Flats East Bank Plan Grows!

The planned redevelopment of the east bank of the Flats has grown dramatically during the past three years, spurred by interest from companies seeking new offices and from hotels and other businesses looking for a unique niche in downtown Cleveland.
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Updated plans from The Wolstein Group and Fairmount Properties, who hope to transform the former nightlife center into a neighborhood by late 2010, show changes to the layout and scope of the development.
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Among the most notable revisions: The office portion of the project has nearly doubled in size, to a possible 975,000 square feet. The number of planned residences has grown from 300 to about 430, including 50 high-end condominiums perched atop a 150-room luxury hotel. And the layout of the project now centers on the waterfront, with roads, buildings and a public park framing a view of the Cuyahoga River and pedestrian access along a 1,200-foot boardwalk.
"I am very optimistic that this is going to be much more spectacular than I had originally envisioned," said Scott Wolstein, who is developing the project with his mother, Iris, and Cleveland-based Fairmount Properties.
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"The response to the project from the community has been incredible, and we've been gratified by the response from the office tenants that we didn't originally anticipate," Wolstein added during a phone interview.
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At its regular meeting this morning, the Cleveland City Planning Commission got its first look at the revised and expanded plans to remake land from West 9th Street to the river. Officials did not vote on any plans; rather, they took time to comment on changes to the development and the developers' ambitious plans to build offices, homes, a hotel, a movie theater, a gourmet market, shops and public space before 2011.
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"I think the more we studied the great waterfront urban districts in the world, the more we came to believe that for this project to help redefine the future of the city, it needed to have a real critical mass," Adam Fishman of Fairmount Properties said in an interview earlier this week.
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"The schedule is very aggressive," he added, "and we need a lot of cooperation, which we're getting. Our public partners have been extremely cooperative, but it's important to everyone to push to make this happen."
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The most updated images for the Flats project show the final layout of the development, including the location and uses of buildings, and the positions of streets and public spaces. But the developers have not yet released design details, showing what the outside of each building will look like. Those details could be available within a few months.
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Final demolition on buildings on the site could start within 30 days, followed by grading of the property. Foundation work on a residential building near the river and a 20- or 21-story office building and nearby apartments could start before the end of the summer.

*this article was streamed from Cleveland.com. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer are entirely responsible for the content of this article**

Living Downtown on St. Patty's Day

Living in downtown Cleveland has many perks. A great social network, walking to work, a reverse commute, fitness centers, walkable bars, and the list goes on.... One perk, being able to walk to and from the bars, is seldom appreciated more than it is on St. Patty's Day.

On March 17th, hundreds of thousands of Cleveland+ residents proceed to downtown Cleveland to watch a two hour parade and then party like they're in Ireland. For just under 10,000 of those attendees, they end their evening walking (or stumbling) home to their apartment, loft, or condo.

Enter, Christopher O'Grady: a young man of 25 years who works in the health care field and lives downtown. He enjoys playing the bagpipes, watching football, and occasionally partaking in a Guinness or two.

St. Patrick's Day is Brother O'Grady's holiday and he begins it as any good son of Ireland would- in church. After the services at St. John's Cathedral (which were less expansive this year due to the overlap with Holy Week) O'Grady struts to the first sign he sees for corned beef sandwiches- Flannery's. After partaking in some authentic irish fare, he strolls through the Grand Arcade to Superior Avenue where he watches the parade with his family and close friends. Two hours and a few minutes later, the real fun begins.

Christopher celebrates his holiday at the Clevelander, Panini's, House of Blues (for live Irish music), and Flannery's before he takes a brief refreshing walk to the Warehouse District to finish his evening. Riding the bull at Tequila Ranch and stopping by the Map Room (a downtown residents favorite) is the perfect way to wind down the party.

At 11:45pm Christopher sees a line of taxi cabs from St. Clair and West 6th wrapped all the way around Lakeside Avenue to West 9th St. He and his friends chuckle as they see people quivering outside waiting for a cab in below freezing temperatures. Our neighbor finishes his drink, tips out the bartender, and shuffles past the line of taxis to his loft on West 9th St. Yes, our Irish friend is the host for a nine person slumber party so that nobody has to drive home after this long day of friends and fun. A great way to end a great bar-hopping St. Patrick's Day as a downtown resident.

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Saved From the Snow

If your car got stuck in a Cleveland neighborhood, the local media might lead you to think you're in a world of trouble... unless you get stuck in the newly branded "Edgewater Hill" block of the Detroit Shoreway, which includes Battery Park.

During the "Great Blizzard of 2008," some Battery Park residents represented the essence of neighborly love. Starting at 7:45am, residents took out their shovels and began digging out stranded cars from the streets of the Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood. It was community bonding in an unconventional way.

One lady was travelling home to West Park with her children after an afternoon sled ride, when she got caught in a snow mound on West 74th. Neighbors hastened to her aide and even entertained the children outside the car while a few worked to push the van all the way to Detroit Avenue. While the recipients of these random acts of kindness expressed gratitude, the real benefactors were the neighbors who got the opportunity to bond with each other during the snow storm.