Cleveland: Lakefront Development and News

[bjk]

The latest from Michelle

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/06/cleveland_lakefront_constructi.html#incart_m-rpt-1

 

Sorry - didn't see this upthread

[TPH2]

Edit: Just a random thought I had looking at the new plans that I haven't really seen addressed before:

 

I would love to see the USS Cod better integrated into a lakefront plan. It would be much better if it were docked off of the 9th Street Pier as its current location is a bit out of the way. I also don't like how it's completely gated off with a barbed wire fence. I would love to see an arrangement more like the USS Torsk in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

 

 

[clvlndr]

Great news!

[Enginerd]

Does anyone know if the city still plans on utilizing 9th as a 'Festival' pier? That was in the lakefront plan not too long ago.

[McLovin]

"The downtown lakefront was created using fill dirt from dredging. The state asserts that it owns the land beneath that dirt – land that used to form the bottom of Lake Erie. So Cleveland had to lease that underlying land from the state before striking surface-level lease deals with any developer."

 

So basically the state owns the Lake Erie dirt? :-o :-o :wtf: :wtf:

 

Uhhhh great investment?

[clvlndr]

^The location of the new restaurant, just east of Voinovich Park, is perfect, allowing the well-planned (and much appreciated) V. Park to remain intact. 

[3 Dog Pat]

Does anyone know if the city still plans on utilizing 9th as a 'Festival' pier? That was in the lakefront plan not too long ago.

 

I dont think that is the current plan.  Right now, the city is working with  Cumberland Development and Trammell Crow Co. to develop a comprehensive plan. This restaurant is the first step

 

[tradition7]

Will there be any for sale units in the residential? Based on the images above I am fearing that it will be buildings like the Flats on Vine in Columbus. That would still be a vast improvement but I'd be disappointed. I liked the idea from a while back of diagonal narrow residential streets. (Yes I know this is probably a very premature conversation)

[mjarboe]

Will there be any for sale units in the residential? Based on the images above I am fearing that it will be buildings like the Flats on Vine in Columbus. That would still be a vast improvement but I'd be disappointed. I liked the idea from a while back of diagonal narrow residential streets. (Yes I know this is probably a very premature conversation)

 

There won't be for-sale housing in the lakefront project. Dick Pace says that, logistically, he can't sell units down there because he won't own the land. The project calls for a 50-year land-lease deal with the city, with a nearly 50-year extension period. That makes selling homes - and working with buyers to find financing - down there extremely difficult, if not impossible.

 

Michelle

[Flee2theCleve]

 

Edit: Just a random thought I had looking at the new plans that I haven't really seen addressed before:

 

I would love to see the USS Cod better integrated into a lakefront plan. It would be much better if it were docked off of the 9th Street Pier as its current location is a bit out of the way. I also don't like how it's completely gated off with a barbed wire fence. I would love to see an arrangement more like the USS Torsk in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

 

Great idea

[lockdog]

I have not lived in Cleveland for awhile, but was that not the original location that people complained about...????

[clvlndr]

I have not lived in Cleveland for awhile, but was that not the original location that people complained about...????

 

I believe you are correct.  Frankly, I disagree with bringing the Cod back over to that site.  Make it more accessible (ie remove the fence), but keep it where it is.  Having the Wm G. Mather there is enough, and even it -- given it's huge size-- may prove awkward where it is and new residents and commercial tenants may want it towed away as well.  This is a prime residential, office and retail location with (hopefully) sleek, modern buildings and pristine Lake Erie vistas.  We don't want to clutter it up with old ships and a sub despite their obviously kid-friendly/tourist-friendly orientation.

[Urbanophile]

I haven't lived in Cleveland for very long... so, what were the complaints about the former location of the USS Cod? I was thinking that moving it seemed like a great idea. It seems so isolated in its current location.

[TPH2]

I have not lived in Cleveland for awhile, but was that not the original location that people complained about...????

 

I believe you are correct.  Frankly, I disagree with bringing the Cod back over to that site.  Make it more accessible (ie remove the fence), but keep it where it is.  Having the Wm G. Mather there is enough, and even it -- given it's huge size-- may prove awkward where it is and new residents and commercial tenants may want it towed away as well.  This is a prime residential, office and retail location with (hopefully) sleek, modern buildings and pristine Lake Erie vistas.  We don't want to clutter it up with old ships and a sub despite their obviously kid-friendly/tourist-friendly orientation.

 

Moving the Cod closer to the pier would hardly interrupt any lake vistas. But regardless, I'd be fine leaving it where it is as long as the fences were torn down (or at least made more attractive looking) and making the walk down there more pedestrian friendly.

[lockdog]

sorry....  I was thinking about the Mather....  and as mentioned, the eastern lake view was blocked....  may not have that problem with the Cod....

[freethink]

The two buildings from CPC.

[TPH2]

Cleveland lakefront projects win early design approvals

 

By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer 

on June 05, 2015 at 2:20 PM, updated June 05, 2015 at 2:34 PM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A pair of public bodies signed off this week on early designs for the first two pieces of an ambitious project on the downtown lakefront.

 

On Friday, the Cleveland City Planning Commission gave a unanimous thumbs-up to plans for a restaurant, public restrooms and volleyball courts near Voinovich Park, on the East Ninth Street Pier. The commission also granted its first-round approval to a three-story building that would blend retail, offices and apartments on land just north of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/06/cleveland_lakefront_projects_w.html

[freethink]

From Michelle's article.

[KJP]

Cool. I've got first dibs on opening The New Captain Frank's!

[Cameron]

This is excellent news. I like the design for the building. It goes well with the lakefront and will (if I understand the position correctly) help to fill the gap between the Rock Hall and Voinovich Park. I've heard people mention Baltimore's Inner Harbor. If we could create something like that in Cleveland I would be thrilled.

[TPH2]

This is excellent news. I like the design for the building. It goes well with the lakefront and will (if I understand the position correctly) help to fill the gap between the Rock Hall and Voinovich Park. I've heard people mention Baltimore's Inner Harbor. If we could create something like that in Cleveland I would be thrilled.

 

On one hand, I'd love to see something like the Inner Harbor, but on the other hand, I'm glad that the developers are going after local tenants and thus it won't be anything like the Inner Harbor (which is filled with Ripley's Believe it or Not, Hard Rock, Bubba Gump Shrimp, P.F. Changs, Hooters, Pizzareia Uno, just to name a select few...)

[KJP]

Welcome, Cameron!

[tedders55]

This is excellent news. I like the design for the building. It goes well with the lakefront and will (if I understand the position correctly) help to fill the gap between the Rock Hall and Voinovich Park. I've heard people mention Baltimore's Inner Harbor. If we could create something like that in Cleveland I would be thrilled.

 

On one hand, I'd love to see something like the Inner Harbor, but on the other hand, I'm glad that the developers are going after local tenants and thus it won't be anything like the Inner Harbor (which is filled with Ripley's Believe it or Not, Hard Rock, Bubba Gump Shrimp, P.F. Changs, Hooters, Pizzareia Uno, just to name a select few...)

 

I second this, we visited Baltimore a few years ago and while the inner harbor is nicely developed it is quite filled with these chains. 

 

This is a much needed step in the right direction and provides some interaction with the marina that is right there.  That alone could become a draw from some of the area marina's (E55th, Edgewater, etc.) where there isn't much that you can take your boat too.  That is really one of the reasons we don't keep our closer.

[eyehrtfood]

Local is great... But some of the chains noted would be much more likely to draw a crowd/be a destination, especially among visitors. Perhaps a mix of tenants would suit all parties.

[Urbanophile]

Honestly, I think the lakefront would be a great place for a local expanding, well-regarded brewery. Yes, I'm talking about Fat Heads :) Apparently they were going to put a brew pub on W. 25, but they backed out. I think the lakefront would be a perfect fit for that kind of place.

[clvlndr]

I really like the concept drawings of these 2 buildings: classy and open (lots of glass), but with an architectural nod to their nautical surroundings.

[freethink]

Some good info.

 

Developer's 'dream' venture could be big for lakefront

 

Thirty years ago, a young architect named Richard Pace was a staffer on an early planning study for developing downtown Cleveland's lakefront at the north end of East Ninth Street. There was no Rock Hall, no Great Lakes Science Center and no pond-like inner harbor there.

As of June 16, the same architect (now turned real estate developer) in a joint venture with Dallas real estate development firm Trammell Crow Co. executed an option with the city of Cleveland to go beyond the plans for the same strip of Lake Erie coastline and to build on it retail, office and apartment structures.

“This is fulfilling a dream,” Pace said last Wednesday, June 24, as he discussed business terms for one of the most long-awaited real estate developments in the city's history. “We're farther along than anyone else has gotten in the last 50 years.”

In broad outline, the city's terms allow the developers to pay up as they put up projects. City spokesman Daniel Ball confirmed the developers put no money down as they executed the option this month. Instead, the developers will be subject to payments as they lease each of six phases surrounding the city's North Coast Harbor. The biggest cost they stand to have to pay is a minimum of $22.4 million over 50 years to replace parking revenue the city receives from the properties on the west side of the harbor north of FirstEnergy Stadium.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150628/NEWS/306289986/developers-dream-venture-could-be-big-for-lakefront

[surfohio]

^

However, “It's also a high-upside project,” Simons said.

 

“The developers get a chance to tie down a premium location for a long time without putting their capital at risk,” he said. “The lakefront location would be superior in many ways to others in the city with a lake view and cachet. What it does not have is a lot of restaurants and, as we all know, it's freaking cold in the winter there.”

 

It's freaking cold in much of the U.S. coastal areas....yet Cleveland is somehow different. 

[KJP]

^

However, “It's also a high-upside project,” Simons said.

 

“The developers get a chance to tie down a premium location for a long time without putting their capital at risk,” he said. “The lakefront location would be superior in many ways to others in the city with a lake view and cachet. What it does not have is a lot of restaurants and, as we all know, it's freaking cold in the winter there.”

 

It's freaking cold in much of the U.S. coastal areas....yet Cleveland is somehow different. 

 

I don't think that's what they're saying. I can stand at East 6th and Euclid for 5 minutes on a breezy, 20-degree January day and I'll be fine, suffering perhaps only a runny nose. But if I stand at the lake edge for 5 minutes on that same day in January, the body-slamming wind-chill there is so brutal it is exhausting. It feels like it's sucking the life of out you. When I've done it and gone back indoors, it's taken me at least 20 minutes to recover.

 

Chicago can call itself the Windy City, but the data shows that the north end of East 9th Street is even windier. Those railings along the sidewalk in front of the Federal Building aren't decorative. They're for pedestrians to hold on to.

 

Any development on the lakefront is going to have to take these weather conditions under consideration, and it sounds like they are.

[327]

Indeed.  A recent article about the old Huntington building noted that there's a blimp dock on the roof, but downtown Cleveland is so windy that it could never be used.  Outside the dead of winter, I like that windiness.  It adds to the sense of place.  But in January, north of all the big buildings?  Yikes.

[freethink]

Pedestrian bridge update.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That works too

            V

            V

            V

[KJP]

Pedestrian bridge update.

http://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/index.ssf/2015/07/cleveland_orchestra_has_banner.html#incart_gallery

 

You mean this:

 

Cuyahoga County schedules meeting with contractors to encourage bids on lakefront bridge

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/07/cuyahoga_county_to_meet_with_c.html#incart_river

[simplythis]

Groundbreaking this fall? http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/cleveland/2015/07/09/cleveland-rising-exclusive-new-look-at-clevelands-future-lakefront/29929303/

[freethink]

Pretty much just a puff piece from WKYC as we knew about the possible Sept start when the project was announced. The only thing we learned is the name of a possible tenant. Pace said he wanted local retailers. But I can't find anything about City Cycle. It will be interesting to hear who the restauranteur might be.

[mrclifton88]

That piece makes it sound like they are building on top of Voinivich Park.... Haha well if anything sounds like we should be getting some updates in the next couple weeks. I like the speed at which Pace wants to start this.

[TPH2]

2017 deadline helps Cuyahoga County attract more contractors to compete on lakefront bridge contract

 

By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

Follow on Twitter

on July 14, 2015 at 11:10 AM, updated July 14, 2015 at 12:54 PM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio –Cuyahoga County's second attempt to seek bids on a lakefront pedestrian bridge is attracting more interest from potential contractors, thanks to a deadline extension from 2016 to 2017.

 

Representatives of more than a dozen engineering and construction companies showed up Monday for a briefing on how to bid on the contract to build an iconic lakefront pedestrian bridge from the Mall to North Coast Harbor that could cost $25 million or more.

 

The response was far stronger than the original attempt by Cuyahoga County's Department of Public Works to elicit interest in the project last year, when it announced it wanted to finish the project in time for the Republican National Convention in 2016.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2015/07/2017_deadline_helps_cuyahoga_c.html

[gotribe]

Obviously there is already a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the railroad tracks that takes you from the Malls to the Browns Stadium area.  Does anyone use those bridges outside of Browns games?  That is access to "The Lakefront", and achieves the functional part of this project.  Maybe we should employ some better directional signage to those first, so people know how to get to them, see how much they get used, and go from there.  This just seems to much like a 1990's public works project that doesn't have well thought, good intentions. 

[Klingaling87]

That bridge that you're referring to was closed indefinitely.

[TPH2]

And even if they were still open, you have to traverse a steep set of stairs to get to them and they dump you out right onto a highway with cars zooming past at 50+ mph, not to mention it was a very aesthetically unpleasant walk. 

[freethink]

This is the presentation which was part of the recent meeting open to those contractors interested in bidding on the construction of the Lakefront Pedestrian Bridge. It appears from the study that the decision remains as to if the deck will be steel or concrete as you will see when the diagram refers to 'orthotropic' or 'composite'. A lot of detail. Steel would offer a structure of reduced weight while being more expensive due to the amount of welding and prefabrication involved. Looks like groundbreaking would start summer of '16 and take about a year.

 

http://publicworks.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_publicworks/en-US/071315-PED-BikedesignBuildPP-Wrkshop.pdf

[Cleburger]

Wasn't sure if this should go here, or the demolition thread.  I'm hoping for something worthwhile on the lakefront, even with the Shoreway there...

 

FirstEnergy's Lakeshore power plant will be demolished

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- FirstEnergy is preparing to demolish its century-old Lake Shore power plant at E. 70th Street and South Marginal Road adjacent to the East Shoreway.

 

FirstEnergy closed the last of the power plant's coal-fired boilers in April.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/08/firstenergys_lakeshore_power_p.html?hootPostID=8424393cecf92b1dffd5297384e613ca

[w28th]

As a former Eastsider I'll be sad to see this behemoth taken down.  It always announced that you were in the City since downtown became very visible after passing it.  I remember as a kid the "Noel" Christmas lights they'd put on the west face of the building.  The tall smoke stack also had a different light scheme at the top that lined the whole diameter in red light.

[surfohio]

As a former Eastsider I'll be sad to see this behemoth taken down.  It always announced that you were in the City since downtown became very visible after passing it.  I remember as a kid the "Noel" Christmas lights they'd put on the west face of the building.  The tall smoke stack also had a different light scheme at the top that lined the whole diameter in red light.

 

I've spent a lot of time in coal fired plants. These structures are really built to last. It may be short sighted to tear down so fast.

[Cleburger]

As a former Eastsider I'll be sad to see this behemoth taken down.  It always announced that you were in the City since downtown became very visible after passing it.  I remember as a kid the "Noel" Christmas lights they'd put on the west face of the building.  The tall smoke stack also had a different light scheme at the top that lined the whole diameter in red light.

 

I've spent a lot of time in coal fired plants. These structures are really built to last. It may be short sighted to tear down so fast.

 

I was thinking the same thing...but then again I guess it's been there for quite some time.

 

How long has it been since they decorated it for the holidays?

[KJP]

Something doesn't add up here. No Geis project at Burke has gone to planning commission....

 

Some development around Burke Airport about to take off

Tom Beres, WKYC-TV 7:22 p.m. EDT September 4, 2015

 

We discovered some development is about take off at and around Burke while it stays an airport.

 

Szabo says an FAA cost analysis just being completed is the final obstacle to starting construction of an office building on Burke parking lot space.

 

The Geis Brothers, who built the Cuyahoga County Administration Building and converted the Ameritrust headquarters into a grocery store and luxury living space, are behind the project.

 

Burke Airport Commissioner Khalid Bahhur says "We are working closely with the Geis brothers to make it a go." Groundbreaking could happen this month.

 

MORE:

http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/cleveland/2015/09/04/some-development-around-burke-airport---take-off/71726650/

[PoshSteve]

Awesome news if true. You really have to appreciate how bullish Geis has been on downtown.

[Pugu]

Something doesn't add up here. No Geis project at Burke has gone to planning commission....

 

maybe it goes next round? or maybe it doesn't need to go to CPC for projects on city-owned property? No idea...just throwing out some possibilities.

[KJP]

Not news, but a summary of the harbor project...

 

@ClevelandPlus: #CLE's lakefront will soon get a makeover as plans

are underway to develop more than 20 acres of lakefront

property! http://t.co/m2zziWH6lF

[KJP]

No renderings posted yet for these agenda items, but variations of them have been posted here before:

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2015/10022015/DRC2015_10_1.pdf

 

Downtown/Flats

Design Review Agenda

Thursday October 1st, 2015

Cleveland City Hall

Room 514

 

*Final Design Development Approval

4. Project: DF2015-044: North Coast Harbor – Site 1A

Project Address: North Coast Harbor – Voinovich Park

Project Representative: Richard Pace, Cumberland Development; Gary Ogrocki & Matt

Plecnik, Dimit Architects; Simon Beer, Office of James Burnett

 

*Schematic Design Approval

5. Project: DF2015-066: Cleveland Lakefront Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge

Project Address: Bridge Connecting Mall “C” to Cleveland Lakefront

Project Representative: Brian Reynolds, Parsons Brinckerhoff

 

*Denotes agenda item will also appear before the Cleveland City Planning Commission the

following day, Friday, October 2nd, 2015.

[KJP]

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2015/10022015/index.php

 

City Planning Commission

Agenda for October 2, 2015

 

DF2015-066 – Cleveland Lakefront Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge: Seeking Schematic Design Approval

Project Location: Span over RR tracks and Shoreway near Amtrak Station to connect Mall C to Lakefront

Project Representative: Brian Reynolds, Parsons Brinckerhoff