Is that the only piece of concrete poured on the site shown above?  I can not understand why such a small piece was poured.

Is that the only piece of concrete poured on the site shown above?  I can not understand why such a small piece was poured.

 

there is another pad framed in with rebar in the lower left of the photo.  unfortunately that photo is over 200k and I can't attach it and don't have opportunity to upload to a hosting site.

Yes folks, we have officially progressed beyond the "moving dirt around" stage!!!  :clap: :drunk: :clap:

 

 

Finally! :D

 

And thanks for the pics!

happy dance

 

 

 

Thanks for the pics Mayday

Hey, good news!  I needed that after leaving Progressive Field today. :)

 

Thanks Mayday!

 

Good news, good news!!!  I've been out of town for the past week or so and it's nice to get back home and see progress like this!!!  :clap:  :clap:  Hopefully with this noticeable progress and a bit of warmer weather finally here (although, I do see that more rain is on it's way  :x  ) we'll hear more and more about this project.

From flatseast.com http://www.flatseast.com/documents/press-releases/flats-east-bank-project-gets-rolling.pdf

 

Sounds like they have about a month and a half of pouring the foundation - and after that I imagine we'd be seeing construction cranes :-)

From the eastern side of the site:

 

From Main Avenue:

Was taking photos on my PHL-CLE flight yesterday and was focusing on the Convention Center and totally forgot about this project. But here's a blown-up blurry corner of one image that shows the construction site ...

 

Thanks Paul!!

Stopped by at lunchtime today ... and gave me an excuse to play with Photoshop's amazing Photomerge feature!

 

They're looking mighty busy.

One more, close up.

 

 

Yay, panorama!

 

Keep pouring, fellas!

Is there a basement foundation under this....Not sure what I am viewing.

panoramariffic!

Is there a basement foundation under this....Not sure what I am viewing.

 

It's a concrete slab foundation. Quite typical for most buildings in downtown Cleveland that are up to 20 stories tall.

So there is no basement under this?

Nope.

Where are they going to store all their xmas decorations with no basement?

This tower, like KJP mentioned - is being constructed with the "floating pad" approach. The soil in downtown Cleveland is composed of glacial shale which is some of the most difficult material to work with when it comes to multi-story construction. If you're a developer and want to build anything beyond a mid-rise tower, your ideal situation is building straight from bedrock. The bedrock in Cleveland is about 200' below street level, far deeper than most major cities in the States.

 

If a developer decides to build a tower - they have to choose between digging 200+ feet down to bedrock and then constructing caissons to support the tower to whatever height they want, *or* they can excavate a shallower depth and pour a pad of concrete to support the construction. Going with the "floating pad" technique limits the height of construction to around 400'. 

 

EDIT - according to the stacking plan on their site, looks like there isn't a "basement" level:

With the way that Main Ave and Front Ave slope down towards the river, wont some or all of the levels of the parking garage technically be "underground"??

I'm not sure what the plans are to fill in around the building as the construction gets farther along.  So eventhough those levels arent being build as or referred

to as a "basement" wont they sort of be underground??

Sure. Half will be below ground and half will be above ground.

Didn't have my camera with me (yes, it happens every now and then) so the cell phone pic will have to do:

 

Didn't have my camera with me (yes, it happens every now and then) so the cell phone pic will have to do:

 

 

I thought you were a cyborg with that thing surgically implanted behind one of your eyes???

^Pfft, he has gone Hollywood, too cool to carry a camera

Wonder if those are counter-weights on the back of the truck for the tower crane. 

"^Pfft, he has gone Hollywood, too cool to carry a camera"

 

No, just on the way to a hair appointment which was postponed, so all I had was the phone :-)

 

gotribe, I was scoping the site and that was the only part I saw that looked remotely like pieces/parts for a tower crane.

"^Pfft, he has gone Hollywood, too cool to carry a camera"

 

No, just on the way to a hair appointment which was postponed, so all I had was the phone :-)

 

gotribe, I was scoping the site and that was the only part I saw that looked remotely like pieces/parts for a tower crane.

 

Gotcha.  The wielrd side of me is hoping for a sleek yellow tower crane.  I'm kind of sick of all the blue and white ones that have been used in University Circle and Avenue District.  I think we had a red on on the Pinnacle. 

 

In any event should be soon.

 

On a side not, I wish I had hair for hair appointments...as does my wife.  It's just me and my Walmart Clipprs anymore.

I'll take a 1970s green- or orange-colored crane, as long as we're building vertically!

 

 

Thanks! They're starting to go vertical!!

Looking good.

 

Surprisingly, I have talked to people who still think this project is dead! Ugh!

 

 

Ah, they must be Plain Dealer readers!

In all fairness the PD is doing a remarkably, but perhaps not surprisingly, bad job with promoting and updating the project. If not for this site or actually working/living by there, I don't know how people would hear about the construction.

I do talk a lot to a lot of area locals who have thought this project was dead.... the typical CDC "doomsday for downtown" folk who are the kind who think Banana Republic is still in the Galleria, and unless the facility is what they remember in the 80's, anything else it is striving to become must be a failure. This tells you how long it has been since they have been downtown or paid attention to anything going on. On the construction site itself, however, there is little to suggest what the project is.... or promote any excitement about it either.  So with that,  and our wonderful "newspaper", THE "PAIN" DEALER, I guess it should not be too surprising.

Does anyone know how tall the Office building in the flats will be? We need taller buildings in Cleveland.

18 floors

Does anyone know how tall the Office building in the flats will be? We need taller buildings in Cleveland.

 

 

We need infill more than we need more height. 

We also need height, and this will do.

Does anyone know how tall/high the new Flats office building will be? I need an actual measurement. We need to fill in those parking lots near the warehouse district with some towers. I wish we could have a couple more skyscrapers. One taller than the Key Tower and one in between the heights of the Key Tower and BP.  I see way too many gaps in our skyline.

If I had to guess by the renderings, I would say approximately 250' to 300' tops (not including the spire shown in the rendering).

 

As far as your other questions, feel free to check out the following posts:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,2525.msg161227.html#msg161227

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,1823.msg567460.html#msg567460

 

And of course, there's that recession people have been going on about. Oh, and the need to secure financing before construction can commence. And then you have to have tenants who can occupy the buildings so they're profitable. After that, there's the aesthetics of the skyline.

 

Getting back on topic:

Does anyone know how tall/high the new Flats office building will be? I need an actual measurement. We need to fill in those parking lots near the warehouse district with some towers. I wish we could have a couple more skyscrapers. One taller than the Key Tower and one in between the heights of the Key Tower and BP.  I see way too many gaps in our skyline.

 

That probably wont happen anytime soon. And while skyscrapers may look good from a distance, many add little to the steetlife and some even take away from it. I believe most of the gaps you see from certain angles are because we have the tallest 3 surrounding the square, with the rest bunched together on east 9th street. Clevelands skyline from the east looks very dense in my opinion and is my favorite view. From the north, you can see the division of the square and east 9th area so the skyline looks less dense, even though the streets are, but just with shorter buildings. The skyline shot you are most likely to see, and is the worst angle in my opinion, is the from the west. The tall buildings on the square block many of the buildings behind them in the east 9th area. This is probably the most photographed view because of accessibility. Edgewater park offers easy shots of the skyline, as well as other popular spots on the west side. To get good shots from the east side, you have to have access to high up spaces(most people do not) or possibly go into other less popular neighborhoods which the majority of people do not want to.

Great pic MayDay! Is the hotel going where the crane sits now?

Thanks - what you're looking at is the beginnings of the 3-story parking garage base of the office tower component. The hotel would be off to the left (past the edge of the photo).

It's nice to finally see some structure going up (even if it is only the 1st level of the parking garage)!!!  It feels like they've been in the "site prep" phase for years.  It'll be nice when the tower gets above street level and is a bit more noticeable in the area.  But definitely happy to see the progress!!!

They have!

Exciting stuff!