CLEVELAND, Ohio — A real estate company owned by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert announced Wednesday that it wants to add thousands of homes, offices and other development over the coming decades to property along the Cuyahoga River near downtown.
The overarching vision for more than 100 acres, which includes the Collision Bend area of the river near Tower City and portions of Canal Road, includes transforming long-underused properties near booming neighborhoods in Tremont and Ohio City, as well as downtown itself, Bedrock CEO Kofi Bonner said in a virtual news conference. The hope is to create another neighborhood through the development over the next 25-30 years.
“Our goal is to lead in making Cleveland a true 18-hour city, alive and vibrant beyond the traditional work hours,” Bonner said in a heavily orchestrated event that was big on proclamations but short on details. “This will create a new competitive edge to Cleveland in its business attraction efforts.”
Officials from the city were also involved in Wednesday’s announcement. Those who spoke talked about the need for upgrades and repairs to public infrastructure such as roads, as well as the need to invest in public spaces and ways for residents to access the riverfront. They also talked about putting plans forward to make Cleveland more attractive as a $1 trillion infrastructure bill remains pending in Congress.
“We all need to organize ourselves to position Cleveland as best as we can to be able to access the infrastructure funds that will be coming ultimately from the federal government,” Bonner said.
Bedrock’s hope is that those public improvements, along with those to roads and other infrastructure, will lead to people wanting to live, work and visit there and lead to the need for thousands of homes, millions of square feet of office space, shops and restaurants that Bedrock and possibly others can build.
Bonner noted, however, that “the market will ultimately determine this.” A spokeswoman for Bedrock did not provide answers on what infrastructure improvements the area needs to encourage development and how much affordable housing it could see – both of which were discussed during the news conference.
The plans dovetail with “Vision for the Valley,” a plan two years in the making that serves as a roadmap for development and investment in the area surrounding an eight-mile section of the Cuyahoga River. The Cleveland City Planning Commission in July adopted the plan.
Bedrock’s proposal the largest in several years for an area that has seen a lot of proposals come and go with little action. Gilbert proposed putting a casino on the land, and before that Forest City Enterprises wanted to build a convention center and medical mart there. Before then, the area was a potential site for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that now sits on the shores of Lake Erie.
The news conference also included Mayor Frank Jackson, Greater Cleveland Partnership CEO Baiju Shah and the Gilbert-affiliated Rocket Community Fund executive Laura Grannemann. It was hosted by former WOIO-19 anchor Romona Robinson.
Shah said the vision and other other major projects in and near the city’s central business district, “have the potential to transform downtown.”
Bonner noted that Bedrock, which owns Tower City Center and the recently renovated May Co. building near Public Square, owns about 30% of the 130 acres needed for its plan, but said it would work with landowners and other companies to enact its vision.
But for all the talk of the public and private partnering throughout the news conference, Jackson noted that the goal is to attract private development. The mayor, who is in the final months of being at the helm of a city he has led for 16 years, said he anticipated some general legislation about the plan to go to City Council, but that the details like costs and development agreements will have to be worked out by the next administration.
Still, Jackson noted his support and said he considered it a tool to combat inequality and racism in the city, even if such development is slated for near one of the most heavily invested areas of Cleveland. He also said it provided connections to other major projects in and near downtown, including the new Sherwin-Williams headquarters and plans for stabilizing and putting parks on Irishtown Bend.
“This is not just bricks and mortar,” Jackson said. “It is a tool that we can demonstrate (that) this is how you do business when you come to Cleveland and that all have to participate in that prosperity.”
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