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Cleveland Development Thread

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CavsFinals2016

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I thought this would be a fun thread for people that don't live in Cleveland or for those that don't live in the city itself to see what is going on in town. Obviously, the city has a lot of problems, but it still has a lot of exciting things going on.

Horseshoe Casino Phase 1 (completed)

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The first casino in North America that is on a public square has thus far been a success. Although much of the success can be attributed to the fact that the Horseshoe's glitter hasn't worn off yet, at least $350 million has been gambled in less than two months, (Horseshoe Cleveland casino gamblers bet as much as $350 million since May 14 opening | cleveland.com), downtown Cleveland has seen its first 24 hour restaurant (Jake's Deli), and a once deadzone after 5 pm on weekdays, has now been busy at most hours of the evening everyday. Business is up at nearby restaurants. Gilbert really worked to have the casino work with the rest of the city, which can be demonstrated by the fact that, unlike other casinos, there are windows, the food court is small, and there are no hotels attached, not including the nearby Ritz and Renaissance.

Casino Phase 2 (proposed)

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While the original thought was that phase 1 would be temporary, the investment in the old Higbee building proved to be too high for just a temporary casino. The main and significantly bigger casino, however, would be across from Tower City on Superior Ave. Some worried that Gilbert would scrap the second casino, but after paying nearly $100 million for the land odds are that it'll be built.

Flats East Bank (Under Construction)
Cleveland Flats East Bank Project || Flats East Bank Cleveland

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The first phase of the project will be done in mid-2013. The first phase will feature a 23 story office building and Cleveland's first Aloft hotel. The office building will be the new home for Tucker Ellis and Ernst and YNext year will also bring several restaurants to the area, including Toby Keith's own restaurant. When its all said and done, the project hopes to boast apartments, nightclubs, restaurants, and a public boardwalk on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River.

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Medical Mart/Convention Center (Under Construction)
Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center
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One of Cleveland's most controversial developments, the Medical Mart is a purely publicly funded project that cost Cuyahoga County taxpayers nearly $500 million. Medical mart and convention center to cost $40 million more than expected | cleveland.com The Medical Mart will serve as a permanent exhibition hall for medical device manufacturers and also host medical conventions. Originally, taxpayers, weary of Cleveland's luck with grandiose plans, doubted that the project would ever get off the ground, especially considering that Nashville and New York had similar competing projects. New York abandoned plans and Nashville has yet to secure funding. Meanwhile, the Cleveland structure has topped off and is already scheduled to host conventions in the near future, including the recently announced Case Management Society of America annual conference, which will bring 2,000 conventioneers. The Medical Mart is also expected to finish a few months early, sometime in mid-2013.

I will add more in my next post.
 
Cool, I was in Cleveland a week or so back for Rock N' Blast, and I was wondering what that new building that was being constructed was.

Cleveland needs to add a skyscraper. Like, something 800 feet tall. It doesn't need a purpose. But we need a huge skyscraper.
 
Museum of Contemporary Art (Under Construction)
Home | MOCA Cleveland
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University Circle has become an unparalleled arts neighborhood. Home to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall, the Botanical Gardens, the Cultural Gardens, and the Cleveland Institute of Art, amongst others, University Circle will be proud of the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Slated to open in October, MOCA will be the perfect compliment to the new Uptown development just next door.

Uptown Cleveland (Under Construction)
Uptown Apartments!
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Another new development in University Circle signaled Cleveland's re-entrance into higher rent apartments. Most likely to be the home of Case Western students, UH and CCF staff, and the biomedical engineers on the Euclid Corridor, Uptown is an example of 21st century architecture. The development will house Chipotle, Constantino's Market, Jimmy John's and a Verizon store for the residents.

Cleveland State Residential (Under Construction)
The Cleveland Stater
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Cleveland St. is continuing its momentum. One of the major components in its transition from merely a commuter school to a typical university with a widespread campus is the Langston Apartment development on Chester Ave. The first phase of construction on the $54 million project will likely be completed within the next month or two. The development will ultimately contain nearly 320 units. Hopefully, this also is a sign CSU may eventually go for a D1 football program and put CBS to use for more than 15 days out of the year.

I'll continue to add more as time passes. Feel free to add pictures or other news.
 
Cool, I was in Cleveland a week or so back for Rock N' Blast, and I was wondering what that new building that was being constructed was.

Cleveland needs to add a skyscraper. Like, something 800 feet tall. It doesn't need a purpose. But we need a huge skyscraper.

Hopefully, Cleveland will eventually be able to make use of all those parking lots in the Warehouse District and get some new construction. The issue is that rents aren't high enough to justify new construction, even though downtown apartments are at 97% occupancy. There are still vacant warehouses, and even office space like the Hanna building and East Ohio Gas Building, that will require tax credits to renovate into apartments before we can expect new construction. But with Uptown and the Avenue District, rents are slowly increasing. If the momentum continues, then we may see new construction.
 
Love construction and concepts. Keep it up.
 
I didn't realize the rest of the stuff next to the Ernst and Young building. Thats a pretty good spot. Its within relative walking distance of both the Rock Hall, Casino and Medical Mart, and the Waterfront line connects them all.
 
Love construction and concepts. Keep it up.

Intesa (Planning Phases)
University Circle could see parking lot become $100 million tech, office and apartment complex | cleveland.com
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This $100 million project is still in the planning phase, but it could be a real game changer. Its located where Little Italy meets University Circle. The project will be the site of a new Rapid station, apartments, a "technology ribbon, offices and parking garages. The lot, "Lot 45", is currently a parking lot. If this project takes off, it really speaks volumes about how we should looking at public transit in future planning. Col63onel alluded to the Waterfront Line being near the Flats East Bank project. I have no doubt that Rapid's presence aided the project. The Euclid Corridor also has absolutely transformed Midtown, which has become a biotech hub. Intesa with its parking/rapid center will be a huge transit center, encouraging both businesses and residents to occupy the building. While I don't think public transportation, in and of itself, spurs development (and thats just an unresearched opinion), I think its absolutely necessary to compete with other 21st century cities. More geographically constrained cities like Cleveland, and in general, the old manufacturing centers benefit the most from efficient public transportation, unlike expansive cities like Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix, where long travel distances are the nature of the beast. But again, thats my uneducated 2 cents.
 
*starts saving up for future Cleveland apartment*
 
awesome thread! I love reading about city planning. thanks
 
I like some of the stuff their doing downtown, now just tear down a certain airport that's on the lake. (cough cough) Burke lakefront.
 
The Cleveland State apartments are super nice. They need to hurry though and get them done before school starts in 3 weeks. They just started the base on a couple other apartments those should be up I'd say around May ready for next school year. What they have done with CSU is awesome.
 
This thread makes me want to go to grad school in Cleveland if there was a program available for me. I've been such a huge Cleveland fan and I've been stuck in fucking south-central INDIANA for four years of undergrad (although IU treated me very very well).
 
I just can't wait for that World Class Rock & Roll Half Marathon.
 
Hopefully, Cleveland will eventually be able to make use of all those parking lots in the Warehouse District and get some new construction. The issue is that rents aren't high enough to justify new construction, even though downtown apartments are at 97% occupancy. There are still vacant warehouses, and even office space like the Hanna building and East Ohio Gas Building, that will require tax credits to renovate into apartments before we can expect new construction. But with Uptown and the Avenue District, rents are slowly increasing. If the momentum continues, then we may see new construction.

First, great thread. I am glad that the thread that is on whatever site you used to get this info made its way over here. Convenient.

Second, I should be able to give you all a little "insider" information on things happening. I will say, Joe Cimperman has been pushing hard for Cleveland to resurrect itself.

Finally, the East Ohio Gas building is now the Calfee building. It was bought and renovated for a law firm to populate. This is a recently finished project.

Law firm Calfee to move Cleveland headquarters, 300-plus employees to former WKYC building

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland law firm will move more than 300 employees into the vacant East Ohio Gas Co. building on East Sixth Street.
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP has signed a 20-year lease on the historic downtown building. The firm's move, scheduled for late 2011, will support a $30 million redevelopment of the property, originally the headquarters of the East Ohio Gas Co. and most recently home to WKYC Channel 3.
Calfee will be the sole tenant in the seven-story building, where 115,000 square feet will house lawyers' offices, conference rooms and other collaborative spaces. The firm currently occupies a similar amount of space, on five floors, in the KeyBank Center building at 800 Superior Ave. Calfee's lease expires next year, and the firm long has been considering options, including new construction and existing high-rise buildings.
Managing Partner Brent Ballard said Calfee wanted its own building, with offices designed to suit an evolving field where more business is done online, by teleconference and in groups. A corporate law firm, Calfee was focused on staying in the central business district, close to the courts and near the downtown apartments and condominiums where an increasing number of the firm's lawyers and support staff live.
"We're excited about recommitting to the downtown core of the city of Cleveland, not only for our clients but also for the people who work here," Ballard said.
The firm considered Chagrin Highlands, the sprawling suburban property where Eaton Corp. is building a new corporate headquarters. But Calfee largely looked downtown, first at plans for a new building in the Warehouse District and then, when the economy tumbled and money for new construction dried up, at large buildings including 1100 Superior, Tower City Center and the former BP Tower at 200 Public Square.
"If this were an option back then, we would have taken this option," Ballard said of the former WKYC building.
That property was not available until last year, when a foreclosure put an end to developer Lewis Wallner's unfulfilled plans to convert the building into luxury condos or a hotel. Mentor real estate investor Richard Osborne Sr. and Cleveland developer Steve Calabrese bought the building at a sheriff's sale in April 2009. Calabrese later acquired Osborne's interest in the building.
"This will be one of the most spectacular buildings in downtown Cleveland, to say the least," Calabrese said.
Calfee's plans call for preserving historic aspects of the building, such as the ornate plaster ceilings and a two-story atrium that will become a lobby, while making changes to qualify the property for certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Those plans include a rooftop garden, new windows and lighting and use of recycled materials.
Calabrese and his partners at CRM Real Estate Services will build a four-story, 190-car garage for Calfee on a surface lot just east of the building. The offices and the garage allow expansion room for the law firm, which has options to extend its lease to 40 years. The building will be renamed The Calfee Building.
The Calfee project will involve tax credits, including those aimed at restoring historic properties. The building qualifies for federal credits, and Ohio awarded it $5 million in state credits in 2008, when Wallner was planning a Staybridge Suites hotel there. The state has signed off on awarding the credits to the new owners, as long as the Ohio Historic Preservation Office approves.
Calabrese and partner Brian Intihar would not elaborate on their other financing sources, beyond saying the project is a public-private partnership that would not be possible without participation by the city and the state.
Tracey Nichols, Cleveland's economic development director, said in an e-mail that the city is discussing potential support for the project.

Law firm Calfee to move Cleveland headquarters, 300-plus employees to former WKYC building | cleveland.com

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Lastly, the area around the West Side Market has been undergoing some change. Expect there to be a paid parking lot to be erected in the near future. For now, here's an article about the Market Garden Park that is across the street (in between Great Lakes Brewing and the Market). This is also a finished project.

market square park to undergo $1.5M makeover

At a public meeting held last week at Market Avenue Wine Bar, planners showed off designs for the future Market Square Park, an Ohio City park slated to receive a $1.5 million makeover this year from the city.

"We hope the new Market Square Park will become the de facto outdoor dining room for the West Side Market," says Ben Trimble, Program Manager with the Ohio City Near West Development Corporation (OCNW). Trimble says the park, located at the corner of Lorain and West 25th, will complement the redevelopment taking place elsewhere in the area.

Plans for revamping the park, which was completed in 1979, date back to at least 2004. OCNW selected it as a candidate for overhaul because of its dated design, lack of connection to the commercial district, and a perception that the park is unsafe.

The park, which was the original site for the West Side Market before the current building was constructed in 1912, has been a focus area for OCNW. The nonprofit helps to coordinate Open Air in Market Square, an outdoor bazaar that takes place on Saturdays throughout the summer, as well as other park programs.

When construction wraps up this fall, Trimble says the park will have "harvest tables" with bench seating, rows of new trees, public artwork with an "orchard ladder" theme defining the park's entranceway, attractive brick pavers, and an elevated stage that will be used for live music, outdoor movies, and other public performances.

Attractive new bus shelters will also be installed outside of Market Square Park. Parkworks and Cleveland Public Art, two nonprofit groups that worked on the park's redesign, say the bus shelters will be well-used. The Lorain and West 25th intersection has the second highest use of any transit waiting area in the city, second only to Public Square.

market square park to undergo $1.5M makeover

Here is a picture that may help illustrate the renovations of the park.

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