http://www.wtol.com/story/15600716/ohio-plant-planned-to-make-fuel-from-sewage-sludge

OH plant planned to make fuel from sewage sludge

The Flats East Bank Project in full swing

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - $275M worth of fun is coming to the East Bank of the Flats. Restaurants, an 18 floor office building, an outdoor club and shopping.

It's all slated to open in 2013, but hammers are already swinging.

The East Bank Project will be stunning. Restaurants, apartments, nightclubs and a ton of green space for families.

Don't forget about the new Horseshow Casino up the block and across the water, the new Greater Cleveland Aquarium - a $70M+ investment that is already under construction, too.

Back over the water on the East Side of the Flats, a Mexican restaurant, a burger joint, a steak house, retail shops and an outdoor night club are all in the works.

Across the water on the west bank of the flats the new greater Cleveland Aquarium, a 70 million plus investment is already under construction. It will open in early 2012.

http://www.woio.com/story/15721996/the-flats-east-bank-project-in-full-swing

Cuyahoga County creates panel to work with convention center/med mart developer

By JAY MILLER
1:39 pm, October 20, 2011

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald has announced the creation of a panel to work with the developer of the new Cleveland convention center and medical mart project.

Mr. FitzGerald, in a telephone interview with Crain's, said the role of the group, which includes Mr. FitzGerald, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and other civic and medical leaders, will be to review the business and marketing plans of project manager MMPI Inc. and “to help develop reasonable performance benchmarks” for the MMPI sales and marketing staff.


“It's formalizing (a) relationship that should exist” with the region's major medical institutions, Mr. FitzGerald said. He said he believes those institutions can use their clout to help attract tenants to the medical mart and conventions to the convention center.

He said the panel will begin meeting in November and he expects it to convene every 30 to 60 says to hear from MMPI's staff.

Earlier this month, MMPI was criticized by both The Plain Dealer and the weekly Scene for not publicly disclosing a change in its marketing strategy. The $465 million complex under construction on the Mall is paid for by a county tax.

Other members of the panel are C. Ellen Connally, president of the Cuyahoga County Council; Dr. Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic; David Gilbert, president of Positively Cleveland, the convention and visitors bureau; Sr. Judith Ann Karam, president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System; Mark Moran, CEO of MetroHealth Medical Center; Baiju Shah, CEO of BioEnterprise; Tom Zenty, CEO of University Hospitals Health System; and Joe Roman, CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111020/FREE/111029969

http://www.cantonrep.com/indians/x1827975384/Wind-turbine-to-be-installed-at-Progressive-Field

Wind turbine to be installed at Progressive Field

Way to be green Tribe! Maybe they can also add some rain water catchers to conserve water and some solar panels to help on power as well... Isnt there a wind turbine by Browns stadium as well?

Cleveland State To Break Ground On New Residential Development

Cleveland – Cleveland State University, Polaris Real Estate Equities and the Buckingham Companies will break ground on the new Campus Village Nov. 9 at 10:30 a.m., marking the single largest residential development in Cleveland in more than three decades. The groundbreaking ceremony will be on the corner of East 23rd Street and Chester Avenue on the CSU campus.

Campus Village will be a modern lifestyle development comprised of nine buildings with restaurants, shops, green space for outdoor activities and 8,000 square feet of indoor amenities, including a movie theater, media rooms and a cyber cafe. There will be more than 300 market-rate apartments – all designed to attract young professionals, alumni and students interested in living downtown and near a campus community. New residents will be drawn to the development by the amenities of the University and its proximity to PlayhouseSquare, downtown and the new Campus International School.

“This is a significant step in our ongoing process of creating a vibrant campus neighborhood,” said CSU President Ronald M. Berkman. “With 600 additional residents in the area, there will be a new energy on campus that will spark additional development throughout the surrounding area. This is a very exciting for CSU and for the city of Cleveland.”

The development is a public-private partnership between CSU and Polaris. “As a Cleveland-based company, we are very proud to be part of a project that will play a significant role in the area’s revitalization,” said Polaris President Guy Totino. “Cleveland State has done a remarkable job revitalizing this area, and this project will be a success, in part because of that effort.”

Construction begins the week of Nov. 7, with the first phase to be complete by fall of 2012, and the second phase to be complete by the fall of 2013.

http://www.csuohio.edu/news/releases/2011/11/14951.html

Retail strip being proposed on Clifton Boulevard in Cleveland

CLEVELAND Plans for a retail strip that would replace an aging, highly visible building were made public by a retail broker.

The Shoppes on Clifton, to be located at West 117th Street and Clifton Boulevard, is being marketed on the Internet by retail broker Arnold J. Eisenberg Inc. for Carnegie Companies, the property owner.

Its promotional materials note that Carnegie Companies would like to start construction on the roughly 34,000-square-foot retail strip in the summer of 2012.

The Shoppes on Clifton could be divided into two single-level buildings, separated by an 8-foot-wide pedestrian “breezeway,” as shown on two variations of preliminary site plans. Promotional documents also reveal that a 25,000-square-foot anchor store for the larger building is pending and “to be announced.” Both preliminary site plans, available at LoopNet.com, show the anchor store with a drive-through window and a truck loading dock.

Calls to the retail broker seeking more information were not returned as of the Sun Herald-Post’s news deadline on Nov. 21.

Others were not aware of any potential tenants for the proposed retail strip, the designs for which have not yet been placed on the city Planning Commission’s agenda for consideration.

“Final design of any redevelopment will be highly dependent on the tenants,” said Anita Brindza, executive director of Cudell Improvement Inc. “The owners have been very cognizant of the type of tenant suitable for this highly visible and strong market location. Design will evolve as information unfolds. Carnegie Companies and the community both value historic preservation standards, and I feel sure the final design will be one that holds true to those concepts.”

In 2009, the Planning Commission developed a land use guideplan for the West 117th Street corridor in partnership with Lakewood’s Planning Department. After soliciting input at public meetings, city planners published the guideplan, which included designs for the block bounded by West 117th, Clifton, West 116th and Lake Avenue.

The city’s guideplan prefers housing built over shops along Clifton, a parking deck behind, townhouses along Lake, and a retailer or caf in the vacant, city-owned, former Fifth Christian Scientist Church, 11623 Lake Ave.

But preliminary site plans and renderings for the Shoppes on Clifton propose it as a single-level, retail-only structure with a surface parking lot behind and no use planned for the 85-year-old church.

“Given the length of time this redevelopment has been under discussion, probably 20 years now, many iterations of development scenarios have been proposed and discussed by all the various parties that have been involved,” Brindza said. “Some have suggested mixed use and even provided rough drawings of such a development. To my knowledge, those have not come from the owner of the property.”

One variation of the property owner’s proposed site plan shows West 116th converted into a one-way, northbound-only street. Both plan variations show a half-dozen parking spaces on the north side of Clifton between West 116th and 117th where parking does not now exist. One option shows parallel parking spaces and the other shows angled spaces.

Cudell Improvement Inc. is sponsoring an environmental assessment of demolishing the existing commercial strip along Clifton between West 116th and 117th streets. The strip houses the combined Geppetto’s and Johnny Malloy’s sports bar as well as the former Giant Eagle grocery store that was vacated in 2008.

See more news at cleveland.com.

Prendergast is a freelancer from Lakewood. Contact him at kenatsun@cox.net.

http://www.cleveland.com/sunpostherald/index.ssf/2011/11/retail_strip_being_proposed_on.html

New aquarium taking shape: Attraction at Powerhouse in Flats to feature walk-through shark tank

The finishing touches are weeks away, but the Greater Cleveland Aquarium appears on track to open Jan. 21.

Built into a portion of the old Powerhouse in the Flats, the 40-tank aquarium is the handiwork of New Zealand-based Marinescape, which has more than 20 other such attractions around the globe and bills itself as the pioneer in walk-through aquariums.

A signature feature of the Marinescape exhibitions will be present in Cleveland: a curving acrylic tunnel that snakes through the shark tank -- that is, with the tank next to and over spectators. It should afford them just about every sensation of a shark encounter except for the loss of limbs.

Visitors will also be able to walk around the outside of the 70-foot, 500,000-gallon tank. It will showcase at least 15 sharks of various species, some up to 7 feet long.

One of the greatest challenges in developing the aquarium here was constructing it in the Powerhouse while retaining the historical character of the building, spokeswoman Kayla Ott said.

"We couldn't change any part of the structure -- bricks, walls or beams -- because of its historical designation," Ott said.

The base of a giant smokestack is at the core of the aquarium, with vaulted-ceiling brick coal tunnels winding through. Arched portals provide access to some exhibits, and some of the tunnel ports will contain smaller tanks from the exhibit.

The Powerhouse is 70,000 square feet, with half of that taken up by the aquarium. Ott said there is room for expansion as well.

The aquarium is broken down into thematic zones, starting with one called Ohio Lakes and Rivers.

Another zone will highlight fish from saltwater coastal regions, and another will emphasize exotic freshwater fish, including piranha.

There will also be alligators of various sizes and a hands-on area where visitors can touch such exotica as a stingray and a baby shark.

Tamera Brown, the aquarium's general manager, said the project will create 15 permanent full-time jobs and 35 part-time positions. Much of the construction work is being supervised by a Marinescape team that has built aquariums around the world. But Brown said most of the work is being performed by local contractors.

The international company chose Cleveland because no major aquarium "is within 4½ hours," said Andrew Hearn, who has overseen the project from its inception three years ago. "The closest is in Newport [in Kentucky]."

Will there ever be dolphins, seals and other aquatic mammals?

"No mammals," Brown said. "The [Cleveland Metroparks] Zoo does a magnificent job with mammals. Why try to duplicate that?"

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jewinger@plaind.com, 216-999-3905

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/new_aquarium_taking_shape_attr.html

this aquarium is gonna be the shizznit! cant wait to check it out. Ive never been in the powerhouse only next to it when i went to a concert a few years back at the pavilion.. always wanted toledo to fix up our steam plant for public usage

Cleveland Turns Uptown Into New Downtown

CLEVELAND — Since 1950, when its population peaked at 914,808, Cleveland has steadily shed residents and jobs. In 2010, just 396,815 people lived within the city limits, almost 81,000 fewer than a decade before, and about the same number of people who lived in Cleveland in 1900.

The sequence of events is sadly familiar: the disappearance of labor-intensive industry that paid a living wage, followed by entrenched poverty and the social disruption that it brings.

But in recent years Cleveland’s municipal government and its Regional Transit Authority have rallied major employers, banks, foundations and developers around a central goal of rebuilding the city’s core according to the new urban market trends of the 21st century — health care, higher education, entertainment, good food, new housing and expanded mass transportation.

A point of focus has been the emerging Uptown arts and entertainment district along Euclid Avenue, near where John D. Rockefeller and other industrialists and financiers built opulent mansions.

When it is finished next year, the new $27 million Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by Farshid Moussavi, will perch, like a lustrous black gem, at the entrance to the district, at Euclid and Mayfield Road. A pedestrian plaza designed by James Corner Field Operations, a designer of the High Line elevated park in New York City, separates the new museum from two four-story, mixed-use residential buildings under construction on the north and south sides of Euclid.

The 60,106-square-foot south building will have 70 rental apartments above 21,189 square feet of restaurant and retail space. The north structure, larger at 84,399 square feet, has 44 apartments and 36,480 square feet of retail space that includes a bookstore and a big grocery, the first in the area. Both buildings were designed by Stanley Saitowitz of Natoma Architects in San Francisco, and built at a cost of $44 million by MRN Ltd., a Cleveland development group.

To get residents and visitors to and from the arts district, the Regional Transit Authority is planning to move two existing rail stops on the city’s 19-mile Red Line closer to Uptown, nearby Little Italy and Case Western Reserve University at a cost of nearly $30 million.

“All of this new construction is enhanced by international design,” said Ari Maron, a 33-year-old partner in the family-owned MRN Ltd. “The focus is the street. You provide the right mix of assets. You fill the buildings with people and open the storefronts to the sidewalk. You create a place where people want to be which didn’t exist before.”

In effect, the Uptown area will be what amounts to a new downtown for the University Circle neighborhood on the east side of the city. Within the square mile of University Circle, and within easy walking distance of Uptown, are Case Western Reserve, the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Music, University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History.

Spread across a campuslike expanse of green space, these institutions form a distinct economic microclimate that has fostered the highest growth in job numbers, income and residents in a city that lost 17 percent of its population from 2000 to 2010.

“There are 5,000 more jobs here than in 2005,” said Chris Ronayne, an urban planner who is president of University Circle Inc., a nonprofit community service organization that has helped manage the area’s development. “About 50,000 people work here. The number of residents grew 11 percent since 2000. And there are 10,000 people who live here now.”

By almost any measure of civic energy and interest, Uptown looks to be a success. Mr. Maron said MRN Ltd. had already leased all three retail and seven restaurant spaces in his project. The one-bedroom, one-bathroom, 750-square-foot apartments have drawn strong interest and will rent for about $1,500 a month when they go on the market in January, he said.

Other new projects in Uptown include a planned $26 million, 150-room Marriott hotel just down Euclid on Cornell Road. The Cleveland Institute of Art now trains 520 students in a 155,000-square-foot building, where Ford Model Ts were once made, that was recently renovated at a cost of $35 million. Next June the institute is scheduled to break ground on a $30 million, 91,000-square-foot, four-story addition — designed by Stantec Architecture, which has an office in Cleveland — that will be clad in multicolored panes of glass, said Grafton Nunes, the president and chief executive.

And just a block away, Case Western Reserve in 2002 completed a $62 million, 152,000-square-foot classroom building, designed by Frank Gehry, for its Weatherhead School of Management.

“That area of the city is really coming fast as a center of Cleveland’s growth,” said Tracey A. Nichols, the director of the city Department of Economic Development. “We are convinced projects like Uptown will continue to be built and in the next generation this will be a city of 500,000 people again.”

One of the first major projects for Uptown, completed in 2008, was the $200 million reconstruction of Euclid Avenue, which included installing a dedicated lane for an unusual bus rapid transit line. The three-year-old line has attracted 12 million riders and connects the city’s central Public Square to University Circle.

The bus service, known as the HealthLine, and the reconstructed boulevard are credited with contributing to a boom in development that The Plain Dealer reported in July had reached a total of $5 billion. Along with Uptown, where the investment so far totals $162 million, other big projects include a $560 redevelopment of University Hospitals Case Medical Center, a $350 million casino on Public Square and a $465 million, 555,000-square-foot convention center and medical mart downtown.

“There were skeptics about the HealthLine,” said David Beach, an urban design expert with the Museum of Natural History. “It’s proving that an investment in transit and improvements in streetscape do start to change real estate investment patterns over time. In a slow economy it takes a few years. But we are seeing new development up and down the Euclid corridor now.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/realestate/commercial/cleveland-ignites-job-growth-with-rebuilding-project.html?_r=2

http://www.toledoblade.com/Automotive/2011/12/06/Ford-to-move-truck-production-from-Mexico-to-Ohio.html

Ford to move truck production from Mexico to Ohio
Gov. Kasich announces $128M investment in Lorain Co.

^^ When I click on the link, the article doesn't come up. If this is going to Lorain county, then it should be in the suburban development thread.

the link works fine for me

RTA wins $12.5 million grant for new rapid station at Mayfield and East 119th

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority officials have landed a $12.5 million grant to relocate and build a rapid station near the city's hottest redevelopment spot.

The new station at Mayfield Road and East 119th Street will be a short walk to the Uptown residential-retail development and the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

They're both under construction in University Circle's Triangle District, bounded by Euclid Avenue, Mayfield and rail lines.

The station will brighten the dark underpass and railway that form a barrier between Little Italy to the east and University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University to the west.

"Happy dance, I'm doing the happy dance!" Maribeth Feke, RTA's top planner, yipped when told of the grant award Wednesday morning.

RTA had to compete for the grant, among dozens nationwide totaling $527 million announced this week under the U. S. Department of Transportation's TIGER program.

DOT targets the grants for "road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve critical national objectives," according to the agency website.

The grant was announced by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown's office.

"Increased public transportation options will only further boost University Circle's attractiveness to small-business owners, young people and homeowners," Brown said in a news release.

RTA will invest millions of dollars in the project, which has an estimated cost of $17. 5 million

Expenses include designing the station, which is 30 percent complete; building it; and renovating two bridges that carry the RTA tracks.

Construction could start in early 2013.

The sleek, glassy station features a center platform between the Red Line tracks, plans showed.

The station will replace a foreboding one to the north, at East 120th and Euclid Avenue. That station does not meet federal codes requiring access for the disabled.

"Our application was all about connections," Feke said. "That's why we got [the grant]."

New construction nearby, and the lack of parking in a University Circle area dense with jobs and residents, heightened the need for a better and strategically located transit stop, officials said.

RTA said that paying for and crafting the design is a collaboration with the Cleveland Foundation, Little Italy, CWRU and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, a multicounty group that plans and prioritizes transportation projects.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/12/post_545.html

Groundwork begins for Courtyard by Marriott at University Circle

By STAN BULLARD
12:05 pm, December 15, 2011

Workers this week started stripping asphalt from a parking lot near the southeast corner of Euclid Avenue and Cornell Road to launch construction of a $27 million Courtyard by Marriott hotel in University Circle.

Building the 153-room hotel caps a quest that University Circle Inc. and University Hospitals began in the summer of 2008 to add a hotel to the city's cultural, medical and entertainment district.


“This deal went as soon in this economy as it could have gone forward,” Chris Ronayne, UCI president, said in an interview. The institutions began searching for a hotel developer a few months before the 2008 financial crash and the Great Recession.

The project is a joint venture by Snavely Group of Chagrin Falls and Concord Hospitality Enterprises Inc. of Raleigh, N.C. Snavely will construct the property and Concord will manage it.

Funds from six sources were used to assemble the $27 million financing package to build the hotel, said Pete Snavely, president of the family-owned development and construction firm. The project incorporates Cleveland and Cuyahoga County loans, funds raised through federal new market tax credits and construction union pension funds.

The eight-story hotel is expected to open late next year, said Mr. Snavely, who estimates nearly 150 workers will be on the project site at its busiest in late summer.

Portions of the 1.5-acre site were owned by UCI and University Hospitals. Mr. Ronayne said the institutions originally planned to lease the land to the developer, but decided it will remain a hotel use “for a long time” and will not be needed for future expansion by a UCI institution. The two sold the site for $597,000, according to Cuyahoga County land records.

The Courtyard University Circle won financing, which closed Dec. 9, within weeks of loan setbacks roiling the region's hotel industry. Most prominently, the Old Arcade, which houses the Hyatt Regency Cleveland downtown, changed hands at a Dec. 5 foreclosure auction for just $7 million.

Mr. Snavely acknowledged the developers are placing a “$27 million bet” on the hotel market.

“I think the market we will sit in is very different than (downtown),” Mr. Snavely said. “We are a very different price point than other (full-service) hotels and our (Marriott) brand. We have the cultural, medical and educational institutions all right here.”

MRN, the Cleveland-based developer of East Fourth Street, opened a Doubletree hotel in the renovated Tudor Arms building at University Circle in early fall.

http://crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20111215%2FFREE%2F111219899

the new mayfield East 119th station looks pretty nice from the drawing.. Good planning as well to get it a little closer to the attractions. Never took the rapid out that way (Always board at W 150th/Puritas and get off at Tower City when going to tribe/cavs games comin from toledo w the exception 2 times when i boarded the one that takes ya from TC to browns stadium.)

Would it be feasible for the rapid to extend past Hopkins airport or beyond Stokes Windermere station? Would be nice to have a station to serve berea or somewhere further west so my drive could be shortened even more and to serve the city of berea. Also I have a sister that stays in Mentor and it would be cool to park on the west side somewhere, ride the rapid as far east as possible and have my sister pick me up without havin to drive to far to get me

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7391935n

Preview: "There Goes the Neighborhood"

This will be on 60 minutes tonight

Regional Transit Authority to sell blighted building that mars Cleveland's Health-Tech Corridor

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A hulking symbol of blight on Cleveland's emerging health and technology corridor could be eliminated, now that the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority has agreed to sell a vacant building at 6611 Euclid Ave. to a private developer.

Dick Pace believes he can renovate the seven-story brick building to house small companies.

The president of Cumberland Development LLC, Pace turned the nearby Baker Electric Building into a successful business incubator. Now he aims to tackle a building that nearby property owners and investors describe as the biggest eyesore on the block.

On Tuesday, the RTA's board of directors agreed to sell 6611 Euclid to Pace's company for $500,000. That's far less than the $1.1 million the transit agency paid for the property in 2005. RTA bought the site, which then included three buildings, to stage construction materials and use part of the land for the Euclid Corridor transportation project.

RTA knocked down two buildings. The remaining structure, with blown-out windows and an RTA banner on one side, looms over its neighbors. The city of Cleveland condemned it last year. And some stakeholders in Cleveland's Midtown neighborhood want to see it demolished and replaced with new development or a public park.

But Pace believes he can remake the building for young companies emerging from the Cleveland Clinic's innovations arm and assisted by BioEnterprise, a nonprofit group focused on the region's biomedical economy. He hopes to close the purchase from RTA in February, after finding financing for a $15 million project.

"By saving the building, I save hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of demolition," Pace said. "I've got a structure already built which is a seven-story structure, which gives me views of the city that nobody else in the neighborhood has."

An RTA spokeswoman said the Federal Transit Administration has signed off on the deal. A deal summary presented to RTA board members explains that selling the property will save the agency money on demolition and maintenance. And RTA expects Pace's project to bring more riders to the Euclid Avenue HealthLine buses.

"We're excited that somebody was able to get through the federal transit process," said Jim Haviland, executive director of MidTown Cleveland Inc., a nonprofit group focused on the neighborhood and the Health-Tech Corridor. "It is one of the last remaining blighted physical structures along Euclid Avenue that needed to be addressed."

MidTown Cleveland had been working with nearby property owners to acquire the building and demolish it for a park. The Cleveland Botanical Garden has an urban farm next door. And the Dunham Tavern Museum sits in the 6611 building's shadow.

William Ruper, president of the Dunham Tavern's board of trustees, said the museum still wants the building razed and replaced with green space.

"It seems like an overpowering building for what's being developed on Euclid," he said. "What's been developed on Euclid is two-, three-story buildings. And that thing is just a monstrosity. We're still trying to work something out where we could acquire the building, should the developer not go through with it."

The site is surrounded by ongoing and potential projects.

Developer Fred Geis and his partners have secured commitments from tenants for 73 percent of the MidTown Tech Park, a new building at 6700 Euclid Ave. Real estate brokers said DeVry University, a for-profit school, recently leased the entire second floor, about 32,000 square feet. Another Geis project, a redevelopment at 7000 Euclid Ave., is 50 percent leased.

Pace is focused on companies that need 1,000 to 5,000 square feet. The first floor of the 6611 building could become a coffee shop and copy center. Another floor might offer shared services and conference space.

"From our vantage, this is very helpful, as we can market to a broader range of companies to establish themselves on the corridor," Baiju Shah, chief executive officer of BioEnterprise, wrote in an email Thursday.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/post_94.html

Northeast Ohio projects win bulk of $14.9 million in state tax credit awards for historic buildings

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Offices and labs in Cleveland's Midtown neighborhood and apartments in downtown Akron are among the newest local projects to benefit from a state program helping developers revive historic buildings across Ohio.

State officials announced $14.9 million in Ohio historic preservation tax credits Thursday, during a news conference in downtown Akron. The tax credits help developers cut the cost of remaking historic properties.

Since 2006, the state has awarded $279.3 million in credits, which offset liabilities such as state income taxes or corporate franchise taxes. In a challenging economy, state and federal credits aimed at historic preservation have kept projects alive - despite a nationwide financing crunch.

"Historic preservation projects strengthen local communities by spurring private investments and creating jobs through construction and reoccupation of vacant and underutilized buildings," Christiane Schmenk, director of the Ohio Department of Development, said in a news release.

From Akron to Ashtabula, projects in Northeast Ohio won $11.4 million - roughly 77 percent - of the newest round of awards.

The biggest winner was the long-dormant Victory Building in Cleveland's Midtown neighborhood, where real estate broker Scott Garson hopes to create a home for high-tech companies. The building, at 7012 Euclid Ave., was set to become apartments before the financial crisis.

Now Garson aims to capture some of the health and tech companies eyeing space near the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and University Circle. The Victory Building sits in the middle of Cleveland's Health-Tech Corridor, a swath of Midtown being remade with labs and offices.

Reached by email Thursday, Garson said the state award "is a significant piece of the puzzle in helping to realize my vision for a renovated Victory Building."

The city of Cleveland has pledged a $720,000 loan to the project, through a program focused on vacant properties, and a tax-increment financing deal worth $2.5 million over 30 years. And the city has asked state officials to consider the project for a $3 million grant, from a program meant to create jobs-ready sites.

If completed, the $26.9 million project would receive nearly $4.4 million in state tax credits.

The other local winners are:

•The Park Building and Southworth Building in Cleveland. Nearly $2 million in tax credits will help developer Matt Howells convert part of the Park Building and the adjacent Southworth Building, on Ontario Street, into 34 apartments. Most of the Park Building, at 140 Public Sq., houses condominiums. A jump in downtown Cleveland's apartment occupancy has developers searching for new rental projects to meet growing demand.

• The Civic Theatre block in downtown Akron. An $11.8 million redevelopment, including retail and apartments, of six buildings around the Akron Civic Theatre. One building, at 172 S. Main St., won state tax credits in a previous round of awards. The new award - $2.4 million - will cover the other five buildings.

• Cascade Lofts in Akron. The redevelopment of the former Swinehart Tire & Rubber Co. factory at 21 W. North St. The $4.2 million residential project will include retailers catering to pedestrians and cyclists traveling the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Cascade Lofts will receive $908,705 in state tax credits.

• Gifford House in Cleveland. A redevelopment of a historic home and carriage house - most recently used by a fraternity - at 3047 Prospect Ave. Ziska Architecture will renovate the property and move its studios there. The $804,915 project will receive $108,914 in tax credits.

• Highland and Crescent apartments in Akron. A nearly $1.4 million overhaul of garden-style apartment buildings on West Market Street. The project won $134,314 in tax credits.

• Hotel Ashtabula. This former hotel will become offices for Signature Health. The building, at 4726 Main Ave. in Ashtabula, has been closed since 1985. The $3.5 million project will receive $639,350 in tax credits.

• Rialto Theater in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood. The redevelopment of the former Moda nightclub on West 25th Street as a production facility, offices and store for Mitchell's Ice Cream. The $3.9 million project will receive $484,108 in tax credits.

• Steele Mansion in Painesville. This $2 million project will turn a former mansion into an inn. At 348 Mentor Ave., the building has been empty since a fire in 2001. The state awarded it $371,500 in credits.

Developers must finish a project to receive the tax credits. In a recent study, researchers at Cleveland State University found that $1 million of credits helps fuel $8 million in construction spending, $40 million in economic activity and nearly 400 jobs during construction and after a project is complete.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/northeast_ohio_projects_win_bu.html

Cleveland gets first roll of casino dice in Ohio

(AP) CLEVELAND — Visitors to Ohio's first casino won't see glitzy Las Vegas-style stage shows but instead will get an invitation to gamble and then sample the attractions in blue-collar Cleveland.

The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland will open in late March on four floors of a renovated department store overlooking Public Square in the heart of downtown.

The casino will have 2,011 slot machines, 63 table games and a 30-table poker room.

Instead of offering in-house live entertainment, the casino will bet on drawing visitors who are also interested in other Cleveland attractions including its sports teams, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and its busy theater scene.

"Rather than saying, 'Come to Horseshoe Cleveland' and just come into the casino and stay the entire time, we're actually connecting to the city," the casino's manager, Marcus Glover, said during a year-end construction tour interview.

"We'll provide first-class amenities in terms of leveraging the amenities around us in the downtown corridor with the fine restaurants and hotels that are down here, as well as the venues and other attractions."

The city likes the idea of an estimated 5 million annual casino visitors strolling through downtown to shop, eat and sample the attractions.

"It's important for the casino not to be just an enclosed shrine to betting," said Chris Warren, Cleveland's chief of regional development.

With walkways and pedestrian tunnels linking the casino to the sports complex and Tower City retail-office complex, "you have a unique constellation of really high-visitor, high-marquee venues that will be connected," he said.

Plans for the initial casino phase call for a buffet restaurant and a food court with three outlets. The casino eventually will expand to include a newly built casino overlooking smokestack industries along the serpentine Cuyahoga River.

By comparison, Caesars Palace Las Vegas has 14 places to eat, plus shops, a spa and high-end entertainment including Celine Dion during the New Year's weekend.

The Cleveland casino and one planned for Cincinnati will be operated by a joint venture between Caesars Entertainment and Rock Gaming, run by Dan Gilbert, owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and founder of Quicken Loans.

Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cavaliers, is within sight of the casino and the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which the casino recently purchased, adding to Gilbert's expanding footprint in Cleveland.

The initial casino phase may have a familiar look for movie buffs. It will be in the old Higbee building, which played a starring role in the 1983 film "A Christmas Story." Planners have tried to preserve its retro look, right down to the original doors.

Two years ago, Ohio voters approved plans for four casinos, including locations in Columbus and Toledo to be run by Penn National Gaming.

Casino opponents, led by church groups, fought the vote and warned that gambling hits the pocketbooks of the poor the hardest. Cleveland, with a poverty rate of 34 percent, ranks as the nation's third-poorest big city.

Les Bernal, executive director of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation in Washington, D.C., predicts a litany of gambling-related problems will result in Ohio from casinos.

"Ohio is about to unleash one of the biggest public policy failures in America over the last 40 years," he said.

"It's going to increase the level of personal debt, it's going to create tens of thousands of new gambling addicts, it's going to develop an economy based on phony prosperity and it's going to ultimately result in higher taxes and worse budget deficits for the people of Ohio."

Brian Davis, a community organizer with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, said it's an open question whether any economic benefit from a casino would outweigh additional demands on social services because of gambling addicts, debt-ridden gamblers and other issues.

In either case, a casino will simply add an additional outlet to the betting opportunities already available, he said.

"People who are struggling with gambling addiction find ways even if they live in Cleveland right now," in the pre-casino era, he said.

A key selling point in the casino campaign was creating jobs. Cleveland's casino will have about 1,600 employees and initial job postings in recent weeks have drawn tens of thousands of applicants. The $350 million project is expected to create 2,000 construction jobs.

Cleveland's jobless rate was 9.1 percent in November, with nearly 17,000 people looking for work.

The casino also raised hopes of spinoff jobs, from initial construction work to expanded restaurant and tourism employment.

Brandt Evans, whose Pura Vida restaurant sits a half-block from Horseshoe Cleveland, said he is confident the casino will thrive under Gilbert's hard-driving leadership.

"If my projected sales increase, I'll definitely have to hire at least 10 to 15 more employees," said Evans, whose restaurant opened seven months ago and employs 23.

John Krajewski, 50, a sheet-metal worker, is an early job success story. He landed work installing heating and ventilation equipment at the casino after being laid off 20 months and now expects to patronize the casino when it opens.

"I see Cleveland starting to grow again — the 'Comeback City' that it was in the '80s," he said during a lunch break with fellow hard-hats.

The job has given him a chance to resume planning for his retirement.

"My (investment) funds are starting to kick back to what they were and I'm making a decent living like I was before," he said.

Krajewski may reflect the blue-collar base of the casino. He and his wife occasionally travel to a casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario, but expect to give the Cleveland casino a chance.

"I'm not really that big of a gambler, but I would come down to monkey around on the slot machines," he said.

Glover said he isn't concerned about the casino's odds of flourishing in an increasingly crowded Midwestern gambling scene.

"Ohio will have four casinos. Today Ohio has no casinos. Everyone who lives in Ohio who wants to partake in gaming activities leaves the state today," he said.

"So, there's considerable amount of support leaving Ohio today to go participate in gaming activities in bordering states, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan. So we feel pretty good about having the prospect of only having one casino here in Cleveland."

But Glover already has his antennae out for the possibility of seeing further dilution of the gambling pie if Ohio horse race tracks offer slots-like video lottery terminals.

"Tracks, if they do eventually get the VLTs, pose some level of cannibalization," he said. "But we'll have a different offering than those tracks will have."

Glover promised the casino would have an opulent look — "very rich textures, very rich color palate, very masculine color palate" — and said he's confident City Hall would keep the area neat and safe.

Asked about the potential for panhandlers and vagrants outside the casino's front door, Glover said he wasn't deterred.

"We feel good about what the city of Cleveland is going to do in terms of devoting police force and other services to make this area a much more vibrant area," he said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57348287/cleveland-gets-first-roll-of-casino-dice-in-ohio/

http://www.wtol.com/story/16395589/bring-it-on-downtown-businesses-look-forward-to-the-nba-season

Near Sell-Out: Cavs fans and downtown businesses say better late than never

PlayhouseSquare to sell downtown Cleveland office building to the K&D Group for apartments

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A private developer plans to convert a PlayhouseSquare office building into 102 apartments, capturing explosive rental demand and bringing the first residential project to the heart of Cleveland's theater district.

PlayhouseSquare has agreed to sell the Hanna Building Annex on East 14th Street to the K&D Group of Willoughby.

The largest privately held owner of apartments in Northeast Ohio, K&D plans to acquire the downtown property on April 1. PlayhouseSquare and K&D executives declined to comment publicly on the purchase price for the building, an eight-story structure that houses the Hanna Theatre.

Leaders of the nonprofit PlayhouseSquare Foundation have been dreaming about residential projects for more than a decade. With occupancy rising at downtown apartments -- approaching 95 percent during the third quarter, according to the Downtown Cleveland Alliance -- PlayhouseSquare thinks it's the right time to bring more renters to the nation's second-largest performing arts center.

"On the edges of PlayhouseSquare, there are about 1,500 units, but most people don't think of PlayhouseSquare as having a lot of residential," said Art Falco, the nonprofit's chief executive officer. "This project, I think, is going to start changing that impression."

K&D transformed a historic retail-and-office complex at 668 Euclid Ave. into an apartment building with a waiting list. The developer envisions a similar project at the 120,000-square-foot Hanna annex. The redevelopment won't affect the Hanna Theatre, which was renovated several years ago to house the Great Lakes Theater company.

"This is their plan, to do this throughout the district," Doug Price, K&D's chief executive, said of PlayhouseSquare's residential aspirations. "I think this is one of the first (projects), and I don't think it's the last. We talked maybe as many as 500 units in the district, all redevelopment, utilizing these older commercial buildings."

The second through eighth floors of the annex will become apartments, ranging from 600 square feet to 1,200 square feet. Price expects the units to rent for between $725 and $1,500 a month. K&D will lease the ground-floor retail space back to PlayhouseSquare, which hopes to keep the few existing tenants and bring in other stores and service businesses to cater to residents.

Office and storage space in the annex is about 70 percent occupied by tenants including an accounting firm and nonprofit organizations. Falco said PlayhouseSquare is offering those tenants space in the neighboring Hanna Building, which stretches along East 14th and Euclid Avenue, just north of the annex.

PlayhouseSquare Real Estate Services has been trying to boost occupancy at the Hanna Building, which is about 80 percent full.

The Hanna complex is the site of roughly $70 million in completed or planned investments, including the theater makeover, improvements to the Hanna Building and K&D's anticipated $23 million budget for buying and remaking the annex. Construction on the apartments could start in June, and the project might be finished by mid-2013, Price said.

And work at the Hanna is one act in a larger revitalization playing out in the district.

The Cleveland Play House and Cleveland State University are finishing work on a theater-and-education complex. Restaurateur Zack Bruell aims to open his newest outpost next month in a longtime jewelry store space East 13th Street and Euclid. Dwellworks LLC, a real estate-services provider, is moving its headquarters and 30 to 40 jobs to PlayhouseSquare from Warrensville Heights.

The Huron Square and Osborn apartments, toward the western edge of the neighborhood, are nearly full, said property manager Donna Jarden. And other property owners are contemplating residential-conversion projects.

"The logical step would be to continue to push housing in that neighborhood," said Joe Marinucci, chief executive of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.

Eventually, PlayhouseSquare would like to see new residential construction, atop historic buildings at East 13th and Euclid and in place of a parking lot across from the Palace Theatre. But in a soft economy, with construction financing still hard to find, tackling an existing building seemed more feasible.

Price will be able to use federal and state tax credits aimed at historic preservation to cut the cost of his project. The developer also hopes to secure New Markets Tax Credits, which offer a tax benefit to individuals and companies investing in areas with high poverty and unemployment.

"I think the Hanna annex has the ability to be one of those projects that creates a whole new district for downtown living," said Ralph McGreevy, executive vice president of the Northeast Ohio Apartment Association. "If you've listened to PlayhouseSquare over the years, they've always mentioned housing in their platform of things they want to accomplish."

Follow me on Twitter: @mjarboe

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/playhousesquare_to_sell_downto.html

Greater Cleveland Aquarium plans gala in celebration of grand opening

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is proud to announce that, after a year of construction, Ohio's only freestanding aquarium is set for its Grand Opening on January 21, 2012.

In celebration of Cleveland's newest downtown attraction, the GCA is hosting a Grand Opening Gala on January 19, 2012.

This unique, formal event will give visitors an advance look at the Aquarium's stunning new facility at 2000 Sycamore Street in the FirstEnergy Powerhouse. Visitors purchasing tickets at the Captain level ($1,000 for two tickets) will receive an advance, private tour of the aquarium's 1 million gallon space, champagne toast, and special gift along with dinner, refreshments, and access to the silent auction while enjoying reserved seating in the VIP area in the Bridgeview Room.
Those purchasing tickets at the First Mate price ($150 each) will receive an assigned time to tour the Aquarium and a special gift to go with dinner and refreshments in the Riverview Room and City Room, and access to the silent auction.

Proceeds from this one-of-a-kind event will benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Aquarium Education Fund. The Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland supports families whose children receive treatment at area medical centers by providing a home like environment and essential resources and services. The Greater Cleveland Aquarium Education Fund provides transportation scholarships to schools that cannot afford busses to attend education programs at the Aquarium.

Individuals or organizations interested in attending or sponsoring this event can visit the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland HERE.

Copyright 2011 WOIO. All rights reserved.

http://www.woio.com/story/16411133/greater-cleveland-aquarium-plans-gala-in-celebration-of-grand-opening

Shark tank is filled with water as opening day nears for Greater Cleveland Aquarium

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- We're getting close.

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium's featured attraction -- a 150-foot-long walk-through tank -- was declared ready for occupancy Wednesday, and 500,000 gallons of water was poured in.

Next will come the fish. The 15 sharks and assorted other creatures due to reside in the 4,738-square-foot enclosure will arrive by truck in two weeks.

Opening day of Cleveland's newest sight quickly follows on Saturday, Jan. 21.

"It's always exciting to see the tanks getting filled," said Conrad Mellsop, an engineer for the aquarium's developer, Marinescape NZ Ltd. "It means that construction is coming to an end."

The walk-through tank, known as "SeaTube," is the developer's staple feature. Marinescape has built more than 20 aquariums in Europe, Asia and Australia.

The tube will provide visitors with an unobstructed view inside the tank through windows that are above and next to them as they walk within the exhibit.

The aquarium, on the west bank of the Flats, is the developer's first in the United States. The $33 million project will occupy half of the Powerhouse's 70,000 square feet.

The first batch of salt-water species that will be on display arrived by truck from a Florida holding facility last month. All of the aquarium's marine species were captured in Key West over the last year.

Cleveland tap water is being used to fill the aquarium's 40 tanks. The water for the walk-through was salted in a smaller tank before it was allowed to overflow to the larger tank. The aquarium's crew used nearly 40 tons of salt to treat the water.

Engineers planned to fill the tank in 12 hours. They checked for leaks throughout the day. Two-inch-thick acrylic panels make up the tank's walls.

Sixteen tons of sand was distributed around the bottom of the tank to re-create the natural environment for the species that will live inside. The tank has coral-like figures and the carcass of a ship. The decorations are made of nontoxic cement and rubber compounds, Mellsop said.

The water will be heated to 75 degrees. Water in the tank will be pumped into a heater and then circulated back to the enclosure, Mellsop said. The temperature will be reached in three to four days.

The half-million gallons will go through a filtration system every two hours, Mellsop said. Depending on the quality of the water, more salted tap water may be poured in every other month.

Individual tickets for aquarium visits are not yet on sale. Annual passes can be purchased online at tinyurl.com/czlbr4r.

Daily tickets will be $21.95 for ages 13 and older, and $15.95 for children 2 to 12. Annual passes are $50 for adults, $90 for couples, $130 for families (two adults and two children) and $25 for each additional child. Pass holders who buy before Monday will be allowed an early peek either Jan. 19 or 20.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/shark_tank_get_filled_with_wat.html

K&D Group Acquires Hanna Building Annex

17 Jan 2012, 5:13 am
By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

The PlayhouseSquare Foundation has struck a deal to sell the Hanna Building Annex on East 14th Street for an undisclosed price to K&D Group of Willoughby. K&D plans to acquire the downtown property on April 1. Northeast Ohio’s largest privately held owner of apartments plans to convert the office property into 102 apartments.

The Hanna Building Annex is an eight-story office building constructed in 1920. It is part of an office complex acquired by PlayhouseSquare in 1999. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is home to the 297-seat 14th Street Theatre, formerly known as the Hanna Theatre.

The new housing would come at a time when there is little residential vacancy downtown. And K&D is no stranger to apartment development in downtown Cleveland. It created the Stonebridge Apartment complex and transformed a historic retail-and-office complex at 668 Euclid Ave. into an apartment building with a waiting list; it has the same plan for the 120,000-square-foot Hanna Building Annex. The redevelopment won’t affect the Hanna Theatre.

K&D will turn the second through eighth floors of the building into apartments ranging from 600 to 1,200 square feet. Unit rents are expected to range between $725 and $1,500 a month. The ground-floor retail space will be leased back to PlayhouseSquare. Right now, the annex is about 70 percent occupied. PlayhouseSquare is offering those tenants space in the neighboring Hanna Building. Apartment construction could start in June. The project is expected to be finished by mid-2013.

K&D is Northeast Ohio’s largest privately owned management and development firm. It currently owns and manages 38 apartment and condominium communities, consisting of nearly 12,000 suites throughout Greater Cleveland, and includes high-, moderate- and lower-income properties. In recent years, the company has expanded its portfolio to include seniors housing.

http://www.multihousingnews.com/city-pages/cleveland/cleveland-archive

Rock Ohio Caesars Buys Ritz-Carlton, Office Tower

19 Dec 2011, 5:55 am
By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

On Friday, Dec. 9, Rock Ohio Caesars L.L.C., the developers of Cleveland’s first casino, announced plans to expand its presence in downtown Cleveland with the purchase of the Ritz-Carlton hotel for $36.5 million. Rock Ohio Caesars also took control of the 250 Huron offices beneath the Ritz. Both properties have been owned by Cleveland real estate developer Forest City Enterprises.

The Ritz-Carlton opened in 1990. It will continue to operate the city’s only Mobil Four-Star and AAA Four-Diamond rated hotel through its long-term management contract. The 206-room hotel offers scenic guestroom views of the city, spacious meeting and function space, 12 well-appointed meeting rooms, a spa, a fine-dining restaurant, an indoor pool, fitness and massage center and a lounge. The $36.5 million price tag is high for Cleveland, in a time when the historic Arcade sold at a foreclosure auction for $7.7 million. Cuyahoga County records place the market value of the property just above $27 million.

250 Huron is directly below the Ritz-Carlton. The five-story, 119,000-square-foot office tower has provided commercial office space for local and national tenants since 1991. 250 Huron will be used for casino administration and employee training. The offices have been empty since 2008, when J.P. Morgan Chase, the sole tenant, left the building. 250 Huron was sold in a mortgage default auction for approximately $3.5 million. The hotel and office tower are part of the Tower City Center mixed-use complex and adjacent to Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.

Rock Ohio Caesars is a joint venture between Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Rock Gaming L.L.C. It is developing and will operate Horseshoe Casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Horseshoe Casino Cleveland is currently under construction in the former Higbee Building and is expected to open next March.

http://www.multihousingnews.com/city-pages/cleveland/cleveland-archive

Skyline Scoops Up Cleveland’s Historic Arcade Building
12 Dec 2011, 4:43 am
By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Skyline International Development Inc., a Canadian hotel and resort company, was the lone bidder last week for downtown Cleveland’s historic Arcade building. It will buy the landmark property for just under $7.7 million, the minimum bid required at the foreclosure auction. The Arcade is Skyline’s first acquisition in the United States.

Located in downtown Cleveland, between Superior and Euclid avenues, the Arcade was one of the first indoor shopping centers in America. It opened its doors on Memorial Day 1890. The property includes a 293-room Hyatt hotel, restaurants and shops. It consists of two nine-story towers connected by a five-story, glass-and-metal atrium. John M. Eisenmann and George H. Smith designed the Arcade after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. Its construction was financed by some of Cleveland’s famous businessmen of the late 19th century: John D. Rockefeller, Steven V. Harkness, Louis Severance, Charles Brush and Marcus Hanna.

A $60 million renovation was completed in May of 2001. Foreclosure proceedings were initiated in 2009 by Bank of America, after the property’s owner, Chicago-based Arcade L.L.C., defaulted on a $33.3 million mortgage. Court records show that Arcade L.L.C. owes $14.3 million on that loan, plus interest and fees. Appraised at $11.5 million, the property went up for bid at two-thirds of that.

At the first auction, in september, The Arcade failed to attract a single bid. As the successful bidder, Skyline has 30 days to close the deal. The $7.7 million price means that Bank of America, Cuyahoga County, the city of Cleveland and the other investors will take a loss.

Toronto, Ontario-based Skyline International Development owns more than 2 million square feet of real estate, including high-end hotels in downtown Toronto, including historic properties such as the Le Méridien King Edward hotel. The company has more than 1,500 employees and is contemplating a public offering on the Toronto stock exchange. Skyline’s shareholders are two public companies, Mishorim & ILDC, both traded on the Tel Aviv stock exchange (MSHR, ILDC). Downtown Cleveland could benefit from its investment in the historic property.

http://www.multihousingnews.com/city-pages/cleveland/cleveland-archive

Cleveland's League Park to get $5 million renovation

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland is finally set to restore League Park, at least two decades after city officials first discussed returning the piece of hallowed baseball ground to glory.

The old ballpark, once home of the Cleveland Indians and the 1945 Negro League champion Cleveland Buckeyes, and adjacent parkland will undergo $5 million in renovations, said Ken Silliman, chief of staff for Mayor Frank Jackson. Silliman said work will begin late this spring or in early summer and be finished in about a year.

League Park, at East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood, hosted its first baseball game in 1891, with pitching legend Cy Young on the mound for the Cleveland Spiders. The park is on the National Register of Historic Places.

City Architecture is wrapping up plans that include restoring the ticket house and a bleacher wall and creating a Major League-size diamond in the same place as the original. Home plate will go in the exact spot where it rested the day that Babe Ruth whacked his 500th career home run in 1929.

Plans also call for a community building with a museum, a youth baseball diamond and a field for football and soccer. If bids are low enough, the city could add a pavilion and splash park.

Fans from around the world have expressed interest in visiting after the restoration is finished, said Russ Haslage, director of the League Park Society, a nonprofit group of preservation advocates.

The Indians used League Park from 1900 through 1946, continuing to play some games there for 15 years after Municipal Stadium opened. It was the team's home field during the 1920 World Series.

Besides Young and Ruth, greats such as Bob Feller, Ty Cobb, Napoleon Lajoie, Tris Speaker and Shoeless Joe Jackson passed through the park.

Indians second-baseman Bill Wambsganss executed his famous unassisted triple play at League Park in the 1920 World Series. Yankee Joe DiMaggio stroked the last hit in his 56-game streak at the park in 1941. Alta Weiss, a teenage girl, pitched there for a men's semi-pro team in the early 1900s.

Tim Wiles, director of research for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., was in Cleveland about 10 years ago for a conference sponsored by the then-Cleveland-based Society for American Baseball Research. He and about 20 other baseball historians took a side trip to League Park and stood on what remained of the diamond.

"I just got out there and felt a very powerful historical-slash-archaeological presence," Wiles said in a telephone interview. "There was a vibe."

The old Cleveland Rams played professional football games at League Park in the 1940s, and it served as a practice field for the Browns until 1951, when the city bought the property and converted it into a community park. The park eventually disintegrated.

Talk of restoration dates to at least the early 1990s. Then-Councilwoman Fannie Lewis envisioned League Park as a catalyst for a Hough renaissance and championed the cause until she died in 2008.

Silliman, who also worked for former Mayor Michael R. White, said White presented a $2 million plan in 2000. Jane Campbell, who succeeded White two years later, offered a proposal costing $18 million, a figure that Silliman said was "never doable."

After Jackson took office in 2006, he instructed Silliman to reconfigure the project. Money will come from bonds issued over three years.

Paula Gist heads the League Park Heritage Committee, a neighborhood group that Councilman T.J. Dow, Lewis' successor, formed to lobby for improvements. The committee is to help raise another $1.7 million for a track and other work.

Gist grew up in Hough and fondly remembers a vibrant middle-class neighborhood that existed prior to riots in the summer of 1966. Her father, now 94, attended Negro League games at League Park.

She said the project will provide a focus for an area that has seen dozens of new houses built in recent years. She hopes League Park also will become a regional attraction, hosting minor league baseball games and other special events.

"This is important to us, to our neighborhood," Gist said. "We don't want just a ballpark; we want a revitalization."

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/league_park_to_get_5-million_r.html

glad to hear league park is getting some love! very few stadiums this old even have any remnants left... they are smart to preserve whats left and try to bring some of it back

Kimpton to open boutique-style hotel in historic Schofield Building in downtown Cleveland

CLEVELAND - A new 161-room hotel is expected to open next year in a historic building in downtown Cleveland.

According to Kimpton, this will be the city’s first hotel of its kind and will feature a chef-driven destination restaurant and more than 7,400 square feet of meeting and event space, including a ballroom and outdoor roof terrace.

The building will also include retail space on the ground floor, as well as 25 luxury apartments on the building’s top four floors.

“Cleveland’s downtown business district is ripe for a unique boutique hotel, particularly one that showcases such an iconic, historic property as the renowned Schofield Building,” said Kimpton CEO Michael Depatie. “For us, it’s especially exciting to see the demand for the Kimpton brand and the boutique concept in general spreading to more mainstream cities in the Midwest and other areas of the country outside the urban centers of New York, LA and San Francisco.”

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/kimpton-to-open-boutique-style-hotel-in-historic-schofield-building-in-downtown-cleveland

K&D Group plans to buy, remake East Ohio Building in downtown Cleveland as 223 apartments by 2014

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A downtown Cleveland office tower could become 223 apartments, eliminating a huge vacancy in the central business district and meeting strong demand for new living space.

The K&D Group of Willoughby recently signed a contract to buy the East Ohio Building, a 21-story building at East Ninth Street and Superior Avenue. Empty since 2009, the glassy building creates one of the largest dead zones in the city's former financial district.

Apartments will fill that void by early 2014, if K&D succeeds in securing tax credits and other financing for its $65 million project.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/03/kd_group_plans_to_buy_redevelo.html

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/cleveland-plays-host-to-national-senior-game-association-reps-in-advance-of-summer-2013-games

Cleveland plays host to National Senior Game Association reps in advance of Summer 2013 games

Cleveland will get a nice boost next year from the Senior Olympics, possibly 14,000 competitors participating and could generate over $40 million for the area

Kimpton to open boutique-style hotel in historic Schofield Building in downtown Cleveland

CLEVELAND - A new 161-room hotel is expected to open next year in a historic building in downtown Cleveland.

According to Kimpton, this will be the city’s first hotel of its kind and will feature a chef-driven destination restaurant and more than 7,400 square feet of meeting and event space, including a ballroom and outdoor roof terrace.

The building will also include retail space on the ground floor, as well as 25 luxury apartments on the building’s top four floors.

“Cleveland’s downtown business district is ripe for a unique boutique hotel, particularly one that showcases such an iconic, historic property as the renowned Schofield Building,” said Kimpton CEO Michael Depatie. “For us, it’s especially exciting to see the demand for the Kimpton brand and the boutique concept in general spreading to more mainstream cities in the Midwest and other areas of the country outside the urban centers of New York, LA and San Francisco.”

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/kimpton-to-open-boutique-style-hotel-in-historic-schofield-building-in-downtown-cleveland

That building is going to be a stunner when it is finished! I haven't been to Cleveland in a long time, and it seems to be doing projects on every level from retail, residential, hospitality, and anything in between. Last I was there was two years ago when I was going to school at the University of Akron. I would really like to see how the convention center and medical mart are doing.

Cincy... Check out urbanohio.com.. They have forums for each of the Ohio regions and there's a thread for the CC/MM construction with pictures. Also pics for the Flats East Bank development (A new 25 story building is being constructed along with some other development) Both are coming along very well

Cincy... Check out urbanohio.com.. They have forums for each of the Ohio regions and there's a thread for the CC/MM construction with pictures. Also pics for the Flats East Bank development (A new 25 story building is being constructed along with some other development) Both are coming along very well

I have checked Urban Ohio occasionally, never a frequent visitor, will have to check. Google searched and found webcams for each.

http://www.clevelandmedicalmart.com/about/live-web-cam/

And had no clue there was a new high-rise being built in Cleveland....

http://www.flatseast.com/webcam.htm

Yup... Ernst and Young is the name thats going on the building.. The building will have a hotel and office space inside it. Big things goin on in cleveland with the Casino, MM/CC, and Flats East bank project

Yup... Ernst and Young is the name thats going on the building.. The building will have a hotel and office space inside it. Big things goin on in cleveland with the Casino, MM/CC, and Flats East bank project

I knew a lot was happening in The Flats. Particularly the aquarium and all the new condos/apartments on the west bank. Really cool that an Aloft is going in as well.

Looks like Phase 2 of The Flats has mixture of retail and now, residential. I really like the boardwalk and how the residential will stroll along the riverfront.

http://media.cleveland.com/business_impact/photo/feb-aerial-residential-retailjpg-6f5f39b1f4c57f57.jpg

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/04/14/flat-out-growing.html

Cleveland development experiencing renewed momentum as more people move downtown

CLEVELAND - When Cassia Curtis recently moved from Columbus to downtown Cleveland, she fell in love with the city. She noticed right away there's a lot to do within walking distance of her downtown apartment.
In the last decade, the number of people living downtown soared from 5,000 to 11,000. Many apartments have waiting lists. New apartments are going up and older buildings are being renovated to keep up with demand.

"A lot of residents have said they've been looking for things to do in the evening. There's a lot of foot traffic. There's a lot of people who live downtown looking for new and exciting things to do so we're really happy about it," said Colossal Cupcakes owner Kelly Kandah.

"We're about to hit the threshold where downtown Cleveland is going to continue to boom and grow," added Curtis.

Marinucci has said that 20,000 people living downtown would truly draw more investors like retailers and major grocery stores to line up.

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/Cleveland-development-experiencing-renewed-momentum-as-more-people-move-downtown

http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2012/05/15/Thousands-turn-out-for-Cleveland-casino-opening.html

Thousands turn out for Cleveland casino opening

Ok, the development in Cleveland has been hard to keep track of. This city has something going on in every corner of EVERYWHERE. I barely can keep up with it all on Urban Ohio. If you miss a day, you have to scroll back to the second page of threads.

The Celebreeze Federal Building is currently starting its $200 million facade change:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,25302.90.html

MOCA in Uptown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlZXXks8CXQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRIzqCNJlIk

From different angles of the Medical Mart and Convention Center.... looks like the facade is almost finished, the park portion is starting to go in closest to the lake, the underground portion closest to downtown is slowly closing in:

http://www.clevelandmedicalmart.com/about/live-web-cam/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7eV7rpkvhE

Cleveland Museum of Art new atrium:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bndSPV5AMc

This really is just scratching the surface. There is some awesome stuff like the the hostel, new park, restaurants,etc in Ohio City; Battery Park, Uptown Phase 1 and Costantino's opening, all the new housing projects in Little Italy and University Circle; and all the new stuff opening up in Detroit-Shoreway. I am only a spectator and only can give you what I have seen on Urban Ohio, and I really wish I could hit spot on with more projects that are happening in the city neighborhoods, downtown, lakefront, etc. It's really hard to keep up.

Flats East Bank Ernst and Young Tower... Looks like the facade is going up very nicely:

http://www.flatseast.com/webcam.htm

MOCA webcam:

http://24.123.243.38/

And this thing is well underway in University Circle by the new hospital University Hospitals just built.... $27 million Marriott:

http://www.wtam.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122520&article=9640063