i heard that the homes that Civic Builders will build on W.45th (five of them) will start around $120k. I don't know if I really trust my source on this one.

I've heard the same rumor 3231 but haven't seen anything to verify.

Are we talking W.45th and Detroit?

 

Carole, it looks like you have quite a few options for low priced housing in DS, OC and Tremont. Home prices will be dropping more soon, too. Bank of America is about to tell folks some pretty upsetting news according to a few friends of mine as well as some other bigger banks. We are looking at 2010 possibly as the time things start getting back to normal.

 

That said.. blood in the street, so buy real estate!

Lots of good options, lots of development in the pipeline, weepingwillow and most of what is selling is not over $300k lol

 

I'm sorry to hear we might get more weak economic news from Bank of America - Nat'l City was hard enough to take. I feel the prices won't go down any lower, unless your home is on the market at a price point that is a bit too high. But I also think it will be another year at least before we see a significant change; As I say on my blog, if you can buy a home for $39,900 now, why try to wait it out? Interest rates could go up and you won't btw, recognize the 'bottom' of the market until prices start to rise....

 

If you want to live in a neighborhood and own the house for a while and enjoy it, and you can afford a mortgage, then now could be a good time for you to buy.

 

Thanks for a lively discussion

Add me to the list of UOers totally blown away by Stone Mad.  That place is an absolute work of art!

 

There were a lot of people there last night that must have come for a drink after the Indians game.  It definitely felt like an authentic, die-hard crowd of people who genuinely like the city and neighborhoods.  I love Tremont, but lost that feeling when it become trendy to the suburbans driving Suburbans.

^Yeah, that'll NEVER happen to Detroit-Shoreway :roll:

Are we talking W.45th and Detroit?

 

 

The land is pretty close to W. 45th and Bridge.

As I say on my blog, if you can buy a home for $39,900 now, why try to wait it out? Interest rates could go up and you won't btw, recognize the 'bottom' of the market until prices start to rise....

 

Not to get off topic but I agree.  

^Yeah, that'll NEVER happen to Detroit-Shoreway :roll:

 

:roll:

Mark my words, Detroit-Shoreway is under the radar now but it won't be for long and people will be grumbling about the newbies and suburbanites and saying the same thing. Sorry, I just think it was a silly afterthought of a comment that has little to do with construction in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.

Let those suburbanites drive in their Suburbans or what ever they choose to drive. This is not a bad thing for the city of Cleveland.

stopped in at reddstone this weekend.  rough crowd, lousy atmosphere, etc.  the patio is still nice.  the interior could really use work.  the type of thing I would overlook if say, it had a good crowd, or a nice atmosphere.  but it was in general, a pretty awkward, uncomfortable joint.  it went straight to the bottom of my list for the neighborhood.  good luck to them.  but I'll just hit the parkview instead.  at least they have paper towels in their bathrooms.

Mark my words, Detroit-Shoreway is under the radar now but it won't be for long and people will be grumbling about the newbies and suburbanites and saying the same thing. Sorry, I just think it was a silly afterthought of a comment that has little to do with construction in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.

 

It's inevitable, for sure.  What I'm saying is that it's nice to have a refuge for the time being.  It's great to feel as if you're surrounded by a mass of people whose hearts are in the cause instead of those that do something or go someplace because it's trendy and the cool thing to do.  And I'm not saying that suburbanites are undesirable and not good for city neighborhoods because I understand their importance in the overall scheme of things.  They just change the atmosphere.

 

Silly as it may seem, that's how I feel sometimes.

Lets not hate on the suburbanites, in the past in NE Ohio the trend and flawed thought was in order to be perceived as having made it or "living the american dream" it often equated to moving to the suburbs.  My father is a prime example of that.  During that period of time, Cleveland, the city, didn't offer the types of homes or neighborhoods young fun singles or young couples or families wanted to live in.

 

Now Cleveland is going thru a resurgence and coupled with energy cost, the children of those people who moved to the 'burbs in the 70's/80's want to live in interesting neighborhoods.

 

I'm not a real estate expert, nor claim to be, but I would like to see:

– The cost of homes

– The total dollar amount of investment in each neighborhood

– The average age of residents

 

In each of the following neighborhoods Tremont, Ohio City, Shaker Square, Edgewater, Little Italy, Hough, Detroit-Shoreway, Payne Sterling, Downtown Proper and Central in 1978, 1988, 1998 and 2008.

 

Young people in NE Ohio now have unique neighborhoods to move into in the city proper and that fear of different people moving into my neighborhood, "eastside vs. westside" are moot points and racial discord is starting (slowly) to subside.  In addition, the city has changed its marketing audience from just businesses to marketing businesses and residents to the city.

keep in mind, there were folks in place before whose atmosphere you're changing by being there, just as there were in Tremont and West 25th. Imo the artist/hipsters/urban-ites who pioneer the various locals of downtown Cleveland should recognize their culpability in the gentrification process. Not that it's a bad thing, as Cleveland needs dollars being spent downtown.

 

I was at a party this weekend where two long time Brecksville grandmothers (baby boomers) were talking about going to W.25th for an old world style shopping experience and thinking how great it would be to live over there. I took it as nothing but good news.

Out of curiosity with all the real estate chatter in this thread particularly, is there somewhere in the UO forum that serves as a "classified" section for memebers and if not, would there be an interest in attempting to create something like that? Not something overbearing, but maybe more like, "I have a friend moving and selling his house" sort of situation. Don't kill me if this is a bad idea.

I suppose things like that could go in the "Travel/Relocation" section, or maaaaybe the Urbanbar. It's not a bad idea, but I don't know if it would get enough use to justify having a whole separate area.

 

Annnnnd BACK ON TOPIC please! :-)

Cleveland considers loan for West Side movie house

 

Posted by Henry J. Gomez April 28, 2008 17:30PM

Categories: Breaking News

 

Cleveland City Council is expected to approve tonight a $1.5 million loan to help transform the old Capitol Theatre on the West Side into an independent movie house.

 

For more: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/04/cleveland_considers_loan_for_w.html

Huh? I thought this was approved a year or so ago?

Huzzah!

 

Capitol Theatre at Gordon Square gets $1.5 million City Council loan

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Henry J. Gomez

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Cleveland City Council on Monday night approved a $1.5 million loan to help transform the old Capitol Theatre on the West Side into an independent movie house.

 

The Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization is tackling the project, which is expected to cost more than $6 million...

Luxe had some sort of soft opening/friends and family party last night.  it was byob as their liquor license is still forthcoming.  i think it's moniker as 'kitchen and lounge' is fitting as the front room (w/ bar) has a very loungey feel to it, sans couches.  the dj booth is a focal point of the room, though the sound system was not yet installed.  as for the kitchen, the menu, which is posted on their blog, is a nice mix of affordable and indulgent with nice tastes throughout and a nice selection of vegetarian items, which IMO, Cleveland needs more of.  there will eventually be 5 beers on draft, none of which will cost more than $4.5.  the list is set to include  brooklyn IPA, a great lakes dortmunder, pbr, a wheat beer, and i believe a belgian.  the interior pays homage to the bank which once occupied the space with vault doors used throughout the space as floating walls.  when it's finished, i think it will serve as both a neighborhood hangout and suburban destination.

MapBoy will like that as hes a veggie.

well, thank you for considering me, MapBoy'sTwoSense!

They actually opened last Thursday night.  I was supposed to go to the Indians game Friday night, but after that got rained out, my girlfriend and I decided to check out Luxe.  It was a bit of a mixed experience, but I attribute almost all of it to being their second night open.  Here is a link to a scene blog talking about the opening:

 

http://blogs.clevescene.com/cnotes/2008/04/luxe_kitchen_opens_thursday.php

 

Let me start by saying that the interior is awesome.  Great mix modern and refurb.  The dining area looks like it was designed to feel like your home kitchen with old school towels used as runners on the tables and mismatched chairs. 

 

Our service was pretty mediocre-- though I do think it was his first serving job.  There was another woman who seemed to step in when she saw him stumbling and she seemed very competent.

 

The food was promising, but didn't seem quite there yet.  I had the "Caramelized Onion & Grilled Chicken w/ Goat Cheese".  It was good, but felt like it was missing something....can't tell you what because I'm not a chef....but perhaps it was just more cheese.  My girlfriend had the "Rigatoni w/ Hot Italian Sausage".  That was decent with good flavor, but the sausage seemed really dry.  Overall, it felt like we were beta testing, and in essence we really were.

 

I'll probably check out the "Lounge" aspect of the place before I go back for the food to give them a chance to work things out.  They supposedly will have their liquor license in hand today, so hopefully that might be this weekend.  I know a lot of what I said was negative, but I can really see the direction their going in and it should shape to be a great joint in the near future.

 

Here is a link to their website and menu:

 

http://luxecleveland.blogspot.com/

umm..rigatoni with hot Italian sausage.  yummy.  i love spicy food!

What's the "lounge" aspect? I saw this place a couple weeks back on my stop to the bank, and it looks dope!

I'm not a fan of all words that they've stuck on the windows. It doesn't allow one to see into the restaurant. Anyone else share my thoughts on this?

I'm not a fan of all words that they've stuck on the windows. It doesn't allow one to see into the restaurant. Anyone else share my thoughts on this?

 

That's still there! I thought that was supposed to be a teaser until it opens :(

I really like the use of the quotes about food as it serves both as a semi transparent/translucent screen as well as a whimsical conversation piece, especially as people traffic increases over the coming years...

I made it to Stone Mad with the fiance last friday evening for the first time. My thoughts:

-Very fancy for an "Irish" place. Beautiful woodwork and craftsmanship everywhere.

-No tv's or music. I'm ok with no tv's but the silence was a bit weird in that I could overhear everyone else's conversations and I knew they could hear mine. It was a bit unnerving. I would've liked some soft background music (maybe some traditional Irish music?) to at least add some privacy to one's conversation.

-The middle lounge area is cozy. A nice place to hang with a drink and relax.

-The rear area w/the bocce court feels like a completely different place. Little tables with red&white checkered table cloths and the menu up on a couple of chalkboards, they had no printed menus (with no prices, a big pet peeve of mine) I felt like I had walked into some deli in Little Italy. *Rant Warning* Please, please, please, put prices next to the menu items; just because people walk into your place, don't assume that money doesn't matter to them and it can be a tad embarrassing to ask a server how much something costs before ordering. I find restuarants that do this to be awfully presumptuous and turn me off.

-We didn't eat there, so I can't comment on the quality of the food.

    After taking everything into account, I wouldn't make a place like this a steady hang. Just too fancy for my speed. However, I can see this place being a really hot spot once the Capitol and NW theatres are done and people look for a place to have a drink before or after a show. This place would really fill that kind of niche.

 

 

^ Music is on the way.  If you look up in the corners of the rooms you'll see speaker wire just hanging there.

 

As for the different atmosphere in the back room, the whole place really is an Irish/Italian fusion.  The bar is in an old Italian hood and he wanted to reflect that-- hence the boccie, Italian food, and the wood fired pizza oven going in outside.

Going to check both out this week... can't wait!

I wish they would just ditch the whole Irish thing. It makes more sense to be Italian.

Why Vulpster, other than that being in an Italian 'nabe.

I wish they would just ditch the whole Irish thing. It makes more sense to be Italian.

 

Sure, but this area really isn't all that far from one of the largest Irish areas in Cleveland (in past history) around St. Colmans Parish.  I know alot of Irish people still go to that Church. 

The only thing Irish about it is really the Guinness on tap. Everything about the neighborhood, the owners, back room, bocce ball court and menu makes it Italian. And the pizza ovens for the patio are coming from Sicily. Again, why even bother billing yourself as an Irish Pub? As someone with Italian heritage on the west side and no Irish heritage whatsoever, I get sick of all the Irish hoopla. 

ok my WASPY friend.  Simma down, simma down now  :mrgreen:  Don't get your LV belt in a knot!

Went to both Stone Mad and Luxe last week and really liked both, though, both admittedly had some kinks to work out.  A little puzzled by all the cow hide banquette and chairs and the electronic brunch music at Luxe, but the food more than made up for it!

I went to StoneMad on Saturday. From the looks of it, it will do very well. I felt like the only Cleveland resident in the entire place. i don't think that I will eat there again. I'd rather drink upfront near the bar. I then went over to Parkview and had a much better time. StoneMad is beautiful.

my feeling with stone mad is that it is made to look like it has been there for 75 years.  everything is well made and sturdy.  though I agree on the cow stools.  lol.  they look like crap.  wakka wakka.  anyhow, I was troubled by the lack of a soda gun.  all mixed drinks were made from tiny cans of sodas.  seems wasteful, but hopefully they recycle everything.  the beer selection was top notch.  but the bocce court seemed like a cool idea that turned out pretty dumb.  when I have seen it work well, it was a big thing, better than pool tables.  but here, it was beside the dining room, and you couldn't take your beverage onto the court.  when exactly will people use it?  between courses?   

I agree about the bocce court. Are you supposed to feel comfortable while sitting and eating with those balls flying by your head. I also don't like that you can't eat in the bar area.

^huh... that's weird.  And yes, the bocce court threw me (no pun intended!).  What's this about cow stools at Stone Mad?  I was referring to the ones at Luxe!

What's this about cow stools at Stone Mad?  I was referring to the ones at Luxe!

 

in their pursuit of authenticity, stone mad also has leather topped stools.  they have a rustic ren faire feel.  curious to say the least.  I am sure once a couple thousand butts have sat in them, they will be less obnoxious looking. 

 

bocce in the bar can work...see the union hall in parkslope for evidence:

 

http://www.unionhallny.com/

 

I am just finding the arrangement here to be awkward.

The goal I would assume is to not have a lot of inventory in new housing construction? The price point that sold the best (except for foreclosure homes) is $250k over the past few years. That tells me that is the price point people are looking for. There is nothing wrong with buying existing housing stock that is mostly what I sell! And if you were to ask me what my personal preference is, it's a house with old world character built before 1960. (1870 is perfect lol)  I'm talking about what people are looking for.

 

As to salaries.  Here is the issue. You have tons of homes and town homes that were built with tax abatement that people could afford due to the abatement although money was still tight, they could do it. Now some of these communities are finding their abatements are up and a lot of homes went up for resale just due to that fact. So it's a bit like buying a home with an ARM that comes due and all of a sudden you realize you can't comfortably afford the home you are living in. I'm not saying there should be no new construction over $300k I'm just saying that we still have an absorption rate of 18 months on new housing construction because the price points are high and the pool of people who can afford them is smaller.

 

When you look at Battery Park, they did a great job being flexible. They realized the homes that were selling were in a lower price point and they reconfigured the models that would be going into their additional phases to lower price points in many cases. I think that makes great sense.

 

Carole, are you talking about any of the phases of BP still to come?  Have there been changes recently?

keep in mind, there were folks in place before whose atmosphere you're changing by being there, just as there were in Tremont and West 25th. Imo the artist/hipsters/urban-ites who pioneer the various locals of downtown Cleveland should recognize their culpability in the gentrification process. Not that it's a bad thing, as Cleveland needs dollars being spent downtown.  I think the DSDC wants to keep the neighborhood a mixed income area and not overly gentrified.

 

I was at a party this weekend where two long time Brecksville grandmothers (baby boomers) were talking about going to W.25th for an old world style shopping experience and thinking how great it would be to live over there. I took it as nothing but good news.

Work set to begin on $7 million Capitol Theatre renovation in the heart of West Side's Gordon Square

 

by Karen Sandstrom / Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday May 14, 2008, 12:00 AM

 

On a rainy Cleveland evening in April 1921, hundreds of people gathered at West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue to celebrate the newly built Gordon Square Arcade and its attached movie theater, the Capitol.

 

for more: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2008/05/work_set_to_begin_on_7_million.html

From CoolCleveland:

 

Capitol Theatre Groundbreaking Ceremony

The Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization and the Gordon Square Arts District launch the area's latest development, Capitol Theater, corner of West 65th St. and Detroit Ave. on Wed 5/14 at 4PM with a groundbreaking ceremony. A reception follows at 5:30PM.

"The truth is, I had no idea what was going on in that area, and holy cow!" [Jonathan Forman] said. "There is such passion and such growth and such movement."

 

Maybe that's because you live and work in Solon. :roll:

This is gonna be such a stunning theatre when it's done. The interior looks incredible.

hottest talk in OC this weekend was ...things going on in DS. Luxe is open and reported to be fabulous and Stone Mad had a wait to eat...LUNCH.