March 25, 20232 yr 21 hours ago, KJP said: Irishtown Bend Park stakeholders announce deal for George property By Ken Prendergast / March 23, 2023 Partners working together on the transformational Irishtown Bend Park project have reached a tentative settlement agreement today following a lawsuit by an affiliate of the George family against the use of eminent domain to acquire their land for the project. Terms of the deal were not officially disclosed at this time but it appears to be a really good deal for the Georges. MORE https://neo-trans.blog/2023/03/23/irishtown-bend-park-stakeholders-acquire-george-property/ Article updated with more and better information. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 25, 20232 yr Irishtown Bend Park stakeholders announce deal for George property By Ken Prendergast / March 23, 2023 Partners working together on the transformational Irishtown Bend Park project have reached a tentative settlement agreement today following a lawsuit by an affiliate of the George family against the use of eminent domain to acquire their land for the project. Terms of the deal were not officially disclosed at this time but it appears to be a really good deal for the Georges. MORE https://neo-trans.blog/2023/03/23/irishtown-bend-park-stakeholders-acquire-george-property/Essentially this will be the Irishtown Bend version of Rebol on Public Square. Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
March 25, 20232 yr 27 minutes ago, MyPhoneDead said: Essentially this will be the Irishtown Bend version of Rebol on Public Square. Yes, as noted in the article. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 25, 20232 yr 11 hours ago, MyPhoneDead said: Essentially this will be the Irishtown Bend version of Rebol on Public Square. Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk At this point, let’s put 15 floors above it to match Bridgeworks. Edited March 25, 20232 yr by marty15
March 25, 20232 yr Thanks for the new information @KJP Given an active park is 5 or more years away and the Metroparks and not George will be building the proposed restaurant, I don't see a new building at that site for a long time. Metroparks already has a lot on its plate and I am thinking such a building (that maybe they were coerced into) will not be a priority unless the proposed settlement establishes a mandatory time line.
March 25, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, ASPhotoman said: Does anyone know if hiding the utilities is part of the plan? For as much as this project is about selling that skyline view, they pretty much have to right?
March 25, 20232 yr 22 hours ago, CleveFan said: IPlus, this park is going to do wonders for beautifying the vista between downtown and Ohio City - and it can only help potential developers of a few possible new nearby high rise residential buildings. Hopefully I would actually love to see another Bridgeworks-style tower on this site with restaurant/retail and connections to the park. It would nicely frame the approaches to the DS bridge.
March 26, 20232 yr ^ I agree! I am requesting a cylindrical apartment/hotel building of approximately 20 stories with: 1. A semicircular platform with indoor/outdoor dining overlooking the river and downtown and a couple retail spaces 2. A gourmet revolving restaurant at the top (what a view!) 3. Pathways into the park and to the lower level of the DS bridge and Bridgeworks LOL, would somebody please get right on this? Thanks! Edited March 26, 20232 yr by urb-a-saurus
March 26, 20232 yr @urb-a-saurusYou had something like this in mind? Edited March 26, 20232 yr by JohnSummit Correction
March 27, 20232 yr 13 hours ago, JohnSummit said: @urb-a-saurusYou had something like this in mind? Is this in Louisville?
March 27, 20232 yr 2 minutes ago, Ineffable_Matt said: Is this in Louisville? I think it is Covington, KY
March 27, 20232 yr Oddly enough it looks almost identical to the Raidsson in Southfield, Michigan. https://maps.app.goo.gl/P19xDaKCDfsVWrbw7
March 27, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, freefourur said: I think it is Covington, KY Yes, it is. I think it was built as a Holiday Inn. As I recall, they built units similar to this in a number of cities. Driving along I-71 in the late '70s, my dad always felt compelled to say "It's hard to get cornered in that building." Dad humor is timeless, I guess.
March 27, 20232 yr And a variation of that was Akron's Quaker Square Hilton in the old Quaker Oats silos.
March 28, 20232 yr They might have moved a little too fast on the demolition: https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/03/27/body-found-debris-removed-cleveland-demolition-site/
March 28, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, E Rocc said: They might have moved a little too fast on the demolition: https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/03/27/body-found-debris-removed-cleveland-demolition-site/ This occured in Valley VIew, not Ohio City. ETA: Or did it? That artice sucks. Edited March 28, 20232 yr by Ineffable_Matt
March 28, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, E Rocc said: They might have moved a little too fast on the demolition: https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/03/27/body-found-debris-removed-cleveland-demolition-site/ yikes
March 28, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, E Rocc said: They might have moved a little too fast on the demolition: https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/03/27/body-found-debris-removed-cleveland-demolition-site/ "Surely..." everyone thought, "Surely there was no reason at all that arson was committed on this building primed for demolition! Full steam ahead!"
March 28, 20232 yr 4 minutes ago, Ineffable_Matt said: This occured in Valley VIew, not Ohio City. ETA: Or did it? That artice sucks. The article is terrible. It sounds like the demolition debris from West 25th was taken to Valley View and that's where the body was found.
March 28, 20232 yr 3 minutes ago, Ineffable_Matt said: This occured in Valley VIew, not Ohio City. ETA: Or did it? That artice sucks. The debris from the teardown of the building that burned was dumped at Boyas in Valley View and a body was found in it.
March 28, 20232 yr 11 minutes ago, freefourur said: The article is terrible. It sounds like the demolition debris from West 25th was taken to Valley View and that's where the body was found. That's precisely what happened.
March 28, 20232 yr 34 minutes ago, E Rocc said: The debris from the teardown of the building that burned was dumped at Boyas in Valley View and a body was found in it. Wow. Now the question is was the body in the building during the fire and demo, or there prior to.
March 28, 20232 yr It was apparent squatters had taken over the building for quite awhile. I guess we’ll have to wait on an autopsy.
March 28, 20232 yr Really good view to put in perspective how big the park is. driving by it, I feel it seems really skinny probably because of how steep it currently is.
March 29, 20232 yr Crains has more details of the deal with the Georges: "The Georges under the agreement will grant a temporary construction easement to the port, immediately allowing for the demolition of “a portion of the building located on the property,” according to the resolution voted on by board members. The front wall of the building and the billboard will remain until the sign is replaced by three smaller billboards in other locations. The port will contribute $360,000 to an agreed-upon $1.25 million total settlement payment. That money already is in escrow as part of the eminent domain case. The remaining $890,000 will be come from “project partners” unnamed in the resolution. The particulars of that part of the agreement are “still in discussion,” said Maria Bocadnegra, chief legal officer for the port. Under the settlement, the Georges ultimately will donate the real estate to an affiliate of West Creek Conservancy. They’ll be the operators, but not the owners, of a new restaurant on the corner built by “one or more project partners,” according to the agreement." https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/port-cleveland-board-oks-deal-bobby-tony-george
March 29, 20232 yr I think the filing also had them getting three billboards with the partners contributing money toward them
March 29, 20232 yr Someone need to Three BIllboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri this thing, just putting up there all the awful crap the Georges do.
March 29, 20232 yr 14 hours ago, Luke_S said: Under the settlement, the Georges ultimately will donate the real estate to an affiliate of West Creek Conservancy. They’ll be the operators, but not the owners, of a new restaurant on the corner built by “one or more project partners,” according to the agreement." So the building will stay, or be rebuilt, at the corner of 25th and Detroit?
March 29, 20232 yr 1 minute ago, Dino said: So the building will stay, or be rebuilt, at the corner of 25th and Detroit? From my understanding of what was reported, as much of the building will be demolished as is needed to complete the stabilization work while allowing the billboard to remain on the site. Once the stabilization work is completed the remaining structure will be demolished and a new building will be build, the article stated a 3,000 sqft building with a 17,000 sqft patio. And a new billboard will be erected.
March 29, 20232 yr The proposed agreement is posted online: https://www.portofcleveland.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/MIG-Settlement-Agreement.pdf. My reading of the key terms are as follows: George’s company gets $1.25 million cash for construction easement and demo. of the back half of Royal Castle Bldg. The parties (including the City) agree to support George Company's permit application for 3 replacement electronic changeable copy, double-sided billboards (i.e., six marketable boards) One 10’ x 36’ v-shaped/double-sided board at on top of the Harry Buff. downtown Two v-shaped/double-sided 14’ x 48’ boards at locations TBD They get $200,000 to offset costs to erect the replacement billboards. They get to maintain billboard on front half of Royal Castle Bldg until it's “donated” (i.e., tax deduction) when all replacement billboards are operational They get 3,000 sqft restaurant w. 17,000 sqft outdoor patio designed/constructed for them to lease for up to 10 years with a $500,000 lease credit towards future rent In sum, to give up the property, George's Company gets: Cash/equivalents – $1.95 million ($1.25 million cash, $200k relocation costs, $500k lease credit) Tax deductions – unknown Unbid 10-year restaurant concession inside the park Replacement Billboard income downtown and elsewhere, or if the billboards are not approved, the front side of the Royal Castle building holding up the existing billboard remains in-place indefinitely
March 29, 20232 yr I want George's attorney on my payroll. And I would like to know who was the Port Authority's attorney? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 29, 20232 yr Was kinda bummed it was going to be a similar billboard so a electronic billboard could be cool depending how they do it. something what’s at RMFH would really cool for that spot, if it’s something like what you see in the side of I-90 meh but I guess I’ll take it instead of seeing a static condom or youth court abuse billboards 9 months of the year
March 29, 20232 yr 5 minutes ago, Mendo said: And which judge got campaign contributions. I hope Judge Sutula is happy. The Probate Judge (I think it was Gallagher) who refused to take jurisdiction will probably read this and just shake her head.
March 29, 20232 yr Embarrassing. I'm exaggerating but this is almost 10% of PA's yearly levy revenues (~$2.9M/yr). What a terrible, terrible deal for the taxpayers of CC. Updated reflecting @Whipjacka's comment. It's not as big of a deal money wise but it's still terrible. Edited March 29, 20232 yr by GISguy
March 29, 20232 yr port is paying something like $360,000 while the other partners make up the difference
March 31, 20232 yr Us taxpayers got fleeced on this one, no question about it. George's get richer, the local government gets weaker.
April 8, 20232 yr The views from that new restaurant are going to be legit amazing. (first two images are from the parking lot of the existing building, the other is a bit south of the building)
April 8, 20232 yr ^ That large blue building is the home of the St Ignatius and about ten other schools crew teams - a very active place. Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
April 9, 20232 yr 20 hours ago, Dougal said: ^ That large blue building is the home of the St Ignatius and about ten other schools crew teams - a very active place. If anyone was curious what’s inside… Speaking of which, Irishtown Bend Park would be a pretty cool place to watch regattas, especially with so many food choices nearby
April 10, 20232 yr On 4/9/2023 at 10:38 AM, sonisharri said: If anyone was curious what’s inside… Speaking of which, Irishtown Bend Park would be a pretty cool place to watch regattas, especially with so many food choices nearby The standard collegiate race is 2 kilometers (about 1.25 miles); they race offshore but inside the breakwater. I guess they could invent a slalom course for the river. 🙂 Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
April 11, 20232 yr 16 hours ago, Dougal said: The standard collegiate race is 2 kilometers (about 1.25 miles); they race offshore but inside the breakwater. I guess they could invent a slalom course for the river. 🙂 In the fall season they have 'head races' which are typically ~3 miles and raced like a time trial -- they do end up being winding courses given the nature of urban rivers (Head of the Charles in Boston & the Head of the Schuylkill in Philly are two of the most popular) and the Head of the Cuyahoga is especially meandering. The finish line in recent years has been right at Irishtown Bend, and I'm sure the race organizers would keep that the case (or maybe even figure out ways to adjust the racecourse to incorporate more of the park into the spectator area).
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