New Bar Along Euclid Avenue Opens on October 9th

With one month remaining before the "Health Line" grand opening celebration, Euclid Avenue storefronts are beginning to populate with exciting new business. Cleveland City Living has already run stories on the new Cleveland Condos along Euclid Avenue being built at East 4th Street and East 9th Street, as well as the Nexus Cafe originally proposed at 515 Euclid Avenue. Today we prepare you to welcome "Cadillac Ranch" to the Downtown Cleveland nightlife scene.

Cadillac Ranch, a premier All-American bar and grille, will officially open at 200 Euclid Avenue on October 9th. While it's being advertised heavily as a bar, it also carries a full menu including steaks and burgers. This 24,000 square foot establishment will be one of the largest social venues in downtown Cleveland. With over 30 flat panel televisions, 9 full-service bars, and 1 mechanical bull, Cadillac Ranch is sure to continue the excitement of East 4th St. and bring some new life to Euclid Avenue near Public Square.

While we can't predict what will come of the new Euclid Avenue, it's exciting to consider that while so much of America has been challenged by economic downturn, Cleveland has continued to proceed with projects that are adding to our exciting and vibrant downtown community. Looking into the future, a great deal of promise is in store for downtown Cleveland. See you at the ranch!

Want to Live in Cleveland's Coolest Lakefront Neighborhood?

This video montage was put together with segments from the Detroit Shoreway Streetscape Groundbreaking Ceremony. The Detroit Shoreway along with the Gordon Square Arts District has become the fastest growing neighborhood in Cleveland! With housing developments such as Battery Park, The Belvedere, Lake Pointe, King's Terrace, the Villas at Waters Edge, and Saint Peter's on the Lake, it's easy to find places to live. Located just a couple minutes from downtown Cleveland and footsteps from Lake Erie, you'll find few places in Cleveland that can compare.



Don't forget to contact Scott Phillips with Real Living Realty One, to find your Cleveland Lakefront home. With tax abatements and discount financing features, many of his clients are paying less per month for their mortgages than they were for rent downtown! Call Scott today: 216.986.7716 or email scott.phillips@realliving.com.

Where Do You Grocery Shop?

It's almost comical that the first question people ask downtown dwellars is "Where do you grocery shop?" Seriously people, how many suburbanites WALK to the grocery store? For that matter, how many even have an OPTION of walking to a grocery store? This question is perhaps the most comical question I ever get asked when I'm introducing people to the concept of downtown Cleveland living.

That being said, we DO have grocery stores to walk to. Constantino's Market is perhaps the most popular along West 9th St. and the Avenue Supermarket at Reserve Square is the mainstay of the eastern downtown dwellars. Throw in the West Side Market and you've got a bountiful number of options for the 10,000 residents of the "walkable" downtown area.

We DO have some options that, dare I say, are suburban-style in Cleveland. What many people don't realize is that downtown residents still have cars. So, in a fashion almost identical to that of the millions of suburban residents, these urban hepcats jump in the car and head to the myriad of grocery stores within the city limits.

In previous posts we've discussed the amazing Walmart Super Center at Steelyard Commons and Dave's Supermarket in Ohio City & Asia Town. These stores are all within five minutes of downtown Cleveland. For the sake of this article, however, I'd like to focus in on the HUGE investment made in CLEVELAND for the new Giant Eagle on West 117th.

The new Giant Eagle, located at the West 117th exit of I-90 is the largest and nicest grocery store Cleveland has seen in quite a while. It replaces the two Giant Eagle locations that were much smaller and less than a mile away in the Clifton and Lorain Avenue neighborhoods. This Giant Eagle, located on the same lot as a 6-month old Target and the signature GetGo gas station, includes an enormous fresh produce section, multiple prepared food displays, a state liquor agency, and even has freezers in the pet isle for frozen dog treats! This 24-hour location is another testament to the trend of people moving back into the city. Enjoy it Clevelanders!

Make Way for New Townhomes!

Ground cleared this week for the new "Alley Townhomes" at Battery Park, making way for the team of builders to start construction. Four of these homes have already sold with five remaining. Occupancy is expected as early as the end of 2008 for the pre-construction purchasers!

These townhouses, pictured above, feature 3 floors of living space. The first floor consists of a 2 car garage and a finished "flex space" that can be used as an office, rec room, workout room, etc. The second level, with a wide open floor plan, includes a beautiful kitchen that opens up into a dining and living room area. As is the case with most new construction in Cleveland, these townhomes have open floor-plans on the second level that are perfect for entertaining. An elevated patio off the living room adds a special touch to these townhomes, and a half-bathroom finishes off the second level. The third level is made up of two bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a laundry closet and an optional spiral staircase to the roof, where you have the option of adding an enormous roof-top deck. These decks will overlook Lake Erie and the downtown Cleveland skyline.

All Battery Park homes come with a 15-year tax abatement and discount financing options. In many cases, the people buying these townhomes will be paying less on their mortgage than they were in rent!*

Call or email Scott Phillips Jr, of Real Living Realty One, for more information: (216) 986-7716.

*Mortgage rates and payment schedules are subject to bank approval and bank conditions. Contact your lender for your exact payment.

Construction Begins on Detroit Avenue Project

City officials, merchants and others today launched the transformation of a stretch of Detroit Avenue into a pedestrian-friendly district for shopping, dining and theatre-going with a ceremonial groundbreaking. The event was highlighted by performances by Cleveland Public Theatre and Near West Theatre, the two performance theatres in the Gordon Square Arts District (GSAD).

The $3.5 million streetscape conversion of Detroit from West 58th Street to West 73rd Street is the second of five core projects in GSAD, an emerging arts and entertainment destination in the heart of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood and five minutes from downtown Cleveland. Plans call for widening sidewalks along part of the street, burying utility wires and installing trees, benches, public art and other amenities.

“When you hear DuPont Circle and SoHo, you know exactly what city they’re in. The same will happen with Gordon Square,” said Cleveland Councilman Matt Zone, whose Ward 17 includes the district. Zone said he had been working on the streetscape project since he came to office in 2002.

”This project will provide the Gordon Square Arts District with a unique identity that will offer people an experience that they cannot get anywhere else,” said Mayor Frank Jackson. “Each of our neighborhoods has its own special personality, and people will visit Gordon Square so that they can participate in the culture of this district.”

“You’re going to know you’re somewhere special,” said GSAD Executive Director Joy Roller. “And you’re going to know something hip and fun is happening in Cleveland.”

The streetscape transformation, which is expected to be completed within a year, is a city project, paid for in part with $1.9 million in city funds. The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency contributed almost $1.6 million in federal funds. Traffic will be maintained during construction, except for six working days when vehicles will be detoured at West 65th Street and Detroit; shops, galleries, restaurants and other businesses will remain open during construction. The city has chosen Terrace Construction Company Inc. as contractor for the project.

“The city recognizes that its contribution will help spur private investment in the Gordon Square Arts District,” said Councilman Zone.

Today’s event is the second groundbreaking this year for the Gordon Square Arts District — a name not only for the area but also for the unique collaboration of three Cleveland nonprofits behind it.

The collaborative work of the three organizations — Cleveland Public Theatre, Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO) and Near West Theatre — is seen as a national model of how the arts can be used to stimulate economic development. GSAD’s plans, along with housing construction at nearby Battery Park and elsewhere in Detroit Shoreway, have already helped attract 24 restaurants, shops, galleries, studios and other businesses to the area since the beginning of 2006. In all, the Gordon Square Arts District is helping to infuse more than $500 million into the community.

GSAD’s core projects are expected to cost $30 million. Besides the streetscape design, they are:

· A $7 million restoration of the Capitol Theatre, a 1920s vaudeville and silent movie house at Detroit and West 65th, into a three-screen, all-digital art and independent film cinema. Groundbreaking for the restoration was in May, and completion is expected next spring.
· Renovation of Cleveland Public Theatre, which includes the oldest standing theatre building in Cleveland, at 6415 Detroit.
· Construction of a new performance center on West 67th Street, just north of Detroit, for Near West Theatre, a 30-year old community theatre.
· Surface parking for residents and visitors. A new parking lot and an expanded lot, both incorporating green parking technologies that will reduce storm water runoff and filter the water before it hits the city’s storm sewer system, are expected to be completed by next spring. Future additional parking is planned.

The three theatres will all be within a two-minute walk of one another and will form the nucleus of the arts district. Architectural drawings for the Cleveland Public and Near West theatres have been completed, and construction plans are being finalized. GSAD is seeking additional funding for these projects.

The streetscape design was developed by City Architecture Inc., environmental artist Susie Frazier Mueller and Michael Benza & Associates Inc. engineers. Work will include burying utility lines and installing new sidewalks and new lighting from West 58th to West 73rd streets. The lighting will match light poles at Battery Park.

The heart of the district will be between West 61st and West 69th streets, where plans also call for narrowing Detroit and widening the sidewalks to encourage pedestrian traffic and outdoor dining. The sidewalks, currently 8½ feet wide on the north and 10 feet wide on the south, will be increased to 13 feet wide on both sides; Detroit, which currently has four 12-foot driving lanes, will be narrowed to two 11-foot lanes and two 9-foot parking lanes. Approximately 60 Aristocrat pear and Valley Forge American elm trees will be planted, and free-standing public art, colorful curved benches, bike racks and a street paver pattern designed by Mueller will be installed along the sidewalk.

Space is planned for at least 10 pieces of sculptural public art. DSCDO will work with Cleveland Public Art to develop a public, juried process to solicit and select the art.
In June, City Council approved legislation sponsored by Zone making Detroit and Lake Avenue between West 48th Street and West 77th Street a Pedestrian Retail Overlay District. The designation is aimed at maintaining the economic viability of older neighborhood retail districts by preserving their pedestrian-oriented character.

Today’s groundbreaking ceremony, at West 65th and Detroit, featured performances by Near West Theatre and Cleveland Public Theatre. Cleveland Public Theatre’s Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP) performed a selection from “While I’m Here on This Earth,” and actors from Near West presented an excerpt from “West Side Story.”

Tours of the Capitol Theatre were offered after the ceremony, and merchants remained open and offered special promotions in celebration of the groundbreaking.

Along with Mayor Jackson, Zone and Roller, those speaking at today’s groundbreaking included:
· Joseph Craciun, funeral director at Craciun Berry Funeral Home, a longtime Detroit Avenue business.
· Robert Maschke, principal of Robert Maschke Architects and 1point618 gallery.
· Mueller, the environmental artist who designed the special paver work and benches that will be used in the district as well as the district’s logo.
· Jeffrey M. Ramsey, executive director of DSCDO.
· Paul J. Volpe, president of City Architecture, which designed the streetscape.

Honorary chairs of the Gordon Square Arts District capital campaign are Richard W. and Patricia R. Pogue, Albert B. and Audrey G. Ratner and Tom C. and Sandra S. Sullivan. Richard (Dick) Pogue is senior advisor at Jones Day; Albert Ratner is co-chair of the board of Forest City Enterprises Inc.; and Tom Sullivan is chair of RPM International Inc. Lawrence N. Schultz, a partner at Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, is GSAD campaign chair.

Cleveland Air Show Highlight Film

This video was filmed entirely from the rooftop decks of Battery Park, in Cleveland. This development, situated on a bluff overlooking Edgewater Beach and Lake Erie, is right on the main flight path for the show. Living at Battery Park is like free tickets to the Cleveland Air Show AND the Fourth of July Fireworks in Downtown Cleveland.



For more information on buying your home at Battery Park, contact Scott Phillips at 216.328.2500 or via email at Scott.Phillips@RealLiving.com

Detroit Shoreway Streetscape Plan Begins

Mayor Jackson and many special dignitaries join together to break ground on the streetscape plan for Detroit Avenue that will re-shape Cleveland's near west side. Widening the sidewalks to make the more pedestrian friendly is one of the first goals. Burying utility lines is part of that as well, which will make room for functional art on the street. New lighting and street painting is also visible in the renderings.

This project, which has been years in the making, is the first step in the second phase of creating a "West-side Coventry" as many people put it. Luxury housing has already been built and sold, new restaurants have opened and are flourishing, and the Capitol Theatre is scheduled to air it's first show in April 2009. This streetscape connects these individual projects together.

The reinvention of Detroit Avenue will begin at West 58th Street (home of "Krazy Mac's, Latitude 41'N, and the Happy Dog) and will continue to West 73rd Street (just past the McDonald's, Our Lady Mount Carmel Church, and Craciun-Berry Funeral home.) The project may take as long as 2-3 years to truly complete, but noticeable changes will be visible by next Spring.