We should keep this thread focused on development news. So I responded to the population density question (which was an inaccurate figure on my part -- the density was "only" 38,000 people per square mile) here......

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 20205 yr by KJP

Update on the new construction on Ansel. The building is HUGE-  I’m happy about the size and the increased traffic to the area from this project.

Famicos Foundation's Chester 75 apartment project, via Euclid Corridor Design Review:

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2020/05152020/CPC-Revised-presentation-05-15-2020.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did printscreens of the CPC PDF too and used them to update my most recent piece on Chester75.....

 

 

This project and others like it are so exciting. I wouldn't have believed even five years ago there would be this much new development in Hough!

 

I've got a feeling that wood paneling will not age well, but it will look sharp for fifteen years--and at this rate Hough in 2035 may look surprisingly different!

^ Absolutely!

 

Big difference from the Hough that has existed in this area since the 60s.

Permit was filed for emergency rehab due to collapsing structure at 8128 Linwood Ave. The fact that they're saving it at least signals that the townhomes will hopefully be fully restored in the near future.

The person who built those dormers on the third floor of those historic townhouses probably enjoyed pulling the heads off of Barbies and switching them with the heads from My Little Ponies when they were a child.

I know those- they’ve been vacant for over ten years. Good to see the interest in the neighborhood ?

15 hours ago, X said:

The person who built those dormers on the third floor of those historic townhouses probably enjoyed pulling the heads off of Barbies and switching them with the heads from My Little Ponies when they were a child.

I'm pretty sure they're original! Just weirdly re-clad when none of the lower floors were ever addressed.

A few pics. Decided to get closer. I have more but I feel like this show the scale pretty well.

It just blows me away that this was built in Hough. And it won't be the last. It looks like Inspirion Group is getting ready to demolish the buildings it owns on East 90th north of Chester.

9 hours ago, KJP said:

It just blows me away that this was built in Hough. And it won't be the last. It looks like Inspirion Group is getting ready to demolish the buildings it owns on East 90th north of Chester.

 

And block by block, the Clinic neighborhood grows....

9 hours ago, KJP said:

It just blows me away that this was built in Hough. And it won't be the last. It looks like Inspirion Group is getting ready to demolish the buildings it owns on East 90th north of Chester.

 

I think the growing potential for the redevelopment of the neighborhood is great ?

 

If and when new development and redevelopment potential continues to creep north of Hough Ave. (past "Hough Heights", what some folks in the neighborhood call the area between Hough and Chester ?), we'll know that interest in the neighborhood is growing at an even quicker rate.  The redevelopment of 8128 Linwood is a good sign- though some of the surrounding streets need some help.  It's the same thing that happens in other neighborhoods in the city; the older folks who lived in the houses leave it to their children, who later abandon the homes.  If the region had a growing population, this would be less of an issue; however, that's for another thread.   

5 hours ago, Oldmanladyluck said:

 If the [Hough] region had a growing population, this would be less of an issue; however, that's for another thread.   

 

I think it will have growth. It's too convenient a location not to.

24 minutes ago, Dougal said:

 

I think it will have growth. It's too convenient a location not to.

 

Block by block is how solid neighborhoods tend grow, as opposed to trying to nucleate them.   The clinic area could and should be a classic example.  Both north and south.   

 

 

Nucleate? That's sounds like some old-school Cold War terminology....

 

On 7/2/2020 at 3:40 PM, KJP said:

Nucleate? That's sounds like some old-school Cold War terminology....

 

 

Naw, no Cleveland neighborhoods need that treatment.   Detroit maybe.  Gary, IN or East St. Louis perhaps.   ?

I think we've used that term before though.    Unless there is population growth, strong urban neighborhoods don't often spring up on their own.  Existing ones grow.   Better yet, they grow together like CC and UC did.

 

Unfortunate to hear given what’s to replace them didn’t seem to excite me in terms of a unique design.  Are they to be an absolute certainty to be building there? Or are things still to be approved?

Edited August 6, 20204 yr by FutureboyWonder

As an engineer, I'll never understand how any structure is "too far gone" to save. Especially when what they are building here is exactly what was here before. The only structures I've ever seen that are beyond repair are some of the homes in Detroit's neighborhoods.

It's a very sad loss, but I am hopeful that at least we're getting new apartments, not suburban homes.

22 minutes ago, YO to the CLE said:

As an engineer, I'll never understand how any structure is "too far gone" to save. Especially when what they are building here is exactly what was here before. The only structures I've ever seen that are beyond repair are some of the homes in Detroit's neighborhoods.

It gets to a point where it’s not economically feasible to “save” a structure sometimes. Developers aren’t in the business of giving money away and the city doesn’t want to throw resources into a money pit either 

^But that is the thing, unless the foundation is completely f*#$ed and/or their is significant fire damage or widespread long term water infiltration, it is almost always more economical to utilize an existing framing structure vs supply new. Especially now because lumber is through the roof due to shortages.

 

Edit: The reason sometimes reno becomes expensive is because masonry is a very costly item. Developers are not keen to using or restoring masonry because of the upfront cost. They want the profit margins, so they use every other exterior cladding under the sun (my company is just as guilty). It's great for construction margins not to use masonry, but for my world (maintenance), nothing is better than masonry structures. Just pains me to see us tear these down for inferior construction.

 

 

Edited August 6, 20204 yr by YO to the CLE

29 minutes ago, X said:

It's a very sad loss, but I am hopeful that at least we're getting new apartments, not suburban homes.

It is rather odd seeing newer, suburban style homes surrounded by vacant lots and/or old homes that are ready to collapse.

Were these deemed too far gone?  Looks like they were only boarded up in the past few years and all 8 of them at once. I have my doubts they needed that much work. With all the affordable housing issues going on in our country right now, these older structures are usually the way to provide that supply. How was the same structure type, south across Chester rehabbed and put back into the supply but these are cost prohibitive. The developer could have easily infilled here with new structures. There are plenty of empty parcels.  

When the Clinic and these developers finish, this area will have all the charm of Chagrin Boulevard in Beachwood.

1 hour ago, YO to the CLE said:

As an engineer, I'll never understand how any structure is "too far gone" to save. Especially when what they are building here is exactly what was here before. The only structures I've ever seen that are beyond repair are some of the homes in Detroit's neighborhoods.

 

That's also my background, and I would say that too far gone to save means it would cost more than the repaired building would be worth.  Asbestos remediation and ADA compliance can lower the bar on that significantly.

^Plus I would imagine the much larger income stream with so many more new apartments is a huge contributing factor.

1 minute ago, E Rocc said:

 

That's also my background, and I would say that too far gone to save means it would cost more than the repaired building would be worth.  Asbestos remediation and ADA compliance can lower the bar on that significantly.

The asbestos I could maybe get, depending on how far they went with the asbestos, but some of these buildings are definitely less than 3000 sq ft per floor plate and don't require an elevator anyway (Disregarding the fact that they are grandfathered in unless accepting some kind of public subsidy).

6 minutes ago, YO to the CLE said:

The asbestos I could maybe get, depending on how far they went with the asbestos, but some of these buildings are definitely less than 3000 sq ft per floor plate and don't require an elevator anyway (Disregarding the fact that they are grandfathered in unless accepting some kind of public subsidy).

 

It would have more to do with the value of the building as restored, to be sure.  As compared to the value of the cleared land.  Barring any historical significance it is going to boil down to $$$.

 

Asbestos has to be removed for demolition anyway, so that's a wash.

1 hour ago, gruver said:

When the Clinic and these developers finish, this area will have all the charm of Chagrin Boulevard in Beachwood.

 

Not too far off. But don't expect Inspirion to take the lead. And don't expect Inspirion's plan of 4-5 story apartment buildings to come to fruition either. I'm sitting on an article until I get the green light. Something bigger is coming. It's why everything around here -- on both sides of Chester -- is getting demolished.

18 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

Not too far off. But don't expect Inspirion to take the lead. And don't expect Inspirion's plan of 4-5 story apartment buildings to come to fruition either. I'm sitting on an article until I get the green light. Something bigger is coming. It's why everything around here -- on both sides of Chester -- is getting demolished.

Sometimes I think you are just evil.?

9 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

Sometimes I think you are just evil.?

He likes to watch the rest of us squirm ?

6 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

Sometimes I think you are just evil.?

 

And yet it comes so easily to me -- the evilness, that is. ?  I have mixed feelings about what's happening here. I love the historical homes and their architecture, but I also love the investment and the jobs. I suppose the worst things are that nothing happens and these homes continue to fade away, or they get demolished for development that doesn't happen. The problem is, they're next to a land-gobbling economic behemoth that has never known historic preservation.

Maybe this is the big one he has been teasing for the last several months.

Just now, skiwest said:

Maybe this is the big one he has been teasing for the last several months.

 

No, it's not. That seems to have cooled off. And I've already acknowledged what that is -- Canon getting into medical imaging. I mentioned it in this article -- https://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2020/01/two-new-jobs-that-could-change.html

 

What's happening is that One University Circle and Centric both filled it up quickly despite their high rents. Now others want in on the game -- including from out of town. And Hough has some of the cheapest land nearby.

 

 

"The Mews on E 90th Strest" to be built on E 90th between Hough and Chester apparently when before the the Euclid Corridor Design Review District this morning. Anyone have some details from that?

Yeah... this was one of my favorite classic Hough properties.  It sucks that they're being torn down; however, if there's anyone to blame, it's the previous owners AND the city.  University Circle has been growing for quite some time and these properties are within a five-minute walk from the Clinic campus.  WHY did the previous owner of 1893 E 90 St., for example (Central Property 2 LLC, whose agent is Mark B. Schlidehouse, Esq.) allow the property to sit after they purchased the property as part of a larger transfer involving 16 parcels and costing $1,800,000.00? If the company didn't have the financial wherewithal to bring them up to code, then the company was just a flipper, waiting on a developer to come by.     

 

With code violations apparent on a main thoroughfare, why was the property never cited by the city?  Not once in ten years.  

53 minutes ago, tykaps said:

"The Mews on E 90th Strest" to be built on E 90th between Hough and Chester apparently when before the the Euclid Corridor Design Review District this morning. Anyone have some details from that?

 

From what I understand this is a pretty small project. A couple of stories for each building. Unless I'm mistaking it for another. Checking....

5 minutes ago, Oldmanladyluck said:

Yeah... this was one of my favorite classic Hough properties.  It sucks that they're being torn down; however, if there's anyone to blame, it's the previous owners AND the city.  University Circle has been growing for quite some time and these properties are within a five-minute walk from the Clinic campus.  WHY did the previous owner of 1893 E 90 St., for example (Central Property 2 LLC, whose agent is Mark B. Schlidehouse, Esq.) allow the property to sit after they purchased the property as part of a larger transfer involving 16 parcels and costing $1,800,000.00? If the company didn't have the financial wherewithal to bring them up to code, then the company was just a flipper, waiting on a developer to come by.     

 

With code violations apparent on a main thoroughfare, why was the property never cited by the city?  Not once in ten years.  

 

Central Property 2 LLC is Inspirion Group. They avoided being cited for code violations because they had plans pending to develop the street. They're now clearing every apartment building on the street to develop some land and sell the rest.

^Thanks for the info

12 hours ago, skiwest said:

It is rather odd seeing newer, suburban style homes surrounded by vacant lots and/or old homes that are ready to collapse.

I want Hough to be beautiful. I don’t mind seeing these newer, suburban style homes there. My philosophy has always been that Cleveland is big enough to have a neighborhood with everything that people want as far as lifestyle. Every neighborhood doesn’t have to be the same, nor should it. Fannie Lewis pushed for a lot of those homes to be built. The idea was to restore the wealth that Hough used to have many many many moons ago. And I’m all for that. When my family migrated from the south they landed in Hough. One of my parents was in Hough during the riots. I want to see Hough rise. And if, as a result of its proximity to the clinic and all of that, it ends up looking like Chagrin Boulevard, so be it. I’m not opposed 

Edited August 7, 20204 yr by inlovewithCLE

23 hours ago, gruver said:

When the Clinic and these developers finish, this area will have all the charm of Chagrin Boulevard in Beachwood.

 

Aestehtically, you're 100 percent correct, but the underlying population, economic, and job density of a satellite version of Chargin Blvd. would be a godsend for the city of Cleveland in general and the Hough neighborhood in particular.  Not to mention the potential spillover effects into nearby Midtown.

12 hours ago, inlovewithCLE said:

I want Hough to be beautiful. I don’t mind seeing these newer, suburban style homes there. My philosophy has always been that Cleveland is big enough to have a neighborhood with everything that people want as far as lifestyle. Every neighborhood doesn’t have to be the same, nor should it. Fannie Lewis pushed for a lot of those homes to be built. The idea was to restore the wealth that Hough used to have many many many moons ago. And I’m all for that. When my family migrated from the south they landed in Hough. One of my parents was in Hough during the riots. I want to see Hough rise. And if, as a result of its proximity to the clinic and all of that, it ends up looking like Chagrin Boulevard, so be it. I’m not opposed 

 

I guess we'll still have Newton Ave. but that  stretch lacks any of the classic Hough apartments. btw, how unique is that style in the country, does anyone know? I haven't personally seen any concentration of them anywhere other than Hough.  One or two still standing is better than none but you really lose the sense of it all. It would be like OTR with only a few Italianate left and having to imagine a whole built environment of them.  

Taken today. (don't worry, i was a passenger)

New Cleveland Public Library Hough Branch, from the City Planning Commission Meeting for Sept. 4: 

 

 

 

 

 

and from the PD:

 

Cleveland Planning Commission approves design concept for Cleveland Public Library’s proposed Hough Branch

Steven Litt - Sep. 5, 2020

 

"The city’s Planning Commission on Friday unanimously approved the design concept for the Cleveland Public Library’s proposed $4 million Hough Branch, scheduled for completion by spring, 2022. It will replace the existing neighborhood branch at 1566 Crawford Road, described by library officials as aging, outmoded and not worth revamping."

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/09/cleveland-planning-commission-approves-design-concept-for-cleveland-public-librarys-proposed-hough-branch.html

Looks nice, reminds me of the proposed Cleveland Foundation HQ.

The library will be at the southwest corner of East 66 and Lexington Ave.

Edited September 10, 20204 yr by Pugu