That steel coming out of the ground will be the shoring and bracing needed for the mass excavation of the tower.  Looks like at the pace their moving, mass excavation should start early next week. 

and finally the suburbanites who come in that way can see progress on that corner for the first time in a long time (parking lot usage included)

i think they (suburbanites) just shaking their heads and say....the city has to do something about this parking situation.

I work one block from the site and got to hear allll about it. "Awww, we're gonna have to park off East 13th now? Waaaahh!!!". Mind you we're talking about a lot that's catty-corner to the Avenue District site.

 

I was happy to answer their questions like "who would want to live downtown?" - telling them that not everyone wants 3,000 sq. feet on a half-acre in Medina County was fun. They looked at me like I was a heretic.

i knew it!! thats hilarious. tell them to ask again when gas hits 6.00 a gallon.

They looked at me like I was a heretic.

Don't they know you're the HBIC?

I work one block from the site and got to hear allll about it. "Awww, we're gonna have to park off East 13th now? Waaaahh!!!". Mind you we're talking about a lot that's catty-corner to the Avenue District site.

 

I was happy to answer their questions like "who would want to live downtown?" - telling them that not everyone wants 3,000 sq. feet on a half-acre in Medina County was fun. They looked at me like I was a heretic.

 

Well MayDay there are plenty of Inner Ring residents that feel the same way.  I'm currently having issues with my parents.  My dad is "open" to moving into a smaller home and my mother is dead set against moving into Cleveland.  My mother and I got into a heated debate this morning about her and my dad moving to Shaker Square.  My mom is pissed (and for a moment I thought she was about to slap the hell out of me) at me because I said, "you act like I'm asking you to move to another planet."

It's unfortunately an attitude to prevalent in Greater Cleveland which I face and hear all the time.  We don't want to hear it, but until their is some kind of "wow" project other than sports bars and stadia, it's not going to change anytime soon.  You can talk till your blue in the face about the increased entertainment and residential aspects of downtown, but people won't listen to you.  And that "wow" project is for Cleveland is significant and high-end retail, period.  All people understand is that our last big department store -- Higbees/Dillards-- closed in 2000 and nothing has come close to replacing it, ... and the discussion ends.

Hello?! Discount Shoes opened on Euclid not three months ago. What more do you people want???

 

 

 

:-D

I was happy to answer their questions like "who would want to live downtown?" - telling them that not everyone wants 3,000 sq. feet on a half-acre in Medina County was fun. They looked at me like I was a heretic.

 

you should hear my workers who think they are saving money by living in Elyria (And commuting to downtown) relative to say living in a much closer nabe, like lakewood.....

(note, I know we're drifting from the Ave District thread, but) I was just skimming the Indianapolis photo site -- even THEY have a Borders bookstore of some capacity.  Detroit has a small one in it's Compuware mini-mall downtown.  All we have (just about) is a cramped Borders Express in Tower City.  A sizeable bookstore could do wonders as a people place attracting a more artsy crowd along with book-worms/lovers.  Wouldn't at least part of the old Mays be good for this (esp now it's under new ownership)?  Isn't the population downtown big enough to support a big bookstore?  Wouldn't this help attract some of the downtown naysayers in the burbs?

^Flats East Bank has already signed a national bookstore.

Flats is a much better location.  Bookstores are places which require time.. unless there are people living near the bookstore, you're not going to get a busy businessman to spend an hour roaming a bookstore on a Tuesday.

i knew it!! thats hilarious. tell them to ask again when gas hits 6.00 a gallon.

 

One of the big selling points in the Powerpoint presentations I give on the West Shore Corridor project is that it will cut their commuting costs by one-third. The cost of driving downtown from Westlake is $15.53 a day or $3,883 per year (62 cents per mile, using AAA figures, see http://www.aaaexchange.com/Assets/Files/20073261133460.YourDrivingCosts2007.pdf). For the total cost of owning that commuting car, the cost goes up to $9,500 per year. How many households own a second car used almost exclusively for commuting? If that's all you use it for, then it sits idle for perhaps 23 hours a day. You'd be better off moving downtown, selling the second car and walking to work.

 

Of course, my presentations show that with commuter rail, people can invest their money into an appreciable asset like a home and boost the local economy, rather than sink it into a depreciable asset like a car.

Flats is a much better location.  Bookstores are places which require time.. unless there are people living near the bookstore, you're not going to get a busy businessman to spend an hour roaming a bookstore on a Tuesday.

 

I don't really like the Flats as a retail location.  It's peripheral to downtown, and therefore not very accessible on foot, though the WF line zips right by, and it seems like an auto traffic nightmare waiting to happen.

I don't like it for large-scale, regional-draw retail either. Neighborhood-type stores? That's a different matter. However, the retail component could be a bit larger if a more direct pedestrian/vehicular link across the Cuyahoga River were available to the housing going up on the West Bank/Stonebridge.

I agree with KJP, I'd like to see one of a kind neighborhood stores and stores that have a exclusive rights in Ohio brought in here (or atleast at Pesht).  The area is marketing itself as a "upscale" area.

 

Stonebridge is (becoming) more destination/tourist/residential oriented. Thus I a mix of retail brands/price points will work better there.

^Flats East Bank has already signed a national bookstore.

 

I'm aware of that, and that's nice, but I think we need one closer to where most of the population currently lives and visitors/commuters travel to -- preferably closer to Public Sq./Gateway (which is still close to the WHD) or in Stark's Pesht Phase I footprint.

... btw, Constantino's Market was a HUGE leap forward for downtown, and this year, they lengthened their weekday hours to 10p.  It's a little high-end and a tad limited (if you want full service, hop a bus or train to Dave's), but very nice.  We need MORE of these kinds of businesses in addition to some of the more knock-your-socks-off retail I suggested.

 

... btw, CVS @ Euclid/E. 9th recently extended to 8p... all right, party time!!!

... btw, Constantino's Market was a HUGE leap forward for downtown, and this year, they lengthened their weekday hours to 10p.  It's a little high-end and a tad limited (if you want full service, hop a bus or train to Dave's), but very nice.  We need MORE of these kinds of businesses in addition to some of the more knock-your-socks-off retail I suggested.

 

... btw, CVS @ Euclid/E. 9th recently extended to 8p... all right, party time!!!

 

Great Info!  I would still like to see a drug store in the WHD and as you state a bodega on Prospect between 9 & 14

... btw, CVS @ Euclid/E. 9th recently extended to 8p... all right, party time!!!

 

I learned this the hard way.. last Saturday night during the final game of the Eastern conference finals we had to walk to the BP at E. 9th & Carnegie to purchase additional refreshments because it was 8:15..

There will be a new bookstore opened to the pubplic in the new CSU student Center.

It is being operated by Nebraska Books.

 

http://www.nebook.com/

From their newsletter:

 

HBA AWARD WINNERS

 

The Avenue District won two awards from the Sales and Marketing Council of the Home Builder’s Association of Greater Cleveland at an awards banquet earlier this year. The honors bestowed were Best Urban/Infill Development and Best Lifestyle Center Project. Zaremba is honored that the HBA recognizes its work and mission to benefit downtown Cleveland and its residents.

 

 

http://www.hbacleveland.com/ME2/Default.asp

Oh God, the Avenue is described as a "lifestyle center"

Oh God, the Avenue is described as a "lifestyle center"

 

Don't worry, their is no H&M going in.

Oh God, the Avenue is described as a "lifestyle center"

 

Forgive them. They are still building their vocabulary. Maybe they'll soon learn such terms as "mixed-use" and "urban".

Oh God, the Avenue is described as a "lifestyle center"

 

Don't worry, their is no H&M going in.

 

Whew!  Now I can sleep easier! :cool2:  8-)

 

Oh God, the Avenue is described as a "lifestyle center"

 

Forgive them. They are still building their vocabulary. Maybe they'll soon learn such terms as "mixed-use" and "urban".

I'll say a prayer and hopefull the Urban Planning Higher Ups will take notice.

 

 

Oh God, the Avenue is described as a "lifestyle center"

 

Forgive them. They are still building their vocabulary. Maybe they'll soon learn such terms as "mixed-use" and "urban".

 

 

Don't forget.... "[glow=red,2,300]WORLD CLASS[/glow]"

 

Remember when I granted some concessions to the landscape plan that is taking down all the grand old trees in the E. 12th Street median because they were apparently going to leave the somewhat less grand, yet still mature, trees that created a charming alee along the sidewalks beneath Reserve Square?  Well, now those have been axed as well.  Way to go, jerks!

But don't you just love the surface parking lot between RS and Perk Park? ;)

true, when I need to park in the middle of the street where glorious trees once stood, there's no better location!  by the way, the stop signs that still exist and were formerly obeyed (when the medians were still there) are now regularly blown through, in my experience.  From what i can tell, now would be a good time to start building the new and "improved" median.  Unless they're waiting for snow... 

On a lighter note:

 

 

 

The last one is tough to decipher. Have they started digging yet?

I don't believe so - as someone mentioned, the metal sticking out of the ground is framework for the excavation pit.

Oh God, the Avenue is described as a "lifestyle center"

 

Forgive them. They are still building their vocabulary. Maybe they'll soon learn such terms as "mixed-use" and "urban".

 

also, as i recall their pr guy left and they seem to have some new greenhorns working pr at the moment. let's give'm a chance to get their feet wetter. if they look at uo and this forum half as much as the original pr guy did, i bet they'll get it right with the urban homesteading buzz words.

 

Thanks for posting, Musky!  who knows what materials will be used for the exterior of the townhouses?  I never did see anything that got into that much detail...

That last photo is terrific. Love the solid urban backdrop to the foreground construction scene. I'd love to see more construction progress photos taken from that exact same location.

 

Please sir, I'd like some more....

just so I can get a point of reference what street were those photos taken

The picture with the wooden structures was taken on Rockwell - looking south.

The pictures looking at the steel plates sticking out of the ground was taken on Hamilton - also looking south.

Great news.  Foundation work on Phase I has begun.  They are currently digging around the metal posts and framework.

pd:

 

Truth in advertising:

 

The sweet sound of construction in a city that needs it filled the air at East 13th Street and St. Clair Avenue as crews worked in a fenced-in area to create "The Avenue District" this week. Wrapping the fence are beautiful large advertisements showing scenes of downtown Cleveland and its denizens enjoying the lake breeze, a coffee drink, a refreshing martini.

 

Or are they?

 

"All pictures depicted may not be of downtown Cleveland," reads the fine print.

 

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

^thats how i felt about the Cleveland+ campaign, that booklet is so packed with stock photos...  at least 60-70 percent

Since when have advertisements been required to refrain from using stock photos?  Since when has it been held up as a "truth in advertising issue"?  I'll tell you when- now- when the PD figured out they could use it as a little jab at Cleveland.  This really irritates me because it is just a juvenile and unnecessary swipe at those trying to make something happend in our town.

Since when have advertisements been required to refrain from using stock photos?  Since when has it been held up as a "truth in advertising issue"?  I'll tell you when- now- when the PD figured out they could use it as a little jab at Cleveland.  This really irritates me because it is just a juvenile and unnecessary swipe at those trying to make something happend in our town.

 

you mean for every piece of marketing ever produced in the history of man, the Advertising agency doesn't hire a photographer with a list of "to-dos"?

Well, apparently they did, up till someone had to make downtown Cleveland look like an appealing place to live.

i think that if you're going to do a campaign that shows off the community then.... show off the community... theres plenty of opportunity to do so. 

 

granted i do agree the PD is being stupid about this particular development because it just sounds like a pissy after-the-fact detail that they're writing an article about.

And KEEP it on topic! :whip:

^You could have used a newer picture at least.

^Here... Let me help you.

(BTW... do you always walk around with your camera? I saw you walk in and out of city hall with it at your side... along with your book.)

 

 

 

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