Now that I've had a day to sleep on it and I have clean pants on, I have to confess - the actual business moving into 202 2020 Euclid is not the most exciting thing ever. I was/am more excited about the fact that this is the first of, hopefully, many National/Independent retail units moving back to Euclid Avenue. Its been said many times that all we need is one or two companies to start the chain of events rolling and then more will come.

 

THAT"S what I am excited about!

^That's exactly my thoughts musky.  The success of this planned retail outlot brings on the possibility of many more.

I'm very curious to see what will happen when the UC is torn down. Seems that there would be an opportunity for some food joints to pick up the slack. It'd be great to see some of those food joints open up in spaces adjacent to Marous' project. Get some momentum rolling.

I agree. I hate our options right now.

Currently, CSU is preparing to move food services throughout campus: updated digs in Viking Hall, new digs in the Law Building and Fenn Tower (just opened a couple of weeks ago), new restaurant in the Administration Center (ye, it will be open to the public), and a juice bar in the Rec center (eventually), among a few other places.

 

When the new SC opens, there will be something similar to what we have now, plus a new area just for residential (the current location Viking will then close), and a new Pub on the first floor.

 

All of this recently became more "interesting" when AVI, the campus food provider, was found not to be living up to their contract. It is now up for rebidding. Who knows what will happen next.

 

 

What I would really like to see is something like Liquid Planet open up near by.

 

 

ooooh, I love Liquid Planet!

 

Yes, the closing of the UC will certainly shake things up a bit.  I just hope that by the time they open the new one, we've established more of a market for the Euclid Avenue shops that will open, so that they don't all close up. 

 

How much effort is being made by CSU to work with the neighborhood on developing complementary, rather than competing, retailers on/off campus?  I know this was a big deal on campus at U. of Cincinnati when they redeveloped Tangeman and the central marketplace walkway through the heart of campus.

Good question.

Don't know.

 

OK, so what is the announcement then Musky? And what is the specific location? Above, you said 202 Euclid. And before that everyone is guessing the Marous Brothers location. My guess is that the CSU bookstore will become a combined college book store run by Barnes & Noble, opening this Fall semester.

OK, so what is the announcement then Musky? And what is the specific location? Above, you said 202 Euclid. And before that everyone is guessing the Marous Brothers location. My guess is that the CSU bookstore will become a combined college book store run by Barnes & Noble, opening this Fall semester.

 

Thats all your getting from me. If you follow the thread from yesterday through today, it should be obvious.

"202" was a typo. Sorry.

It should read 2020. The pictures confirm it.

 

As has been mentioned before Nebraska Books is operating the CSU bookstore in its current location and is contracted to be the bookstore in the new student center.

Im guessing not since Musky also mentions that the bookstore will be in UC and run by Nebraska books

Well it's either: a bookstore of some sorts, a 24 hour eatery, or a national food chain (e.g. Chipotle). However, Euclid Avenue already has a Subway that recently opened on Euclid in front of the Comfort Inn and another in MidTown near E. 40th St., so this wouldn't be the "first" national chain to move back to Euclid Ave.

The subway in front of the Comfort Inn has been there for years.

^ It opened in the end of 2004.

I'm afraid that's the only subway we'll see along Euclid for a long time....

Well it's either: a bookstore of some sorts, a 24 hour eatery, or a national food chain (e.g. Chipotle). However, Euclid Avenue already has a Subway that recently opened on Euclid in front of the Comfort Inn and another in MidTown near E. 40th St., so this wouldn't be the "first" national chain to move back to Euclid Ave.

I'm afraid that's the only subway we'll see along Euclid for a long time....

 

Umm...what about the Subway between E.12 and E.9 next to the CAC?  (unless KJP is talking about public transportation and is being sarcastic).

 

With the success of E.4th/Playhouse Square/CSU construction/ECP in the next fews years...I believe Euclid Ave will begin to look more attactive to investors before we know it (especially if the ECP would just be built and stop gouging for profits!)

(unless KJP is talking about public transportation and is being sarcastic)

 

My money is on sarcastic without a doubt  :-)

 

Rendering by City Architecture

 

 

After looking at the rendition again, I find it very humorous that our proposed college town will be built around the Rascal House Pizza!

 

I would vote for knocking down their building and giving rascal house a new store if this were to get built out as it is in the proposal (they could move into a new storefront before knocking down the old one).  This project is great for Cleveland, Cleveland State, and Euclid Ave.  Fingers crossed on it panning out in full.

I'm so confused. I guess I'll walk over there in five weeks and see whatever it is, lol. It'd be dope if it were a bookstore, though.

Great how they're making CSU sweet right when I'm leaving in December..

MuRrAy HiLL:

Scroll the image to the left. College Town is centered around the next block, north of the Wolstein Center (see layout plan in the one of the images posted earlier).

 

jamiec:

Don't be.

 

ks5214:

College town has nothing to do with CSU being made sweeter - CSU is doing that on its own - other are taking advantage, and with good reason.

My money is on sarcastic without a doubt  :-)

 

We have a winner!

Interesting article from back in 1999:

 

WAKE-UP CALL FOR EUCLID STRIP COLLEGE TOWN PLAN AIMS TO ANIMATE THE HEART OF CSU

By Bill Lubinger

Thursday,November 11, 1999

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LEAD:

With 16,000 students and 800 full - and part-time teachers, Cleveland State University should be a catalyst for downtown development and the 24-hour activity that city planners so desperately crave.

 

Instead of cafes, shops and housing catering to downtown workers and a college population about the size of Solon, though, the heart of the CSU campus is a block of rundown, mostly vacant buildings along Euclid Ave.

 

REST:

 

Officials with CSU, the city and the Quadrangle Inc., a nonprofit group of property owners involved in developing an area east of downtown's Playhouse Square, have struggled for years to find a solution.

 

Finally, they might have one.

 

It's dubbed " College Town," a new swipe at redeveloping the block from E. 18th to E. 21st streets between Euclid and Prospect avenues with a proposed hotel, student apartments and a large bookstore as the main components.

 

Several major issues remain unresolved, including site control, details of individual development plans and whether to renovate or demolish specific buildings. But the effort is progressing to the point where those involved consider it more than just an impressive proposal.

 

"It's pretty real," said Terry Poltorek, Quadrangle chairman and owner of three buildings on the block.

 

CSU wants to close its bookstore at 2400 Euclid Ave. and move it to the middle of the College Town block as an anchor for the redevelopment. CSU President Claire Van Ummersen said Barnes & Noble, which manages CSU's existing store, is interested in building a two-story "superstore" that would include a coffee shop catering to students and other customers.

 

"It's about double the size of our current bookstore," she said.

 

A spokeswoman for New York-based Barnes & Noble Inc. could not be reached yesterday for comment on the extent of the retailer's interest.

 

Quadrangle officials said a developer they declined to identify is negotiating to buy and redevelop a boarded-up building at 1900 Euclid Ave. as a Hawthorn Suites hotel next to the proposed bookstore. Hawthorns are extended-stay hotels, usually with 75 to 100 rooms.

 

Steven E. McNeill, the Quadrangle's executive director, declined to comment, "because right now, it's not a project until a developer has site control." However, Poltorek said, "The Hawthorn Suites people have the development money in place."

 

There is also interest in developing student housing with street-level retail in other buildings on the block, Van Ummersen said. Other elements could include a Regional Transit Authority bus depot at Prospect Ave. and E. 21st St. as well as a new WVIZ Channel 25 television station on Euclid Ave. within the CSU campus. WVIZ has said it is considering the CSU site and others.

 

The College Town plan, created by Quadrangle consultant City Architecture Inc., also calls for aligning E. 21st St. at Euclid Ave., cutting a walkway into the center of the block and placing a proposed RTA trolley stop in front of the bookstore.

 

"There are 100 individual moves that have to take place" for College Town to become reality, City Architecture principal Paul Volpe said. Besides the bookstore and associated retail, he said, the area needs 250 housing units to support those initiatives.

 

Although most CSU students commute from home, a survey conducted for the college about five years ago found that more than 1,000 students would be interested in living on campus if additional housing were available. About 500 students live in campus housing or in a nearby apartment building.

 

Momentum for College Town comes amid more ambitious plans to improve Euclid Ave. from Public Square to Playhouse Square and public transportation from downtown to University Circle. It also follows recent property acquisitions by the Playhouse Square Foundation to enhance the city's theater district just west of CSU.

 

Joseph Marinucci, vice president of economic development for the Playhouse Square Foundation, believes the College Town plan would benefit the theater district as well as the CSU campus.

 

Retailers have been hesitant to invest in the eastern end of downtown, partly because CSU's inability to generate spinoff development has soured them on adjoining areas, he said.

 

"So the block is ripe," Poltorek said. "This is the time."

amazing how this was not that long ago and I only recognize two names...  and only one of those is still in his same position.

The front exterior of Marous Bros will be completed sometime next week.  It's looking pretty nice (cleaning and recoating the old white stone work.)

I am hoping to get a response to an email I sent out for more information this week.

I'll pass on any new info if I can.

Barnes & Noble to open bookstore downtown

Posted by Zachary Lewis

June 26, 2007 14:10PM

 

Barnes & Noble is about to set up shop downtown. The national bookstore chain is moving forward with plans to build a store at 2020 Euclid Avenue, near the campus of Cleveland State University, in time to open this fall.

 

Bill Beckenbach, director of the community development group the Quadrangle, Inc., said the store's arrival is "95 percent definite." Verbal agreements have been made, he said, between Barnes & Noble and Brothers Printing, owners of the property...

 

More at: http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2007/06/barnes_noble_to_open_bookstore.html

Never mind.

 

 

boo!  that was Musky's news to break! 

 

I'm so very confused about this bookstore thing.  Why would B&N open up shop right across from where the big campus bookstore is scheduled to open?  Maybe a little competition might do the neighborhood some good!  And why can't I just be happy about something?

 

sincerely,

stick in the mud

I hope it stirs additional foot traffic.  i worry that during the summer months the bookstore will really struggle w/o all the students there.  Although with the new housing in the works, I hope it helps.

 

 

boo!  that was Musky's news to break! 

 

I'm so very confused about this bookstore thing.  Why would B&N open up shop right across from where the big campus bookstore is scheduled to open?  Maybe a little competition might do the neighborhood some good!  And why can't I just be happy about something?

 

No biggie.

I know the reporter.

and now we know where he gets his information from!

Nope.

I actually gave him this story

 

 

But I just found out more:

 

"Now it's changing---it's not actually a Barnes and Noble store. It's just a Barnes and Noble College Booksellers store, which is already at Case, Oberlin, and other places."

"Now it's changing---it's not actually a Barnes and Noble store. It's just a Barnes and Noble College Booksellers store, which is already at Case, Oberlin, and other places."

 

Bummer - the one at Case isn't that impressive, although hopefully the one for CSU will be a bit more full service. 

so, they're really in direct competition with Nebraska then?

 

considering that Nebraska tried to sell me a book with a $16 printed price on it for $20 and wouldn't budge (I opted to just get it from the library), I'd say that there's definitely room for competition! 

Cleveland.com's main page says "Mega Bookstore Coming To Downtown". That'd be dissapointing if it's only going to be a college bookseller's store. Ugh! I was jumping up and down five minutes ago and now it's been reduced to that? Please tell me what the difference between a big full service B&N and a bookseller's version is? To B&N: I want it all or nothing!

We had a B&N Booksellers at the Uni. of Memphis. It was quite nice (cafe, books and a bunch of school  t-shirts).

The store, which Beckenbach said is slated to open in August, will be separate from the university's own bookstore and is being viewed as the anchor to a long-discussed development plan called "College Town," the goal of which is to bring more residents and shoppers to the area around CSU.

 

Barnes and Noble College Booksellers is an anchor? Is the space large enough for a "mega bookstore" as stated on clev.com?

7-8,000 sq ft is definitely not a "mega" bookstore.  It would be bigger than the Border's express, but still not anywhere near a full size B&N, which must be 3-4 times that.

7-8,000 sq ft is definitely not a "mega" bookstore.  It would be bigger than the Border's express, but still not anywhere near a full size B&N, which must be 3-4 times that.

 

Yeah that is small.

 

from some old B&N information I have.

Most Barnes & Noble stores range in size from 10k to 60k sq. ft. depending upon market.  Average store size is 25k sq. ft. Borders stores are range between 2k-10k.

 

 

So based on that article, this store would be smaller than the smallest B&N.  :?

^Unless it was 2 or 3 stories.

 

(get it... story, as in book... get it)

We have a mega Barnes and Noble and a college one at OSU. The college one seems to be more the size of a Walden bookstore or something like that. Maybe Starbucks or the like will open to be in proximity of the new bookstore.

I know CSU is nowhere near the size of OSU.. but even schools like Miami Ohio and others have more then 1 bookstore.  Also, I'd imagine the bookstore in the new student union is going to be more focused on actual text books, while the B&N will focus on the coffee shop/leisure reading.

^Miami of OH has a huge on campus population. CSU doesn't.

Well last time I checked.. the Borders in Lakewood doesn't sell text books.. so people who need text books will likely go to a bookstore near a college campus.

Well last time I checked.. the Borders in Lakewood doesn't sell text books.. so people who need text books will likely go to a bookstore near a college campus.

 

?? Did you mean to include an emoticon in your post?

 

Or you could just buy them online. Its a lot cheaper that way.

 

I really hope that this has a cafe in it. There is hardly anywhere to hang out on campus. Once the UC is torn down, students will need somewhere to go. If there isn't any coffee shops, etc nearby, they'll leave.

Wait, where is there a Border's in Lakewood? Do you mean Westlake? Lakewood, as far as I know, doesn't have a bookstore....

I know CSU is nowhere near the size of OSU.. but even schools like Miami Ohio and others have more then 1 bookstore.  Also, I'd imagine the bookstore in the new student union is going to be more focused on actual text books, while the B&N will focus on the coffee shop/leisure reading.

 

The contract with Nebraska books requires a full bookstore that will be open to the public. I do not have the floor plans on me right now, but I can tell you the spot for them in the student center is significant. (i will post details tomorrow.)

 

 

 

Well last time I checked.. the Borders in Lakewood doesn't sell text books.. so people who need text books will likely go to a bookstore near a college campus.

 

?? Did you mean to include an emoticon in your post?

 

Or you could just buy them online. Its a lot cheaper that way.

 

I really hope that this has a cafe in it. There is hardly anywhere to hang out on campus. Once the UC is torn down, students will need somewhere to go. If there isn't any coffee shops, etc nearby, they'll leave.

 

Don't forget about Cafe' A'Roma, and one block away, Starbucks

^ah, good point.

Too bad the Turkish joint in the playhouse theater area closed down. They had some potent brew.

Lakewood does not have a bookstore. The closest is the one in Rocky River at Beachcliff Square and it's not a Border's.

A few more facts phase 1:

 

1)  Barnes and Noble is leasing 10,000 sf at 2020 Euclid Ave.

2)  They open 8/1/07

3)  The residential component includes 44 rental units and 8 for-sale units