Galleria Revival Sparks Buzz

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Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop, bringing you the hottest updates in the coldest month. ❄️🔥 Did you know Cleveland is home to America’s first-ever traffic light? 🚦 Or that we once set a world record for the most balloons released at once? 🎈 (Spoiler: It didn’t end well.)

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In today’s 216 Scoop Edition:

• Left for dead no more: Galleria and Erieview Tower are ready for their makeover

• Trust Coffee isn’t just another coffee shop

• Guardians open spring training with focus on pitching and more pitching

• Superpooch: Why blow $8 million when you have Krypto?

• Billion dollar baby: Taylor Swift has made the NFL a ton of money

John Petkovic, Mark Espinosa, Victor Takakura

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IN THE NEWS

Left for dead no more: Galleria and Erieview Tower are ready for their makeover

For years, even as plans were popping up to revive countless downtown buildings, the Galleria at Erieview has seemed like an abandoned orphan.

When it opened in 1987 amid it the “Comeback City” hype, the iconic mall was billed as a “garden under glass” that would, along with the Rock Hall, spark activity northeast of Public Square.

By 2003, developers were already talking about shutting down the iconic mall. It has sat dormant for years. A variety of plans have fizzled out and dragged on.

The latest involves a $231 project to transform Erieview Tower and the Galleria into one million square feet of residential apartments and office space, restaurants, a rooftop bar and a Marriot W Hotel. The plan is expected to start in months and conclude in two years.

This time it’s different. Here’s why:

• Financing: Cleveland parking lot operator and real estate operator James Kassouf, who purchased the 40-story Tower at Erieview and the Galleria for $17.7 million in 2018, has secured development credits, $10 million in state historic tax credits, and expects another $15-20 federal tax credits.

• City support: Cleveland City Council has passed a 10-year. $9.2 million commercial  tax abatement to assist in the development to assist the project.

• The conversion trend: The national trend of converting commercial buildings into residences has taken off in the wake of vacancies resulting from Covid, work-from-home and economic downturns. Real estate firm CBRE ranks Cleveland the top city for converting office buildings into housing and hotels, with 11 percent of its office inventory undergoing or planned for conversion. Since 2016, more than 3.5 million square feet of downtown Cleveland office space has been converted to other use, including The Standard, Terminal Tower and the former May Co. department store. Erieview is one of the few big projects still on the table.

•  Expanding northward: The city has set its sights on developing the lakefront. In August, it rolled out a master plan that would create a land bridge, green spaces and open up the lakefront to the public for recreational activities;

• Apartment demand: A study by Rent Café finds that the Cleveland’s apartment market has surged to the No. 3 spot in the country. The apartment search Web site attributes the rise to its housing affordability – a 30 percent discount from the national average. In October, online traffic for Cleveland listings rose by 16 percent, while available listings fell by 9 percent year-over-year.

• Unit growth: There were 1,774 new units built in 2024 and estimates are for almost 7,000 units by 2028.

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Trust Coffee isn’t just another coffee shop

Another coffee shop…yawn. Yeah, OK, but you could argue that it’s unfair to even call Trust Coffee a coffee shop.

Judge for yourself: The creation of Mike Smith, owner of popular eatery Thyme Table, opens its doors today 27225 Wolf Road, Bay Village.

Trust has a urbane café feel from the offerings to the pink and floral décor and art-deco flair.

It will specialize in a wide range of coffees, along with scones, muffins and items such as the Spinach Ricotta Croissant. Trust will also serve a lunchtime menu that features café staples and specialty sandwiches, as well “all-day cocktails” like a Bellini or an Espresso Martini.

The drink list expands during happy hour and up to closing, with cocktails, beers and wines and a dinner menu that features light entrees, salads and desserts. For more info, go here.

Guardians open spring training with focus on pitching and more pitching

Much of the attention this offseason centered on the Guardians trading two all-stars, Josh Naylor and Andres Giminez.

Priorities for the team were elsewhere – and it comes into focus as pitchers and catchers report tomorrow to Spring Training in Goodyear, Arizona.

Pitching, pitching, pitching.

The strategy has been to acquire as many arms as possible to guard against the injuries and inconsistencies that made last year’s starting rotation one of the worst in baseball.

The Guardians had five in place this time last year.  It finished the season with only one, Tanner Bibee.

The team has penciled in its ace and Ben Lively. It’s  still high on Gavin Williams, who was injured and inconsistent last year… so that’s three.

Shane Bieber was resigned and should be back by July.

The Guardians added a pair of 25-year-old right-handers acquired in the off-season: Luis Ortiz (in the Giminez trade) and Slade Cecconi (in the Naylor trade), a highly-touted former first-round pick that has been a disappointment.

The former gets a spot. The latter is a lottery ticket – one of many the team will scratch during Spring Training.

The strategy of loading up on reclamation projects worked with Lively and Mathew Boyd.

This year its  Vince Velasquez, 32, who hasn’t pitched since 2023 because of elbow surgery, and two 27-year-old highly-touted prospects that have struggled in the big leagues: Kolby Allard and Riley Pint.

You could include Logan Allen and Triston McKenzie that group. Big expectations accompanied them and they proceeded to have disastrous years. Both are in Spring Training.

Last year showed that there are no sure things, and shaped the team’s approach to 2025: the more arms, the better the odds.

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The 216 Rundown

Superpooch: Why blow $8 million when you have Krypto?

Anticipation kept building: Will Superman make an appearance during the Super Bowl? Perhaps a new trailer for the film shot in Cleveland that would show off our city?

Wait, you mean, $8 million for a 30-second ad?

Why blow that dough when the DC franchise scored the next best thing: free heavy petting from the Puppy Bowl.

“Superman” director James Gunn brought his dog, Ozu, on the canine sports spectacle to talk about how the pooch inspired his portrayal of Krypto in the film.

“Krypto has all the powers of Superman and is as lovable and mischievous as many of the irresistible pups you’ll see today in this Puppy Bowl,” Gunn said with Ozu by his side. “We’re going to meet over 120 rescue pups who started off in shelters and are now flying to stardom as they tussle, triumph and get distracted over the course of the day.”

Watch the “Superman” trailer here.

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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

Billion dollar baby: Taylor Swift has made the NFL a ton of money

Football fans have been outraged. Even some TV analysts have been perplexed by some of the calls that allegedly favor the Kansas City Chiefs.

Despite Philadelphia Eagles 40-22 victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, the narrative is unlikely to change after a report that Taylor Swift made the NFL nearly $1 billion since she started dating Travis Kelce.

Swift started showing up at Chiefs games in Sept. 2023 and brought more than $366k to the league that season. And it keeps going up –currently over $992  million – at a higher than the U.S. budget deficit.

The gains have come in brand value driven by social media, according to Apex Marketing.

“The ‘Swift Effect’ and the corresponding media exposure continued for the NFL and the Chiefs prior to the start of the 2024 NFL season,” says Eric Smallwood, of Apex. “Taylor was visible at games, and those appearances garnered media attention from sports-media outlets and those entertainment media outlets not normally covering the NFL.”

Kelce was a big beneficiary: His Instagram followers jumped from 2.7 million to 5.39 million during the Chiefs’ playoff run in 2024. It’s at 6.7 million going into this year’s Super Bowl. (For the welfare of the IG, they better stay together.)

Meanwhile, the NFL has reported that female fans accounted for nearly half of its new followers on TikTok in 2024.

How long before President Trump signs an executive forcing them to stay together?

VINTAGE CLEVELAND

When it opened in 1987, the Galleria was hailed as a shopping hub that would bring new life to the northern part of downtown. By 2003, there were already plans to convert the mall into a convention center. The Galleria was never able to attract to big-box retailers and it started to lose even smaller chains, like Chico’s — not to mention venders in the malls sprawling food court. The building whose opening was once seen as a continuation of the “Comeback City” 1980s became a symbol of downtown’s demise. New plans to revive the Galleria and its sister property, Erieview Tower, would mark a new chapter for the iconic buildings and the city.

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WEATHER

Monday
31°F 🌡️ 25°F | 🌤️ | 0% | 💨 W 10 mph (9 knots)

Tuesday
31°F 🌡️ 20°F | ❄️ | 50% | 💨 NW 12 mph (10 knots)

Wednesday
30°F 🌡️ 18°F | ☁️ | 20% | 💨 NW 10 mph (9 knots)

Note: This forecast is based on data from weather.com.

Live Shows in the 216

Monday - 02/10

Agora Theatre | Sullivan King + YOOKiE + Others | 9 PM

Tuesday - 02/11

Agora Theatre | Travis | 7 PM

CLE Urban Winery | Mike Williams | 7 PM

Wednesday - 02/12

Beachland Ballroom | BoomBox + Joey Sardelle | 7 PM

Mahall’s | Mat Kerekes + Equipment + Bike Routes | 7 PM

The 216 Sports Area

Upcoming Games

Cavaliers

Home vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10
Away vs. Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12

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