Lakefront funding survives federal scrutiny

This section of the Shoreway (Route 2) through Downtown Cleveland is to be
reconfigured from an Interstate-like highway (left) into a boulevard with inter-
sections. That will slow traffic to make the area more pedestrian- and bicycle-
friendly and lower the roadway so a land bridge can be built to better connect
the central business district with the lakefront (FO).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

After taking office in January, the Trump Administration began scrutinizing recently awarded federal grants. In response, local, state and federal elected officials from Northeast Ohio scrambled. Their goal was to make sure that federal grants awarded to Greater Cleveland agencies weren’t frozen or, worse, terminated.

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Warner & Swasey conversion funding not there yet

Not much has changed at the long-vacant Warner Swasey factory in the
six years since this streetview was captured. But a lot could change over
the next six months, starting with a demolition of the sawtooth-shaped
factory structures to the left of the company’s brick office building which
will be kept and, if financing closes in November, renovated thereafter into
affordable apartments (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

It’s been a long road for the former Warner & Swasey plant, 5701 Carnegie Ave. in Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood, to become a useful building again. And while it doesn’t have all of its financial pieces available yet to complete its $52 million puzzle, those last five pieces have been identified and are in the process of being secured.

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St. Vincent hospital demo starts; What’s next?

A lot of structural square footage is getting demolished next to Downtown Cleveland.
So are viable structures with the potential to be converted to new uses. Instead, the
potential will rest with acres of newly vacant land next to downtown that will be-
come a canvas for something new to be designed. Those designs are getting
underway  (czoningservices.com). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Demolition crews got to work this week taking down St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, 2351 E. 22nd St,, where the southeast side of Downtown Cleveland meets the Central neighborhood. But it won’t be the only demolition in this area in the coming years.

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Will a Brook Park stadium hurt efforts to maintain Gateway? Apparently the Cavs think so.

Concern over being able to maintain the facilities at the Gateway sports and entertain-
ment complex in Downtown Cleveland prompted a critical letter apparently sent by
the Rock ntertainment Group to the Greater Cleveland Partnership over the future
viability of the sin tax to maintain these facilities (Rocket Arena).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Support for the planned domed stadium in Brook Park by the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP), announced earlier this week, has ruffled a few feathers. And it’s not just those that were expected to be ruffled — Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland officials, Downtown Cleveland Inc., and others. Now, it’s the parent company of the Cleveland Cavaliers who say pursuing the stadium at this time is a bad idea.

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Glenville, Hough, Ohio City housing wins big

Wade Park Station is planned as an affordable senior housing development on
Wade Park Avenue in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood. It just got a major
boost in the form of 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits (RDL).
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Two new Cleveland housing construction projects and one renovation won coveted, highly competitive 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) from the Ohio Housing Finance Authority (OHFA) today. The awards promise a big financial boost to each of the projects which are located in the Glenville, Hough and Ohio City neighborhoods.

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Polling data shows voters oppose Browns move

Concerns about being able to keep Cleveland’s existing stadiums in a state of good
repair apparently prompted a poll of likely voters to assess their views toward ex-
tending or expanding a Cuyahoga County sin tax. According to the poll results, those
concerns were justified (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

One day after the region’s chamber of commerce announced its support for the construction of an enclosed stadium in Brook Park, a poll of likely voters in Cuyahoga County was leaked to NEOtrans, showing most of those voters opposed the Cleveland Browns leaving downtown for the suburbs. The poll also said that opposition was putting at risk a county sin tax to repair facilities for all of Cleveland’s major sports teams.

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Regional chamber of commerce likes Browns’ move

Huntington Bank Field sets on Downtown Cleveland’s lakefront. But the Greater
Cleveland Partnership says it shouldn’t, and instead should be moved to Brook
Park as a domed stadium (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.

Downtown Cleveland’s lakefront has had a stadium on it for 91 of the last 93 years. But that should come to an end for the betterment of the lakefront and its replacement stadium, according to the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) — the metro area’s chamber of commerce. GCP also urged the closure of Burke Lakefront Airport.

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