June 5, 200718 yr Stark should talk to the people who did 515 Euclid about parking garages. I can't even count the number of times I've heard "WHOA that's a cool looking parking garage" from passersby in that area.
June 7, 200718 yr Stark is covering a side of a parking garage and two sides of the Dick's at Crocker Park with townhomes. You can check it out here: http://www.thecoralcompany.com/PDF/Residential/westhampton/site%20plan%20w%20addresses.pdf
June 9, 200718 yr ***tumbleweeds blowing in the background*** Hellooooo?.....Hellooooo?......Mr. Starkkk where are youuuuuuu?
June 9, 200718 yr Love this scene. I call it the Corridor of Great Potential. If we could get some major retail into May's and some mixed-use project in the vacant Goldfish Army-Navy block across from booming Flannery's, it would greatly complement MRN's E.4th St. and the bars/restaurants around the Pointe at Prospect & Huron.
June 12, 200718 yr They were working on Stark's new building on Sunday. He must really want to get in there quickly.
June 12, 200718 yr Looks like most of the drywall is up on the first floor. I need to talk to some of the workers to see how long it might be before the big move-in date. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 13, 200718 yr Was there ever a "special announcement" or was that comment made prior to the office relocation announcement - and ultimately not requiring the announcement once it was leaked? (if that makes any sense at all)
June 13, 200718 yr Not yet. There will be an announcement. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 13, 200718 yr I spoke to some of the workers down there last night. They were working well into the evening. It sounds like the work is being done in a hurry, but will only be modest enough to get the building up to an occupiable state. They want to get their occupancy permit within the next week or so, though that doesn't mean they are moving in so soon. They are only planning on keeping the building up for the next 3 years, then it will be torn down and replaced.
June 13, 200718 yr KJP, maybe you've talked to Mr. Stark already, but if you haven't you may want to place a call. Our group's source last night told us that Stark has agreements with 70% of the landowners in his project's footprint from the WHD to the waterfront. The combined cost, including the port relocation, is in excess of $20 billion. He wants to move on this asap and the PA board is doing everything it can to accomodate him. There was no mention, however, of when to expect a formal announcement. Maybe he is waiting for the port to finalize it's future plans? There was also an interesting tidbit on the Clinic which I will post over there.
June 13, 200718 yr Once again, I think thet KJP knows something that he's NOT telling us. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 13, 200718 yr $20 billion?! Who is on board, Richard Branson?? My hypothesis: probably their economic calculations include lost time, productivity and efficiency from changing locations of the port and other thingies like that. You'll see numbers escalate quickly around transportation modules (i.e. bridge/port/road)
June 13, 200718 yr All joking aside, remember that Stark's project is going to be done in stages, not all at once. He's been quoted as saying the first phase will be around $1 bil. The $20 billion cost was not broken down to show the port's expense for relocating, either, and I'm sure they will be financing their move, not Stark. Stark himself has said that he probably won't live long enough to see the entire project through to completion, nor does he want to do the whole thing himself. From everything I've seen and heard thus far, it's my gut feeling that he's slowly putting this together into something really big and will wait until all his ducks are in a row to announce it. Does that sound about right, KJP? :wink:
June 13, 200718 yr You know I think the vision is wonderful and all the planning is great and neccessary. This whole "idea" is not something you just jump into. That said, I just wish somebody would take a shovel in the next year and start building something on that parking lot (lots) between Superior and St. Clair. Right now I'd almost settle for a Dunkin Donuts.
June 13, 200718 yr do you have any idea how often I'm asked where is a dunkin donuts downtown? Out of all possible questions (bank, cvs, bathroom, hooker, etc.), its routinely near the top.
June 13, 200718 yr ^Soooo.... Where is it? :-D I send them to the local shop in the colonial arcarde.
June 13, 200718 yr ^Soooo.... Where is it? :-D I send them to the local shop in the colonial arcarde. I do miss the old DD that was there. There coffee is top notch. I think a nice local donut shot would be perfect for the WHD. Is that Gilly's (Presti's) still open on the East Bank?
June 14, 200718 yr All joking aside, remember that Stark's project is going to be done in stages, not all at once. He's been quoted as saying the first phase will be around $1 bil. The $20 billion cost was not broken down to show the port's expense for relocating, either, and I'm sure they will be financing their move, not Stark. Stark himself has said that he probably won't live long enough to see the entire project through to completion, nor does he want to do the whole thing himself. From everything I've seen and heard thus far, it's my gut feeling that he's slowly putting this together into something really big and will wait until all his ducks are in a row to announce it. Does that sound about right, KJP? :wink: Yep. Stark has signed development agreements with several downtown property owners -- not just Tony Asher/Weston, but James Kassouf and Rustom Khoury/Carnegie Management. And I suspect other property owners have since been engaged like the Los Angeles firm which recently bought the parking lots off West 9th for a princely sum from another Angelino Duane Cameron. There is no way Stark can build out his vision, even if he lived to be 100 years old. But he, with the help and support of other developers, can. And don't forget that Stark and those who will develop his vision will need a litany of public infrastructure improvements, including rebuilt streets, sidewalks, extended sewers, new streets, bridges, decking over railroad tracks and so on. That requires a whole range of financing packages in agreement with the city, county, port, ODOT and possibly others. It's all a tad complicated.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 14, 200718 yr KJP ... I think that the agreements with Kassouf & Khoury are irrelevant here. I think that those properties are in the Flats East Bank and heard that Kassouf & Khoury hastily signed those to add another monkeywrench in the eminent domain stuff.
June 14, 200718 yr Not all of them are. One major property owned by Kassouf is the former Union Depot site between West 9th and West 3rd, south of the tracks but north of the bluff. It's a massive piece of property and integral to extending the downtown street grid north of the tracks to the lake's edge. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 14, 200718 yr Did anyone notice the "Stark Enterprises" signage above one of the doors today? How long has that been up there??
June 14, 200718 yr Did anyone notice the "Stark Enterprises" signage above one of the doors today? How long has that been up there?? thats good news, but the sign would be sooo much cooler if he changed it to "stark industries": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man
June 14, 200718 yr That's hilarious, mrnyc! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 18, 200717 yr Just got off the phone with Stark's spokesman. They are now moved in to their new digs at West 3rd and St. Clair. He said they began renovations to the building only 14 days ago. More news (nothing hugely earth shattering) coming in Thursday's Sun Newspapers. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 19, 200717 yr ^I'd settle for moon shattering. Bring on the news! I was talking with one of the top guys at a local/national commercial real estate firm. Not sure if he knows something that we don't, but is he very very impressed with Stark and alluded to hearing something MAJOR in the next six months.
June 19, 200717 yr We're going to have to wait a bit longer. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 19, 200717 yr Well, I'll be waiting in the new Chipotle/Borders/Barnes&Noble/VirginMegaStore/H&M by CSU, so you guys can come and get me when something happens.
June 19, 200717 yr We're going to have to wait a bit longer. A few more weeks longer, or more then six months longer?
June 19, 200717 yr Unknown. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 19, 200717 yr ^Maybe I'm too young, but I don't get the reference. :wtf: shame on me for giving away tony stark's true identity... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/
June 19, 200717 yr I really like the scale, layout, and functional use of green space in the proposed Gay Street development in Columbus. www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=11148.0 Do any of you think that either the Avenue, Pesht, or EastBank will employ similar design attributes? Unifying functional green space/landscaping appears to be missing at the large urban infill development along Chester Ave, near the Clinic. It is also largely absent at Stonebridge, though the viaduct certainly provides something close. Any thoughts re: the differences in mentality between C-Bus developers and C-Land developers? Also, what street in Cleveland is similar to Gay Street in Columbus? Also, can someone (pretty please) remind me how to embed an URL?
June 19, 200717 yr Funny, cause most of the people on that thread, seem to be saying that they would want something more like the Avenue District, due to its location in downtown, and thinking that it should be a bit more vertical. I like it, but not for the WH District or the other locations in downtown, but maybe on the fringes.
June 19, 200717 yr ^^It has been a long time since I visited the Gay Street thread but if I recall when it was first announced people on that thread were not exactly thrilled with it. Maybe that has changed since then. I will have to check it out.
June 19, 200717 yr I really like the scale, layout, and functional use of green space in the proposed Gay Street development in Columbus. www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=11148.0 Do any of you think that either the Avenue, Pesht, or EastBank will employ similar design attributes? Unifying functional green space/landscaping appears to be missing at the large urban infill development along Chester Ave, near the Clinic. It is also largely absent at Stonebridge, though the viaduct certainly provides something close. Any thoughts re: the differences in mentality between C-Bus developers and C-Land developers? Also, what street in Cleveland is similar to Gay Street in Columbus? Also, can someone (pretty please) remind me how to embed an URL? I can't answer any of your questions, but I'd cry if the downtown developments ended up like that.
June 19, 200717 yr I would say that the Viaduct is a unifying landscape element for Stonebridge, though it is a hardscape. But it seems to be the same approach, just a different type of open space. A redesigned East 12th St. will be the unifying landscape element for the Avenue District, though one portion will be on Superior instead of East 12th. It may not include as much "greenspace", but this is downtown, not the suburbs. How much would really be appropriate? The East Bank is going to include greenspace along the river, though I would say that it fails to organize the space within the project, which is otherwise inward looking and organized around a pseudo grid that doesn't orient itself to the river. We don't know about Pescht yet. The long term renderings show a "mall" of sorts near the lakefront.
June 19, 200717 yr I really like the scale, layout, and functional use of green space in the proposed Gay Street development in Columbus. www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=11148.0 Do any of you think that either the Avenue, Pesht, or EastBank will employ similar design attributes? Unifying functional green space/landscaping appears to be missing at the large urban infill development along Chester Ave, near the Clinic. It is also largely absent at Stonebridge, though the viaduct certainly provides something close. Any thoughts re: the differences in mentality between C-Bus developers and C-Land developers? Also, what street in Cleveland is similar to Gay Street in Columbus? I see more contemporary design in new Cleveland projects than Columbus projects. Usually the nostalgic neo-traditional post-modern architecture looks kind of bizarre, but I kind of like way neo-tradtional design is being used in Columbus. The scale of the project and location is similiar to downtown Cleveland developments, but in Cleveland the developments tend to be higher density near downtown. There are similiar types of townhome developments but on a smaller scale, more expensive, and a little farther away from downtown like the Townhomes of Ohio City. I think a development like this would be great fit for somwhere like Prospect Avenue just east of downtown.
June 19, 200717 yr I really like the scale, layout, and functional use of green space in the proposed Gay Street development in Columbus. www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=11148.0 Do any of you think that either the Avenue, Pesht, or EastBank will employ similar design attributes? Doubtful. Only renderings are available for Pesht/Phase One and the Flats East Bank. Nearly all structures proposed in those two projects are of the mid-rise, mixed-use type (retail/restaurants on the ground floor, office/residential above, structured parking in between or behind). The Avenue District has specific plans available, and only eastern part (away from downtown's central business district) will have 2-3 story townhouses. But I don't recall greenspace proposed (except for perhaps a narrow strip of frontage). Any thoughts re: the differences in mentality between C-Bus developers and C-Land developers? I don't think a differentiation between the developers can be made based on where they are located. Each developer has their own philosophies, and even then a single developer will alter his/her design based on where he/she is building. What I've seen in Columbus' Arena District is very similar to the western part of Cleveland's Avenue District or in Stonebridge. But I do see less emphasis on greenspace in downtown Cleveland developments, but greater emphasis on mixed use. Also, what street in Cleveland is similar to Gay Street in Columbus? I would think Payne Avenue or Rockwell Avenue may be comparable. When they leave an area of downtown high rises, the end is abrupt, traveling through a sea of surface parking lots and scattered low-rise commercial structures that have seen better days. Also, can someone (pretty please) remind me how to embed an URL? Can someone help him with that!?! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 20, 200717 yr ^^Walked by that today, wishing I had my camera on me. What better way to encourage his employees and himself that he wants the project done than to move his offices to the center of it all?
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