^Eaton is a very conservative company, and I expect a designer of that status will be expected selectde for their headquarters.

 

That's fine, I think a well built, traditional building is just fine.  Creative always isn't a legendary building.. there are plenty of "creative" buildings that are landfill right now.

Don't mean to jump in on a very lengthy discussion, but overall this seems like a great project for Cleveland substance wise...grocery, movie theatre, housing, boardwalk, reconnection with the lakefront, etc.  It all seems to make a hell of a lot of sense and should do wonders for Cleveland when completed.  I do agree that the loop portion looks a bit disconnected, but as some have suggested it may be difficult to negotiate due to ownership and whatnot.  As long as they plan FEB to be able to 'grow' or be tapped into by a neighboring project then it should all work out just fine.  Just my 2 cents.  :-D

When does construction start on this project?

"spring"

What year?

Seems we have a "smart" ass in our midst. Great....

Seems we have a "smart" ass in our midst. Great....

 

I'm glad somebody else, figured that out as well.  There is a lot of information here, just read the threads and or the associated links.

 

Everyone here is nice and helpful, but at least attempt to read whats been previously posted.

i heard late summer.

Actually, I heard late Spring. 

Blinker has 9 stars, so I'm going to lean towards his hearsay!

According to Crains, Ernest & Young is headed to the East Bank. I'm not sure how I feel about this since it appears that the chances of Stark landing an anchor office tenant are dwindling.

According to Crains, Ernest & Young is headed to the East Bank. I'm not sure how I feel about this since it appears that the chances of Stark landing an anchor office tenant are dwindling.

 

Is there a link to this?

it is on the homepage of crains.com right now.

FLATS PRIMED FOR PUMPING UP

Sources: Ernst & Young to move 1,200 to new Flats East Bank project

 

 

 

By STAN BULLARD

 

4:30 am, May 5, 2008

 

 

 

A big piece of the massive Flats East Bank project quietly went into place recently as Ernst & Young LLP made a preliminary commitment to move 1,200 employees to a planned office building there from the landmark Huntington Building in downtown Cleveland.

 

Three sources familiar with the situation who spoke on grounds they are not identified say the global accounting firm has inked a preliminary agreement to move to one of two office buildings that developers Wolstein Group of Beachwood and Fairmount Properties of Cleveland plan to construct as part of the proposed, $500 million office, retail and residential project.

 

More at crainscleveland.com http://www.crainscleveland.com

I'm surprised by the tone of this story ... I don't usually expect an editorial tint from Crain's as much as I do the PD. I could be overreading, but terms like "city's struggling central business district" and "'charming' Huntington Building and a key downtown address" and "erase a once-famous part of the Old River Road entertainment district " seem a little sensational. And to use a line like "Concern is growing over the loss ..." without providing any quotes that actually support this statement is pretty shoddy.

8ShadesofGray, very good observation.  The CBD isn't hurting, and this is just a shift of company offices.

 

Honestly, I would love to see the Huntington Building turned into residential.   That's if many of its Commercial tenants leave.

Decided to take some photos at lunchtime today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "construction cranes" referenced - signs that the buildings are coming down soon:

 

 

This guy will likely be doing the demolition:

 

 

 

 

 

Got a little artsy on this one:

 

 

 

Looks like David and/or C-Dawg Njaim was in Cleveland recently.

 

^The Kindler's bldg is going to be the biggest loss down there, IMO. I was hoping it could've been integrated in to the new plans somehow.

which one is the kindler building.

^3rd photo from the end.

That whole group is sad to lose, but hopefully it's going to be worthwhile.

agreed.

MTS, with the booze bottles, I was going to say that I hope the demolition workers are drinking only during their lunch hours. But I like your explanation better.

I think it may have been Wolstein who said, at a City Club presentation last week, that he wasn't worried about Huntington getting new tenants.  His take was that the building has been paid "three times over" since the 1920s, and they could drop the rates to attract new tenants to "$12-13/sqf" and still turn a profit.  He said that, at these rates, they'd have a great shot at attracting tenants from the suburbs.

 

As self-serving as his point obviously is, it makes some sense.

 

Link to the City Club presentation here: http://cityclubpodcast.optiem.com/CityClubPodcast-080423.mp3 

(disclaimer - I think the one who made the comment was Wolstein, but it may well have been one of the other two guests - Doug Price or Nate Zaremba - can't remember precisely).

 

On a related note (although this should probably be posted under "Pesht") the invitees also agreed that there is still "room" (i.e. market) for another office building downtown - an oblique allusion to Stark's Pesht.  Whatever happened to the other potential tenants - Squire Sanders and Baker Hostetler? Are htey going to stay where they're now?

^or maybe just room for the new building next to the Breuer tower.

Anyone know whether the brick street around Amsterdame will remain?

^or maybe just room for the new building next to the Breuer tower.

 

I really don't think that they were referring to that building because Doug Price was one of the people who said that.  That implies that even outside of the Breuer proposal and the Flats East Bank there is room for another building. 

 

 

 

Okay, that's just f-ed up. (unedited b/c I'm lazy)

 

 

Date Picture Taken: 5/4/2008

:-D  I like Mayday's picture better.. It has more feeling... :drunk:

If Eaton is landed along w/ E & Y and Tucker Ellis, I'd think the size of the hotel should be increased from the boutique-size plan... or a new one could/should be built.  Some cities, in light of the foreclosure/housing slowdown, are shifting plans for some multi-unit residential buildings to hotels.  I would limit this in FEB, of course, as this should be prime land to live on given the proximity to water, retail, shopping, transit, office, etc... but more hotel space close to nearly 1M sq. ft of office space seems to make sense.

I hate when they break out apartments and homes into seperate categories.  Don't they understand that an apartment is a home to those who live in it, even though they are renters?  It should be apartments and condominiums.

Some cities, in light of the foreclosure/housing slowdown, are shifting plans for some multi-unit residential buildings to hotels. 

 

I would think more apartment buildings downtown would be viable because of the foreclosure crisis, rising gas prices combined with downtown walkability and transit accessibility, plus the demand that's already there. Last I heard, occupancy of downtown apartments was 95 percent, with the vacancies in two-bedroom or larger units, and waiting lists for single bedroom units.

 

I know we'd like to see more for-sale housing downtown, but the market right now is for rental. Build more apartments!

Yeah, but I think we would see more sales of studios and one bedrooms downtown if they were available.  Build a few buildings that are studio, one bedroom, one bedroom with a bonus space and on 1½ baths and you've got young people coming out of the wood works.

 

Sponsor a rent to own for say 60% of the building and its a sweetheart deal.

Not surprising, the suicidal a-holes on Cleveland.com are all ready to jump off the Hope Memorial Bridge. I wish they would already! Here's the news...

 

 

I just browsed through those comments...I wonder sometimes how some of these people even figure out how to use a computer.

Anyone privy to the materials disposal/reuse plans related to the demo?  I'm assuming that because this is a LEED ND project that it will be done appropriately.  I also hope APOC can get in there first!

If Eaton is landed along w/ E & Y and Tucker Ellis, I'd think the size of the hotel should be increased from the boutique-size plan... or a new one could/should be built.  Some cities, in light of the foreclosure/housing slowdown, are shifting plans for some multi-unit residential buildings to hotels.  I would limit this in FEB, of course, as this should be prime land to live on given the proximity to water, retail, shopping, transit, office, etc... but more hotel space close to nearly 1M sq. ft of office space seems to make sense.

 

I too think the hotel should be a destination.  It can still be a boutique property but the room number and services might need to increase.

Yippee - another company leaving the CBD for outer Mongolia.  Enough already.

 

I hope there are enough companies (law firms? Huntington?) looking for office space to support a couple of the other projects.  I would really like to see the WHD, Public Square, and Ameritrust projects completed, but I would settle for two of the three.  Cleveland needs to renovate and develop the CBD as much as possible.

This can't be good .. can it?

 

Flats developers want to lower wages on residential project

Posted by Tom Breckenridge May 06, 2008 17:48PM

 

Developers of the $522 million Flats east bank project say they can save millions of dollars with a change in prevailing-wage requirements on the development site.

 

A development group led by Scott Wolstein is asking the city and the Cleveland port authority for changes in the development agreement, one of which would allow lower wages for the project's residential construction.

 

More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

Yippee - another company leaving the CBD for outer Mongolia.  Enough already.

 

I hope there are enough companies (law firms? Huntington?) looking for office space to support a couple of the other projects.  I would really like to see the WHD, Public Square, and Ameritrust projects completed, but I would settle for two of the three.  Cleveland needs to renovate and develop the CBD as much as possible.

 

How is the FEB, "outer Mongolia" compared to East Ninth??  FEB is DOWNTOWN Cleveland.   It's the same distance from TC to the FEB as it is to the Huntington Bldg.  Walking or riding the trolley to East Night will be no different than walking to FEB or taking the train (which runs right thru the FEB) to work.

 

As far as renovating and restoration in the current CBD, what do you think the city and developers are doing, sitting around with their thumbs up their asses?  Seriously?

 

Jpop, where is the link.  Can we please post links and the articles?  thanks.

Yippee - another company leaving the CBD for outer Mongolia. Enough already.

 

You mean the place where Cleveland started? The place that offers a prime piece of developable land next to two waterfronts? Where electrically powered transit is available, in a nation where gas prices are rising toward $4 per gallon and probably beyond?

 

What's really a shame is that this land was left fallow and neglected. It's being reinvigorated with companies having deep pockets, leaving buildings in the more recent CBD that are paid off. That's especially true with the Huntington Building which has affordable space and can serve as an incubator for tech firms that may be the Fortune 500 companies of tomorrow. That area of Euclid Avenue is becoming a tremenous nexus of smaller tech firms, many of which have relocated from the suburbs to stimulate collaboration and idea-sharing amongst each other.

 

Yep, sure sounds like a blood-letting travesty to me.... :roll:

Yippee - another company leaving the CBD for outer Mongolia.  Enough already.

 

If the FEB is outer mongolia, then Westlake is Jupiter.

edit

nevermind  :-D

Here we go...

I heard some very promising information regarding the hotel portion of the FEB. Let's just say that it will be very unique (not just another, "oh, cleveland finally got one"), of the highest environmental standards, and very cool.

 

What brand?

 

I'm telling you all that I can.

I work for E & Y. I don't like this move. I ride the bus to work, it drops me off on Superior, two blocks from work. The new location is 4 times farther from the nearest bus stop. A loop bus would put me closer, tough I'd have to ride past that nearest stop to the square and wait for it. Then it travels right back the same way I just came from and through the Warehouse district a couple blocks away. The Lakefront line isn't far from the new location. That would involve getting off behind Tower City and waiting for that. It doesn't run as often as the other rapids. Then I still have a walk to the new location. I don't mind walking it's the added time involved. Do that twice a day and it adds up. Plus the location has got to be brutal in the winter. I really don't want to drive. Gas and parking add up too.The bus has always been a great option for me.

 

If E & Y had gone to the warehouse district I could understand. The flats location is remote. If this developement is like most of Clevelands developements, much of it will never come to be. Look at North Coast Harbor. Where is the retail, hotels and aquarium?

Tower city never got that department store on the other side of Huron. The list goes on.

 

I hate to be negative but, that's the way it goes around here. I believe E & Y, Eaton and the rest will be stuck out in the cold.

 

Tomorrow the E & Y bigwigs will be  in town for the announcement. I guess we are all supposed to smile and pat them on the back. I won't. I think they really messed up and will regret this move.

^except for one of the residential towers, Wolstein is building all of the east bank in one phase. No need to worry about that aspect.  I do wish that you guys were going into Pesht.

 

I believe E & Y, Eaton and the rest will be stuck out in the cold.

 

 

Huh?  Explain that one please

^^Also, you can catch the E-Line trolley at 9th and Euclid (and it's free) that would take you into the warehouse district and it currently has a stop that is about a block from the new office building.