Canton Charge are moving to Wolstein Center at Cleveland State

Kevin Kleps - Crain's Cleveland Business - June 9, 2021

 

 

"The Canton Charge, the G League franchise the Cavs have owned and operated since 2011, will begin playing games at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center, the Cavs announced on Wednesday, June 9. The move will begin with the start of the 2021-22 G League season, which is expected to tip off in early November. ... The team's lease with the city of Canton had expired, however, and the Cavs preferred to have their G League affiliate closer to the FieldHouse and Cleveland Clinic Courts, the team's training facility in Independence. ... The move to CSU 'will be accompanied by the development of a longer-term vision and partnership with CSU that can align with the evolution of their future venue plans,' the Cavs said in the news release. When Cleveland State and head men's hoops coach Dennis Gates agreed to a new six-year contract last month, the university said it 'will strategically define the future' of the Wolstein Center by Jan. 1."

7 minutes ago, NorthShore647 said:

Canton Charge are moving to Wolstein Center at Cleveland State

Kevin Kleps - Crain's Cleveland Business - June 9, 2021

 

 

"The Canton Charge, the G League franchise the Cavs have owned and operated since 2011, will begin playing games at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center, the Cavs announced on Wednesday, June 9. The move will begin with the start of the 2021-22 G League season, which is expected to tip off in early November. ... The team's lease with the city of Canton had expired, however, and the Cavs preferred to have their G League affiliate closer to the FieldHouse and Cleveland Clinic Courts, the team's training facility in Independence. ... The move to CSU 'will be accompanied by the development of a longer-term vision and partnership with CSU that can align with the evolution of their future venue plans,' the Cavs said in the news release. When Cleveland State and head men's hoops coach Dennis Gates agreed to a new six-year contract last month, the university said it 'will strategically define the future' of the Wolstein Center by Jan. 1."

 

The league's average attendance is 2,500.   Wolstein holds 13,000.  I wonder if they looked at Wylie Athletic Center in Maple Heights, which has hosted minor league basketball in the past and holds 3,700 - 5,100 depending on who you ask.

And the Cleveland Crunch was considering Wolstein Center for their home.  I don't believe they have made a decision yet.

1 hour ago, E Rocc said:

 

The league's average attendance is 2,500.   Wolstein holds 13,000.  I wonder if they looked at Wylie Athletic Center in Maple Heights, which has hosted minor league basketball in the past and holds 3,700 - 5,100 depending on who you ask.

Probably just gonna use the curtain system like they use for CSU Basketball. Could see an attendance bump though by moving them into Cleveland area. 

1 hour ago, NorthShore647 said:

Canton Charge are moving to Wolstein Center at Cleveland State

Kevin Kleps - Crain's Cleveland Business - June 9, 2021

 

 

"The Canton Charge, the G League franchise the Cavs have owned and operated since 2011, will begin playing games at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center, the Cavs announced on Wednesday, June 9. The move will begin with the start of the 2021-22 G League season, which is expected to tip off in early November. ... The team's lease with the city of Canton had expired, however, and the Cavs preferred to have their G League affiliate closer to the FieldHouse and Cleveland Clinic Courts, the team's training facility in Independence. ... The move to CSU 'will be accompanied by the development of a longer-term vision and partnership with CSU that can align with the evolution of their future venue plans,' the Cavs said in the news release. When Cleveland State and head men's hoops coach Dennis Gates agreed to a new six-year contract last month, the university said it 'will strategically define the future' of the Wolstein Center by Jan. 1."

Whoa. That’s huge. Great tenant for the Wolstein. A tenant that can still be there when the arena gets rebuilt as a smaller arena

Is that CSU revamping their Tennis Courts I see?

 

All the fields just seem like alot of wasted space in the center of the city for venues that draw extremely small crowds...if any.  It would be nice if the could've had a sports complex for CSU on the near east side somewhere.  Maybe League Park area.

16 minutes ago, Jenny said:

All the fields just seem like alot of wasted space in the center of the city for venues that draw extremely small crowds...if any.  It would be nice if the could've had a sports complex for CSU on the near east side somewhere.  Maybe League Park area.

You know it is not like we don't have other acres and acres of land that need to be developed in the central business district.  I think we can afford to let CSU have a few green spaces next to its campus.

I understand that, but large college enrollments can spur a ton of fantastic developments surrounding their urban campus.  I would totally understand this if the CSU sports programs drew crowds, but they don't.  I guess when you see an aerial view, it's staggering how much average these take up.

7 hours ago, tastybunns said:

Is that CSU revamping their Tennis Courts I see?

 

Old photo if you look at the trees.  They redid the courts and put them under a bubble.  Now the Medical Mutual courts I believe.

3 hours ago, Jenny said:

I understand that, but large college enrollments can spur a ton of fantastic developments surrounding their urban campus.  I would totally understand this if the CSU sports programs drew crowds, but they don't.  I guess when you see an aerial view, it's staggering how much average these take up.

Pretty sure the sea of parking lots by Haufbra House could be put to great use if CSU wanted to expand it's urban campus with development.

8 minutes ago, AsDustinFoxWouldSay said:

Pretty sure the sea of parking lots by Haufbra House could be put to great use if CSU wanted to expand it's urban campus with development.

That’s where Lumen Phase 2 is supposed to go, I think.

Excited to see the “CSU 2.0” initiative come to fruition. A strong public university in Cleveland would be a great asset for the city and would compliment CWRU well; it could keep bright talent in Cleveland coming out of high school and attract more businesses wishing to hire that talent. 

Edited July 18, 20213 yr by BuckeyeNative

 

CSU looks to double its on-campus housing

By Ken Prendergast / October 5, 2021

 

Growing enrollment at Cleveland State University may soon cause visible changes to downtown Cleveland’s landscape. According to two sources close to the university, CSU is in negotiations to acquire two large apartment properties that would allow it to more than double its inventory of on-campus student housing.

 

The two properties are The Edge on Euclid, 1750 Euclid Ave., and The Langston Apartments, 2303 Chester Ave. Combined, the two complexes contain 1,164 beds. Currently, CSU has only two on-campus housing properties — the Euclid Commons with 601 beds and the 22-story Fenn Tower with 438 beds.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2021/10/05/csu-looks-to-double-its-on-campus-housing/

14 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

CSU looks to double its on-campus housing

By Ken Prendergast / October 5, 2021

 

Growing enrollment at Cleveland State University may soon cause visible changes to downtown Cleveland’s landscape. According to two sources close to the university, CSU is in negotiations to acquire two large apartment properties that would allow it to more than double its inventory of on-campus student housing.

 

The two properties are The Edge on Euclid, 1750 Euclid Ave., and The Langston Apartments, 2303 Chester Ave. Combined, the two complexes contain 1,164 beds. Currently, CSU has only two on-campus housing properties — the Euclid Commons with 601 beds and the 22-story Fenn Tower with 438 beds.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2021/07/24/st-vincent-expansion-may-unite-downtown-campus-district/

Hey Ken, looks like you linked to an older post. I assume you intended this one:

https://neo-trans.blog/2021/10/05/csu-looks-to-double-its-on-campus-housing/

Just now, Boomerang_Brian said:

Hey Ken, looks like you linked to an older post. I assume you intended this one:

https://neo-trans.blog/2021/10/05/csu-looks-to-double-its-on-campus-housing/

 

Shozbot!! Thanks.

I think it’s time for Rhodes Tower 2.0 - the first one looks just a tad lonely - especially now that the Lunen is trying to connect CSU to the rest of the downtown skyline. 
C’mon CSU master plan!  - a nice 400 footer will be a great inducement to all those incoming freshman from around the world! 

15 hours ago, CleveFan said:

think it’s time for Rhodes Tower 2.0 - the first one looks just a tad lonely - especially now that the Lunen is trying to connect CSU to the rest of the downtown skyline. 
C’mon CSU master plan!  - a nice 400 footer will be a great inducement to all those incoming freshman from around the world! 

 

I would go a little higher, say ~550 feet to beat Pitt and claim the tallest educational building in the country! By one measure Rhodes is the 4th tallest  in the country, with Fenn being comparatively tall as well. Put it next to the Science Building and that'll give CSUI  / east downtown a Big 3. 

If a new tall tower is as tough to access as the Rhodes Tower, then it won't be a great inducement to incoming students.

Does anyone know what CSU is planning to do the Rhodes Tower?  Last that i remembered was that

it was Asbestos City and CSU was contemplating on what to do with it - Tear Down, Remediate or do nothing.

24 minutes ago, simplythis said:

Does anyone know what CSU is planning to do the Rhodes Tower?  Last that i remembered was that

it was Asbestos City and CSU was contemplating on what to do with it - Tear Down, Remediate or do nothing.

CSU has been talking about this since I was there (graduated in 94).   

 

Rather than buying existing housing--which does not add any new units to the campus while also restricting housing from people who don't go to CSU yet want to live in the E. 20's (and currently can), CSU should build some NEW housing towers. There is plenty of nearby space. Image a new 65-story tower made up of dorms and apartments.

1 hour ago, Pugu said:

Rather than buying existing housing--which does not add any new units to the campus while also restricting housing from people who don't go to CSU yet want to live in the E. 20's (and currently can), CSU should build some NEW housing towers. There is plenty of nearby space. Image a new 65-story tower made up of dorms and apartments.

Fully agree but it's a bit unrealistic to expect a 65-story tower. The price per square foot to build that tall would make it inaccessible for almost all students. Nice as it may be, it's just not feasible. I'm expecting more 5-15 story buildings in the area.

For what they’re potentially going to pay for these buildings, I don’t understand how this makes any sense. The majority of residents in these buildings are already students. 

 

How about spend that money on new construction student housing? They’re going to potentially spend upwards of $100 million and the CSU campus area will gain zero new beds. Seems a massive waste. 

14 minutes ago, marty15 said:

For what they’re potentially going to pay for these buildings, I don’t understand how this makes any sense. The majority of residents in these buildings are already students. 

 

How about spend that money on new construction student housing? They’re going to potentially spend upwards of $100 million and the CSU campus area will gain zero new beds. Seems a massive waste. 

I suppose that buying these developments may provide a cash influx to the developers to build more housing.  

Edited October 27, 20213 yr by freefourur

30 minutes ago, freefourur said:

I suppose that buying these developments may provide a cash influx to the developers to build more housing.  

Perhaps the purchase of these buildings should be contingent on the developers building more in the area -- here, we'll give you cash and take on your headaches, if you build new.

2 hours ago, marty15 said:

For what they’re potentially going to pay for these buildings, I don’t understand how this makes any sense. The majority of residents in these buildings are already students. 

 

How about spend that money on new construction student housing? They’re going to potentially spend upwards of $100 million and the CSU campus area will gain zero new beds. Seems a massive waste. 

 

Answers to those concerns were addressed in my article...

https://neo-trans.blog/2021/10/05/csu-looks-to-double-its-on-campus-housing/

 

^"Considering the parking deck would be shared, Cross Country employees would use the deck during the day and students attending evening classes would park there at night."   

 

Good use of a shared facility.

 

Though the article referenced it, I wish it was stronger in the interests of the The Edge and The Langston developers/owners who would sell to CSU to build new (and bigger) off-campus (and non-CSU exclusive) housing to replace the off-campus housing that will be lost to the market.  

 

Also, once sold to CSU, I assume non-CSU student will be kicked out---which forces CSU students to move once they graduate even if they stay in Cleveland and like where they live, and also forces out people who live there but don't go to CSU right now.  What percentage of residents in the Edge and Langston do not attend CSU yet live in those buildings?

 

57 minutes ago, Pugu said:

^"Considering the parking deck would be shared, Cross Country employees would use the deck during the day and students attending evening classes would park there at night."   

 

Good use of a shared facility.

 

Though the article referenced it, I wish it was stronger in the interests of the The Edge and The Langston developers/owners who would sell to CSU to build new (and bigger) off-campus (and non-CSU exclusive) housing to replace the off-campus housing that will be lost to the market.  

 

Also, once sold to CSU, I assume non-CSU student will be kicked out---which forces CSU students to move once they graduate even if they stay in Cleveland and like where they live, and also forces out people who live there but don't go to CSU right now.  What percentage of residents in the Edge and Langston do not attend CSU yet live in those buildings?

 

If there is a market for that style of living downtown you can bet a developer will build. Especially in that area where I'm sure property is cheaper to purchase and therefore easier to then build on. Though my bet is the building won't be a highrise, maybe a nice six story building which would be in line with the taller buildings in that area. 

18 hours ago, Pugu said:

Rather than buying existing housing--which does not add any new units to the campus while also restricting housing from people who don't go to CSU yet want to live in the E. 20's (and currently can), CSU should build some NEW housing towers. There is plenty of nearby space. Image a new 65-story tower made up of dorms and apartments.

 

16 hours ago, tykaps said:

Fully agree but it's a bit unrealistic to expect a 65-story tower. The price per square foot to build that tall would make it inaccessible for almost all students. Nice as it may be, it's just not feasible. I'm expecting more 5-15 story buildings in the area.

 

I was joking--about the 65-stories part. Though a nice tall tower would really put CSU in the skyline. The tallest I'd expect would be 20-22 stories, but I'd love to see a 45-story bldg. The top floor could be the President's Suite. Given that last piece, maybe they'd go for it!

8 hours ago, KFM44107 said:

If there is a market for that style of living downtown you can bet a developer will build. Especially in that area where I'm sure property is cheaper to purchase and therefore easier to then build on. Though my bet is the building won't be a highrise, maybe a nice six story building which would be in line with the taller buildings in that area. 

 

By nice, do you mean "squat"? There's nothing nice about a six story building Downtown. In the burbs, maybe, but not Downtown or University Circle or anywhere in between.

 

46 minutes ago, Pugu said:

 

By nice, do you mean "squat"? There's nothing nice about a six story building Downtown. In the burbs, maybe, but not Downtown or University Circle or anywhere in between.

 

There's nothing wrong with six story buildings. Some of the most urban cities are predominantly made up of buildings about 6 or so stories tall like Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, etc.

Though I agree that I'd love to see something much taller here, I have no problem with midrises.

Edited October 28, 20213 yr by tykaps

6 minutes ago, tykaps said:

There's nothing wrong with six story buildings. Some of the most urban cities are predominantly made up of buildings about 6 or so stories tall like Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, etc.

Though I agree that I'd love to see something much taller here, I have no problem with midrises.

 

This is true, but all those are European cities--a very different animal than American cities with sprawl, high-car ownership rates, and crappy transit. In US downtowns, the higher the better; in outer areas 6 six stories works (though, unlike in Europe, it will is surrounded by a giant parking lot).

38 minutes ago, Pugu said:

 

This is true, but all those are European cities--a very different animal than American cities with sprawl, high-car ownership rates, and crappy transit. In US downtowns, the higher the better; in outer areas 6 six stories works (though, unlike in Europe, it will is surrounded by a giant parking lot).

Plenty of American cities have 6 stories in or near their CBD.  I don't think it's a big deal at all. 

19 minutes ago, freefourur said:

Plenty of American cities have 6 stories in or near their CBD.  I don't think it's a big deal at all. 

Look at Cleveland 60-70 years ago. Most of the density we lost was in midrise buildings.

2 hours ago, Pugu said:

There's nothing nice about a six story building Downtown. In the burbs, maybe, but not Downtown or University Circle or anywhere in between.

 

Others have beat me to it, but it certainly seems like there is a lot of room for six-story buildings between downtown and University Circle.  With a stagnant regional population I don't think it makes sense to build many (if any) buildings taller than 20 stories outside of downtown and University Circle.

 

Talk to me again after we fill in all the empty parking lots between the river and I-90.

Edited October 28, 20213 yr by Foraker

 

CSU’s new $650 million master plan envisions demolishing Wolstein Center, doubling student housing, adding sports and ‘partnership’ districts

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/11/csus-new-650-million-master-plan-envisions-demolishing-wolstein-center-doubling-student-housing-adding-sports-and-partnership-districts.html

 

Pretty big news here from CSU!

Some major points/TLDR:

Roughly $650 million in investment including

- New Student Housing

- Renovation of Rhodes Tower to student housing ("demolition doesn't make financial sense")

- New Academic Buildings

- Demotion of Wolstein Center, replaced with two smaller arenas/fieldhouses on the north side of campus

- Replacement of Wolstein with Partnership District (business/academic collaboration space)

$21 million from the state's budget should help the first phases of this plan commence in about 12-15 months.

 

Overall, a very informative and thorough article. Definitely worth a full read + all of the nice renderings!

And now that my work schedule has freed up a bit I may consider adding some of these proposals to my downtown massings too.

Edited November 17, 20222 yr by Geowizical

“It’s gone past its lifetime,’’ Jewell said of Wolstein. “It doesn’t have some of the modern amenities that you would need to attract other programming.’’  

 

That is sad for a facility that is only 30 years old. Could some of those modern amenities be added?  

 

And of course Litt had to add his obligatory social commentary.

I think the key with Wolstein is the ~$1 million operating deficit per year. Also, given how close it is to RMFH and the stark modernization of that arena, I'm not sure if any major event would ever consider Wolstein over RMFH when RMFH is so close and more event-friendly and "flashy". It seems like the capacity of Wolstein is the biggest issue causing this and the university needs something more tailored to their needs. If the solution were just "demolish Wolstein" and call it a day, then yeah that would be a problem. That's my understanding but I could be wrong - I'm not expert on entertainment/sports operations haha.

Edited November 17, 20222 yr by Geowizical

Yes, RMFH is a much flashier facility, but it is also very busy with Cavs, Monsters, concerts, ice shows, etc.   Availability might be a factor in an event considering Wolstein over RMFH.

Edited November 17, 20222 yr by LibertyBlvd

Love this plan. Love this render that puts the size in perspective.

 

 

Basically a doubling of the size of CSU's campus with the construction of a dozen new buildings. More active uses are placed on Euclid,Chester, and Carnegie, with stadiums and athletics tucked away on Payne. Will be a fabulous layout. Hopefully this all gets executed on.

I'm pretty excited about this plan- and that surprises me, because I was starting to fear that CSU may be stagnating, or even turning back towards it's isolated commuter college ways.  But all of this looks like positive developments to me.

37 minutes ago, LibertyBlvd said:

  

 

And of course Litt had to add his obligatory social commentary.

I don’t think Litt commenting on how 1950’s highway construction separated and disadvantaged minority communities in cities across the US is “obligatory social commentary.”  It’s the truth and part of this plan will hopefully entail the healing of those urban scars. 

10 minutes ago, X said:

I'm pretty excited about this plan- and that surprises me, because I was starting to fear that CSU may be stagnating, or even turning back towards it's isolated commuter college ways.  But all of this looks like positive developments to me.

And I think the doubling of on-campus housing is going to be huge - it's going to create a lot more foot traffic in the area, help the businesses along Euclid, and hopefully create overall vibrancy.

44 minutes ago, LibertyBlvd said:

“It’s gone past its lifetime,’’ Jewell said of Wolstein. “It doesn’t have some of the modern amenities that you would need to attract other programming.’’  

 

That is sad for a facility that is only 30 years old. Could some of those modern amenities be added?  

 

And of course Litt had to add his obligatory social commentary.

I agree.  Like with Burke Lakefront, I bemoan that Cleveland is taking the easy way out instead of making this into something that sets up apart from similar sized cities.     Wolstein has been well maintained and should be pushed for use in movie production and/or concert tour rehearsals.    Instead we'll tear down a 30 year old building to put up a mini CSU version of Crocker Park.  

Great to see the first project is filling in that useless green space on Euclid that they tore down the old Cadillac building for. 
 

Here's a direct link to the slide deck used by Cleveland.com and Crains to write the articles in case anyone wants to straight to the source.

 

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/cleveland-state-henshu.appspot.com/o/2022-11-17_Board Presentation_v2.pdf?alt=media&token=196cc0e7-eea0-4403-a197-b5bcf2e3e6c4

22 minutes ago, Geowizical said:

And I think the doubling of on-campus housing is going to be huge - it's going to create a lot more foot traffic in the area, help the businesses along Euclid, and hopefully create overall vibrancy.

Definitely.

 

Also, CWRU's enrollment is up like 10% since 2014. In that same time period, college enrollment nationally is down about 15%. If CWRU can keep slowly ticking up its enrollment and CSU can execute on this massive increase all while the nation's enrollment rate is plunging....Then we'll really be cooking with gas. Big for the region, not just foot traffic in the area.