Not a bad shot considering it was taken from a bus :)

 

That just proves - You got skillz kid!

That's one of the neatest pics of downtown I've seen in while - and to think it was taken from a moving bus. Veddy nice!

Boy, Price/Corna sure put those Stonebridges up in a hurry... contrast that slooowww moving Pinnacle, which is finally finished... the way they're moving on -S-bridge, the place should be openning by summer; what's the schedule?

I took my parents down by here last night (they requested) and they were very impressed by actually seeing, up close, the amount of new construction on the West Bank.  They've seen it from the bridges, but it's a whole different thing seeing it in person.  My mom was a little surprised that people are paying over a million bucks for condos... not just in Cleveland, but anywhere!

Oh yeah, beautiful shot MayDay!  It's too bad that view is such a fleeting one... so high up over the flats and moving so quickly!

Boy, Price/Corna sure put those Stonebridges up in a hurry... contrast that slooowww moving Pinnacle, which is finally finished... the way they're moving on -S-bridge, the place should be openning by summer; what's the schedule?

 

The first units should be ready for move-in by spring.

Boy, Price/Corna sure put those Stonebridges up in a hurry... contrast that slooowww moving Pinnacle, which is finally finished... the way they're moving on -S-bridge, the place should be openning by summer; what's the schedule?

 

The first units should be ready for move-in by spring.

 

Wow!  They are not playing!  Go Stonebridge, go!

 

I wish I could move down there, but if I was to sell and purchase downtown, I want a skyhigh penthouse!

Boy, Price/Corna sure put those Stonebridges up in a hurry... contrast that slooowww moving Pinnacle, which is finally finished... the way they're moving on -S-bridge, the place should be openning by summer; what's the schedule?

 

The first units should be ready for move-in by spring.

 

Wow!

Boy, Price/Corna sure put those Stonebridges up in a hurry... contrast that slooowww moving Pinnacle, which is finally finished... the way they're moving on -S-bridge, the place should be openning by summer; what's the schedule?

 

The first units should be ready for move-in by spring.

hee hee. says who? Stonebridge? been there done that...(tack on 6-12 months)

Yeah, Corna said it at the Flats West Bank announcement in September. I think it was also in the press packet they gave us.

Boy, Price/Corna sure put those Stonebridges up in a hurry... contrast that slooowww moving Pinnacle, which is finally finished... the way they're moving on -S-bridge, the place should be openning by summer; what's the schedule?

 

The first units should be ready for move-in by spring.

hee hee. says who? Stonebridge? been there done that...(tack on 6-12 months)

Mrs. Peabody, from closing to move in, what was the time frame?  What caused your delays?

^ the delays, well it is a lot like the airlines when they are delayed: a lot of BS decribed as "weather" but it boils down to poor planning IMO.  They have a learned a lot since my building so they may have better estimates. I do have a hard time seeing anyone in there by spring. Maybe late summer at best.

 

we put a deposit down basically when it was a hole in the ground with scaffolding, so you can imagine the estimates were poor. And in the end it worked out well b/c our home in the heights took forever to sell. In my experience, you should be able to move in the day you close, but the place was such a disaster at the walk thru there was no way. IN fact not to scare you but we have lived there a year and half and they are still not completed a couple punch list items.

what a stunning pic. wow that's an impressive addition to stonebridge and the west bank flats.

what a stunning pic. wow that's an impressive addition to stonebridge and the west bank flats.

 

the city looks extremely dense.  I love this picture!  Cleveland looks awesome!

 

Hopefully HRH Emperor MayDay can take a few others from that vantage point (hint hint) :wink:

Well that happened to be on a day where I was returning downtown via the bus - I try NOT to do that too much.

So now that Issue 3 has been deep-6ed, does this mean Phase 5 is the last substantial development in West Bank for a while?  My assumption is any piece of a Price-Corna-Jacobs mega-project is on hold pending reintroduction/passage of slots legislation in '08, ... or beyond... this also, no doubt, includes the Tower City cc/MMM project, too, since Jacobs & Forest City were to be license holders (and, btw, in retrospect, it was really stupid these licenses weren't open to fair bidding as they were in other states where gaming has passed -- as in all of our freakin' neighbor states where $billions of Ohio dollars will be going until we get our act together).

^i don't know, but it seems that they are doing fine without the casino developments.  my guess is that as long as this building sells as well, we'll see the additional phases line up.

Besides, people are already talking about the next gambling initiative to go to ballot - probably next year.

 

Something I didn't know is that of the several dozen states that allow casinos/gambling in some form, only three or four were done by the ballot. The rest were by the state legislatures. But since Ohio voters have twice (more?) voted gambling down, I doubt legislators would be willing to ignore that.

Something I didn't know is that of the several dozen states that allow casinos/gambling in some form, only three or four were done by the ballot. The rest were by the state legislatures. But since Ohio voters have twice (more?) voted gambling down, I doubt legislators would be willing to ignore that.

 

i thought it was a constitiutional issue in ohio though?  the constitution must first be amended to allow it, and then in theory the legislature could enact specific legislation. 

 

i would much prefer an amendment that allowed the auctioning of X number of licenses.

Maybe someone should inquire to how Michigan's done it. MI has had Native-American related casinos for a while, but the three Detroit casinos were voted only on by the Residents of Detroit City (or maybe it was just wayne county).

You may be right.

ANYWAY....Getting back to Stonebridge!

 

I am under the impression that they would continue to build phases, regardless of the outcome of the casio, around the space designated for the potential casino.

Oooh!  Pictures are in order... they've started to add the curved roof lines and some of the other details that will give this building more "flair" than the earlier ones!

Updates from Sunday, November 26th:

 

 

Thanks MayDay!

MayDay strikes again.  Great pics as per the usual!

 

I'm starting to like that building (and all the phases of the development) more and more and more!

Man, I want to like this building. It looks great.....except where it meets the sidewalk. That "foundation" is hideous to me. This is a structure that does not integrate street level at all. 

 

In a neighborhood that you would expect to be completely walkable in the future, that sidewalk area will seem foreboding.

^Indeed.  I love all the residents these things are bringin' in but I doubt many of us are thrilled about consolidating the retail in the mini-mall and having only parking on the ground floors of the residential buildings.

Man, I want to like this building. It looks great.....except where it meets the sidewalk. That "foundation" is hideous to me. This is a structure that does not integrate street level at all. 

 

In a neighborhood that you would expect to be completely walkable in the future, that sidewalk area will seem foreboding.

 

So so true.  This is something I've been b*tching about since the beginning of the Stonebridge threads.  I hate hate hate the way that all of these buildings interact with the river level sidewalk frontages.  And the Viaduct levels aren't great either!  Missed opportunities galore...

Let's hope that this is the last building that they do like this. There is enough density to support retail. Future buildings have to some sort of first floor presence or else the pedestrian experience is going to feel dead.

From the Main Avenue Bridge, Dec. 29th:

 

Amazing what mild weather does to construction timelines!

did they add the office component to this?  i dont think i see it in those photos

I love the building.  Now can we wish for something in the 20 story range...pretty pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

Glad to see it's coming together quickly, but I'll pass on the wavey top and clumsy arches at street level.

Got to do a walk-through of the model suite that they have set up in the earlier Stonebridge condo building...very nice!  It was three floors with two decks and fantastic views.  I think it was somewhere in the $440k range. 

I jogged down the Viaduct this morning with my pup and scoped out the Plaza from the bridge for the first time in a while...it's looking amazing!  I can't wait for these windows to be all lit up!

^OK MGD, we must have just missed each other on a number of occassions today. I was on the old stone bridge around noon. Later on in the early afternoon, I was on East 4th. UO minds think alike.

I jogged down the Viaduct this morning with my pup and scoped out the Plaza from the bridge for the first time in a while...it's looking amazing!  I can't wait for these windows to be all lit up!

 

Dude, you're just one house hunting man today!  Did you take any pictures?

Nope...camera battery was dead and I forgot to charge it!  I was kicking myself all day...

Nope...camera battery was dead and I forgot to charge it!  I was kicking myself all day...

 

Aye Dios Mio!

"Plans show the commons would be connected via an enclosed walkway above Washington Avenue to Stonebridge Place, a planned, 68-unit loft condominium building."

 

Not sure I'm very excited about skybridges in the Flats, overall though, keep on building Corna.

So, would both Stonebridge Place and Commons start in the spring? Or only the Commons?

Can't they phase the abatements out? Like cut it down from 15 years of no taxes to 7 of no taxes and then kill them by 2010?

 

You want to get it so the fire burns on its own, but at some point, people need to start paying their share of the taxes. How is it fair that a person in a new condo get 15 years of no taxes while someone who lives in an older neighborhood doesn't get a break at all?

 

 

KJP  How many stories will the new 68 unit condos consist of?

That's the confusing part, and I made followup calls to Bob Corna back to get more information. I never got those calls returned, however. Here's what he told me in the initial call:

 

He said the 200 units would be in a 12-story building on a large footprint next to the old viaduct and the tower that is nearing completion. The site is fenced and Stonebridge is storing construction equipment there right now. The 12 stories includes several levels of indoor parking.

 

However, when I checked the Stonebridge site plan, the location didn't make sense. And, when I asked for a rendering of the building, the image that was e-mailed to me was of a 68-unit building between the old viaduct and the turn in Washington Boulevard (I'll post the rendering later this evening). Yet the rendering that was sent to me was not of a 12-story building (even including the parking levels). And, it's not next to the tower that is nearing completion.

 

The only location that fits the criteria as explained by Corna is a parking lot between the nearly finished tower and the Powerhouse. But records show that parking lot is still owned by Nautica Inc. (Jeff Jacobs), and Corna specifically told me it wasn't a parking lot. Plus, that site is not showed as part of the Stonebridge plan. Furthermore, there is no 200-unit building in the next phases of the Stonebridge plan.

 

So I wrote the article as generally as I could, and de-emphasized the "next-phase" portions to secondary status in the article. So I hope I didn't screw it up too badly.

Oh well, you can bet if Corna says it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen, somehow, somewhere -- and it'll be great.  I have total trust in Corna and Price as doers.  My opinion of Cimperman has significantly upgraded.  I think he's matured from his grandstanding back during the Flats deaths of the late 90s which led to the decline of the Flats east bank.  Joe has grown and is more of a behind the scenes mover for development...

^one Q I did have was concerning access thru Stonebridge Commons to Superior Viaduct and the Ponte Vecchio restaurant via an elevator.  Initially this was speculated.  Is it still a part of planning?  It sure would help for those of us trying to get to the restaurant via the Flats level (it's a mega hassle over the viaduct via car, esp competing for parking spaces with Stonebridge tenants.

^^^Could the 200 approved by City Council have been a combination of a few different phases?

 

108 - Stonebridge Plaza

68 - Stonebridge Place

30 - Stonebridge Riverfront

206

 

close to 200...

 

I used the numbers in the site plan posted at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9195.90  Current project and the next two in line.