^When I lived in Tremont, that would have been true (I had a view of just about everything from St. Colman @ West 65th to downtown to the Clinic). Of course, I didn't have a good camera back then:

WOW, MayDay proved that there ARE people working up there!

 

That's pretty impressive. I think all the buildings downtown need powerwashed to get all the grime off of them.

I kinda like some grime on the buildings.  But not on the Terminal Tower.

I kinda like some grime on the buildings.  But not on the Terminal Tower.

 

I'm a product of my father. We've always lived in old houses, but he is so O.D.D. that when he works on things, he has to make sure it is in PERFECT condition, like brand new ;) I can't help it! I'm like Danny Tanner now.

 

Edit: Also,  have you seen the National City building all light up pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month? It's pretty impressive, imo. I wish they'd light up the building like that all the time.

^When I lived in Tremont, that would have been true (I had a view of just about everything from St. Colman @ West 65th to downtown to the Clinic). Of course, I didn't have a good camera back then:

 

Way cool.  With that camera, Man, I would hate to be one of your neighbors and forget to close the blinds.... :-o

Grade my response to this blog discussion... "Chris" at the end of the comments section proposes that our lakefront hasn't been developed because of the southwesterly breezes (as Mark Nolan would say:). He says that the wind makes the lake areas of downtown uninhabitable.

 

I'm not schooled in urban design, so maybe you guys have better answers, but the idea that it's THE WIND that's holding us back just sounds like craziest thing I've ever heard. In Minneapolis they have space heaters for your car and all the buildings are connected so you don't have to go outside in the winter, right? They seem to be doing pretty well for themselves!!

 

http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/2006/10/04/positive-reinforcement/

Edit: Also,  have you seen the National City building all light up pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month? It's pretty impressive, imo. I wish they'd light up the building like that all the time.

 

Agreed.  Quite impressive up close and from a distance.  They've been very active in keeping their street level windows fresh, keeping their plaza clean and updated, and with the tower too.  Kudos to NCB!

So has anyone ever been inside the cuppola or Greenbriar Suite? I always wondered what it was like up there.

Both are featured on PBS's Sites Unseen. I believe the recent Art Deco Society tour took people into the Greenbrier Suite, but I've not been there myself. To the best of my knowledge, the cupola is barely accessible to the maintenance staff (aka the flag-changer) much less to the public - on Sites Unseen, it looked like a phone booth. Speaking of, here are some closer shots:

 

 

The scaffolding is impressive in its own right:

You can make out the same gold color through the scaffold in the first picture.

That will be impressive when complete.

 

 

If you mean the goldish color that I've highlighted in this pic...

 

That's actually the underside of the wood planks that make up the scaffolding. Sorry  :|

Hopefully they aren't going crazy with that gold color.  I think it looks a bit odd.  Those pictures are awesome though.

I would think that they're under serious restrictions because of the tower's landmark status. I'd imagine the gold would be limited strictly to the cupola.  I have an old photo (I should scan it) that shows the cupola shortly after the tower's construction, and it looks very similar - as in, the metal tastefully contrasting with the masonry below.   

I see it now. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

I would think that they're under serious restrictions because of the tower's landmark status. I'd imagine the gold would be limited strictly to the cupola.  I have an old photo (I should scan it) that shows the cupola shortly after the tower's construction, and it looks very similar - as in, the metal tastefully contrasting with the masonry below. 

 

well, i hope you're right, because this just looks tacky to me right now

not sure if this is already a mentioned project, but Crains has an article titled

 

"Upscale townhomes set to rise near Case"

 

anyone have access to this?

I don't, but it was heard at the Cleveland Planning Commission September 15th Meeting.

 

I am about to publish this on my blog in the next day or two:

 

1. DRC 06-128: East 118th Street, between Euclid and Wade Park, Wade Park Townhomes, new construction.

These homes are designed by City Architecture.

From Weatherheadlines: Alumni Connection

 

   

Five NY-style townhouses are being built on the Case campus directly across from the new $120 million athletic fields and dormitories. The front door is the new baseball diamond. The $280-315,000 townhouses have full basements, attics and 2.5 car garages with private, fully-sprinklered yards. Standard luxury features include a pantry desk center, mudroom, double height kitchen cabinets, real hardwood floors, built-in book shelves at the top and bottom of the stairs, laundry chutes and granite, marble and travertine countertops in the kitchens and bathrooms. Energy efficient features include sprayed insulation, tankless hot water heaters and double and triple-pane windows. Buyers receive a Case Community Access Card for the athletic fields, sporting events, check-out privileges at Kelvin Smith Library and discounted membership to use the Veale Athletic Center and indoor pool. The project is a unique partnership between University Circle, Case and The Doan Brook Company.

 

oh hmm NY-style has a 2.5 car garages??  sounds like Solon-style to me

Some updates of a few projects - all from October 8th:

 

Cleveland Clinic Heart Center:

 

Cleveland Museum of Art:

 

Cleveland Institute of Music:

 

Park Lane Villa:

 

 

From the beginning (last year), two of the townhomes were to be bought by the developer and a Case professor.  It sure makes it easier to get projects going when 40% is presold. Another townhouse development is being studied in the heart of UC (nothing too huge, but it'll eliminate a surface lot).

 

Upscale townhomes set to rise near Case

Related Links 

Doan Brook Co.

Case Western Reserve University

University Circle Inc.

 

By SHANNON MORTLAND

 

6:00 am, October 9, 2006

 

Five upscale townhomes are about to be built just off the Case Western Reserve University campus — a type of building project University Circle hasn’t seen in decades.

 

The townhomes are being built by The Doan Brook Co., a Shaker Heights real estate developer and investment firm, in partnership with Case and University Circle Inc., the nonprofit group that promotes the arts, education and health care district east of downtown.

 

Doan Brook owner Donald Gest said his company is buying from University Circle Inc. about a half-acre on East 118th Street across from Case’s Village at 115, which is a new apartment-style dormitory campus for students.

 

Doan Brook plans to begin construction early next month and expects to complete the project by next June, Mr. Gest said. Two of the homes already are sold, including one to Mr. Gest and his wife, Kristen, both of whom are Case graduates. The Gest family will move from their home in Shaker Heights, he said.

 

“My son and future children are going to be able to run and play” in University Circle, he said. “My wife and I (already) go to the Botanical Garden about twice a week.”

 

 

The townhomes will range from 1,700 to 2,000 square feet and will be priced from $280,000 to $315,000, Mr. Gest said. In a departure from the traditional method of home building, Mr. Gest said, the buyers will be able to customize their townhomes at no additional cost.

 

“The price is the price,” he said. “We’ll provide all custom cabinets for people, granite for the kitchen, marble for the bathrooms and oak hardwood floors that will be stained for the owner.”

 

The townhomes will come standard with a 2½-car garage, a backyard with a patio, and a powder room and two full baths, with the option for more, Mr. Gest said. Owners of the townhomes can pay $15 to obtain the Case Community Card, which will allow them free access to Case’s athletic fields and free wireless Internet access. Townhome owners can pay $375 each year to use Case’s fitness center, and an additional one-time fee of $150 for check-out privileges at Case’s Kelvin Smith Library.

 

“This is the first townhome development in University Circle in decades,” said Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle Inc. “We’ve had (development) in Little Italy and in Glenville, but not in University Circle proper.”

 

Mr. Gest said his company already is exploring additional opportunities to build homes in University Circle.

 

 

 

Doan Brook owner Donald Gest said his company is buying from University Circle Inc. about a half-acre on East 118th Street across from Case’s Village at 115, which is a new apartment-style dormitory campus for students.

 

Sounds great.. I just can't picture the exact location.... This just reinforces my new theme: we simply can't keep ignoring cancer eating away at nextdoor neighbor East Cleveland lest it ruin all these exciting UC plans.

i drove through east cleveland the other day, with all the great stuff going on in university circle you tend to forget how bad at gets just past the rail tracks heh

 

this is a great development actually, it would be nice to see more people do little things all over cleveland like this.  like if someone were moving into cleveland by buying property and then building their house and several houses on it as well.  it would make for a lot more organic development rather than a developer coming in and doing 200 units.  its a lot more people scale.

Once Uptown ( :roll: ) hits a critical mass, people will notice that there is a low cost of living a few blocs away.

 

But, I don't think that will happen for at least a decade.  Hope I am wrong

There are conversations with all of the key UC partners involving East Cleveland and development opportunities along the Euclid Corridor and beyond.  They understand the value of strengthening East Cleveland and the potential it has as a logical place to grow into, especially with the Corridor project nearing completion. 

 

The townhomes look great.  They're really decked out and as the article mentions, that's the standard.  They're not so-so with optional upgrades.  The upgrades are built in.  You can go beyond them, but they're really very posh as is! 

 

Another drip in the bucket!

Thanks for the photo updates Mayday!

 

I'm loving the sound of the new townhouses and hope that every vacant spot of ground in the UC (and even some spots that no-one yet considers vacant) get some cool residential built on them.  The right residential project at UC might even be the carrot that gets me to move back home some day...

 

What is the exact location of these new townhouses- East side of E118th backing up to the cemetary?  Is the parking garage/grand stand on the east side of the main athletic field an eyesore at all along E118?  Can't quite picture it all since its been rebuilt.

Strap,

 

You are correct about the location. If my memory serves me correctly, the townhomes will be further down E118 (across from the Case baseball stadium).  Its a great infill project.

 

Great photo's MayDay.

 

ParkLane Villa looks awesome!  I wish we had a few more of those around!

Thanks for the shots Mayday, so how much $$$ worth of construction do you think you shot there?

I'd say close to a billion :)

Great, more money shoveled over to a worthless suburb.

I hope, and I could be wrong KJP, that she (Drago) was referring to Westlake when she made these comments.  The author of this article wrote in an ambigous manner leading to confusion.  Hopefully that would explain the culture shock, as in moving to Westlake from Cleveland/Lakewood.  I hope, for godsake.

Yeck, why would you move from Lakewood to Westlake?

She and her family moved to Westlake after many years of living in Lakewood and renting studio space for Drago in downtown Cleveland. Drago was happy because her new house had enough room to set up a studio -- much more convenient for the mother of two.

 

"However, in terms of arts and culture, it [the city] just seemed dead to me," Drago said. "There were no galleries or places to meet other artists. It was just culture shock."

 

Yeah, I'm actually interpreting that as a comment on Westlake, particularly in contrast to Lakewood/Cleveland. Hence the "culture shock" remark.

""However, in terms of arts and culture, it [the city] just seemed dead to me," Drago said. "There were no galleries or places to meet other artists. It was just culture shock."

 

No sh!t sherlock, you moved to an outer-ring 'burb as an artist and realized that there isn't a big art community there. Good luck getting the rest to follow you to KinkadeLand :roll:

Some recent entries into the BZA log concerning two prominent yet unused structures:

 

The former Howard Johnson adjacent to Fox 8 Studios:

Ward 8 - Calendar No. 06-200: 5700 South Marginal Road Sabra Pierce Scott - 8 Notices

 

Bapez Real Estate, Ltd., owner, and Moshe Bohbot appeal to establish use as a multiple unit structure/condominiums and a restaurant in an existing eleven-story, ninety-seven thousand square foot structure, situated on an acreage parcel located in a General Industry District on the south side of South Marginal Road at 5700 South Marginal Road; the proposed plan being contrary to industrial district regulations, where no building or premises in a General Industry District may be erected, altered or arranged for human habitation, as stated in Section 345.04(d)(1) of the Codified Ordinances. (Filed 9-26-06)

 

And the old gas station at Lake and Clifton:

Ward 18 - Calendar No. 06-205: 9308 Clifton Boulevard Jay Westbrook - 9 Notices

 

MCMCII, LLC, owner and Maurice Christopher, appeal to change from a gas station to a retail store the use of an existing one-story building situated on a corner triangular shaped parcel, located in a One-Family District on the north side of Clifton Boulevard at 9308 Clifton Boulevard; the proposed substitution of a nonconforming use requiring that the Board of Zoning Appeals finds, after a public hearing, that such substitution or other change is no more harmful or objectionable than the previous nonconforming use in floor or other space occupied, in volume of trade or production in kind of goods sold or produced, in daily hours or other period of use, in the type or number of persons to occupy or to e attracted to the premises or in any other characteristic of the new use as compared with the previous use, as stated under the provisions of Section 359.01 of the Codified Ordinances.

 

 

 

use as a multiple unit structure/condominiums and a restaurant

 

Wow!  Go Bapez & Moshe!

The former Howard Johnson adjacent to Fox 8 Studios:

 

Speak of the devil! I was just telling my mom about the current state of that Howard Johnson's, which kinda depressed her. Now I can call her up and let her know there is hope after all.

whoa finally

Some recent entries into the BZA log concerning two prominent yet unused structures:

 

The former Howard Johnson adjacent to Fox 8 Studios:

Ward 8 - Calendar No. 06-200: 5700 South Marginal Road Sabra Pierce Scott - 8 Notices

 

Bapez Real Estate, Ltd., owner, and Moshe Bohbot appeal to establish use as a multiple unit structure/condominiums and a restaurant in an existing eleven-story, ninety-seven thousand square foot structure, situated on an acreage parcel located in a General Industry District on the south side of South Marginal Road at 5700 South Marginal Road; the proposed plan being contrary to industrial district regulations, where no building or premises in a General Industry District may be erected, altered or arranged for human habitation, as stated in Section 345.04(d)(1) of the Codified Ordinances. (Filed 9-26-06)

 

I think this should be discussed here:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=6849.new#new

It looks like the porn shop on West 9th will be gone soon. A retail store called "Style" will be moving in. The street was dark so I could be off on the name.

 

Also, it looks like View nightclub on Prospect called it quits. The sign is down and there is a note on the door, I was driving by so I didnt get a chance to read it.

"Style Lounge Store of Premium Denim"... great to see a growing collection of clothing shops on West Ninth Street: JV Men's Clothing Loft, Suite Life, Brigade and now Style Lounge  :-D

...it looks like View nightclub on Prospect called it quits. The sign is down and there is a note on the door, I was driving by so I didnt get a chance to read it.

 

Hmmm...can't say I'm surprised.  This just means more market share for Fantasy One!

^Does anyone know the status of that project?

that is awesome news about the howard johnsons. i cant wait to hear more about it.

It looks like the porn shop on West 9th will be gone soon. A retail store called "Style" will be moving in. The street was dark so I could be off on the name.

 

Also, it looks like View nightclub on Prospect called it quits. The sign is down and there is a note on the door, I was driving by so I didnt get a chance to read it.

 

Do we know if they planned on staying?  They could have signed a short term lease from jump.  A lot of small business do this to get a feel for the  market.

that is awesome news about the howard johnsons. i cant wait to hear more about it.

 

There is a string about the Howard Johnson's somewhere on here. But it's nice to see this thread overtake the one for Cincinnati to become the most heavily used general developments thread for any Ohio city.

Well if Cleveland has been behind in the general developments thread, I think its because we have less "random developments" and more "significant" developments deserving their own thread.

Actually, we started our string much later than the Cincinnati thread, which I believe was first. Others were added later.

Don't be so humble and make excuses for them.

Just trying to be accurate. Sorry!