Mayor Bibb’s offer to Browns may be last-ditch effort

Cleveland Browns Stadium looms large in the foreground with Cleveland City
Hall in the background, beyond the wind turbine. An overture from City Hall to
the Cleveland Browns might make the wind turbine move but it may not stop
the Browns from moving (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb sent a letter today to Jimmy and Dee Haslam, owners of the Cleveland Browns, urging them to stay in Downtown Cleveland. Bibb also publicized the city’s $461 million contribution to renovate Cleveland Browns Stadium to show to the public that the city has made a strong financial offer to the National Football League team. But that might not be enough to keep the Browns at the deteriorating lakefront stadium.

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RTA Waterfront Line returns with limited service

A Waterfront Line train departs Downtown Cleveland’s North Coast Station at East
9th Street. The light-rail line from Shaker Heights and Tower City Center will
return to regular service Aug. 4 but for weekends and holidays only (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Starting Sunday, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) will restart regular service on the light-rail Waterfront Line in Downtown Cleveland, a 2.2-mile extension of the Blue/Green lines from Shaker Heights. But the service will be limited to weekends and most federal holidays only, and then from just 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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City Club Apts has new owner, Skyline 776 name

City Club Apartments in Downtown Cleveland are now Skyline 776 after the
development’s major lender bought the company that owned the property.
The building, which is now mostly complete, has a new property
management company starting this week (KJP).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Faced with a difficult financial situation involving multiple development projects nationwide, City Club Apartments of Farmington Hills has sold its interest in the nearly completed 23-story mixed-use tower at 776 Euclid Ave. in Downtown Cleveland. The buyer was its primary financial backer, Detroit-based Finance Michigan. And, as a result of the change, the building will be rebranded as “Skyline 776.”

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Cleveland hosting Lakefront Future Forum Aug. 5

Public input to help shape Downtown Cleveland’s lakefront at North Coast Harbor
will be gathered at 4 p.m. Aug. 5 at Mall C, just west of City Hall. Lakefront planning
and development leaders will be on hand to provide updates on what work has been
done and what the next steps will be (KJP). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Mayor Justin Bibb and his lakefront development team are inviting the community to a Lakefront Future Forum scheduled for from 4-7 p.m. Aug. 5, on Mall C in Downtown Cleveland. The site is located between City Hall, 601 Lakeside Ave. and the old Cuyahoga County Courthouse, across from the entrance of the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

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Downtown Lakewood development to go without grocery store

A refined development plan for Downtown Lakewood was released after a potential
grocery store tenant decided not to be part of the project. However, the developers
intend to proceed, albeit with a smaller and multi-tenanted retail spaces on the ground
floor facing Detroit Avenue. This view looks southerly from the intersection of
Detroit and Belle avenues (Dimit). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Developers of the proposed Downtown Lakewood mixed-use development said it was a mix of good and bad news that a grocery store chain backed out of the project. The good news is that the developers can proceed with a previous plan to offer a larger public plaza facing Detroit Avenue. The bad news was that revising the plans to accommodate the grocer cost the developers eight months of time and inflation in delivering the $100-plus-million project.

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Courthouse site decision still months away

At this stage of the process, there’s a one-in-four chance that the current Justice Center
will continue to be Cuyahoga County’s courthouse in the coming years. That’s because
there’s four site options left for the courthouse and only one of them involves renovat-
ing the existing courthouse tower (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Should it stay or should it go? That’s the question about the location of Cuyahoga County’s Consolidated Courthouse facilities which could lead to one of the largest and most expensive real estate projects in Greater Cleveland. But county officials don’t appear to be in a hurry to answer that question, according to a source who spoke to NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity.

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Cleveland, Bedrock seek $1 billion for riverfront development

The Kayak Launch Plaza in Bedrock Real Estate’s riverfront development is just one
of many pieces of public infrastructure features the city and the developer are work-
ing together to achieve. A tax-increment financing district is being set up to help
much of that public infrastructure (Adjaye Associates).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

City Planning Commission today voted unanimously to recommend that City Council approve a 45-year, project-specific tax-increment financing (TIF) deal with Bedrock Real Estate to generate $400 million for infrastructure to support Bedrock’s $3.5 billion riverfront development. This would create a second, albeit smaller TIF district downtown to support major waterfront and urban core improvements that could ultimately generate up to $1 billion in public funds for the riverfront.

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