^Excellent news! I was at the Architectural Review for the Spitzer site project ironically for my own home reno, and the neighbors had some...interesting concerns. If you want an entertaining evening, grab a six pack and head to any local planning department meeting when a large project like this is being proposed. 

16 minutes ago, YO to the CLE said:

^Excellent news! I was at the Architectural Review for the Spitzer site project ironically for my own home reno, and the neighbors had some...interesting concerns. If you want an entertaining evening, grab a six pack and head to any local planning department meeting when a large project like this is being proposed. 

I have done that before.  Unfortunately it seems that most of the people that speak have already finished their six pack.

40 minutes ago, freefourur said:

It sounds like the landscaping will probably be a small tree lawn type strip with a rain garden similar to whats in front of Madison Park. 

 

So pointless grass strip, then. ?

23 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

I have done that before.  Unfortunately it seems that most of the people that speak have already finished their six pack.

I wouldn't say that. It's not a strip in front of the building. It will be between the sidewalk and street (that is how Madison Park's is) and will serve the purpose of holding rainwater that would otherwise overflow the city sewer. 

Lakewood real estate demand/values are growing at the highest rates of any city in the county. But since the 1980s, it has lost more than 1,700 housing units due to demolitions and renovation of duplexes/triplexes into single-family homes. Lakewood also has the second-oldest housing stock on average in the county, trailing only East Cleveland. It desperately needs the new housing to respond to the market, to keep real estate values in check, and to freshen up the inventory so that Lakewood remains competitive and viable. I hope Lakewood supports these projects going forward.

It seems that when there is redevelopment/ new development on detroit that the utility wiring is moved underground and the street lights are replaced with decorative lighting.  i hope this is done here. 

2 hours ago, Mendo said:

 

So pointless grass strip, then. ?

Well, I think the rain gardens are a really good idea. For too long our lake-adjacent communities haven't done enough to safeguard our greatest resource. Urban runoff (and taxing the sewers systems with rainwater) is arguably the biggest problem. 

 

[edit: oops, exactly what @KFM44107 said]

Edited August 5, 20195 yr by surfohio

2 hours ago, KFM44107 said:

I wouldn't say that. It's not a strip in front of the building. It will be between the sidewalk and street (that is how Madison Park's is) and will serve the purpose of holding rainwater that would otherwise overflow the city sewer. 

 

8 minutes ago, surfohio said:

Well, I think the rain gardens are a really good idea. For too long our lake-adjacent communities haven't done enough to safeguard our greatest resource. Urban runoff (and taxing the sewers systems with rainwater) is arguably the biggest problem. 

 

[edit: oops, exactly what @KFM44107 said]

 

Something like a tree lawn would be great. I get nervous when I hear "setback" but some greenery along the street would look good. KFM mentioned Madison Park, here's the street view of it:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4769506,-81.7801799,3a,75y,206.82h,84.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sne_d8DV3xB1RlkemkKNTvg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

I wish we had greater emphasis in the area on this actually. After seeing the awful new overhauls of Detroit between West 70th to 78th as well at Madison from West Blvd to 117th. It’s just straight concrete. Not a single tree for miles.  It all looks like S@&t. Just looks like barren wasteland. 

 

When I contacted DS about this awful makeover, I was told the sidewalk wasn’t wide enough to accommodate any trees. I told them to promptly grab a tape measure and drive over to Lakewood up and down Madison and Detroit to see how a real city operates when it’s people give a damn. 

Edited August 5, 20195 yr by marty15

6 hours ago, KFM44107 said:

I wouldn't say that. It's not a strip in front of the building. It will be between the sidewalk and street (that is how Madison Park's is) and will serve the purpose of holding rainwater that would otherwise overflow the city sewer. 

 

So these are really attractive and functional "devil strips" as Akronites would say.   Sounds fantastic.

Edited August 5, 20195 yr by jeremyck01

18 minutes ago, jeremyck01 said:

 

So these are really attractive and functional "devil strips" as Akronites would say.   Sounds fantastic.

Lol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_verge

4 hours ago, marty15 said:

I told them to promptly grab a tape measure and drive over to Lakewood up and down Madison and Detroit to see how a real city operates when it’s people give a damn. 

 

If so many people didn't run away from the city during the last 70yrs, maybe our tax base could support more beautification projects.

Edited August 5, 20195 yr by Clefan98
typo

1 hour ago, Clefan98 said:

 

If so many people didn't run away from the city during the last 70yrs, maybe our tax base could support more beautification projects.

Poured and finished concrete is  $130-150/cubic yard. It’s not a money issue. It’s a lazy, piss poor design work issue.

Edited August 5, 20195 yr by marty15

Construction starting on the Mews at Rockport, at Fry and Detroit avenues in Lakewood. More: https://knez.net/featured-townhomes/mews-at-rockport/

 

Construction work has become noticeable on the new $7 million dining Hall and main entrance for Saint Edward high school on Detroit Avenue in Lakewood. More: https://www.cleveland.com/community/2019/06/construction-for-st-edward-high-schools-7-million-expansion-set-to-begin-this-summer.html

 

Friday 08.16.19

Construction of the Truck Park is set to begin within a month.  Goal is to have it open by New Years Eve. The main building will be roughly 3200sf, with a full bar, kitchen, and roll up glass garage doors. 

Truck Park financing in place and ready to go. That corner will finally get built up. Gonna make for a cool environment with the tee ball field across the street, Plank Road Tavern across Detroit, El Carnicero next door.

Edited September 2, 20195 yr by marty15

The first phase of Lakewood's Rockport Square, maybe 15 years old, isn't aging well...

That cheap brick facing is the worst.  I wonder if they really saved enough money to make it worth the extra maintenance and repair work.

2 minutes ago, X said:

That cheap brick facing is the worst.  I wonder if they really saved enough money to make it worth the extra maintenance and repair work.

Agree 100%.  And what is even worst is that I don't think anybody is actually doing any maintenance or repair work.  Doesn't Lakewood have exterior inspections on a regular basis?  I know Cleveland Heights does (for what it is worth...doesn't seem like they have resources to enforce much of the time except for the worst cases).

Yikes... Who built phase 1?  Zaremba?

2 minutes ago, RE Developer In Training said:

Yikes... Who built phase 1?  Zaremba?

Didn't a division or subsidiary of Forest City have something to do with it?

6 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

Didn't a division or subsidiary of Forest City have something to do with it?

Yes

The now defunct Rysar Properties built those. They were never know for quality. I believe Forest City split with them after the first set of townhomes, the much nicer ones across from the 5 o’clock. A friend of mine used to live in one. Was very well done, and even had a one man elevator. 

Edited September 6, 20195 yr by marty15

I posted the picture on the Lakewood Facebook forum. After about 20 posts in response, the page owner shut down the conversation because he/she strangely believed that the photo/conversation criticized the homeowner. Quite the contrary. It criticized the builder as well as the city for allowing cheap materials/techniques to be used.

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2019/09/lakewood-one-step-closer-to-determining-future-of-former-trinity-church-property.html

 

Very slow moving here.  Was very disappointed when Street Burger closed many moons ago. 

I don't know how accurate Google Street View is when it comes to photo dates, but here's a view of the same property from October 2018. If the facing deteriorated this quickly, it makes me wonder if it was vandalism. But if it crumbled on its own, then the neighboring walls aren't far behind.

Edited September 8, 20195 yr by RoabeArt

A friend on Twitter said a car may have hit it.

Beer Garden & Food Truck ground breaking and demo coming soon to Edwards & Detroit avenues in Lakewood! Photo by Benjamin John.

9 hours ago, KJP said:

Beer Garden & Food Truck ground breaking and demo coming soon to Edwards & Detroit avenues in Lakewood! Photo by Benjamin John.

This is going to be a go to spot for me for sure. I love a good food truck park.

^ it will be sad to see that red house go though but this will be a cool project. 

St. Ed’s expansion underway.

“The Mews” of Rockport under construction. They’re somehow gonna shoehorn 9 townhouses on this little lot. Incredible how far the east end of Lakewood has come.  Advertised starting at $240k. 

^ Not a bad price for new construction in Lakewood.  I expect these to sell out quickly. 

Some pending!

 

https://www.burganrealestate.com/s/oh/lakewood-city/the-mews-at-rockport-subdivision

The old Lakewood adage “you need to buy west of Bunts” is indeed, old. 

 

 

Edited September 25, 20195 yr by surfohio

WOW! That's a MAJOR change!

14 minutes ago, surfohio said:

The old Lakewood adage “you need to buy west of Bunts” is indeed, old. 

 

 

Wow! That really flipped. Though I’ve always thought Grace, Cohasset, and Clarence are some of the most beautiful streets in town. The Rockport townhomes probably helped raise the average as well.

26 minutes ago, surfohio said:

Some pending!

 

https://www.burganrealestate.com/s/oh/lakewood-city/the-mews-at-rockport-subdivision

4 of 9 pending! That’s a great start. 

2 minutes ago, marty15 said:

Wow! That really flipped. Though I’ve always thought Grace, Cohasset, and Clarence are some of the most beautiful streets in town. The Rockport townhomes probably helped raise the average as well.

It's all those Gold coast flips haha. 

I’m not sure how much stock you can put in data that only covers homes that sold in a 7 month period. Like @marty15 said, a few rockport sales could really skew the numbers in a short timeframe 

8 minutes ago, bumsquare said:

I’m not sure how much stock you can put in data that only covers homes that sold in a 7 month period. Like @marty15 said, a few rockport sales could really skew the numbers in a short timeframe 

Well, agree these numbers are only a part of a bigger, more complex picture. But it's not like the Rockport units are going for $600k. Plus there are Gold Coast units going for under $100k. 

19 minutes ago, bumsquare said:

I’m not sure how much stock you can put in data that only covers homes that sold in a 7 month period. Like @marty15 said, a few rockport sales could really skew the numbers in a short timeframe 

The article says there were 161 sales on the Eastern Side for that median price so it wasn't a small sample and these were single family homes so the rockport units would not even be included in the data.  

Edited September 25, 20195 yr by cle_guy90

1 minute ago, cle_guy90 said:

The article says there were 161 sales on the Eastern Side for that median price so it wasn't a small sample and these were single family homes so the rockport units would not even be included in the data.  

Single family only? I guess I should read better. 

The dividing line isn't Bunts on that map - it's Belle.  So a couple of streets with big houses/big lots have been moved into the eastern side of the city.

10 minutes ago, bjk said:

The dividing line isn't Bunts on that map - it's Belle.  So a couple of streets with big houses/big lots have been moved into the eastern side of the city.

 

True. But can those few streets in between make that much of a difference? 

1 hour ago, surfohio said:

Well, agree these numbers are only a part of a bigger, more complex picture. But it's not like the Rockport units are going for $600k. Plus there are Gold Coast units going for under $100k. 

 

Not so much anymore. Most are $100K+. It's why a trio of available properties in the Gold Coast area are getting attention for possible condo developments. That and the FHWA benefits now including condos.

Edited September 25, 20195 yr by KJP

The rockport townhouses are s

1 hour ago, cle_guy90 said:

The article says there were 161 sales on the Eastern Side for that median price so it wasn't a small sample and these were single family homes so the rockport units would not even be included in the data.  

Townhouses are single family. I wouldn’t consider 161 sales a large number. It’s .5% of the housing stock.

On 9/25/2019 at 1:53 PM, bumsquare said:

The rockport townhouses are s

Townhouses are single family. I wouldn’t consider 161 sales a large number. It’s .5% of the housing stock.

 

So I just did some quick research on this and it depends on who you talk to and how they are drawing data. For instance, realtor.com clumps townhomes and condos together. I was always under the assumption that rich Exner did that as well but I could be wrong. 

 

My point in saying that it was 161 homes was that it was a large enough sample that, even if the 4 rockport townhomes were included, it would not skew the data.  Moreover, while it is not perfect and a couple years of data is better, I think 161 is indicative enough to show that the side of town is definitely trending in a healthy direction. 

 

Edited September 26, 20195 yr by cle_guy90