http://www.noaca.org/asiatranspstreet2010.pdf

 

There are some renderings and explanations  of how the project is broken down in phases

http://www.noaca.org/asiatranspstreet2010.pdf

 

There are some renderings and explanations  of how the project is broken down in phases

thanks!

Now I see the stone(?) Chinese Zodiac sculptures were situated across Rockwell from the planned restaurants. I'm going to take a photo when I have a chance.  Whoever had this idea must be complimented; the north side of Rockwell was never really part of the district but this impressive row of sculpture really enhances the imagery there and yet there's no distraction when people will go in and come out of the restaurant row.

This is either in Midtown or just across the street.

 

Cellar Door Records Ups the Ante

 

 

Record Label on the Rise

 

By John Benson

 

It’s no secret complaining about the local music scene has become a favorite pastime of Clevelanders. Whether it’s the fighting among bands, no support system to help out rising acts or the overall apathy from the suburbs about what’s happening in the DIY clubs downtown, the complainers have a point.

 

Someone looking to change up the dynamic is Justin Markert, co-owner of local label Cellar Door Records, who along with his partner Rick Fike is attempting to create a one-stop shopping venue of sorts for the local Cleveland music and arts scene. For the past five years the duo’s label has released compilation albums featuring some of the finest rising acts in Northeast Ohio. Now they’ve upped the ante by opening up the Cellar Door space located in Asiatown’s The Loftworks building [edit: which is practically in Midtown, but feel free to move to Asiatown thread!].

 

An opening gala featuring local bands The Modern Electric, The Lighthouse and the Whaler, Humble Home and Brian Straw is scheduled for Fri 7/27 at the E. 40th venue. Cool Cleveland talked to Markert about his vision for the unique space.

 

Read the rest!

http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog/2012/07/cellar-door-records-ups-the-ante/

St. Clair Superior (part of "the Quarter" and Asiatown overlays). Payne is the cut-off point between St. Clair Superior and Midtown.

Here are some photos I just took this a.m. of "Old Chinatown." Starts with "the new look" - view when coming from E. 24th Street end.

Sure wish this tiny district were totally linked with the ever-evolving AsiaTown, which is so much larger and has so much potential! :clap:

Thanks! Nice to see and hear.

 

But what's up with the face in the window?

 

Cool! And what's up with the back-hoe across the street? Is that left over from setting the statues in place?

They also added a "way-finding" sign at E 21 and Rockwell:

IMG_2648 by lilblondiecan2003, on Flickr

For what it's worth, the Chinatown sign is referencing Old Chinatown, a one-street corridor down Rockwell between East 21st and East 24th. Asiatown is the area bounded by St. Clair and Payne, East 30th to East 40th (sometimes with the residential blocks immediately to the south of Payne included in the mix). The two neighborhoods are rarely branded together ... They're divided by the highway, Rockwell doesn't cross the trench, they have different CDC representation (Chinatown is Campus District, Asiatown is a collaborative CDC effort but generally led by St. Clair Superior), they're in different city wards (Chinatown in 3, Asiatown in 8). So I don't think this is really a Chinatown versus Asiatown thing we're talking about.

 

As for the Asiatown name, there was a deliberative planning process that involved many, many (MANY) meetings where there was a lot of discussion about whether it should be Chinatown, Asiatown, Asian Village, Near East Village, etc. At the end of the day, given a considerable Vietnamese and Korean population in the neighborhood, Chinatown was not the favored choice of residents and merchants. So regardless of whether we like the name, that's what the people invested in the neighborhood (or at least the couple hundred who showed up at planning meetings) decided.

 

I've heard my neighborhood called Goodrich-Gannett. I've heard it called Payne-Sterling. The arts community tried branding it and the area across the trench as the QuARTer. Online maps typically have us listed as Josephatowa. I've heard people mislabel my area as downtown, and I've heard it mislabeled as Midtown. I for one am happy that Asiatown seems to be sticking, and that increasingly, it seems like people know where that is. And I'm happy that the CDC is working on some really stellar projects, not just in the Asiatown section but also further into St. Clair Superior. Stay tuned!

Or we can just let the neighborhood continue to evolve organically, as it has quite well, without ham-handed overplanning.

As X mentioned, threads like this in the Projects and Construction section are for discussion of ... Projects and Construction! With that, this thread will be pruned - for the newer folks, please try to keep threads on topic. For those who have been warned in the past, it should come as no surprise if you've earned some time off.

Thanks for clearing that up for me 8Shades. I was taken aback by that sign and thought something had changed. Thus my comments (which are no longer here) about the current and future DEVELOPMENT of Asiatown and its environs, and the use of signage to identifuy such DEVELOPMENT  ;D

If something ever does get built on the north side of Rockwell, the old Chinatown block could still be kind of a cool spot.

I took the set of four photos and hadn't seen the sign at E. 21st. I'd always like to see the small Rockwell area and the major AsiaTown area linked - i.e. considered one area. I don't know what to say about the actual name but I suppose it could be considered "Old Chinatown" as within Asiatown. As Asiatown continues to become more "Asian," I suppose the small half-a-mile or so separating the two areas might become more "Asian" as well.  Or non-descript, anyway. Probably that "Chinatown" sign should be changed to "Old Chinatown?" Who would have put it up, anyway?

Can anyone read that sign on this board?  My Chinese is rusty at best but it looks like it says "People of the Tang Dynasty" to me...

There's a new business sign in the building on Rockwell being prepared as a hotspot for new restaurants. Can't tell from the name or looking in windows; does anyone know what type of business this is to be? It doesn't yet look like a restaurant, though I had read the entire row would be eateries of some sort of another.  :clap:

Went back to Old Chinatown and found it's Emperor's Palace, at 2136 Rockwell. I didn't go in but it looked like it's now open. Phone number given on the web is (216) 861-9998. Beyond the Oriental-themed sculpture in the entrance lobby I could see an exquisite chandelier and a set restaurant table, so I'm guessing the place is now open. Can't find any other info. on the web yet, like a menu, but what I saw definitely makes an elegant impression and it appears it's a one-of-a-kind place - not part of a chain.

 

Does anyone have more information on it?  I had read awhile ago the string of restaurants planned for that building would all be of different types - one expensive, one vegetarian, etc. Is this to be the most upscale one?  Who knows something?  Has anyone here actually eaten there? 

Wow it looks amazing.  The Dim Sum Club I'm a part of has a meeting on the 7th, I'm going to suggest we check this place out instead of going to Li Wah as usual!

Here's the new website:

http://emperorspalacecle.webs.com/

As you can see, the prices are not particularly high. Huge menu, if they really have most of this. Impressive on the exterior, anyway - looks more upscale than prices would indicate.  Meanwhile, I had read on really upscale restaurant was expected in the row - does anyone know if the plan is materializing or was this just a concept to have all these different types of restaurants that had been mentioned (no two exactly the same type)?

I was by there today, and there was a banner opposite the line of restaurant spaces on Rockwell welcoming a vice mayor of a city in China.  I do not recall the name of the city.

I was by there today, and there was a banner opposite the line of restaurant spaces on Rockwell welcoming a vice mayor of a city in China.  I do not recall the name of the city.

 

It's probably a city we've never heard of that has 1 million people......

...and was a fishing village 10 years ago.

...and was a fishing village 10 years ago.

 

Like Shenzen? From 30,000 people in 1980 to 10 million today. Mind-boggling.

 

Shenzen, 1980

 

Shenzen, 2010

^ How on earth do you absorb that many people in so little time?? That's like going from Zanesville to Chicago in 30 years!!  Crazy development happening in China.  Maybe the redevelopment of our Old Chinatown is the start of such a boon in AsiaTown (brought that right back on topic!  :-D )

^ How on earth do you absorb that many people in so little time?? That's like going from Zanesville to Chicago in 30 years!!  Crazy development happening in China.  Maybe the redevelopment of our Old Chinatown is the start of such a boon in AsiaTown (brought that right back on topic!  :-D )

 

Thanks. And my apologies for taking it off topic. There is money to be had from China. Maybe Cleveland's little neighborhood is an outlet for it??

Two neighboring commercial buildings that look an awful lot like potential apartment conversions are up for landmark nominations that could make them eligible for tax credits....

 

 

CLEVELAND LANDMARK NOMINATIONS

American Multigraph Company

1814-20 East 40th Street

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/2013/01242013/index.php

 

 

 

 

Plus the neighboring building, just south of the above, is up for a landmark nomination. Isn't this used by the county for storage?....

 

Cleveland-Akron Bag Company / Halle Brothers Warehouse

1858 East 40th Street

 

 

 

 

How it looked back in the day. CPC mis-labeled this as the Multigraph Co. shown in the first listing, but it is clearly the Cleveland-Akron Bag Co.

 

Three other buildings in the same neighborhood, but a dozen blocks west and north, are on the Landmarks Commission docket........

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/2013/01242013/index.php

 

Vogt Building

3303-07 Superior Avenue

 

Groh Mansion

3043 Superior Avenue

 

Vidmar Building

3830 St. Clair Avenue

Superior Ave east from of the Inner-belt is one interesting area.  There are indeed a lot of hidden gems in this area.  Ironically, the Vogt building has been VERY high on my radar recently and I was very pleasantly surprised to see it being recommended for landmark status, along with many of the other fabulous buildings in this area. 

i am so glad these old warehouse and factory treasures are being recognized as the fantastic redevelopment projects they potentially are. it wasnt so long ago they would be left to be torn down. vigorous reuse of these structures will help keep cleveland looking more uniquely like cleveland. and that is a major selling point for the city!

Ya, that whole area around E 40th from St Clair to the lake would make a really cool live, work play area with all those warehouses/factories.

Emperor's Palace reinvigorates Cleveland's old Chinatown with dim sum delights

Special to The Plain Dealer By Beth Segal,

on February 18, 2013 at 6:00 AM, updated February 18, 2013 at 8:26 AM

 

Belatedly, Happy Xin Nian!

 

It's now 13 days into the Year of the Snake, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, and to celebrate we've been eating at the very new Emperor's Palace in very old Chinatown.

 

For the uninitiated, the area is a two-block strip on Rockwell Ave. in downtown Cleveland. A culinary and cultural attraction since the 1920s, the stretch had deteriorated through the years, reduced to a decrepit relic of a once-bustling street of Cantonese restaurants and merchant associations. By the turn of the 21st Century it was all but gone, a victim of hard times, suburban Chinese take-out joints and a dynamic trending pan-Asiatown neighborhood just a few blocks east.

 

Enter developer Jia Shao Huang, a man with a plan and the means to carry it out. Huang, a Quandong province native with existing properties in China and the U.S., has given the Rockwell Ave. buildings a glamorous facelift and a stunning new restaurant. (There are big plans for other attractions in the future, but that will have to wait.)

 

http://www.cleveland.com/top-restaurants/index.ssf/2013/02/emperors_palace_reinvigorates_clevelands_old_chinatown_neighborhood_with_dim_sum_delights_taste_of_t.html

My usual question: Now that the basic infrastructure replacement is nearly completed on Superior Avenue in the AsiaTown corridor, and I see some sidewalk work is going on on Payne Avenue, is the big AsiaTown streetscape plan going to continue on after this?  The work that has been done so far looks very ordinary - simple replacement with very similar design.

The plans for the Asiatown streetscape plan have been removed form the 'net. The infrastructure work is nearly complete; I'm hoping more will still be done this year.  Some minor walk replacements were done on Payne too, recently.  Does anybody know anything?

Lafont I think you're actually referencing two different processes - the Superior Avenue TLCI Plan and the AsiaTown Master Plan Process. 

 

St. Clair Superior Development completed the Superior TLCI in 2011 and a majority of that plan is being implemented as Superior is being reconstructed.  Paved treelawns have been greened, pulling parking off the sidewalks and placing it onto the street, bike lanes will be installed on each side of the street, speeds will be reduced from 35 to 25MPH.  This work wraps up on Superior through AsiaTown this fall. 

 

Separately, using the TLCI as a starting point, in 2012 St. Clair Superior Development started a much broader AsiaTown Master Plan process.  The AsiaTown Master Plan is not complete, but should wrap up by the end of the year.  Phase one of this plan was completed last fall and focused on existing conditions survey and future land use visioning.  The final phase of the plan will wrap up this fall and focuses on design elements, public spaces, green spaces, traffic and pedestrian flow, etc.  This plan not only speaks to Superior, but also Payne, East 30th and East 40th streets, as well as offers development recommendations for the residential, commercial and public areas of the district.

 

It's in this plan that more aggressive treatments like signage, Chinese gateways, crosswalk enhancements, public art, greenspace creation and improvements, pedestrian amenities along major corridors like seating, lighting and shade trees, cultural markings and other recommendations are made.  A public meeting attended by over 100 residents was held in September to introduce a draft of the plan to the community, which was translated into 3 languages and was well received by the folks who attended.  Once finalized the plan should be adopted by city planning by the end of the year. 

 

Now the really hard work begins for the community to raise money to implement the plan improvements throughout AsiaTown.

Yes, the second plan is more what I had in mind, though I associated rebuilding at least some of the infrastructure as part of it because the  plan I saw showed changes in curbs and other streetscape design. I'm quite sure I had seen a plan from before 2012 with a lot of charrette-type changes - e.g. possible focus on bridge over Superior as an "entrance arch," etc. Yes, the plan concentrated on Superior though did get into other streets, such as Payne.  When I had asked about this major plan in the past someone here posted something about the rebuilding of Superior in AsiaTown would be tied in with the rebuilding of the rest of Superior - from around E. 30th to at least the East Cleveland border.  So thus I've tied it all together in my head.

:?

Just a few warehouses proposed for landmark status, apparently to make them eligible for historic tax credits? A lot of warehouses in and near Asiatown could be in play soon......

 

.

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/2013/11142013/index.php

 

Cleveland Landmarks Commission

CITY HALL - ROOM 514 - 9:00 AM

AGENDA - November 14, 2013

 

 

PUBLIC HEARING ACTION

1. Kausek Brothers Building

6202 St. Clair Avenue

Ward 7 Dow

 

2. Cleveland-Akron Bag co. (Halle Bros. Warehouse)

1858 East 40th Street

Ward 8 J. Johnson

 

3. American Mutigraph Building (Addressograph-Multigraph)

1814 East 40th Street

Ward 8 J. Johnson

 

4. Cleveland Aquarium at Gordon Park

601 East 72nd Street

Ward 8 J. Johnson

 

5. Glenville Bratenahl U. S. Post Office (Luke Easter Building)

630 East 105th Street

Ward 8 J. Johnson

 

6. Laronge / Bearings, Inc. Building

Progressive Insurance Building

3600 Euclid Avenue

Ward 8 J. Johnson

4. Cleveland Aquarium at Gordon Park

601 East 72nd Street

Ward 8 J. Johnson

 

Ah...the old aquarium.  Has the building been in use since it closed in the 70s?

Ah...the old aquarium.  Has the building been in use since it closed in the 70s?

 

Not sure. Which building was that? Or does that even still stand? I see there's a single-level building next to the marina on the north side of the marginal road that links MLK and East 72nd. Is that it? The address 601 East 72nd is farther west. I don't want to get into a big discussion about this site because its not in Asiatown -- it's my mistake that I lumped its address in with others that are in/near Asiatown.

Not sure if anyone saw it, but at its November meeting, the Gund Foundation awarded "$20,000 to the St. Clair-Superior Development Corporation to launch Asian-style Night Markets" (http://gundfoundation.org/news-publications/news/gund-foundation-awards-8-7-million-at-november-board-meeting-2/)

 

If they can breathe the same energy into Asian Night Markets that they did with Upcycle St. Clair and The Cleveland Flea, we should be seeing something very cool in Asiatown soon. Yaya! :)

Not sure if anyone saw it, but at its November meeting, the Gund Foundation awarded "$20,000 to the St. Clair-Superior Development Corporation to launch Asian-style Night Markets" (http://gundfoundation.org/news-publications/news/gund-foundation-awards-8-7-million-at-november-board-meeting-2/)

 

If they can breathe the same energy into Asian Night Markets that they did with Upcycle St. Clair and The Cleveland Flea, we should be seeing something very cool in Asiatown soon. Yaya! :)

 

Very awesome.  This will be big for AsiaTown and bringing the vibrancy found within the different plazas and markets out onto the streets and public spaces.

 

Very awesome.  This will be big for AsiaTown and bringing the vibrancy found within the different plazas and markets out onto the streets and public spaces.

 

Well of course YOU think it's awesome! ;)

I notice the other evening the design element for the entrance to Asia Plaza on the East 30th side is coming along nicely

 

Very awesome.  This will be big for AsiaTown and bringing the vibrancy found within the different plazas and markets out onto the streets and public spaces.

 

Well of course YOU think it's awesome! ;)

 

But of course!!  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Please explain what you mean by the "design element" is coming along nicely."  You've seen the latest plans?  Something of this is actually being constructed?

 

 

Please explain what you mean by the "design element" is coming along nicely."  You've seen the latest plans?  Something of this is actually being constructed?

 

 

 

 

I notice the other evening the design element for the entrance to Asia Plaza on the East 30th side is coming along nicely

 

 

 

 

They made a new entrance with a traditional Asian design. Ans the last time I was there (a few weeks ago) they were working on the Payne Avenue entrance as well.

 

 

This is what the old (current) entrance looks like

 

 

 

 

The next time I am there I will take a pic of the new entrances

Sorry - I didn't read that carefully.  I thought it referred to an entrance to Asiatown, which would be far more interesting.  However, the Asia Plaza entrance looks good.

This may be HI-Low's Pub.....

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/bza/agenda/2014/crr12-01-2014.pdf

 

Board of Zoning Appeals

December 1, 2014

 

9:30

Calendar No. 14-213: 3610 Superior Avenue Ward 7

TJ Dow

11 Notices

3620 Superior Avenue LLC, owner, proposes to expand the existing bar to include

DJ/Dance/Amusement and to add 149.8 square feet exterior smoking area in a Semi-Industry Zoning

District. Owner appeals for relief from the following Sections of the Cleveland Codified Ordinances:

1. Section 349.04(e) which states that 24 accessory off-street parking spaces are required and 5

spaces are provided.

2. Section 347.12(a) (1) which states that DJ/Dance/Amusement shall not be established within

five hundred (500) feet of a Residential District, day care, kindergarten, elementary or

secondary school, public library, church, playground, public or nonprofit recreation center or

community center; proposed use is within 500 feet of a church and Residential District. (filed

October 31, 2014)

So sad for the community:

 

MetroHealth closing Asia Plaza Clinic, moving services to Broadway Health Center

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Beginning Dec. 1, members of Cleveland's Asian community who have been going to the MetroHealth System's Asia Plaza Clinic for health care will have to travel to MetroHealth's Broadway Health Center, at 6835 Broadway Ave.

 

The move – which MetroHealth publicly announced less than a month ago – is not sitting well with some in the Asian community who think that the health center (also known as Asia Town Health Center) will be too far away.

 

Even though the same staff is moving to the Broadway site, "The new location is outside of the Asian community," said Lisa Wong, president of OCA Greater Cleveland - Asian Pacific American Advocates.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2014/11/metrohealth_closing_asia_plaza_clinic_moving_services_to_broadway_health_center.html