The Observation Deck

According to an article from Business Insider...

More than 6,200 stores are closing in 2019 as the retail apocalypse drags on — here's the full list.

" Retailers closed a record 102 million square feet of store space in 2017, then smashed that record in 2018 by closing another 155 million square feet, according to estimates by the commercial real-estate firm CoStar Group.

"This year we are predicting more of the same in the retail space," CoStar senior consultant Drew Myers said. "

Read the entire story here: https://www.businessinsider.com/stores- ... ist-2019-3

So they lie cover up, and are severely behind the times. Lakewood Senior Civic Leaders and City Hall!

$258 million gambled on retail by City Hall.

.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:According to an article from Business Insider...

More than 6,200 stores are closing in 2019 as the retail apocalypse drags on — here's the full list.

" Retailers closed a record 102 million square feet of store space in 2017, then smashed that record in 2018 by closing another 155 million square feet, according to estimates by the commercial real-estate firm CoStar Group.

"This year we are predicting more of the same in the retail space," CoStar senior consultant Drew Myers said. "

Read the entire story here: https://www.businessinsider.com/stores- ... ist-2019-3

So they lie cover up, and are severely behind the times. Lakewood Senior Civic Leaders and City Hall!

$258 million gambled on retail by City Hall.

.

The stores listed by Business Insider are chains most affected by growing online sales, and in a number of cases, investment deals that went south, or a combination. I'd like to see research into the stores like the ones that seem to thrive in Lakewood. However, our civic leaders have for a long time been focused on attracting these chains and not helping to build up the typical Lakewood operator. I've called it "Crocker-envy" and it is still an apt term.

After all this time and debate, the best use of that land remains health-care/medical, or at least a significant employer with enough good-paying jobs to in part offset the deficit caused by the hospital closing.

Get real folks.

Dan Alaimo wrote:

Jim O'Bryan wrote:According to an article from Business Insider...

More than 6,200 stores are closing in 2019 as the retail apocalypse drags on — here's the full list.

" Retailers closed a record 102 million square feet of store space in 2017, then smashed that record in 2018 by closing another 155 million square feet, according to estimates by the commercial real-estate firm CoStar Group.

"This year we are predicting more of the same in the retail space," CoStar senior consultant Drew Myers said. "

Read the entire story here: https://www.businessinsider.com/stores- ... ist-2019-3

So they lie cover up, and are severely behind the times. Lakewood Senior Civic Leaders and City Hall!

$258 million gambled on retail by City Hall.

.

The stores listed by Business Insider are chains most affected by growing online sales, and in a number of cases, investment deals that went south, or a combination. I'd like to see research into the stores like the ones that seem to thrive in Lakewood. However, our civic leaders have for a long time been focused on attracting these chains and not helping to build up the typical Lakewood operator. I've called it "Crocker-envy" and it is still an apt term.

After all this time and debate, the best use of that land remains health-care/medical, or at least a significant employer with enough good-paying jobs to in part offset the deficit caused by the hospital closing.

Get real folks.

Dan

But they read like a list of stores "those people" covet.

They are 100% willing to sell off residential homes, lots, peace and quiet for commercial interests.

They broke Lakewood, now they are destroying it's peace and quiet.

.

Yes, You Can Break A City

Other local communities proudly welcome new hospital construction, Lakewood public officials shamefully demolished ours.

The Projections for Retail "Growth"

75,000 retail stores projected to close.

UBS predicts that clothing stores are going to be hit the hardest, closing an estimated 21,000 stores — or 17% of all clothing shops across the US — by 2026.

Electronics and home furnishing stores are also expected to close thousands of stores, with the electronics category expected to shutter about 10,000 and home furnishing to close roughly 8,000.

More than 5,800 store closures have been announced so far in 2019, as retailers including Victoria's Secret, JCPenney, and Gap shutter dozens of locations.

1,100 closures were announced in a single day in March. And, 11 retailers have already filed for bankruptcy or liquidation so far this year.

Like I have said before, I don't just make this stuff up.

There are 214 hospitals in Ohio, the City of Lakewood is the 15th largest city in Ohio and has no hospital. Incidentally, Lakewood is the densest populated city in Ohio. Lakewood s kill the chicken to get the eggs development scheme is ensuring it will get denser with less green space, less available parking and more congestion.

After they fail, and if they have a Plan B (or maybe it's Plan C now), what would it look like?

The Safety Net Has Been Shredded

The almost $7M in annual charity care really was the proverbial "safety net".

The figures in the table that I posted above do not include any dollar figures for care provided to those eligible for Medicaid.

Our local civic leadership supported the closure of our public community hospital to build upscale townhouses and fashionable retail.

This is an embarrassment to all of us.

Especially, now that we know that other similar developments are before the Planning Commission.

Even worse, we also now know that the Metro Health System proposal to rebuild Lakewood Hospital included about 3 acres of hospital site land that could have been used for other health-care economic redevelopment.

Divest from Healthcare -- Invest in Retail

While bank economists are telling their investors that 75,000 retail stores are likely to close in the foreseeable future, the City of Lakewood is investing heavily to subsidize the future retail development at Detroit & Belle.

--with 84,000 square feet of new retail space.

(SEE) https://www.onelakewoodplace.com/

These publicly subsidized investments in retail development (mixed-use) follow tens of millions of dollars of divestment from healthcare, the largest growing sector of the American economy.

National Data Shows Little Need For New Apartments In Lakewood

Highest Vacancy Rates For Apartments Nationally in 2018

4th Highest -- Northeast Ohio -- 6%

3rd Highest -- St. Louis -- 6.1%

2nd Highest -- Houston -- 6.4%

1st Highest -- San Antonio -- 6.8%

Our ranking is based on our MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area).

(Source: Marcus & Millichap, as cited by Crain's Cleveland Business, Vol. 40, No. 6, p. 1.)

Our hospital is being demolished for 200 new apartment units!

More than 500 new apartment units are or will be before the Planning Commission in 2019 AND NONE of those units require the demolition of public healthcare infrastructure.

Please draw your own conclusions.

Dan Alaimo wrote:After they fail, and if they have a Plan B (or maybe it's Plan C now), what would it look like?

Plan BCD is premium parking for Geiger's. Add yellow bollards surrounding the lot, some of them knock askew by snowplows. And since A River Runs Through It... Fly-fishing

The Architecture That Never Was

For those of you born after the 1980's, Mr. Mager's photograph of the empty parking lot above is to remind us of the AmeriTrust office tower that was never built.

The then existing buildings were demolished and the site has been a parking lot (and a disgrace to Public Square) ever since.

The building that was there was 33 Public Square. Back in the early '70s I worked as a staff aide to the Jetport Feasibility Study and our offices were in that building.

Or this example, CentrePoint in Lexington KY.

Demolition of entire city block in 2008.

As of 2019, construction is finally underway.

Lot sat empty as grass field for years, then a second developer came in and excavated for a parking garage, then abandoned the project. The city had to sue to have the joke filled in.

Almost 12 years after destroying an entire block of historic buildings, they are finally rebuilding.