams for TOD.  It has as much TOD potential as any Red Line station, save W. 25, Tower City and Little Italy, each of which are doing pretty good in their own right.  Damn shame it can't be replicated at W. 117.

I don't understand how a large multi-unit housing project built up to the street isn't TOD enough.  I assume because it lacks retail?  I don't think we should let the perfect get in the way of a nice step forward.  Agreed on the strip malls on the other side of the road, though.

I noticed from the Airport Rapid the other day that those new (senior?) residential buildings along Madison Ave near the W. 117 Red Line station appear to be complete, or nearly complete.  While visually they are an upgrade over the industrial property they replaced, it seems like, once again, we had an opportunity for something better get away, and that's a shame... The W. 117/Madison location is an urbanized area and it appears that, although there is a small parking lot there that's usually full, a lot of commuters walk or bus to this station.  It's a walkable area with quite a bit of multi-unit housing both north along W. 117 and, especially, NW into Lakewood.  Just a short walk away in Lakewood's Birdtown along Madison, the commercial strip is quietly emerging from its scruffy, run-down appearance of a few years ago.  There are a number of clubs, restaurants and viable retail there now.  This area is not fancy or upscale like Market Square or Uptown/Little Italy, but it appears stable with a significant population base, esp on the Lakewood side.

 

It's just a shame that the W. 117/Madison corner is defaced with strip-suburban style fast-foods and other small buildings set behind a sea of asphalt parking.  Of course the NE corner only has the one small, viable mixed-use building next to the new seniors housing... This area screams for TOD.  It has as much TOD potential as any Red Line station, save W. 25, Tower City and Little Italy, each of which are doing pretty good in their own right.  Damn shame it can't be replicated at W. 117.

 

Unfortunately, if you oppose that project you oppose housing built specifically for LGBT seniors.  I was at the Lakewood Democratic Club meeting where the funding was announced; there was much rejoicing.  Questions of urban design or TOD simply did not enter into it.  If they're ever going to, those standards need to already be in place before somebody proposes single-use. 

 

I don't understand how a large multi-unit housing project built up to the street isn't TOD enough.  I assume because it lacks retail?

 

Absolutely.  Mixed-use planning is a core concept of TOD.  There is TOD and there is not TOD.  There is no "TOD enough."

Unfortunately, if you oppose that project you oppose housing built specifically for LGBT seniors.  I was at the Lakewood Democratic Club meeting where the funding was announced; there was much rejoicing.  Questions of urban design or TOD simply did not enter into it.  If they're ever going to, those standards need to already be in place before somebody proposes single-use. 

 

Agreed.

I can't remember if it was simply a mistake in the renderings or what exactly, but original plans for the W117 residential looked as if they would be tearing down the mixed use buildings on Madison.

 

Very glad that didn't happen. Hopefully the positive development continues in the adjacent empty lot along W117.

 

p.s. Regarding nature of Madison....I'm betting there was a time in Lakewood when the plan was to suburbanize the whole town, one strip mall at a time.

Frankly, as I believe KJP once suggested, it would be nice if RTA would develop TOD on its own surface parking lot: convert it into mixed use development with parking in a garage.

Imagine being a single parent or a young family, looking to save money but have a high-quality lifestyle. Here, they can live across the street from a rail station, as the parents can work at other places along the rail line and the kid(s) go to Lakewood schools. Plus there's lots of shopping and restaurants (some of its 24/7) within a short walk or bike/bus/train ride away (Target, Giant Eagle, drug stores, etc). If I'm an investor/developer who's interested in selling car-free or car-lite lifestyles, this is the place to do it. All of the retail tenants at that corner are potential tenants for my first floor. There's Joe's Deli, Subway, North Coast Wine & Beer, Burger King, Hertz, Fifth Third Bank, and if I'm really thinking big, Aldi's, too. I'd want to build a condo development with the tallest portion, maybe 10 stories, built up to the corner. And I'd want to tap location-efficient mortgages as one of my incentives.

 

It always frosts me to travel east on Madison through the density of Birdtown and then less than two blocks from the Rapid station, it turns into a car/pavement wasteland....

 

12400 block of Madison

Lakewood-Madison-12400block-east-Sept2015 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr

 

12000 block of Madison

Lakewood-Madison-12000block-east-Sept2015 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr

 

11800 block of Madison

Lakewood-Madison-11800block-east-Sept2015 by Ken Prendergast, on Flickr

^It would be great if, not only Burger King (and Hertz!?) could be demolished for curbside mixed-use development, but that this whole area to the north on W.117 and to the west along Madison, could be linked up with existing walking districts along Detroit and Madison/Birdtown, to create one huge walkable area.  I tend to forget about the nearby useful retail that exists (going under the RR bridges) along W. 117 to the south even though they are big boxes.  This area has great bones; so many building blocks are there already.

 

As I noted, even though the core part is mainly ugly-strip style and car-oriented, people seem to overcome the obstacles and walk to-from transit anyway... Sadly for some, this may drive down the incentive to change the status quo.

I can't remember if it was simply a mistake in the renderings or what exactly, but original plans for the W117 residential looked as if they would be tearing down the mixed use buildings on Madison.

 

Very glad that didn't happen. Hopefully the positive development continues in the adjacent empty lot along W117.

 

p.s. Regarding nature of Madison....I'm betting there was a time in Lakewood when the plan was to suburbanize the whole town, one strip mall at a time.

 

They almost tore down the entire West End maybe 15 years ago.  More recently the other end of town was supposed to get an Applebee's.  I am so glad none of that took place.  Lakewood's planning mindset seems to have improved in the years since.  There's a vacant lot at the corner of Newman and Madison, right where Birdtown peters out.  Two blocks from the Rapid.  Hopefully if this strip keeps improving there will be some interest in developing TOD there.

Trying to figure out how to post a chain of images, but the forum is giving me an error message...

They're probably too big. You may have to reduce them in size or host them elsewhere and then use the codes to display them here.

These maps show the zoning type within 1/2 mile radius of westside Red Line stations.

 

There is maps for Airport & Brookpark, Puritas & West Park, Triskett & W. 117, West Blvd., and W. 65.

 

Also included is a map to show job concentrations in the Greater Cleveland CSA, illustrating job sprawl endemic to the region.

 

http://imgur.com/a/i6icm

 

 

These maps show the zoning type within 1/2 mile radius of westside Red Line stations.

 

There is maps for Airport & Brookpark, Puritas & West Park, Triskett & W. 117, West Blvd., and W. 65.

 

Also included is a map to show job concentrations in the Greater Cleveland CSA, illustrating job sprawl endemic to the region.

 

http://imgur.com/a/i6icm

 

 

 

Great maps -- especially the location of jobs vs location of transit contrast! Here's how you display them (quote my message to see how I coded it):

 

 

 

 

 

 

^Nice map... As you may know, Google Maps has recently added light brown commercial-district coloring to its urban maps, but it still lacks the detail of these maps and also doesn't show industrial areas as these do, either...

 

... I've always broken down the West Side Red Line into 2 parts: from TC to W. 117 is the urban portion, with more walkable residential and commercial areas, whereby beyond W. 117 is more suburban, where park n' ride is more prominent.  It could have been different at Lorain-W. 143rd if RTA had relocated the West Park station closer to the street.

If more windows could be added to this building at the West Boulevard station, it could make a terrific residential conversion...

 

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19769295/9800-Detroit-Ave-Cleveland-OH/

 

But the buildings across Detroit Avenue might be less expensive restorations. The fact that they haven't been restored shows how flat the real estate market is in this station-area.

 

Then there's this property across Ontario from Progressive Field that appears to be air rights over the RTA tracks...

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/18881904/Ontario-Ave-Cleveland-OH/

If more windows could be added to this building at the West Boulevard station, it could make a terrific residential conversion...

 

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19769295/9800-Detroit-Ave-Cleveland-OH/

 

But the buildings across Detroit Avenue might be less expensive restorations. The fact that they haven't been restored shows how flat the real estate market is in this station-area.

 

Then there's this property across Ontario from Progressive Field that appears to be air rights over the RTA tracks...

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/18881904/Ontario-Ave-Cleveland-OH/

 

Is that Tower City Ampitheatre?

 

RIP

 

Nice work, though I'd fix the tranportation reference before using it more generally.  :)

 

I'm in the middle of that dark patch in Mentor, and while I knew there's a lot up here I didn't think it was that profound.

If more windows could be added to this building at the West Boulevard station, it could make a terrific residential conversion...

 

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19769295/9800-Detroit-Ave-Cleveland-OH/

 

But the buildings across Detroit Avenue might be less expensive restorations. The fact that they haven't been restored shows how flat the real estate market is in this station-area.

 

Then there's this property across Ontario from Progressive Field that appears to be air rights over the RTA tracks...

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/18881904/Ontario-Ave-Cleveland-OH/

 

Would love the 9800 Detroit buff-brick warehouse to be converted to apts. There is a short row of brownstone apts and large K&D 60s-ish apt next door.. The RE market across Detroit from the Rapid shouldn't be flat.  Lots of good bones there and east along Detroit across the bridge; solid density; many brick multi-unit dwellings (apts and old rows).  I always here there are too many undersirables and drugs in that area.  Gordon Square was like that, too, even a decade ago -- those beautiful row homes just south of GS appeared to have drugs and hookers and some were dilapidated and boarded up.  Now they're fixed up, beautiful and probably hot rent-wise. 

 

All it takes is some investment to turn W. Blvd/Cudell around.  I wished that dumb idea of a dog kennel on the factory site could be reversed.  Even light industrial development on the spot would be preferable to a kennel.  That old Italian restaurant seems to have been sitting vacant for decades. Why can't the city target this area for development and TOD.  Couldn't they leverage funds to narrow Detroit from that crazy 6-lane configuration at the Rapid station?  It took $50M to totally reconfigure Public Square into the great people place it is now -- it would take considerably less to reconfigure Detroit between W. 98th and Berea Rd. 

 

This area seems to be steadily improving even without the big investment, but it just seems the TOD/walkability potential of this neighborhood are being wasted.  Can't RTA, the City and local councilman come together and hash out a plan?  And if they're not, why not?

Is that Tower City Ampitheatre?

 

RIP

 

No, that's by the river. This has an Ontario Street address and is listed as:

 

PPN 10131014

HAROLD S LAPINE TRUSTEE

 

Here's the flyer for the property (has a map showing the property outline):

http://x.lnimg.com/attachments/3D6F7BA2-DD71-41AC-AA20-3359A60DBB58.pdf

 

The county values the property at $37,800 for taxes (it's listed for sale at $4 million!).

Property taxes are billed to Lapine and to a Michael L. Miller, Trustee, the secondary owner, at MLO PROPERTIES, 614 W Superior Ave, Suite 200, Cleveland, OH 44113 (same address & suite # as Benjamin F Cappadora Real Estate and Rockefeller Building Associates, a company begun in 2011. Names listed to Rockefiller Building Associates are agent Benjamin F. Cappadora and trustee Diane L. Miller). Diane Miller is probably the wife of Michael Miller who also appears to have died (though if he did it was very recently according to this article, look under the subhead "Honoring Lawyers": http://www.cleveland.com/chagrin-falls/index.ssf/2016/03/dancing_wheels_performs_in_cha.html).

 

Lapine was (I assume he's dead since his ownership is listed as "trustee"? I also see he was born in 1927) a Gates Mills man who founded and ran Apollo Property Management (http://www.apm-mgt.com/) among other real estate and investment companies.

 

OK.........

 

So here's the interesting part: This property appears to be an air-rights parcel. Why? Because within the quadrant of the Eagle, Ontario, Lorain/Carnegie, Canal street rights of way, there is no GCRTA ownership nor any other legacy rail right of way ownerships. The location of this parcel is just west of the recently-removed roadway of East Fourth Street/Pittsburgh Avenue that were south of the old Central Market (1856-1949). The only thing west of that now-gone roadway is the slope down to the RTA tracks and the tracks themselves, plus the adjoining Cleveland Union Terminal ROW (opened to railroad traffic 1930-1977). The age of the parcel seems to go back to May 1930 when it was owned by Union Properties Inc., part of the Union Trust Bank. After 1959, Union Properties Inc. was a tradename of Huntington Bank. Lapine/Miller acquired the property in February of 1987. That was right around the time that the Cleveland Union Terminal railroads rights of way were transferred to GCRTA. It should be noted that when the Van Swerigen brothers built Cleveland Union Terminal, they not only built over the station tracks structures like Terminal Tower and the Landmark Offices. They also anticipated building structures southeasterly along Ontario Street, and above the CUT railroad/rapid transit tracks.

 

All it takes is some investment to turn W. Blvd/Cudell around.  I wished that dumb idea of a dog kennel on the factory site could be reversed.  Even light industrial development on the spot would be preferable to a kennel.  That old Italian restaurant seems to have been sitting vacant for decades. Why can't the city target this area for development and TOD.  Couldn't they leverage funds to narrow Detroit from that crazy 6-lane configuration at the Rapid station?  It took $50M to totally reconfigure Public Square into the great people place it is now -- it would take considerably less to reconfigure Detroit between W. 98th and Berea Rd. 

 

This area seems to be steadily improving even without the big investment, but it just seems the TOD/walkability potential of this neighborhood are being wasted.  Can't RTA, the City and local councilman come together and hash out a plan?  And if they're not, why not?

 

The director of the Cudell Improvement CDC mentioned a TOD study will be conducted for the area around the station. That being said, I don't necessarily expect much as the CDC is essentially a group of well-intentioned but seemingly reactive staff. Or, if not reactive, then not particularly progressive. So, I don't really expect any dynamic plans coming forth if a push from the CDC would be necessary. They're also slowly chugging along to finish the infill around West Tech/Brick Lofts. The historic rowhomes that stretch from Detroit to Madison are all Section 8 which tends to scare off investment, but I think the fact we have this type of housing next to mass transit is great in terms of establishing some socioeconomic equity in the neighborhood. I wish the management did a bit more in terms of landscaping, but overall they're a pretty solid asset. I'd like to see someone restore the apartment building at the intersection of Detroit and West Blvd as it appears it's just been vacant since there was a fire sometime in the past. As was stated above, this building would also make a great conversion: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4798375,-81.7540318,3a,75y,250.39h,101.67t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sl9vU3vEzwuj7prVhjPgkfQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

I'd love to see the old Italian restaurant replaced with an apartment building (maybe four stories?) that fills the entire lot with some ground-level retail. If you could combine this with a more pedestrian-friendly retrofit of the intersection, the area would be pretty set. The Cudell Commons park is quite nice, the Rec Center is solid, and the arts center is a unique asset.

 

There is also the Chicle Building and the incomplete townhouses right down Detroit, and there is potential right along Berea for some new apartment construction in place of vacant industrial buildings.

 

I've seen a few vacant houses in this area fill up since I moved onto W 100, but it's definitely slow since the investment is almost entirely at the resident-by-resident level. Crime-wise the area right around the station and along West Blvd/W101/W100 is pretty quiet. The real issue is the somewhat irregular spikes of crime between W 98 and W 85. Ultimately, there's no real reason that Cudell shouldn't be way more in demand. It has great access for both mass transit and I-90, Edgewater Park is about a fifteen minute walk, there's good bike lane access, and it's pretty much sandwiched in between two other higher-demand areas. I think spillover is pretty much inevitable, even moreso now that the Detroit-Shoreway CDC is pushing restoration along Colgate Ave west of W 80th. If they can continue to develop and restore Lorain that would also have a very positive influence.

 

It may be a biased personal opinion, but I think a lot of the reason Cudell gets so little attention is that most of the neighborhood proper falls within Ward 15 and therefore any type of larger-scale development is seen as being in risk of cannibalizing Gordon Square.

Crime remains a significant issue throughout that area.  Most potential residents are not interested in breaking it down block-by-block.  Realistically it affects the entire neighborhood and into Lakewood.  Additional police involvement would be helpful.

I'd love to see some traffic calming to Detroit Avenue past the station. That could greatly help enhance the pedestrian experience of that area and encourage more TOD near the station which is used more as a bus-rail interface now. Even a piece of the parking lot could be sold off for development, including some transitional housing.

Crime remains a significant issue throughout that area.  Most potential residents are not interested in breaking it down block-by-block.  Realistically it affects the entire neighborhood and into Lakewood.  Additional police involvement would be helpful.

 

Residents are actively trying to address it. It's easy to say we need more police presence, but there just aren't necessarily more resources to send (I also think resources get directed to Gordon Square, in line with my theory in my previous post). But the odd nature of the crime in Cudell is that it is block-by-block, so while the Brick Lofts have a lot of issues with car break-ins and an uptick in violent crime, there has been pretty much nothing on W 100 for over a year.

 

A lot of issues could be addressed with higher residential density. Cudell is an oddly quiet, low-density neighborhood considering it's urban location, and more eyes on the street would definitely have an impact just through the increase in people engaging with the neighborhood.

 

Someone has mentioned that crime seems to be moving further West, and there have been some new trends. For example, Edgewater has been seeing increasing activity near Detroit and 110th which is far beyond anything happening at West Blvd and Madison/Detroit.

 

 

To get back on topic, this is a lot of potential opportunity I see around the station.

Yellow indicates new construction apartments, blue indicates new construction townhouses, and pink indicates restorations/conversions.

I don't know what traffic looks like during rush hour in that area, but Detroit Ave between the northern stretch of West Blvd and Berea Road looks pretty ripe for a road diet. Despite some nice old buildings, the streetscape near the rapid station there is total ick for pedestrians.

It's extremely aggravating at rush hour. Also, the signal to turn left onto West Blvd from Detroit doesn't work during AM rush hour. It ~allegedly~ works during evening rush hour.

 

There's also a single crosswalk across Detroit and for a while the signal for pedestrians to cross didn't operate, so people were forced to walk into traffic that was also attempting to turn quickly since it had no left turn arrow.

 

Very fun!

^Sounds like it might be time for a traffic study. Lane removals might not even slow down traffic.

It's a mess. The signals didn't work properly when I lived in Edgewater and the pedestrian signals certainly do not work.