The Observation Deck

See below photos of the inside of the southeast stairwell inside the North Parking Garage, north of Detroit between Belle & St. Charles. According to public records, this garage is owned by Gus Frangos, President of the Cuyahoga Land Bank. For a while, the Buckeye Beer Engine building was also owned by Gus Fragnos and his family.

Millions in taxpayer dollars are being spent to demolish the south medical building and south parking garage for the Cleveland Clinic. Meanwhile, this parking garage is permitted to sit with missing fire extinguishers, litter all over the stairwells, water-damaged ceilings with holes in them, and graffiti all over the walls (some graffiti is from the Latin Kings, an international, very violent gang). I have not even begun to venture into the other stairwells of the North Garage.

If I recall, City Hall claimed that the South Garage was in terrible shape and needed to come down, yet they were doing work on that garage almost every time I was in there. Suddenly, it is a big problem? If so, why is Gus Frangos permitted to get away with his buildings being in this condition?

If Gus Frangos and family own the North Garage and previously owned the Beer Engine building, does anyone really think that Frangos doesn't know who Mike Summers is?

It is also worth noting that it appears as if Frangos attempted to hide his ownership of the property through the guise of about five different LLC companies. Never fear however, there is always a trail. Also, I believe Gus Frangos owned the INA Building until a few years ago, when he sold it to Robert Risman, a real estate developer who donated $10 million to the Cleveland Clinic a while back. Risman also owns the Shoreham Apartments and the Marine Towers West.



I will post more photos as I venture further into the garage as I am doing business.

Lori Allen _ wrote:See below photos of the inside of the southeast stairwell inside the North Parking Garage, north of Detroit between Belle & St. Charles. According to public records, this garage is owned by Gus Frangos, President of the Cuyahoga Land Bank. For a while, the Buckeye Beer Engine building was also owned by Gus Fragnos and his family.

Millions in taxpayer dollars are being spent to demolish the south medical building and south parking garage for the Cleveland Clinic. Meanwhile, this parking garage is permitted to sit with missing fire extinguishers, litter all over the stairwells, water-damaged ceilings with holes in them, and graffiti all over the walls (some graffiti is from the Latin Kings, an international, very violent gang). I have not even begun to venture into the other stairwells of the North Garage.

If I recall, City Hall claimed that the South Garage was in terrible shape and needed to come down, yet they were doing work on that garage almost every time I was in there. Suddenly, it is a big problem? If so, why is Gus Frangos permitted to get away with his buildings being in this condition?

If Gus Frangos and family own the North Garage and previously owned the Beer Engine building, does anyone really think that Frangos doesn't know who Mike Summers is?

It is also worth noting that it appears as if Frangos attempted to hide his ownership of the property through the guise of about five different LLC companies. Never fear however, there is always a trail. Also, I believe Gus Frangos owned the INA Building until a few years ago, when he sold it to Robert Risman, a real estate developer who donated $10 million to the Cleveland Clinic a while back. Risman also owns the Shoreham Apartments and the Marine Towers West.

I will post more photos as I venture further into the garage as I am doing business.

Ms. Allen, are there engineering reports that document the repairs to, status, and deficiencies of the south parking garage?

Those that be cannot have it both ways...if they invested the $$ and did the work, it *must* be in *good* shape. If it's not in good shape, then the repair $$ *must* have been wasted or were a scam. Couple that with the sudden urgency to tear it down, and one smells a rat. An expensive rat. Engineering reports would be telling.

CMager,

There was some meeting I attended at City Hall about a year ago, before Dru Siley's abandonment of the U.S.S. Summers. Dru tried to tell the audiance some kind of story about how the garage was in such terrible shape, and so on. He mentioned the name of an engineering firm that made this determination. I recall the name of that firm being Allega.

I wonder if this Allega is affiliated with Allega Cement? I believe all of the Allega companies are under one roof called "Allega Companies". Allega Cement is the company that City Hall hired to pour sidewalks two summers back. Also, don't forget the whole minority front company scam with the Cleveland Hopkins Airport runway expansion involving Allega where Allega agreed to pay the DOJ a $500,000 fine.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ss ... ice_d.html

If I have the wrong company, perhaps someone could verify.

I will be doing more investigating on the condition of the North Garage when I park there in the near future. All of these pictures were taken in only one out of the four stairwells in the garage.

Lori Allen _ wrote: I recall the name of that firm being Allega.

If I have the wrong company, perhaps someone could verify.

I believe it was Allegro (http://www.allegrorealty.com/).

Lori Allen _ wrote: I recall the name of that firm being Allega.

If I have the wrong company, perhaps someone could verify.

I believe it was Allegro (http://www.allegrorealty.com/).

Meg Ostrowski wrote:

Lori Allen _ wrote: I recall the name of that firm being Allega.

If I have the wrong company, perhaps someone could verify.

I believe it was Allegro (http://www.allegrorealty.com/).

Unfortunately, that is a real estate BOP--"broker's opinion of value" I don't recall seeing any independent engineer's report--but memory is not perfect.

What I do know is that Sam O'Leary said that the repairs to this little garage were the penultimate determinate of his decision to support the Master Agreement. In other words, instead of enforcing the 1996 agreement and making CCF do its job, O'Leary sold everything to CCF for $9.6M and whistles and stories about "quality healthcare" and a "chicken little" story that is was the "only way to ensure uninterrupted emergency services."

I would love to do a business deal with these people--lambs for slaughter--but I would feel guilty about picking their pockets.

Something I've brought up before:
One of the biggest needs for downtown is parking, which would probably best be met by a parking garage. And here we go tearing down a parking garage. I haven't seen the numbers, but I'm sure the cost of repair would be less than the cost of construction. Belle is a little distant from where we need the parking, but a shuttle van service might solve that issue cost effectively.

That's a total aside from the hospital question.

Dan Alaimo wrote:Something I've brought up before:
One of the biggest needs for downtown is parking, which would probably best be met by a parking garage. And here we go tearing down a parking garage. I haven't seen the numbers, but I'm sure the cost of repair would be less than the cost of construction. Belle is a little distant from where we need the parking, but a shuttle van service might solve that issue cost effectively. That's a total aside from the hospital question.

I'm thinking IF the parking garage needs big repairs. After Nov 8, let's see the engineering report and the numbers!