Erieview, Galleria redo: steps forward, back

 Proposed uses and activities for the Erieview Tower and associated Galleria
were updated this week in a presentation shared by a development team

led by James Kassouf as part of a request for tax abatement from the

city (Berardi). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

A $193 million redevelopment of half-empty Erieview Tower and its associated and similarly vacated Galleria shopping mall, 1301 E. 9th St.,  is the first big project to request a scaled-down tax abatement from the city under Mayor Justin Bibb’s new abatement policy. That policy reduces the amount of tax abatement for new construction or renovation in stable, wealthier neighborhoods in Cleveland, including downtown.

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GCRTA stations: lots of opportunity

Here are just four of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s 21 rail
stations that have park-n-ride lots. All station parking lots are largely devoid of
cars since the pandemic. Even before that, most station lots weren’t as full as
they used to be. With downtown employment and commuting way down and
interest in transit-oriented development up, these large parking lots can be
developed with new uses to support regional goals like adding affordable
housing, improving access to jobs and reduced emissions (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A COMMENTARY

In recent months, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) has served notice that its rail system isn’t going anywhere. That could be interpreted in one of two ways. In one way, GCRTA plans to invest $540 million by the end of this decade to rebuild its 34-mile rail system including a new, standardized light-rail fleet plus rebuilt tracks and stations on the Red, Blue and Green lines. Greater Cleveland’s “Rapid” is sticking around for decades to come. But taking it another way, there are no expansion plans while ridership on GCRTA buses and trains fell nearly 60 percent from 2013 to 2021 “led” by its rail system which fell even farther, from 9.3 million boardings in 2013 to 2.9 million in 2021.

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Seeds & Sprouts 31 – Oliva Steakhouse on downtown’s menu; Starting Point center opening at Link59; Lido Lounge stripped by George, BofA

 Proposed signage on the façade of a new restaurant, Oliva Steakhouse,
on West St. Clair Ave., in downtown Cleveland’s Warehouse District (Richardson).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

Oliva Steakhouse is on downtown’s Cleveland's menu, Starting Point center to train child educators and caregivers is opening at Link59 in the Midtown neighborhood, and Lido Lounge on West 117th Street is getting stripped from the landscape by Bobby George and Bank of America.

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Cleveland’s lakefront: through the Years

 

Welcome to the latest video from NEOtrans. Today, let’s talk about downtown Cleveland’s lakefront. And that’s certainly something that people like to talk about – especially the many plans for improving the place where downtown meets Lake Erie. Unfortunately, most of those plans over the past 100 years have ended up gathering dust on a shelf rather than getting built. But some of them have been constructed and more of them are going to appear on the landscape someday. The question is, what will they be?

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City reveals its lakefront vision

The city of Cleveland’s vision for potential lakefront improvements west
of North Coast Harbor and surrounding a proposed renovation of Cleve-
land Browns Stadium depends on the funding and construction of the North
Coast Connector to link downtown’s core to the shore of Lake Erie, and
conversion of the Shoreway highway into a boulevard (Field Operations).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

A preliminary design for downtown lakefront improvements was unveiled yesterday by the city and its consulting team at the Great Lakes Science Center to advance the project development process. The process would then move into final design, fundraising and environmental permitting so construction could begin possibly in the next two years. But there are some notable differences in the city’s lakefront vision when compared to one commissioned and released two years ago by the owners of the Cleveland Browns football team, The Haslam Group.

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Browns Stadium talks tackled for no gain

Talks between representatives of the Cleveland Browns and the City of
Cleveland about renovations to the existing football stadium and lakefront
development, portrayed here, reportedly have hit reportedly stalled. That is
what apparently prompted the team’s  owners to drop a subtle warning this
week to the city that it could the city leave for the suburbs (AoDK).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

At a press conference this week, Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam raised some eyebrows with their comments about the current stadium and where the football team might play in the future. Among other remarks, Jimmy Haslam interjected that “The only thing Dee and I would say for sure is we’re not leaving Northeast Ohio.” According to a team source familiar with its negotiations with the city of Cleveland, that remark was a subtle nudge to the city to resolve an apparent impasse in negotiations. The source added that, if the team doesn’t see more progress, it could leave Cleveland for a new stadium in the suburbs.

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Progressive’s office spaces to be slashed

A small glimpse of Progressive Insurance’s huge Campus 2 in Mayfield
Village will become the company’s new headquarters after employees
from other eastern suburban office locations, including Campus 1 on
the other side of Interstate 271 are consolidated here (Google).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

All Progressive Insurance employees received a notice this morning announcing that, due to remote working, the company would be slashing the square footage of active office spaces and attempt to sell or lease those it will no longer occupy. As a result, about 850 employees who continue to work in the office will be consolidated into the company’s Campus 2, 300 North Commons Blvd. It will also move the corporate headquarters from Campus 1, 6300 Wilson Mills Rd., but remain in Mayfield Village.

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