OK, I will think for the best this time. After high hopes for other parts of Euclid with major letdowns (e.g. Aldi's), there is now another new project taking place a few blocks east. This time it's Euclid at E. 79th on the southeastern corner. It's a huge parcel of land that's being prepared. I believe part of the parcel was already a field of nothing, but they may have also torn some small structure down. I believe what I saw today was some sort of foundation set way back from the road. Please God, please tell me that's not what I saw on this "promising corner". After all, it's across the street from a beautiful church, catty cornered to Beacon Place and almost adjacent (just an ugly ass fast food mecca inbetween) to MOCA/Cleveland Playhouse. Sure, the shopping plaza across the street sucks, but this is a major block on the future Euclid Corridor. So, the big question of the day: WHAT THE HELL IS BEING  BUILT NOW????????????

a place to house all the transient drunk bums and drug dealers/criminals that are prevalent in this area.  rather than fight crime our mayor has decided to embrace it.  it is the crowning jewel and last phase of the euclid corridor project.

Keep up the ignorant remarks and you'll enjoy a week off.

CVS or Walgreens was trying to build something there for a while.  Is the old sanctuary on that site still standing?

That was almost funny, Flee2theCleve.

CVS or Walgreens was trying to build something there for a while.  Is the old sanctuary on that site still standing?

 

The CVS is going in at E.101 and Chester. They look to be almost finished. Once that is complete, the CVS at 93rd will come down to make room for the new Clinic boulevard/grand entrance thingy.

^ I thought that's Rite Aid at 93rd and Chester being relocated, not a CVS.

^ I thought that's Rite Aid at 93rd and Chester being relocated, not a CVS.

 

I think you're correct.

I wasn't thinking of that Rite Aid, this is a different drug store project.  BTW, the way that is spelled, do they mean that they are an aid to rites?  That's kind of creepy.

I wasn't thinking of that Rite Aid, this is a different drug store project.  BTW, the way that is spelled, do they mean that they are an aid to rites?  That's kind of creepy.

 

There are two new drug stores being constructed. One at 101 and the other at 79th (on the site of an old glorious church).

The other at 79th- that's this project, no?  Do you know if they demolished the old sanctuary and bell tower?

Bell tower is still there.  I think they tore down that Rally's.

Noooooo!  That Rally's was a landmark!

 

Anyway- it's on the other side of the bell tower, then.  I was thinking right on the corner of East 79th and Euclid, which is where I think the drug store was looking to locate.

Hopefully any development would preserve that bell tower, the only remnant of the former St Agnes Church (1916) which was destroyed by fire in 1973 and demolished Nov. 24, 1975.  St Agnes merged with Our Lady of Fatima and is now on Lexington Ave in Hough.

From what I have heard, the bell tower will remain.

That's good to hear - one of my favorite photo spots from that area lines up the old bell tower with the Key Tower in the distance.

Passed by site today and they finally put a sign up.  It is a CVS.  This is of course good news since we definitely need another one.  I sure it will be an architectural masterpiece.

Passed by site today and they finally put a sign up.  It is a CVS.  This is of course good news since we definitely need another one.  I sure it will be an architectural masterpiece.

 

So they're leaving Church square shopping center (across the street) and building a stand alone store.

All the drug stores want to be in stand-alone buildings if they can.

the next question is whether they are part of the overlay zoning district that exists along Euclid Avenue that will require them to build up to the sidewalk and with at least three stories...parking in rear.  From the sound of things, they are not. 

 

On a related note, Church Square was fully leased at the end of last year.  The video store left the prominent corner location and was temporarily filled by a tax service.  As far as I know, that's still the only vacancy at this prime location.

I think the overlay ends at East 79th.

I think the overlay ends at East 79th.

 

Ends east or west of 79th?

Nice.  Way to go Fairfax!

I think the overlay ends at East 79th.

 

Ends east or west of 79th?

 

The overlay extends to the centerline of East 79th.

The foundation is set... it's way back from the street and will look like shit, just like that cheaply built new church down the street, just like Aldi's next to it (with no front entrance), and just EXACTLY like the shitty Rite Aid at 101 and Chester.... I am so sick of how this happens and no one cares. I know the Walgreen's in Lakewood (both of them) had to be built up against the street............................ oh well, so much for that aspect of making MidTown and Fairfax awesome. But hey, it makes a lot of sense.. RTA spends a couple hundred million rebuilding Euclid into an urban corridor and some committee approves suburban garbage designed stores to occupy this land. I can't wait for a Wal-Mart (joke) on Euclid and E. 55th.. set it back 3000 feet from the street and put up a fence and grass like Pierre's Ice Cream headquarters... so sad.

^Wow, this sucks.  I couldn't tell from the City's web site- are projects in Fairfax even subject to any design review? 

They're all subject to design review.  Some neighborhoods have local design review, while others go before a citywide panel.  In cases like this, there's no law saying they have to build any differently, so it's a matter of advising, but not necessarily enforcement.  With the new overlay district along Euclid in Midtown, the enhanced code will be enforceable.  So, no Walmart on Euclid @ 55th unless its main entrance is on the Euclid sidewalk, parking is in the rear and there are at least 3 floors.

^ Does this new overlay district include the new Aldi's on Euclid? The building is 1 story and has a main entrance in the back. Actually, there is no entrance on Euclid Avenue. How spiteful I am of this property. It should have been a model for future development on Euclid and it was the complete opposite. The church next to it is cheaply built and does not really enhance "Church Square", especially since it stands next to 2 amazing and properly constructed churches to the east.

Is there a post in the EC thread or a link to specifics on this overlay district and what it requires?  According to the ECTP website the midtown portion stretches from near E. 30th to just before E 79th.  Thoughts on why these guidlines/rules weren't extended into the Cleveland Clinic area?  This really bugs me.

The Aldi was grandfathered in.  It was on the books before the new legislation was passed.

 

Midtown Cleveland (http://www.midtowncleveland.org/index.asp) lead the way with the zoning change.  See pages 3-4 of this document for more info: http://www.midtowncleveland.org/data/pdf/MTC%20master%20plan-zoning%20summaries.pdf

I believe the Aldi's and the new church were proposed before the new guidelines went into place.  They did go through Midtown's design review, but they didn't have the club of a law hovering above their heads to make them do what we would think best.

I Just realized that it's been close to 2 years since they began construction on Aldi's/church next door, and nothing has been built since. Sure, many proposals/rehabs, but no actual new construction. ???

The positive spin on this is there are now retail amenities in the neighborhood that are necessary for living.  Maybe soon enough, the residents won't have to flee to Cleve. Hts for shopping.

I Just realized that it's been close to 2 years since they began construction on Aldi's/church next door, and nothing has been built since. Sure, many proposals/rehabs, but no actual new construction. ???

Ya, that is wierd.  You always here that there is something like 2 billion dollars worth of development along the Euclid corridor.  Is it all in the planning stages?  Maybe people would belive in the cooridor more if they actually saw it.  Not everyone is reading UO, Crains or even the Plain Dealer.  What's the hold up?  I understand the Heart Center and Parking Garage, but that's only 500 mil. 

Yeah there's still a dead zone between the Clinic and East 5-5, but there is that renovated apartment complex that opened within the past year in the East 60s I believe. There was also a new warehouse or something that is being renovated in the East 70s. A great majority of the new stuff Is west of East 55th and From the Clinic east to the EC border and have huge price tags.

The two billion may be a projected number over several years. Actual committed dollars are much less than that at this time. I think the current market conditions are making it very difficult to get any financing on certain types of construction. I also think there is a wait and see attitude, as well as a general desire to see the Silverline up and running. I've been very impressed how the reworking of Euclid changes the whole perception of the midtown area.

.

I just drove down Euclid since it was opened today the whole way to the Clinic. There was something that struck me from about E 55th to E 71st and it was those huge warehouse buildings that are completed abandoned. Are there any plans to remove these enormous structures? They are an eyesore to the area, and I can't imagine they would have any future use.

^I would assume that the owners are looking to renovate or sell with the completion of the BRT line underway.  I recall a statistic from not too long ago that stated that property values in Midtown have risen a great deal since the start of construction on Euclid.