yeah, i'm not doubting that..

 

do you know the use of the buildling? extra dively/msass space?

It will be part of the Mandel center.  In scale, it seems to be approriate for the street as building sizes taper down from Dively, Wolstein towards the large houses.  Still, I think it will look kind of ugly (but sketches don't always give a true sense of how a building will look).

Sometimes I may come off as sort of architecturally conservative, but I would absolutely love to see something like the Reiser-Umemato example built at that corner.  That is groundbreaking, but seems to work well in an urban environment.  I love the transparency and the textures.

In regards to the Gothic architecture of the new (green) Case dorms, it should be said that many features, including some of the architectural detailing, are an aspect of the green/leed/sustainable architecture which was never addressed by Mr. Litt.

 

more info here > http://clevelandgbc.org/pdf/CWRUNorthResidentialVillage.pdf

well if everyone's favorite parking lot ever gets off the ground, case has been wanting a hotel as one of the main tennants for years now.

 

proximity to rapid will help a bunch too, hopefully we can build out to 120th, or move to mayfield, or both. (though two stops that close?)

The plan is to put the station between Euclid and Mayfield, with pedestrian access enhanced to both roads. I wonder about this from a cost perspective, since RTA station platforms are almost always between the two tracks, and I don't think the tracks are spread far enough apart south of the current station. That means realigning them, which would be pretty costly.

University Hospitals Donates Cozad-Bates Property to University Circle Inc.

 

 

Cleveland, OH – University Hospitals Health System (UHHS) today announced that it will donate the Cozad-Bates House to University Circle Incorporated (UCI) in order to preserve and celebrate its historical roots. 

 

Located on Mayfield Road near East 115th Street, the Cozad-Bates House was built in 1853 by Andrew Cozad.  As the only surviving pre-Civil War era structure in University Circle, the home sits on a half acre of land that was once a farm owned by known abolitionists. UHHS acquired the property in 1985, and it has stood vacant during the past 20 years.  UHHS’ expansive building project, announced in January, does not include plans for the Cozad-Bates House...

 

 

more at:  http://www.cleveland.com

cozad-atcha!

 

Thanks Wimwar, that is excellent news!  Can you talk UHHS into donating the rest of East 115 to me?  Maybe just that cool 6-pack shaped apartment building?

Wimwar, do you know off-hand who designed Dively's future neighbor?

 

No clue.

University Circle residents want voice in area planning

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Steven Litt

Plain Dealer Architecture Critic

 

The fresh infusion of cash and big construction projects planned for University Circle has aroused long-standing concerns among residents that they'll be ignored and displaced as decisions are made about buildings, streets, parks and public spaces.

 

They've got reason. University Circle, Cleveland's cultural, educational and medical hub, has a long history of top-down, paternalistic, secretive planning.

 

Now, institutions in the district are facing renewed pressure from community activists such as Emily Peck, a retired Cleveland school assistant principal, who wants residents treated with greater respect...

 

 

more at:  http://www.cleveland.com

Ugh.  While I like when folks in a neighborhood get together and take an interest in improving their neighborhood, this just sounds like your typical, provincial, anti-development crap.  People just don't like to accept that as a neighborhood improves, demand to live in and develop that area will naturally increase and that will drive up prices.  Some of these groups act like it a tragedy that people might actually want to live in "their" neighborhood.  If UC did actually turn into another Georgetown, we should be thankful.  It would great to have at least one neighborhood whose charm didn't need to be described as "gritty".

I just hope whatever they build, it does not look like the generic Crocker Park / OSU Gateway / every other "mixed use" center built in the past 8 years

Glenville only hope to become what it once was or a Georgetown neighborhood. Cleveland has no upscale neighborhoods. Heaven forbid that some people some day get displaced at some time for ONE upscale neighborhood. The fact that none has risen to this day is a testament to the fact that their fears are unfounded. It seems that every neighborhood group that seeks to protect "their" area only seeks to stop development and rejuvination.

^Well Cleveland does have at least one upscale neighborhood, and that is Edgewater. Have you ever driven down Edgewater, Cliff, or Harborview Drives? It is home to upper-middle class families and property values are pretty high.

 

But I do believe that while it is sensitive to displace a lot of people and price long-time residents out of their neighborhoods, it isn't like there aren't plenty of affordable places to live in Cleveland. I have heard that while some people are concerned about the gentrification of Ohio City and soaring property values, some of the long-time residents have sold their homes at prices they never dreamed of and this has helped secure their retirement funds. So I would think that a lot of people in the University Circle neighborhood, if they are poor, should welcome new upscale housing and feel very proud. It means they are living in a very desirable place, and their investment in their home is secure.

I agree that there are valuble homes along the lakefront, and the form small neighborhoods. I would also consider upper class homes starting at $500,000+ range, Upper middle  $300,000+ range, middle $175,000+, entry middle $90,000+. Neighborhoods dont change over night, it is a slow process to gentrification. You basicaly dont go from ghetto to upscale elite housing area overnight. How many years did it take for Ohio city to get the way it is now, how many years did it take for Tremont to get the way it is? Both neighborhoods are far from upscale neighborhoods, they have basicaly beome somewhat rough middle class neighborhoods. The warehouse district took 20 years to go from hobo soup kitchens and porn shops, to  some upper class units starting to be built there. So we are talking maybe 15 years unitill warehouse district becomes fully upscale or something?  I would say Glenville has at least 30 years before it can even become a potential Georgetown. The CDC is trying to prevent a slow positive process.

 

They shouldnt be looking at how can we prevent something positive from changing the neighborhood, they should be looking at ways to fix the negatives.

I'm a little disappointed at the response here.  I know we've talked a lot about gentrification and whether or not it's a serious concern in Cleveland, but the issue right here is that there has been a precedent set in University Circle and the residents who have been around through it all are simply saying that they should have a voice in the discussion. 

 

Of course this means that the likelihood of a developer gliding through the design and approval process becomes less likely, but isn't that a good thing?  If we want the neighborhoods to be stable, well built and inhabited by residents who care for their surroundings, then the people who already live there should most certainly have a say in the process.  Their property values, not to mention their every day quality of life, are at stake. 

 

Now, there will always be people who resist change simply because they are afraid of it.  The planning process is there to determine what progress can be made through development and at what cost this progress will come...and to weed out the significant and true externalities from those that are just personal gripes.  With people like Chris Ronayne involved and well-meaning corporations and foundations like Charter One committed to uplifting all the current and future residents of the broader neighborhood, I am optimistic that we can see this process through in an efficient, yet holistic manner. 

My gripe is with the CDC's and how they have been operating as of late in the city. Little Italy is/was against moving the RTA red line stop to their neighborhood, anti-random road lofts, and arbitrarily decided it was best to build a parking garage in place without involving the building owner NEXT to an empty lot. Hessler Rd. anti-development on a vacant lot on Euclid, so that they may preserve the parking. Ohio City and duck island teaming together anti-development on a vacant lot near railroad tracks for mixed income housing. CDC’s seem to be blocking, not promoting rejuvenation and growth.

And that may be true in some cases, but without many of our most effective CDCs, development would have been (and still would be) very difficult to come by in many parts of the city. 

 

I'm not saying that there aren't ineffective CDCs or that there aren't conflicts that many of them have in achieving both their missions of advocating for residents and encouraging/assisting in development and investment.  I'm just saying that the residents in UC should want to be involved and that if they weren't interested or had no clue what was going on, then we'd be in a much worse situation.

Let's be clear about what the entities we are talking about are.  Neighbor to Neighbor, Duck Island Block Club, and Hessler Rd are not CDC's.  They are block clubs.  Block clubs are groups of homeowners who get together to collectively exert pressure one way or another on politicians, businesses, landowners, CDC's etc.  A CDC is a non-profit corporation with a mission that includes, but is almost never limited to, community development. 

 

These two seperate types of entities often have very different missions and outlooks, although they are both ostensibly concerned primarily with community improvement.  A block club, by design, only represents the people who live in a neighborhood now and their interests.  By nature they tend to be conservative re change. A CDC usually includes business and institutional leaders, residents, urban development and architectural professionals, and usually has a professional staff.  They tend to be more transformational in their goals, although block clubs, which may be associated with the CDC, exert a significant counterforce against that.

"Meetings of the University Circle Architectural Review Board have been closed for decades, enabling area institutions such as Case and University Hospitals to consult privately with each other and with distinguished visiting architects. Most other community development corporations in Cleveland have design review committees that meet publicly."

 

Litt needs to get his facts straight. University Circle Incorporated is not a CDC. It is a non-profit organization that was set up to serve its founders--the cultural, educational and healthcare institutions that make up the Circle. Additionally, it does not receive city money to fund its operations as CDCs do.

 

Additionally, Litt doesn't understand the role of the architectural review board (ARB). Neighborhoods in Cleveland can set up design review boards if they want to via a legislative act. No one has done this in the UC area (but at this time, UCI is trying to get one started so that it can have greater leverage when it tries to persuade a member from building something ugly). UCI's ARB, as created by the UCI charter, has always been pretty toothless. I think Litt doesn't like it because he can't attend the meetings. The architects, flown in from around the country, tear the proposals apart. The institutions don't like the ARB because they know its not a pleasant process (even though Litt seems to suggest otherwise). In the end, it really doesn't mean anything as the institutions don't have to follow the ARB's suggestions. Only some take the critiques to heart (City Architercture changed their design for the new construction portion of the ParkLane Villas).

 

On to citizen participation: I think its absolutely necessary to include as many residents in the area as possible in the planning phase. Creating a greater link to the neighborhood is essential for the Circle. That said, the mentioned block groups have had some really whacked out ideas for what they want the Circle to be. If some of their ideas were followed, then there would be no additional job growth permitted in the area, no new housing would be built, and MLK would become an elevated freeway from E.105 to the lake.

 

 

 

Put a "Dear Editor" at the start of that and a "Sincerely, Mr. X" at the end and put it in the mail! Get your next-door neighbor to sign it and put their phone number on it so the innocent can be protected!

^Well Cleveland does have at least one upscale neighborhood, and that is Edgewater. Have you ever driven down Edgewater, Cliff, or Harborview Drives? It is home to upper-middle class families and property values are pretty high.

 

But I do believe that while it is sensitive to displace a lot of people and price long-time residents out of their neighborhoods, it isn't like there aren't plenty of affordable places to live in Cleveland. I have heard that while some people are concerned about the gentrification of Ohio City and soaring property values, some of the long-time residents have sold their homes at prices they never dreamed of and this has helped secure their retirement funds. So I would think that a lot of people in the University Circle neighborhood, if they are poor, should welcome new upscale housing and feel very proud. It means they are living in a very desirable place, and their investment in their home is secure.

 

I would like to add, Little Italy and Shaker Square as well.  Home's on Shaker Blvd, Larchmere, Cormere, N. Moreland, Fairhill, etc are not "cheap" by any stretch of the imagination.  And the new stuff around St. Lukes aint cheap!

 

When I am in NYC the residents of harlem complain everyday that they are being priced out and that the longtime constructive residents who lived in the neighborhood, during the "worst of the worst" times, I don't want people who hav live in glenville, Hough, Fairhill, Detrot-shoreway, stockyards to be pushed out because they can no longer afford to live in "redeveloped" neighborhoods.

Nice article in Saturday's PD on the Heritage Lane project:

 

HGTV cameras focus on Heritage Lane restoration work

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Melissa Hebert

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

TV cameras near the intersection of Cleveland's East 105th Street and Wade Park Avenue have been a sadly common sight after the recent deaths of four children in an arson fire.

 

Friday, just steps from the shrine of stuffed animals still piled near the burned- out building, cameras were rolling for a much happier reason.

 

Home and Garden Television was on hand to film the neighborhood's Heritage Lane Historical Homes project, a restoration of 13 homes and the building of 12 townhomes on East 105th Street between Wade Park and Ashbury avenues. The footage will be used as part of HGTV's "Restore America" campaign, a partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation...

 

 

more at:  http://www.cleveland.com

I saw a blurb about this on the news the other day, the episodes are scheduled to be aired in the fall season.

I personally think Heritage Lane is great, and this is exactly the type of redevelopment that should be happening throughout Cleveland. I think Cleveland Hieghts and Lakewood should consider converting a lot of their streets with duplexes into streets of restored and renovated single family homes in order to compete with the outer-ring suburbs.

^There was a demonstration project in Cleveland heights recently in which one or two typical two-family houses were converted to side by condo townhouses but not sure the concept has really registered with developers.

^There was a demonstration project in Cleveland heights recently in which one or two typical two-family houses were converted to side by condo townhouses but not sure the concept has really registered with developers.

 

any other info?

^There was a demonstration project in Cleveland heights recently in which one or two typical two-family houses were converted to side by condo townhouses but not sure the concept has really registered with developers.

 

I remember hearing about that too, but forget when and where I read about it. I think that kind rehab to Cleveland area duplexes are redundant. I think the typical duplexes can be a nice arrangement, and have advantages over side by side townhouses. The only reason why I like the Heritage Lane conversion is that it encourages more families to live in the area. Duplexes or townhouses aren't lived in by a lot of families. Mostly single people, older people, students, or very young families.  These are important demographics, but I don't know necessarily why a side by side conversion would be so profitable for developers and seem more attractive to residents.

Until today, I was confusing the aforementioned Heritage Lane Project in Cleveland with the Citirama Project in Cleveland, which is due north of Heritage Lane. 

 

The Citirama project was completed by individual builders last year and is certainly worth exploring as it is along the beautifully maintained East Boulevard.

http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/mayor/press/2005/200504/CiTiRAMAFactSheet042105I.htm I've recently begun to explore the streets east of E. Blvd and have been pleasantly surprised.  It definitely represents some of Cleveland's finest and best maintaned housing stock.  Worth a bike ride as it also presents a nice overhead view of Rockafeller Park.

Some of those Heritage Lane conversions are incredible.  They are absolutley beautiful.  If they were not surrounded by so much blight, they would have sold out by now. 

^There was a demonstration project in Cleveland heights recently in which one or two typical two-family houses were converted to side by condo townhouses but not sure the concept has really registered with developers.

 

any other info?

 

The project was hatched by the First Suburbs Consortium Development Council- here is a story in Cool Cleveland:  http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.CoolClevelandInterviewsFSDCDirectorLouTisler

 

And here is a nifty publication from that group outlining strategies for dealing with old two-family housing:  http://www.fscdc.com/pdf/Twofamily%20FSC%20Housing%20Initiative.pdf

 

They are actually shown among the listings on the PURE website- listed at $149,500.  They've been up there for a while I think which worries me a little...

^the price used to be $175,000. 

^Yikes, that's not good.

 

Some of those Heritage Lane conversions are incredible.  They are absolutley beautiful.  If they were not surrounded by so much blight, they would have sold out by now. 

 

They're huge too!  I don't think Glenville is going to become Georgetown anytime soon (despite that neighbor's concerns) but I do hope the areas north of UC improve.  That University View building was a pretty bold and encouraging project- I'm curious how it's selling. 

 

I find that visitors are always wowed when I drive them up East Blvd. north of Wade Park (except for that truely wretched long, serpentine, concrete apartment block) and astonished when I tell them how poor and sketchy the neighborhood is overall...which also answers the other question I always hear: "why isn't anyone out enjoying those beautiful gardens and that bike path?"

^I was talking about the double home conversion in Cleveland Heights near Taylor Rd.  The Heritage Lane doubles are near $300,000.

^I think I misread your reaction.

 

I am not that surprised by the lack of interest in the townhomes.  I think that CH should have chosen a few homes that were closer to Lee Rd.  North of Cedar, many people aren't as interested in the available housing stock.

wimwar, once you get your hands on some renderings/concepts you can exhibit......

wimwar, once you get your hands on some renderings/concepts you can exhibit......

 

..I'm working downtown now. :)

Chris Ronayne is interviewed by Thomas Mulready of Cool Cleveland. Its a pretty long interview, and it can make you pretty dizzy if you actually watch it the whole time.

 

http://www.coolcleveland.com/files/video/ChrisRonayne.wmv

ha!  great interview...Ronayne inspiring as usual...apparently, Mulready told him to walk around in circles...what???

I thought they were dancing.  Very strange and distracting.  As was the fly on the lens.

Great to hear the Case has another 1200-student freshpeople class coming in next year. That equals 800 more bodies on campus than they had just two years ago.

I've heard that a certain developer (Park Lane Villa) has started buying up available properties in Hough and St. Clair-Superior that are close to Rockefeller Park. 

Finch Group?  Marous?  Nice!  Let's hope they're getting geared up for a sooner than later thing.

Finch--they think that rehabbing a lot of the stock in the neighborhood will be a good investment.

Finch is awesome. They did Arbor Park too, right?

Leave it to a Boston developer to see the true potential of Cleveland's East Side! (Sorry for the sarcasm; sometimes I can't help it.)

Wow, should be very interesting to watch.  Happy to hear you're still getting the UC scoop, Wim.

 

There are some pretty cool old apartment buildings overlooking the park on the southern end of its western edge (on Ansel between Hough Ave and Wade Park Ave) but I think it's pretty dicey around there.

 

Newton Avenue is definitely one of the coolest streets in Cleveland; I hope investment in this area solidifies its survival.

Museum merger could bring health, history together

 

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Grant Segall

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Juno might be hooking up with Steggie.

I don't understand why the Cleveland Clinic (a foundation) doesn't just merge with Healthspace rather than shove them out to the natural history museum.

Supposedly Steve Litt will be writing an article soon on the recent concerted push to reconfigure the MLK corridor throughout UC.  The Cleveland Foundation, RTA, VA and others are all pitching in ($$) to help radically change the MLK/105 and Chester/Cedar/Carnegie intersections.  Additionally, talk is heating up about moving the E120th station over to Mayfield.  Litt will do a better job explaining this.