:wtf: dammit... even though I couldn't afford one of these, the look I got at their model unit had me planning a string of bank robberies to arrange sufficient cash  :shoot: ... the sliding walls separating the master bedroom from the rest of the unit, the use of stone and wood throughout... this was one that I looked at and said, "wow, somebody actually got it right"...

 

it is my sincere hope that another developer picks up this ball and runs with it... just not the idiots who did Pinnacle and the Cloak Factory

it is my sincere hope that another developer picks up this ball and runs with it... just not the idiots who did Pinnacle and the Cloak Factory

 

why are they idiots?

I hope I didn't strike a nerve, Wim, but when I toured Cloak Factory, I was not the least bit impressed with the fit & finish of what I saw, and everything struck me as exhibiting a distinct lack of planning or sense of utility. Their most expensive unit had a cheap prefab spiral staircase, a loft "skybridge" that felt like it might collapse under any appreciable load, and a turnbuckle rebar bisecting said loft at waist level, among other issues...

No, there is no nerve to strike.  If someone has something new to add, I like to hear about it. I don't think you'd call someone an idiot unless you have good reason to do so.

 

That's disappointing that the Cloak Factory was done on the cheap.  From what I've heard about the Pinnacle, it was done well. Did you hear or see otherwise?

I hope I didn't strike a nerve, Wim, but when I toured Cloak Factory, I was not the least bit impressed with the fit & finish of what I saw, and everything struck me as exhibiting a distinct lack of planning or sense of utility. Their most expensive unit had a cheap prefab spiral staircase, a loft "skybridge" that felt like it might collapse under any appreciable load, and a turnbuckle rebar bisecting said loft at waist level, among other issues...

 

Not all the apartments are "bad", I saw two that I liked and I love what they have done at the Pinnacle, its Metro Cleveland LUXURY BENCHMARK....that is until Stonebridge phase 5 comes online.

Just heard today that Tesco completely folded. That's why the Mueller project died. Several other developers are working with banks to take over the project, and due to strong pre-sales it looks like a slam dunk.

Dunk it Blinker!  You're so good with sports metaphors...

Not all the apartments are "bad", I saw two that I liked and I love what they have done at the Pinnacle, its Metro Cleveland LUXURY BENCHMARK....that is until Stonebridge phase 5 comes online.

 

I guess I was also put off by the overly-pretentious 'tude exhibited by our guides... if you're selling me something, making me feel belittled, patronized, and insulted is probably NOT a good start.

 

I would like to get a look at Stonebridge myself sometime soon...

Not all the apartments are "bad", I saw two that I liked and I love what they have done at the Pinnacle, its Metro Cleveland LUXURY BENCHMARK....that is until Stonebridge phase 5 comes online.

 

I guess I was also put off by the overly-pretentious 'tude exhibited by our guides... if you're selling me something, making me feel belittled, patronized, and insulted is probably NOT a good start.

 

I would like to get a look at Stonebridge myself sometime soon...

 

Oh Honey.....It's par for the course.  The sales staff have big attitudes and people with money don't care.  The sales people are just inanimate objects stating boring facts, to them.

 

That "attitude" is apart of the "coolness" of the building.

 

Those people didn't really phase me...but to each his/her own.

 

So was the building a turnoff or the staff?

"The sales staff have big attitudes and people with money don't care.  The sales people are just inanamate objects stating boring facts, to them."

 

In larger markets where you're likely to never see a potential client again, I suppose that might work. In Cleveland - it's not good business practice.

"The sales staff have big attitudes and people with money don't care.  The sales people are just inanamate objects stating boring facts, to them."

 

In larger markets where you're likely to never see a potential client again, I suppose that might work. In Cleveland - it's not good business practice.

it's bad business anywhere, but its par for the course in real estate.

 

Is it me?  Maybe living ½ in new york and ½ in Cleveland, I've become immune to issues that some of you think are bigger issues.  ie, the homeless.  :|

Some more details on Asia Town Center, scheduled to open June 2007 at Superior and E. 38th:

 

The development is an adaptive reuse of an old lighting factory. The developer, the Duong family (owners of Asia Food Company and Siam Cafe) are renovating all the existing buildings at the site, most dating from the 1920s and 1930s. Although it's disappointing that no building will front Superior -- there will be a surface parking lot instead -- the Duongs are working with what was there. The poor urban design, in other words, is inherited.

 

The buildings will have 90,000 square feet of retail and office space, which is 46% pre-leased. The tenants will include a revamped Asia Food Company (relocating from 31st and St. Clair), plus at least three new restaurants (Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese), an herbalist, a jewelry store, two publications, a charitable foundation relocating from New Jersey and possibly a massage parlor. Most of the new stores and offices are coming in from the burbs.

 

Renovation has been underway for well on a year now, but has slowed for the winter.

a charitable foundation relocating from New Jersey and possibly a massage parlor. Most of the new stores and offices are coming in from the burbs.

 

Yay!!

^ Pretty excited about that massage parlor, eh? :evil:

a gay spa...a massage parlor, now all we need is a tat parlor and Biker garden club and we've got one vibrant 'hood.

Corner Curve, all I can say is, from your lips to god's ears. Transit would be perfect. I eat in Chinatown with friends but it always makes me sad at how few restaurants there are now and shops and housing would be awesome. But I agree, making it transit-friendly would be so many more people in. I hope it really isn't pie in the sky. Cleveland needs to wake up, suck it in and stop doing study after study and start spending our tax monies to revitalize more neighborhoods.

I toured Asia Town Center today. It’s looking awesome. Lots of wall studs up, plumbing installed, etc. The grocery store space (ground floor) is gi-normous, spanning some 30,000 square feet. There’s a huge, wide spiral staircase leading to the second floor, where the restaurants will be. A wooden deck will be built out from the second floor windows onto a lower rooftop below. Both floors are filled with light from the large loft windows, and the second floor has cool downtown views. Outside, there will be several fish ponds, one of which will go down to basement level so that people on the basement level can see the fish swimming by. Unlike Asia Plaza, this place is putting a lot of emphasis on design and will incorporate lots of Asian features. Can’t wait for it to open July-ish. Sorry, no photos!

 

This intersection (E38th/Superior) will be a sharp little spot in a year or two. This project will wrap up, Crust & Crumbs will be across the street on the ground floor of Tyler Village and there's some cute existing retail next door (China Merchandise Exhibit, Korea House restaurant and market).

Asia Plaza isn't expanding, is it?  A little birdie told me that they were getting a big grocery store, but I have a feeling that they were actually talking about Asia Town Center...

I need a damn map, with the construction locations.  All these "asia's" are confusing the hell out of me!

 

question:  can that be something done here on Urban ohio.  Say we had a street grid with buildings and you clicked on a particular building it would tell you what's happening or a link to a particular development for each topic started. 

^^Yes, Asia Plaza is also expanding. (Probably in a preemptive effort to remain competitive after Asia Town Center opens.) This is the unfortunately named "Park 2 Shop" project along E. 30th St, extending behind the current Asia Plaza, that's been referenced elsewhere.

This is the unfortunately named "Park 2 Shop" project along E. 30th St

 

Those Asians are enculturating so well into America!

sheesh!  well, they certainly won't be running out of places to put their fancy pic statues this year!

what we should do is have a shared google earth file plug-in that could be collaborately updated and then applied to google earth.  could include new construction sites, descriptions, photos or even mock-ups using their free modeling tool. 

 

we could also do a mashup on traditional google maps site like - well, i don't have the bookmark on this computer and of course, can't find the site now - but there are a bunch out there.  we could either do it as a wiki type environment where anybody, or maybe a list of trusted users, could add these ohio based projects.  could also create a plug in where each theard/post could be geocoded and automatically added to the map - so that a user could access by clicking on a map, and be linked to the thread, or so that a user reading a thread could quickly determine where the project was  taking place.

 

could be linked to UO or imbedded.  so instead of the "shoutbox" maybe there would be a map of ohio with links.

 

something like this for the maps: http://www.housingmaps.com/

 

isn't the backend of UO all database driven now?  if so, this should be relatively easy to create these queries.

urban...yes...something like that!!

 

HNIC, HBIC and other fabulous Admins, can something like this be done?

Oh suuure, I can see it now: "Honey, I know you'd like to go out for dinner but you know that geekboard? Well, I'm working on geocoding the database for the shared Google Earth wiki environment!". God love him, my boyfriend is very supportive of me, but yeesh! :-P

 

Now, if someone else has the time/ability, I say go for it!

 

 

Oh suuure, I can see it now: "Honey, I know you'd like to go out for dinner but you know that geekboard? Well, I'm working on geocoding the database for the shared Google Earth wiki environment!". God love him, my boyfriend is very supportive of me, but yeesh! :-P

 

Now, if someone else has the time/ability, I say go for it!

 

 

 

oh...come on ol' pal...ol' buddy...take on for the team!

we could also do a mashup on traditional google maps site like - well, i don't have the bookmark on this computer and of course, can't find the site now - but there are a bunch out there.  we could either do it as a wiki type environment where anybody, or maybe a list of trusted users, could add these ohio based projects.  could also create a plug in where each theard/post could be geocoded and automatically added to the map - so that a user could access by clicking on a map, and be linked to the thread, or so that a user reading a thread could quickly determine where the project was  taking place.

 

could be linked to UO or imbedded.  so instead of the "shoutbox" maybe there would be a map of ohio with links.

 

I didn't understand a f*cking thing he said.

so, the example of an outside hosted site was the Dogs that were mapped to Cleveland:

 

http://www.tagzania.com/user/stu_spivack/yearofthedog?map=1

 

and using google earth interface, could take advantage of existing models and also create models for new developments.  google sketch up is pretty easy to use and free.

 

^^Yes, Asia Plaza is also expanding. (Probably in a preemptive effort to remain competitive after Asia Town Center opens.) This is the unfortunately named "Park 2 Shop" project along E. 30th St, extending behind the current Asia Plaza, that's been referenced elsewhere.

 

Cimperman recently stated the owner is quite upset because our friends, ODOT, have the newly expanded (and at the time, without an occupancy permit) on the list of takes for the Innerbelt project.

 

 

 

I wish I had time to help with the G-Mapping. That is a great idea.

speaking of Joe C.. there was an ODOT/innerbelt meeting yesterday. Does anyone know anything about it?

I was told that the Planning Commission and ODOT will hold a retreat tomorrow (Friday) starting at 8:30 a.m. in City Hall's fifth-floor conference room. The purpose is to try to reach a consenus on the Inner Belt project. Since the press was invited, I assume that others can attend as well.

Besides Asia Town Center and the Asian Plaza's Park 2 Shop expansion, there is something going on around E. 36th and Payne, near Kan Zam Plaza and Dave's. I believe a new owner of a warehouse is working on a "store/restaurant" conversion.

wow, the close in neighborhoods are really seeing some improvements.  I swear the CDC need to market this stuff more so the whole region knows what's happening.

 

I feel as though, most people don't know what is happening in the various neighborhoods of Cleveland, therefore thinking the city is dead.

^I agree with you most know nothing about what is going on in Cleveland period, just what they there on "Negative 19action news". This is very evident if you ever visit the city-data.com forums, it just teems with negativity.

^I agree with you most know nothing about what is going on in Cleveland period, just what they there on "Negative 19action news". This is very evident if you ever visit the city-data.com forums, it just teems with negativity.

 

Thats why I don't read the plain dealer on line.  I used to believe what people over there would say until, I was shown this site.

I didn't think my neighborhood could possibly handle another name. Guess I was wrong.

At least it's not "Funky Town." *shudder*

 

 

Group gets a handle on art haunts

Renaming area underscores trend

 

Monday, April 16, 2007

Jesse Tinsley

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

A Cleveland neighborhood is gradually becoming an art district - one of those funky, vibrant enclaves of artists' studios, galleries, bistros and live-work spaces that are spreading all over the country.

 

A group of artists and nonprofit groups dedicated to art and culture renamed a 22-block area straddling St. Clair and Superior avenues Friday and held a benefit to raise money for banners in the neighborhood.

 

The neighborhood's new name is the Cleveland Art Quarter, which will be framed by Lake Erie, Euclid Avenue and East 18th and East 40th streets.

 

Read More...

What does that mean in terms of all the talk for naming the Asian area?  Would they still add yet another name to the same area?

The Asiatown brand is being developed by St. Clair Superior CDC for the area between St. Clair and Superior and E.30th and E. 40th. The Cleveland Arts Quarter brand is being developed by a group of galleries who are trying to raise awareness of the arts community between Superior and Payne and E. 18th and E. 40th. Two different efforts, two different (largely overlapping) districts.

 

Yeah, my little nabe must be the most heavily "districted" in the city. I'm in the Goodrich-Kirtland area of St. Clair-Superior within the boundaries of Asiatown, the District of Design, the Live-Work Overlay District and, now, the Cleveland Arts Quarter. Jeez.

Yeah, that would be alot of banners....

Of course, all those different names will come up in different contexts, so its not bad to have all those hats your neighborhood can wear.  Let it be Asiatown for someone looking for imports or ethnic food, The Quarter to people looking for studio space or local handmade artwork, and the District of Design to those in the commercial design profession.

 

Or maybe it could be renamed the Asiantown@Goodrich-Kirtland-Payne-Sterling-St. Clair-Superior Live/Work Overlay District of Design and Arts Quarter On the Near Eastside.

Awesome, X.

Or how about "The area formerly known as Chinatown"?

I didn't think my neighborhood could possibly handle another name. Guess I was wrong.

At least it's not "Funky Town." *shudder*

 

Dude, you and 8 Shades need to control your neighbors a little better.  Your 'hood is way to cool get another lame fakey name.  The "Quarter" is OK I guess, but "Cleveland Art Quarter"?  Yikes.  I think I'll stick with "CSU" to describe the area between Euclid and Chester and "the new Chinatown" to describe the area east of the innerbelt.  Not sure what I call the areas north of CSU.  Technical names aside, what do you guys call the area north of CSU?

Yeah, that would be alot of banners....

 

You mean "world class signage"

 

The Asiatown brand is being developed by St. Clair Superior CDC for the area between St. Clair and Superior and E.30th and E. 40th. The Cleveland Arts Quarter brand is being developed by a group of galleries who are trying to raise awareness of the arts community between Superior and Payne and E. 18th and E. 40th. Two different efforts, two different (largely overlapping) districts.

 

Yeah, my little nabe must be the most heavily "districted" in the city. I'm in the Goodrich-Kirtland area of St. Clair-Superior within the boundaries of Asiatown, the District of Design, the Live-Work Overlay District and, now, the Cleveland Arts Quarter. Jeez.

 

Maybe the District Park Condos should be built in this area!

 

Or how about "The area formerly known as Chinatown"?

 

LMAO!!  but then all the residents would have to put up a "artistic" symbol in their yard to fight "the man"

I didn't think my neighborhood could possibly handle another name. Guess I was wrong.

At least it's not "Funky Town." *shudder*

 

Dude, you and 8 Shades need to control your neighbors a little better.  Your 'hood is way to cool get another lame fakey name.  The "Quarter" is OK I guess, but "Cleveland Art Quarter"?  Yikes.  I think I'll stick with "CSU" to describe the area between Euclid and Chester and "the new Chinatown" to describe the area east of the innerbelt.  Not sure what I call the areas north of CSU.  Technical names aside, what do you guys call the area north of CSU?

 

I thought that area was Goodrich-Kirtland.  I think most people will just call the area "the Quarter", like we refer to Jacobs field as "the jake" or quicken loans arena (god that hurts) as "the Q"

 

 

 

 

The area to the north and south of CSU, and CSU for that matter, is called "The Quadrangle" by planners and probably "that decrepit area around CSU" by nonplanners.  The Quadrangle goes from the lake south to I-77's little jog to the east south of downtown.

^ And the Quadrangle is also in the Cleveland Arts Quarter and the District of Design, and a sizable portion lies inside the Live Work Overlay District.

Maybe they should change the name of the Quadrangle to the "Keg-n-Quarter"? (Perhaps us Clevelanders older than 35 will get that)

Maybe they should change the name of the Quadrangle to the "Keg-n-Quarter"? (Perhaps us Clevelanders older than 35 will get that)

 

Only if it comes in a hip 70's decor!

the k-n-q? what a blast from the past -- good one -- 1800 swingo's court - lol!

 

it was all about the 70's -- who loves ya baby?

 

Jim Swingos (left), Frank Sinatra (center), and Nick Mileti (right), former owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers at Jim Swingos' Keg & Quarter in 1974.

Jim Swingos with Frank Sinatra at Swingos' Keg & Quarter in 1976.

 

it even makes an appearance in that movie 'almost famous.' i didnt know that one:

http://www.swingos.com/start.asp?page=history

 

good name for a neighborhood for sure - heh.