Not where I should post this article which appears in architectural record.  It is a feature on  New Life for the American City and Cleveland has been featured. It shows many photos of the developments which have been recognized as transformational. The only odd piece is the initial photograph of downtown in the introduction by Steven Litt.  The photograph depicts Downtown prior to Key Tower and The Gateway complex. You think they could have found a more up to date photograph. It must date at least 20 years.  Enjoy.

 

http://archrecord.construction.com/features/2012/American-City/Cleveland/Cleveland-Ohio.asp

^Just saw this article in the latest Record.  You aren't kidding about the cover picture.  What the hell!  Why on earth would they use a picture from 1985!

Interesting that the article is written by Steven Litt for the magazine.  He called the Rock Hall, "a mediocre building plopped on the drab lakefront."

Phillips Edison & Co. will acquire, redevelop Parmatown Mall in deal set to close next week

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/phillips_edison_co_will_acquir.html#incart_river_default

Good lord has Parmatown outlived its usefulness. Between Southpark, Great Northern, Midtown Plaza, Steelyard Commons, and Ridge Park Square there isn't really any reason for a mall there.  I would say keep Sprawlmart and Dicks, and redevelop the whole lot into a business incubator. Lure some smaller companies that want to grow into Parma.

Someone on cleveland.com mentioned turning it into an outlet mall. That's a heck of an idea.

K&D Group will close Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Cleveland, convert it to apartments

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The K&D Group Inc. will close downtown Cleveland's Embassy Suites hotel in December and return the building to its original use -- apartments.

 

The transformation also will cost 100 people their jobs.

 

Tucked into K&D's massive Reserve Square apartment complex on East 12th Street, the Embassy Suites is one of downtown's better-performing hotels, experts say. Yet the 252-suite property slid into foreclosure in November, thanks to a heavy debt load, high operating costs and a recession that hurt hospitality operators across the country.

 

Now K&D, based in Willoughby, has found a solution. On Friday, the company bought out its delinquent mortgage on the hotel and secured financing for a $3 million apartment makeover. That transformation will add 232 apartments to a downtown hungry for rental housing. And for K&D, the largest private owner of apartments in Northeast Ohio, it's a logical transition.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/kd_group_will_close_embassy_su.html#incart_river_default

^That is great news; it should propel the Schofield and John Hartness Brown hotels while adding apartments to downtown and removing dated hotel keys from the market.

Winks is open for business in the Galleria. http://www.19actionnews.com/category/240218/video-landing-page?clipId=7827320&autostart=true

I was there last night. I hope the place does well because that area sorely needs something.

Great news about Embassy Suites becoming apartments - something downtown desperately needs more of.  232 more apartments!  I'm surprised it's that many.  It said Embassy Suites has 252 units.  But a hotel room is typically much smaller than an apartment.  Unless these will be small apartments?

Great news about Embassy Suites becoming apartments - something downtown desperately needs more of.  232 more apartments!  I'm surprised it's that many.  It said Embassy Suites has 252 units.  But a hotel room is typically much smaller than an apartment.  Unless these will be small apartments?

 

Embassy Suites were just that.  Suites.  Some were rather large ones (I have had 2 bedroom suites there during stays for work trips).    They were once apartments many moons ago, and now they shall return to their intended purpose.

And really they only plan to spend $3,000,000 on the transition which is less than $13,000 a unit. Thats if it was all being spent on the units.  So it doesnt sound like there will be too much changed, just likely new kitchens with granite and stainless.

^I just stayed at an Embassy with a mini kitchen, and it had granite counters and a stainless fridge.

 

Has anyone on the board stayed there?  Did they simply convert apartments to hotel suites, that will now be turned back to apartments?

I have stayed at other ones, and they are usually pretty nice and roomy for business travel or extended stays.  And most allow dogs which is a plus for me (not the downtown one though, so its always the Ritz with the pooch!). 

 

Well the article said the apartments would be upgraded over the others in Reserve Square with Granite and stainless, so I guess that just means leaving what is there. 

Not where I should post this article which appears in architectural record.  It is a feature on  New Life for the American City and Cleveland has been featured. It shows many photos of the developments which have been recognized as transformational. The only odd piece is the initial photograph of downtown in the introduction by Steven Litt.  The photograph depicts Downtown prior to Key Tower and The Gateway complex. You think they could have found a more up to date photograph. It must date at least 20 years.  Enjoy.

 

http://archrecord.construction.com/features/2012/American-City/Cleveland/Cleveland-Ohio.asp

 

The website article has an editor's note on the cover photo:

 

Editor's Note: In the October print edition we inadvertently published an outdated aerial photograph of Cleveland. We have posted a current photo above.

http://archrecord.construction.com/features/2012/American-City/Cleveland/Cleveland-Ohio.asp

 

ich, couldn't they have cropped over those parking lots.

Has anyone on the board stayed there?

 

I spent my wedding night there, so this is a little sad for me like when they tear down your middle school (which happened). I won a free night there at a bridal show and we used it for the wedding night. It wasn't fancy, but it was a cute little suite and I enjoyed it. I think those would be really, really small apartments though. I suck at guessing square footage but the "living room" part was very, very small. I don't recall a kitchen of any kind.

^Dont feel bad. They tore down the hospital my mom was born at, her middle school, her high school, the hospital I (her first born) was born in etc. Lol. She's used to this type of stuff now.

I have stayed at other ones, and they are usually pretty nice and roomy for business travel or extended stays.  And most allow dogs which is a plus for me (not the downtown one though, so its always the Ritz with the pooch!). 

 

Well the article said the apartments would be upgraded over the others in Reserve Square with Granite and stainless, so I guess that just means leaving what is there. 

 

^^  Pet peeve of mine as someone who is deathly allergic to most dogs.  I personally have nothing against dogs and think they are wonderful creatures, but ever since Paris Hilton took to carrying a Chihuahua to nightclubs and Starbucks it seems some people just can't leave their pets at home.  There should be dog-only rooms just like their used to be smoking rooms.  In fact, I can usually tell within minutes of entering a hotel room when there has been a dog recently in the room (hives, itching).

 

Rant over--back to the topic and good news of Embassy Suites going back to residential!

Im pretty sure the dog rooms are always dedicated dog rooms.  I wouldnt think it would be any other way for the reason you mention.  Thus I would never take my dog to odd places since I dont know that everyone would be ok with it (not allergic) 

Im pretty sure the dog rooms are always dedicated dog rooms.  I wouldnt think it would be any other way for the reason you mention.  Thus I would never take my dog to odd places since I dont know that everyone would be ok with it (not allergic) 

 

Definitely not the case.  I'm in hotels 200+ nights a year and I can tell you there may be a couple with dog-dedicated rooms but most have none.  If they do have rules they don't enforce or look the other way.    I also think they should be banned from planes.  For someone with severe allergies the last thing you want is an animal sitting next to you for a 5 hour flight in an enclosed space.

^Dont feel bad. They tore down the hospital my mom was born at, her middle school, her high school, the hospital I (her first born) was born in etc. Lol. She's used to this type of stuff now.

 

You guys gave me a great idea for a discussion topic......

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27940.0.html

Is there a discussion topic on the conversion of the former St. Luke's Hospital into residential? I can't seem to find it...I would be very appreciative if someone could post the link!

^Here you go:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7181.0.html

This is on the border of the Clark-Metro and Tremont neighborhoods, across the street from MetroHealth Medical Center......

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2012/pdf/NWAgenda10-24-12.pdf

 

Near West Design Review District

Agenda

(8:30 a.m., Wednesday, October 24th, 2012)

Dollar Bank, 3115 West 25th Street

 

8:30 a.m. 1. NW 2012-032: Elk & Elk Office Building Renovation

3350 West 25th Street ©

 

Project Representatives – Bruce Baum, Amicon Construction, Inc., Craig McLaughlin, Elk & Elk Attorneys; Ronald Kluchin, Ronald Kluchin Architect, Inc.; Jerry Helsel, Cicogna Electric & Sign Co.

 

Follow-up review of exterior building renovation, including building materials, signage, lighting, and window treatments. Committee tabled case on October 10, 2012 to permit sponsors to further study and refine outstanding design issues.

This would certainly be interesting should it come to life in some form...

 

Winners of Cleveland Design Competition advocate big changes for lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge

 

Emerging architects and designers from around the world see big possibilities for civic renewal on the vacant lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge.

They’d connect it to staircases that would reach up through the soaring arch in the bridge’s central span to create viewing platforms high over the Cuyahoga River. They’d fill the bridge’s lower level with cafes and kiosks, art galleries, sporting venues, farmer’s markets, libraries or restaurants. And they’d build a Ferris wheel next to it.

Those are some of the ideas suggested in the 2012 Cleveland Design Competition, which attracted 164 entries from more than 20 countries around the world.

 

Entire story:

 

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2012/10/winners_of_cleveland_design_co.html#incart_river_default

That stair idea is pretty cool. Never would've thought of that. If this were to happen maybe it would spur more development on the western end of the bridge

That idea was brought up in the Friends of Canal Basin Park a few days ago...stairs/elevator from the bottom up to the lower level to a restaurant. One of the comments in that article reminded me of a question I've had...what ever happened to the Flats bridges LED lighting project?

I have a question. I hope someone can answer it. It is clear, in my opinion, that Cleveland has some significant neighborhoods of choice now, including (but not limited to):

 

1. Downtown

2. University Circle

3. Ohio City

4. Tremont

5. Detroit-Shoreway

6. Asiatown

7. North Collinwood

 

I've seen, heard, or read a common refrain in all of those neighborhoods: there is a high (extremely high in most cases) demand to live in those areas, but not enough places to put them in. Downtown has a 97 percent occupancy rate, Ohio City has a 97 percent occupancy rate (and some apartment owners speculate that it could be as high as 100 percent), there's not enough places to live in Tremont, a new development is built in Detroit Shoreway and phase 1 sells out immediately, University Circle is running out of room trying to build housing to match the demand, there's been a large increase in demand for housing in Asiatown (as a result of everything being full in downtown) and North Collinwood can't rehab the houses fast enough to meet the demand and the waiting lists for them.

 

My question is: what can be done to meet the demand? It seems to me that there is an incredible pent up demand in these areas and I think that they would just explode if the demand was met. The demographics are good. The locations are good. The trends are good. But we can't take full advantage of it if there are tons of people that want to live in every single desirable neighborhood in Cleveland and nowhere to put them. It's a great problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.

 

So what can be done to fill these neighborhoods up and meet that demand? Because once the need is met, the demand will most likely still be there, which will then necessitate creating new developments around surrounding neighborhoods to meet THAT demand, causing the neighborhoods to feed off of each other, like downtown, OC, Tremont, and Detroit Shoreway (and possibly Asiatown now) does. What can be done to speed this up?

^I'd first suggest looking through the construction threads - you'll find new developments are happening in just about all the neighborhoods you reference. Regarding Tremont, when you say there's not enough places to live? Do you mean apartments, $250K+ new construction townhomes, or places east of I-71 and north of I-490 (fyi, Tremont encompasses more than that area)?

I have a question. I hope someone can answer it. It is clear, in my opinion, that Cleveland has some significant neighborhoods of choice now, including (but not limited to):

 

1. Downtown

2. University Circle

3. Ohio City

4. Tremont

5. Detroit-Shoreway

6. Asiatown

7. North Collinwood

 

I've seen, heard, or read a common refrain in all of those neighborhoods: there is a high (extremely high in most cases) demand to live in those areas, but not enough places to put them in. Downtown has a 97 percent occupancy rate, Ohio City has a 97 percent occupancy rate (and some apartment owners speculate that it could be as high as 100 percent), there's not enough places to live in Tremont, a new development is built in Detroit Shoreway and phase 1 sells out immediately, University Circle is running out of room trying to build housing to match the demand, there's been a large increase in demand for housing in Asiatown (as a result of everything being full in downtown) and North Collinwood can't rehab the houses fast enough to meet the demand and the waiting lists for them.

 

My question is: what can be done to meet the demand? It seems to me that there is an incredible pent up demand in these areas and I think that they would just explode if the demand was met. The demographics are good. The locations are good. The trends are good. But we can't take full advantage of it if there are tons of people that want to live in every single desirable neighborhood in Cleveland and nowhere to put them. It's a great problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.

 

So what can be done to fill these neighborhoods up and meet that demand? Because once the need is met, the demand will most likely still be there, which will then necessitate creating new developments around surrounding neighborhoods to meet THAT demand, causing the neighborhoods to feed off of each other, like downtown, OC, Tremont, and Detroit Shoreway (and possibly Asiatown now) does. What can be done to speed this up?

 

While I'm no expert on this subject, I think aggressive enforcement of housing code could do wonders.  From what I've seen over the years when a neighborhood gets "hot" there is some housing rehab, but more often than not the owners of a falling down shack suddenly want $200,000 for their house.    Enforcing the housing code evenly and firmly would open up more housing to rehab (or cause existing owners to invest in their properties), resulting in more desirable units in these neighborhoods.  Without it we are left with small "pockets" of desirable locations, with no neighborhood connection.

The city doesn't have enough apartments.  I've gone through the reasons and the consequences here before, and I think RTA and the port authority could both be part of the solution.  But everyone would have to be on the same page, RTA in particular would have to dedicate itself to real TOD in a way it has not yet chosen to. 

 

There are development plans on the table right now that inexplicably do not include apartments.  Examples include the plaza at Clifton and 117th, and the restaurant outbuildings in Flats East Bank.  The former plan was created by a city-funded CDC, the latter was made possible by eminent domain and considerable public financing.  In both cases, our leaders have chosen against pushing for apartments where most cities would.  These are places where apartments are likely to succeed and where development is only possible through city assistance, yet the plans for them specifically ignore this obvious pressing need.   

I have a question. I hope someone can answer it. It is clear, in my opinion, that Cleveland has some significant neighborhoods of choice now, including (but not limited to):

 

1. Downtown

2. University Circle

3. Ohio City

4. Tremont

5. Detroit-Shoreway

6. Asiatown

7. North Collinwood

 

What, no Edgewater in that list?

I have a question. I hope someone can answer it. It is clear, in my opinion, that Cleveland has some significant neighborhoods of choice now, including (but not limited to):

 

1. Downtown

2. University Circle

3. Ohio City

4. Tremont

5. Detroit-Shoreway

6. Asiatown

7. North Collinwood

 

What, no Edgewater in that list?

 

I started to add Edgewater. I didn't because the post was about places that can add new housing (apartments, condos, homes, etc) and it seems to me that, with the strip mall and a couple of parcels being an exception, Edgewater is just about built out already. (I'm talking about what's defined as "Edgewater" only here. Cudell is a different story.) I LOVE Edgewater. Working on a move to the neighborhood soon, hopefully. But I figured that it's basically built out already, which kinda limits the room for growth.

Edgewater could do what Lakewood did -- demolish a couple houses on Clifton that are next to each other and build some mid-rises. That what they did to build my building, but only one house was razed.

 

Anyhoo....

What gets me about North Collinwood is that there are several dilapidated apartments near Waterloo that, if renovated, could significantly boost the neighborhood's growth potential.  But that's an area where the old-school thinking is still very strong... apartments are for transients and undesirables.  Real people, good people, are the ones who buy houses and have babies.  I've dealt with Mr. Polensek before and I cannot imagine him ever advocating anything we'd call "growth."

I think the real demand indicators that will boost supply more quickly are rents and sales prices, not just occupancy rates.  If rents get large enough to justify new construction that doesn't require competitive subsidies (i.e, NM tax credits, historic tax credits), we'll see a lot more of it.  Put another way, "we" (the government) are already doing something to increase supply: most of the new rental units being added now (downtown, UC) have only been possible because of significant public subsidies.

What gets me about North Collinwood is that there are several dilapidated apartments near Waterloo that, if renovated, could significantly boost the neighborhood's growth potential.  But that's an area where the old-school thinking is still very strong... apartments are for transients and undesirables.  Real people, good people, are the ones who buy houses and have babies.  I've dealt with Mr. Polensek before and I cannot imagine him ever advocating anything we'd call "growth."

Has that ever been proposed to him? My family has a good relationship with him. I can drop a bug in his ear about it if it hasn't been mentioned already.

 

And by the way, I 10000 percent agree with your statement that the city doesn't had enough apartments. That's an understatement. We'd need to have more apartments just to "not have enough" apartments. The two biggest issues that I see in terms of housing is that we don't have enough DESIRABLE apartments in desirable neighborhoods and in many cases some of our housing stock is either outdated or beyond repair. And finally, the older houses that can be saved may need to be saved as a different version of itself. For example, the homes on Heritage Lane on East 105th. Many were originally Cleveland style two families that were converted into one family homes.

Posted an idea about subsidizing new housing construction in strategic locations here.....

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,1977.msg648713.html#msg648713

What is going on at these buildings?

 

http://goo.gl/maps/yOXbx

 

The facade is now a random mix of colors including green and blue. Kind of a drunk checkerboard effect.

Has that ever been proposed to him? My family has a good relationship with him. I can drop a bug in his ear about it if it hasn't been mentioned already.

 

I would love to be wrong about the esteemed councilman.  And if you have the ability to influence such a thing, I wish you well.

What is going on at these buildings?

 

Noticed that also. Here is the Loopnet, looks like it was just updated.

 

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16238488/2728-2800-Euclid-Ave-Cleveland-OH/?LinkCode=10850&SourceCode=1lww2t006a00001&

Some developments on the east side here. Drove by the old Commerce Place office buildings in Beachwood at Chagrin/Green and they were fully demolished for the new NRP apartments. I hadnt heard any news on this project for awhile so i decided to drive by. Looked like they had everything dug and were starting work on the foundation/garage.

 

Kinda a bad picture, but you can see the office buildings are gone and things are all dug up

 

 

Some developments on the east side here. Drove by the old Commerce Place office buildings in Beachwood at Chagrin/Green and they were fully demolished for the new NRP apartments. I hadnt heard any news on this project for awhile so i decided to drive by. Looked like they had everything dug and were starting work on the foundation/garage.

 

Kinda a bad picture, but you can see the office buildings are gone and things are all dug up

 

 

 

Check the demolition thread.

What gets me about North Collinwood is that there are several dilapidated apartments near Waterloo that, if renovated, could significantly boost the neighborhood's growth potential.  But that's an area where the old-school thinking is still very strong... apartments are for transients and undesirables.  Real people, good people, are the ones who buy houses and have babies.  I've dealt with Mr. Polensek before and I cannot imagine him ever advocating anything we'd call "growth."

 

(Sort of getting sidetracked from the thread, perhaps mods can move this discussion into a new one...? )

 

In March(?), I attended a city planning commish meeting on behalf of cyps and SLPA on the proposed demolition of these apartment buildings in N. Collinwood, (the exact location is escaping me at the moment, it was on one of the more tertiary roads, either 140,152 or 156) I had only hastily researched it but I had advocated to postpone the demolition as the neighborhood is getting more residential demand for these types of living spaces. Polensek (Who was there, advocating for the demo) and the commish just ripped me a part, stating the building had been on the market for 5-6 years, no developer had stepped up to buy and renovate the property, and they've waited long enough. 

 

Strapberger mentioned,all of these new projects still require subsidies to be profitable to be built. Unfortunately, I think rents will need to increase so that it becomes profitable for both new construction of units and for the renovation of neglected properties/warehouses into residential.

 

Secondly, with the abundance of cheap and available housing in Cleveland, I speculate that more people (particularly lower-income yuppies) would venture into other neighborhoods as rents increase, which would temper the demand for new construction and high rents in a particular neighborhood.

 

Some developments on the east side here. Drove by the old Commerce Place office buildings in Beachwood at Chagrin/Green and they were fully demolished for the new NRP apartments. I hadnt heard any news on this project for awhile so i decided to drive by. Looked like they had everything dug and were starting work on the foundation/garage.

 

Kinda a bad picture, but you can see the office buildings are gone and things are all dug up

 

 

 

Check the demolition thread.

 

Yeah I saw. I didnt realize this post even posted, it had said there was an issue with the picture (hence no picture). oh well. it showed some what i assumed was building work starting, hence my post in here

^^ I have no doubt that subsidies are needed to get the results we're looking for.  But development subsidies are somewhat common, here and everywhere else, and I believe the issue is what we choose to do with them.  As long as we have our current leaders, poor decisions will continue to be made.

New Parmatown owner tells Parma officials it will take three years to redevelop mall property

 

http://www.cleveland.com/parma/index.ssf/2012/11/new_parmatown_owner_tell_parma.html#incart_river_default

PARMA It will take three years for Phillips Edison & Co. to redesign and rebuild Parmatown Mall.

That is what the firm, which bought Parmatown Oct. 16, told city officials, according to Mayor Tim DeGeeter.

“That tells me they are going to make a significant investment in Parma,” DeGeeter said. “We’re real excited because we think anything that would take three years to do, they’re not keeping the status quo.”

You would think they could look at other projects that Phillips Edison & Co has done recently to get an idea of what they might do here.

This would certainly be interesting should it come to life in some form...

 

Winners of Cleveland Design Competition advocate big changes for lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge

 

Emerging architects and designers from around the world see big possibilities for civic renewal on the vacant lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge.

They’d connect it to staircases that would reach up through the soaring arch in the bridge’s central span to create viewing platforms high over the Cuyahoga River. They’d fill the bridge’s lower level with cafes and kiosks, art galleries, sporting venues, farmer’s markets, libraries or restaurants. And they’d build a Ferris wheel next to it.

Those are some of the ideas suggested in the 2012 Cleveland Design Competition, which attracted 164 entries from more than 20 countries around the world.

 

Entire story:

 

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2012/10/winners_of_cleveland_design_co.html#incart_river_default

 

More discussion:

 

 

Two Projects Share First Place at 2012 Cleveland Design Competition - Transforming the Bridge

 

http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/two_projects_share_first_place_at_2012_cleveland_design_competition/