December 30, 201113 yr ^Cannot disagree with you that the hotel at the corner of Euclid and 18th is a cheap hotel (is it currently a Comfort Inn?) or at least looks like it...however, it is funny that at one time (when it was Swingos) it was the place where all the rock glitterati use to stay when in Cleveland (the really big boys like the Stones) as mentioned in Cameron Crowe's movie "Almost Famous".
December 30, 201113 yr I also noted that work has begun on the vacant office building across from CSU's law school (next to that cheap hotel at the corner of 18th & Euclid). You mean the hotel Kate Hudson once called "the coolest hotel in America" (or maybe she said "greatest")? I always thought a transformation back to the old Swingos, with retro carpet, furniture, etc. would be a great tourist draw for the the true rock'n'roll enthusiasts. They could offer a stay in the "Bowie room" and little perks of that nature.
January 7, 201213 yr Relocation to PlayhouseSquare well worth it for Cleveland Play House Saturday, January 07, 2012 By Andrea Simakis, The Plain Dealer As most therapists will tell you, moving is one of the most stressful events in life, ranking only behind the death of a loved one, divorce or illness. But if early box office results from the Cleveland Play House are any indication, the pain of pulling up stakes from Euclid Avenue and East 85th Street and relocating three miles down the road to PlayhouseSquare was well worth it for the local company. Play House numbers crunchers compared the single-ticket sales from the first three shows of the 2010-2011 season, before the move, to the first three productions of the 2011-2012 season in the organization's new artistic home in the Allen Theatre complex. They found that revenue had more than doubled ... ... More at http://www.cleveland.com/arts/index.ssf/2012/01/relocation_to_playhousesquare.html
January 8, 201213 yr Great news! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 8, 201213 yr Cleveland Play House's new Second Stage theater shows off its flexibility Published: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 5:59 AM Andrea Simakis, The Plain Dealer Imagine a stage that can change its shape like a gleaming Transformer. For most stage designers and directors, the idea of such a tricked-out performance space is as unlikely as a car turning into a chatty robot -- something best left to special-effects wizards in Hollywood. But thanks to a savvy alliance among PlayhouseSquare, the Cleveland Play House, Cleveland State University and a handful of creative architects, when "Ten Chimneys" begins previews on Friday, the new Second Stage will rate as one of the few fully flexible theaters in the country. Three, to be exact. "Lots of theaters will tell you they have a flexible theater," said Play House artistic director Michael Bloom. "But then when you ask them, 'How long does it take to change from one show to another?' they'll say, 'Well, it takes about a week.' But that's not really a flexible theater, that's just an open space." Not to brag, but Cleveland's Second Stage can go from zero seats to more than 300 in two hours. And it won't take the sweat of a crew of burly technicians to do it, either. Two teenage drama students can pull it off. http://www.cleveland.com/arts/index.ssf/2012/01/cleveland_play_houses_new_seco.html
January 9, 201213 yr Because there's so much good news that we got a little too excited. Sorry, couldn't help myself. :P
January 11, 201213 yr Some good quotes here: Gem Dandy Zack Bruell's Cowell & Hubbard to open in February by Douglas Trattner When Bruell opens Cowell & Hubbard — his fifth Cleveland eatery — in late February, he will be giving the neighborhood's one million annual theatergoers a first-rate pre- or post-curtain dinner option. He'll also provide upscale lunches to the many folks who work in and around Playhouse Square. "The challenge is to not be a 'theater restaurant,'" says Bruell, "but to be a restaurant for regular diners who happen to be in the Theater District. "I believe this is one of the next neighborhoods to pop," he says of Playhouse Square. http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/gem-dandy/Content?oid=2792639
January 12, 201213 yr stage is set for new apartments to be added to playhousesquare Thursday, January 12, 2012 PlayhouseSquare's latest string of successes may be a tough act to follow, but a Cleveland real estate developer is willing to try. A newly-consummated deal to convert a prominent office building into 102 apartments will fuel the growth of this arts-rich neighborhood, which in recent years has also welcomed two major theater renovations and new restaurants. K&D Group, the largest privately-held owner of apartments in Northeast Ohio, has inked a deal with the nonprofit PlayhouseSquare to buy the Hanna Building Annex, which is located at the corner of Prospect Avenue and E. 14th Street. The developer plans to convert it into 1- and 2-bedroom, 600 to 1,200-square-foot apartments that will lease from $725 to $1,500 per month. PlayhouseSquare plans to relocate existing tenants into the Hanna Building next door. The deal includes leasing back ground-level retail space to PlayhouseSquare. The nonprofit development corporation hopes to fill the space with much-needed amenities such as a dry cleaner, wine shop, small market or pharmacy -- in short, the kinds of services that serve a residential neighborhood. Art Falco, CEO of PlayhouseSquare, says the project is critical to the future of the neighborhood. “This will allow us to continue to brand PlayhouseSquare as not only an entertainment area but also a residential neighborhood," he says. Source: Art Falco Writer: Lee Chilcote http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/playhousesquareapartments011212.aspx?
January 12, 201213 yr ^ A few months ago I think. I was having lunch there when the one guy behind the counter was telling another customer that it was their last week.
January 12, 201213 yr Does anybody know if Fred still owned it? Did he just retire? It has been about 8 years since I had my office in Playhouse Square, but use to go 2-3 times a week and other office associates were there almost everyday. Had a very good lunch business back then.
January 12, 201213 yr The same guy has owned it for years. He also hadn't paid rent on it for at least 2 years years and PHS let him stay because it was an amenity for the office tenants. The food has been average at best for at least the past 5 years. It was not well-regarded by the tenants.
January 12, 201213 yr ^Hmm...interesting. I wish I could convince my landlord to do the whole no rent for two year thing. :-D
January 25, 201213 yr Nothing new in this piece, but I thought I'd post it anyway..... K&D Group Acquires Hanna Building Annex 17 Jan 2012, 5:13 am By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor The PlayhouseSquare Foundation has struck a deal to sell the Hanna Building Annex on East 14th Street for an undisclosed price to K&D Group of Willoughby. K&D plans to acquire the downtown property on April 1. Northeast Ohio’s largest privately held owner of apartments plans to convert the office property into 102 apartments. The Hanna Building Annex is an eight-story office building constructed in 1920. It is part of an office complex acquired by PlayhouseSquare in 1999. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is home to the 297-seat 14th Street Theatre, formerly known as the Hanna Theatre. The new housing would come at a time when there is little residential vacancy downtown. And K&D is no stranger to apartment development in downtown Cleveland. It created the Stonebridge Apartment complex and transformed a historic retail-and-office complex at 668 Euclid Ave. into an apartment building with a waiting list; it has the same plan for the 120,000-square-foot Hanna Building Annex. The redevelopment won’t affect the Hanna Theatre. K&D will turn the second through eighth floors of the building into apartments ranging from 600 to 1,200 square feet. Unit rents are expected to range between $725 and $1,500 a month. The ground-floor retail space will be leased back to PlayhouseSquare. Right now, the annex is about 70 percent occupied. PlayhouseSquare is offering those tenants space in the neighboring Hanna Building. Apartment construction could start in June. The project is expected to be finished by mid-2013. READ MORE AT: http://www.multihousingnews.com/city-pages/cleveland/cleveland-archive "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 1, 201213 yr Zachary Bruell's Cowell & Hubbard restaurant to open Friday, Feb. 3: Restaurant Row http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,6769.msg600385.html#msg600385
February 2, 201213 yr Snapped a pic of the Cowell & Hubbard signage on my way to class. It was so nice out today I had to take off my jacket en route from Tower City to CSU!
February 2, 201213 yr What is the plywood buildout that is past The Cowell and Hubbard Restaurant? Is this a new development as well?
February 2, 201213 yr I'm actually not sure... it also looks like they just put in new curvy windows on the other side of the plywood, below CUDC. To be truthful, until like 2 weeks ago, I thought that was going to be the restaurant... Anyone know what it is? I also may have just never paid attention to them, maybe those windows have always been there?
February 2, 201213 yr "The challenge is to not be a 'theater restaurant,'" says Bruell, "but to be a restaurant for regular diners who happen to be in the Theater District. I believe this is one of the next neighborhoods to pop," he adds of PlayhouseSquare. D@mn straight! http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2012/01/31/its-curtain-time-for-cowell-and-hubbard-bruells-fifth-cle-eatery
February 3, 201213 yr What is the plywood buildout that is past The Cowell and Hubbard Restaurant? Is this a new development as well? I believe it has been there for quite some time. Unless I remember plywood being up for the restaurant itself which we are talking about and something else has moved in. Wasn't Kent State doing something with that building?
February 3, 201213 yr 1512 Euclid as I passed it this afternoon around 1pm. By time I left school around 10:30 tonight, none of the portion fronting Euclid remained except the right-most bit.
February 3, 201213 yr I rode by there last night about 8 p.m. and saw it was pretty all down by then. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 3, 201213 yr The second floor, at least, is going to be Dwellworks' new office. The boarded up portion of the facade on the first floor is the entry way for DwellWorks. There is nothing set for the large remaining vacant first floor space. But with the momentum that PHS currently has, I wouldn't be surprised to see that space fill up soon. I just hope its something unique and not food/drink-oriented.
February 3, 201213 yr ^^It's going to be surface parking for the near term, but I think PHS demoed it so the site could be part of a hypothetical project immediatley east of the Hannah Bldg. It was just a cruddy little 2-story office box, so no big loss.
February 3, 201213 yr ^^It's going to be surface parking for the near term, but I think PHS demoed it so the site could be part of a hypothetical project immediatley east of the Hannah Bldg. It was just a cruddy little 2-story office box, so no big loss. It seems to be part of the masterplan indeed: Eventually, PlayhouseSquare would like to see new residential construction, atop historic buildings at East 13th and Euclid and in place of a parking lot across from the Palace Theatre. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/playhousesquare_to_sell_downto.html
February 3, 201213 yr ^^It's going to be surface parking for the near term, but I think PHS demoed it so the site could be part of a hypothetical project immediatley east of the Hannah Bldg. It was just a cruddy little 2-story office box, so no big loss. It seems to be part of the masterplan indeed: Eventually, PlayhouseSquare would like to see new residential construction, atop historic buildings at East 13th and Euclid and in place of a parking lot across from the Palace Theatre. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/playhousesquare_to_sell_downto.html Hopefully, with PlayhouseSquare helping out, perhaps they can bringing together some sort of new residential construction financing to build on that lot.
February 3, 201213 yr Thanks for the info about Dwellworks. They took down that paneling today, still covered, but not by a giant box.
February 9, 201213 yr Some pics of the Hanna annex project in the Landmarks Agenda for tomorrow. And check out all those landmark nominations, 18! Why? Cause Johnson's a boss, that's why. Oh, and only 8 of those will be next meeting, the remaining 10 are being postponed for next meeting. http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/2012/02092012/index.php?pageNum_rsImage=0&totalRows_rsImage=293#nav
February 10, 201213 yr Some photos of The Dodge Court Entrance at The Playhouse Square/ Cleveland PlayHouse http://makeroffice.com/?portfolio=allen-theatre
February 10, 201213 yr Thanks, I was just trying to find pictures of this! Didn't realize it was done.
February 10, 201213 yr And check out all those landmark nominations, 18! Why? Cause Johnson's a boss, that's why. Declaring something a landmark is meaningless unless it's protected from being demolished.
February 15, 201213 yr I've been meaning to ask for a while now but what is the construction on Euclid Ave across from the Halle building?
February 24, 201213 yr Cleveland State University opens new Arts Campus in PlayhouseSquare Published: Thursday, February 23, 2012, 10:00 PM Karen Farkas, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland State University's new Arts Campus, located on two floors of a building in the heart of the city's theater district, is inspiring student actors, dancers and artists who are reveling in the clean, light-splashed space and their affiliation with the Cleveland Play House and PlayhouseSquare. Moving CSU's programs nine blocks west to the Middough Building on East 13th Street is the final piece in the three institutions' partnership that also led to the relocation of the Play House and the renovation of the Allen Theatre, a 2,500-seat movie house built in 1921, into three theaters. Classes began Jan. 17 and CSU's play "Marisol" opened in the Allen Theatre Complex's Second Stage on Thursday. CSU will hold a gala for 350 invited guests Friday night to mark the opening of the Arts Campus. "We are the only undergraduate program in the nation to work side by side with a professional theater company," he said, referring to the Play House. "And we are officially a resident company of PlayhouseSquare." http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/02/cleveland_state_university_ope.html
February 24, 201213 yr I've been meaning to ask for a while now but what is the construction on Euclid Ave across from the Halle building? New parking area for the Union Club?
February 24, 201213 yr I've been meaning to ask for a while now but what is the construction on Euclid Ave across from the Halle building? New parking area for the Union Club? They just torn up the old parking area and rebuilt it. Nothing fun.
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