It has been closed for about 3 years. The owner thinks that it should be torn down and has no patience for the city's "historic preservation stance."

 

Then he should sell it to someone who does have the patience and then get the hell out of town!

 

That building was around around long before he was born and the longer it sticks around, the less it remains solely "his building" and moreso a community asset. That's the reality of an older city. Perhaps he should move to Houston or Orlando...

 

Does anyone know if that building was always a parking garage?  The visible details are stunning. Though I have several times walked around and thoroughly checked it out... It appears to be in pretty bad shape structurally, and sadly, I have wondered how feasible it would be to refurbish it.  I really hope it can be, it would be a great addition.

I always envisioned it as a movie theater, tying the south end of Playhouse Square's secondary street to the higher end.  Of course, I'd then add housing/offices all around it and voila!  I wonder what Stark had envisioned here as part of his "Y" plan...

I would like to see it as a lobby/retail/restaurant to maybe a 15/16 story housing development.

I forgot to mention this earlier... But I noticed today while walking around at lunch that there are signs up for the Kourfant and Mazzone Construction Co. at the 1303 Prospect Place building (Not Prospect Place apartments... this is the skinny building in between the surface lot and the US Bank garage on the north side of the street kind of across from the old bottoms up).  Kourfant & Mazzone is the construction company that owns and refurbished Joshua Hall.  I heard awhile back that someone bought the 1303 Prospect Building and was moving their offices in there.  I can not now for the life of me what the company is.  Obviously this is moving forward.  Personally i think this is great news.  For an eternity Prospect consisted of one of the worst projects downtown, Ohio Desk, S Rose, and a lot of buildings in REALLY bad shape.  Now Winton Manor has been rehabbed and is much better, The Osborn is pretty much at capacity, Prospect Place Apartments has rehabbed that building, Joshua Hall has remade another ramshackle into a gem, and now this.  I realize that there are still too many parking garages and surface lots on this street... but not long ago it was absolutely abhorrent.  Now there is only 1 vacant property left (the bottoms up building).  This gives me hope that maybe at somepoint down the line Prospect will be in good position for some infill...

 

FYIW

About 4 weeks ago, I saw three men standing on the sidewalk next to Bottoms Up, unrolling architectural drawings, and pointing towards the second floor. 

 

  As fate would have it, I just had a conversation that cleared most of this up...  A single company has indeed purchased 1303 Prospect Ave (Prospect Place) and intend to be the single tennant of the space.  The building is 13,000 sf.  Sandvick is the architect of record.  The front will be completely refurbished, windows replaced, etc.  Kourfant is indeed doing the work.  They have already gutted the space.  The tennant (since I don't know whether or not it's public knowledge I'll leave their name out of it... though I can tell you it is a relocation from the CBD) should be in the space by the first of the year (actually I heard end of October... but as these things go, I'm saying first of the year).

 

And 3231 you were on to something.  The old Bottom's Up building has indeed been purchased and development plans are under way.  Looks like Korfant will be handling this one too (Looks like that storefront location is paying off for business). 

 

I also heard that Korfant & Mazzone is so pleased with how their initial prospect investment has panned out that they are looking to buy another property on prospect... I do not know if that would be the old goodyear property or if it is somewhere further up the street.  But I think this is great news.  It means Prospect is essentially all gobbled up and should be completely filled in the very near future.

 

On a related note the company that bought 1303 Prospect also bought the surface lot next to it.  Initially for parking for their employees but also so that when they are ready t grow they can simply build.  Now THAT would be awesome.

Great info! Thanks for the in-depth reporting.

I know I'm probably the only person who gives a crap about this... but I snapped a pic of the new windows on the 2nd floor of the halle building today.  They just finished painting the flag poles.  It made a huge improvement, some of these windows were cracked, most of the frames were rusting out. Windows were replaced on both the Euclid and Huron sides... I have no idea yet if they are at least painting the windows of the top floors, i sure hope so.  FWIW the lull is still parked by the building

I care!  I like that building, and one of my friends works in it.

I know I'm probably the only person who gives a crap about this...

 

Surely you know better...

Cleveland collects $22 million from developers

Posted by jdubail June 24, 2008 12:18PM

 

Cleveland has collected more than $22 million from developers who took advantage of a discount to pay off city loans early...

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/06/cleveland_collects_34_million.html

From cleveland.com:

 

Green, affordable projects get financing

Posted by mjarboe June 26, 2008 07:30AM

It's not just individual homeowners and developers jumping on the "green building" bandwagon. The city of Cleveland has been getting into the action, too, with some recent financing announcements for residential projects with sustainable or energy-efficient features.

 

Does anyone have any knowledge of what is going on with the building on the corner of Chester and E. 13th?  The building is directly to the east of the Chesterfield building. 

that is section 8 housing...DAS is doing some remodeling, nothing of that significance...

Thanks I saw the DAS sign and wasn't sure what was going on.

I really like the look of that building.

I've moved london's inquiry about Minneapolis-St. Paul discussion forums to Urbanbar.

Can sombody put the Crains Article up about this....

 

Graphics firm draws up HQ plans

Consolidated Graphics Group Inc. is eyeing a site on the lakefront owned by Cleveland Public Power for a new, $20 million headquarters.

 

Thanks,

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20080630/SUB1/448590192/1071/TOC&Profile=1071

 

Graphics firm draws up HQ plans

City, county testing undeveloped landfill

 

By JAY MILLER

 

4:30 am, June 30, 2008

 

 

 

Consolidated Graphics Group Inc., a printing and direct-marketing company in downtown Cleveland, is eyeing a site on the lakefront owned by Cleveland Public Power for a new, $20 million headquarters.

 

 

Disappointing that they will be leaving the city's grid for a freeway off ramp site.  I really don't see anything in this location having any affect on spurring adjacent development.  Expanding business is good, but filling some empty lots in Midtown would be more desireable from an urbanistic standpoint.

^agreed. Kevin Schmotzer's quote about how this is great for the city is a bit off. This will have no positive spin off. I'd much rather see these guys go into Tyler Village or something similar.

Wow 200,000 square feet? That could easily be a 10-story building with good-sized floor plates. But I suspect if they're using lots of large printing equipment and a horizontal production process. Thus they'll probably want less height and much larger floor plates. There aren't many urbanistic settings for that kind of structure.

They did say it's a 14 acre site, so I doubt we're talking about something vertical here. 

Isn't this the site the port is looking to move to?

Isn't this the site the port is looking to move to?

 

I think this is SOUTH of where the port wants to build.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

Ground Breaking Ceremony for Village Green Senior Center

 

WHO:        Councilman Roosevelt Coats, Ward 10

                    Euclid St. Clair Development Corporation

                    Village Green Development, Ltd.

 

WHAT:      Ground breaking ceremony for Village Green Senior Center, a 55 unit, low income senior housing complex with access to Duggan Field and its athletic amenities

 

WHEN:      Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 11 am

 

WHERE:    The Greenlite Shopping Center, 18235 Euclid Avenue

 

                    Reception immediately following at the 5 Points Community Center, 813 E. 152nd Street

since Mayday seems to be slacking I decided to venture down into his hood today... either that or i had to go to the bank and had a camera on me.  Anyway, here's the new Dollar Bank at the Galleria.  I actually went inside the "mall" to check it out, and this place is going to be really really nice.  Of course I don't know what they're going to do about the fact that the rest of the place inside and out is stuck in 1987... but the Dollar Bank offices look really nice.

 

 

Hey, if it brings more life to the galleria, that is fine with me!

Get ready to start boogying at Public Square

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/07/restaurant_dance_club_planned.html

 

The restaurant, Cadillac Ranch, and an affiliated but unidentified dance club could open in the former department store building within a few months, said Richard Sheehan, a vice president with the Grubb & Ellis brokerage firm in Cleveland. Sheehan represents the May Co. building, which out-of-state investors own. ..

 

Ah, finally the official announcement.  Well, on the bright side, the patio on public square sounds cool....  But the mechanical bull reminds me of an episode of Ugly Betty...

i wish we had something a bit more classy situated on our city's proverbial welcome mat, but I guess for now it is better than nothing...

I'm more interested in who these other retail tenants are.

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure there is a bright side to the circus that is about to become of the may co. building.

Better than an empty building

I'm not sure there is a bright side to the circus that is about to become of the may co. building.

 

It could serve a purpose.  The Manhattan Mall in NYC served a purpose and worked well.  IF all works out well with homes and a hotel. 

 

God, a boutique hotel on the upper floors would be fabulous.  this is what you all want, a true mixed use development.  More things at street level, more people on the street and the perception that downtown is dead is removed.

 

Come on folks, look at opportunities instead of roadblocks.

 

Better than an empty building

This doesn't happen often, but I agree.

I just think having a patio on Public Square would be cool, regardless of what establishment it's actually for.....  I do hope that they put heaters on the patio so we can have some life in the spring/fall.

I'm just not sure I like the direction ALL the lower level retail on Euclid Avenue seems to be going.  It's not often.  But this is one building i would have like to have held out on until a more comprehensive plan was made.  Sounds to me, like people from out of town that just want to fill the space and take a piece meal approach.

 

Of course it just could be the thought of a mechanical bull dance club that has me so down right now.

I'm just not sure I like the direction ALL the lower level retail on Euclid Avenue seems to be going. It's not often. But this is one building i would have like to have held out on until a more comprehensive plan was made. Sounds to me, like people from out of town that just want to fill the space and take a piece meal approach.

 

Of course it just could be the thought of a mechanical bull dance club that has me so down right now.

 

Exactly. If done well, the entire building could be a powerful draw for the area. As is, I can see it sort of leaching off the energy of the well-planned areas around it. I'm sure that Maron has turned down some similar businesses for E.4th. He can't be thrilled that some cheap establishment is going to piggy back off of his hard work. I feel that this will dilute things. 

 

 

Even though I'm not impressed with Cadillac Ranch, it does bode well for downtown. It partially fills an empty building near Public Square and the patio will give lower Euclid more life. We are seeing the impact of the Corridor project. Look at how far lower Euclid has come in five years. Lower Euclid (E. 4th) is home to the HOB, Corner Alley, Lola, Wonder Bar, Pickwick and Frolic, and yes even Cadillac Ranch. Hopefully, more developers will see potential. The fact out of town investors are looking to fill Euclid is very encouraging.

I'm just not sure I like the direction ALL the lower level retail on Euclid Avenue seems to be going.  It's not often.  But this is one building i would have like to have held out on until a more comprehensive plan was made.  Sounds to me, like people from out of town that just want to fill the space and take a piece meal approach.

 

Of course it just could be the thought of a mechanical bull dance club that has me so down right now.

 

Exactly. If done well, the entire building could be a powerful draw for the area. As is, I can see it sort of leaching off the energy of the well-planned areas around it. I'm sure that Maron has turned down some similar businesses for E.4th. He can't be thrilled that some cheap establishment is going to piggy back off of his hard work. I feel that this will dilute things. 

 

 

 

Or.................... (again, kids, turn a positive into a negative) this could bring people to the area that aren't foodies or that don't find the collection of establishments on E. 4th to their liking.

 

If Maron, did turn down said establishments, maybe they did not work on East 4th proper but could work on Euclid or Prospect.  There is nothing wrong with that.  We don't even have rendering and everyone is complaining.  Wussup with that??

 

Part of playing the game, is being a catalyst for further development!!  Um, if I'm not mistaken that is happening.  It extends the area and soon there wont be any gaps from TowerCity to East Ninth on Euclid, Prospect or Huron.

 

Why is it we - yes folks here - are quick to look at the negatives, but not the positive that could come from such a project?

I'm just not sure I like the direction ALL the lower level retail on Euclid Avenue seems to be going. It's not often. But this is one building i would have like to have held out on until a more comprehensive plan was made. Sounds to me, like people from out of town that just want to fill the space and take a piece meal approach.

 

Of course it just could be the thought of a mechanical bull dance club that has me so down right now.

 

Exactly. If done well, the entire building could be a powerful draw for the area. As is, I can see it sort of leaching off the energy of the well-planned areas around it. I'm sure that Maron has turned down some similar businesses for E.4th. He can't be thrilled that some cheap establishment is going to piggy back off of his hard work. I feel that this will dilute things.

 

 

 

My thoughts exactly.  I don't like when an out of town investor with no real knowledge just jumps in and says, "great entertainment let's go with it..."  And their plans seem incredibly half hearted and thought out.  Throw this in here... see what we can jam in on the other side... maybe in the future, housing or hotel.  It all seems very half assed to me.

^That's a bit presumptive.  I can't imagine any investors, especially in today's economy, are going to make any real investment without serious thought and longterm plans.

^That's a bit presumptive.  I can't imagine any investors, especially in today's economy, are going to make any real investment without serious thought and longterm plans.

 

I agree  (twice in a day -- is this becoming a habit?  :|)

^That's a bit presumptive. I can't imagine any investors, especially in today's economy, are going to make any real investment without serious thought and longterm plans.

 

I agree with you in terms of the investors on cadillac ranch.  I'm sure they think this is a great idea... they're next to east 4th.  I totally disagree on the owners of the may co. building.  They are out of towners and see a chance to grab some money filling in a vacant building.  this takes no planning.  Trust me, if there was a comprehensive plan in place for this building i would know about it... I know too many people involved in this area.  This wreaks of being "played by ear".

 

I really hope it's succesful... but I'm really skeptical of this right now.

Oh let's give these out-of-towners with investment dollars a chance. Let's not run Cleveland like a closed shop.

you guys are missing my point.  I'd be all for this if I thought it was well thought out.  Does this sound thought out to you?... "A spokeswoman for the owners has said the building could have homes and, possibly, a small hotel on the upper floors, while the ground floor would host retail and entertainment tenants."  What this says to me is they saw an opportunity to grab some cash by jamming a restaurant in the bottom floor and took it.  I hope I'm wrong here.

Well, I don't care for Cadillac Ranch personally but I can see the value of these sorts of chain/theme restaurants in bringing middle-class non-hipster/urbanites back Downtown.  But I would like to see how this fits into a comprehensive redevelopment scheme for this massive and key building.  I thought there was an opportunity to competely remake the building when it became empty, and I don't know if that is still there if they building begins to attract piecemeal tenents like this.

exactly.  As much as I hate cadicrap ranch, I'd be OK with it (and I agree with you about the lure of middle class)if I saw some sort of comprehensive approach to this development... but there isn't one and that's dangerous.

And let's not forget that all of the great streets of the world have their fair share of chain, corny, main-stream American establishments.  Do we know how lucky we are that E4 and WHD has maybe +/- 1/2 dozen chains (not counting fastfood/coffee)?! Hard Rock, Houlihan's, Morton's, Hyde Park,  Blackfinn, Cadillac, Chophouse???, Bice???, Vivo???...We could have it a lot worse, I mean generic (see Indy).  Now if this was Red Lobster or Olive Garden, then I'd b*tch!

 

Sure I'd love to see something more original/upscale with a huge European style patio with small, 2-person tables 12 rows deep since that part of the sidewalk is huge, but with an additional 50,000 SF of retail and the residential/hotel component above, I'm really excited to see some energy around Public Square after 6pm on a regular basis for the first time in my life! 

 

 

I have a photograph of Praed Street,  in front of Paddington Station in London, which has McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Starbucks within about 500 feet of each other.

Again... My point is not cadicrap ranch itself.  It's the way they seem to be putting this "development" together.

While I am certainly not a fan of this restaurant itself, I do think it is a positive development.  Public Square needs things like this to feel more inviting at night to the average suburbanite, and as others said already, it will do a nice job of helping to connect the E. 4th area and Public Square