Developers envision everything from film studios to a school and hotels to restaurants, according to public records.
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View full sizeDocuments released by the city of Cleveland reveal some details about what developers want to build on the downtown lakefront. Five teams recently expressed interest in land near FirstEnergy Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The five teams chasing opportunities to build on Cleveland's lakefront envision everything from film studios to a school and hotels to restaurants, according to public records.
Last week, the city of Cleveland released copies of responses to a recent request for qualifications from developers interested in Harbor West and North Coast Harbor, two lakefront districts near FirstEnergy Stadium. Though heavily redacted -- to protect sensitive or competitive information, the city says -- the documents provide more details about the development teams and hints about their ideas.
The city released the documents (posted in full at the bottom of this story) in response to a records request from The Plain Dealer. A lakefront advisory committee is evaluating the submissions and expects to solicit more in-depth proposals by early October. Ultimately, city officials hope to give one or more developers an option to lease waterfront land, setting the stage for projects that could take anywhere from a few years to a decade to build.
Mark Munsell, a Beachwood real estate investor and developer, wants to lure a film studio and theater college to a portion of Harbor West, an 18.6-acre site north of FirstEnergy Stadium. In the cover letter included in his 86-page submission, Munsell said his project would build on recent film-industry traffic in Cleveland, the site of several movies thanks to a state tax credit for movie production.
Munsell's document also mentions a large apartment project and a hotel -- both described as "luxury" developments -- offices, retail and a garage large enough to serve the project and game-day traffic for the Cleveland Browns.
The document reveals that Munsell and John Goodman, senior managing director of the McDonald Partners investment-advisory firm, formed a company called Northcoast Harbor LLC to pursue the lakefront project.
Their team also includes the NRP Group, an apartment developer based in Garfield Heights; Vocon, an architecture and design firm based in Cleveland; Turner Construction; the Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz law firm; Bastien and Associates, Inc., an architecture and planning firm that has worked on major film-studio projects; and MBS Media Campus, a California film-production center whose president might help manage the Cleveland film studio.
"We are prepared to move forward, and we would like the timing of the process to move more quickly," said Munsell, who declined to discuss details of his plan. "The Munsell team provided a proposal, not just qualifications."
The redacted documents offer less information about what developer Dick Pace and his partners hope to do, if they win the chance to lease Harbor West and the smaller North Coast Harbor property.
Trammell Crow Co., a major real estate developer and investor, has a stake in Cumberland Lakefront LLC, the company Pace formed to tackle lakefront projects. In an unusual arrangement, Pace wrote in his submission that he and Trammell Crow hope to involve a third player -- the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, which would have no financial stake or responsibility for the project but would receive a share of the profits.
"This project is highly differentiated by its being designed around learning, and we feel the public schools should share in its success," the 67-page document states, hinting at an educational component to Pace's plan.
During a phone interview Friday, Pace confirmed that his concept includes a school, either a high-performing public school or a district-supported charter school.
"That's what makes a great neighborhood, is having a school within walking distance," Pace said. "What we want to do is create the best neighborhood in the region, not only in Cleveland but in the region.
Pace's team also includes Gilbane Inc. and Coleman Spohn Corp. as construction managers; HKS, an architectural firm based in Dallas, as the designer; URS Corp., providing engineering services and other work; SWA Group, a landscape architecture firm; Bellwether Enterprise, a Cleveland mortgage-banking company; the Tucker Ellis law firm; and a few local businesses focused on engineering, design and insurance.
A competing plan from KUD International, part of Kajima Corp. of Japan, describes a "multidimensional, multiphase undertaking." As with the other documents released by the city, most of the details are blacked out. The company is interested in both Harbor West and North Coast Harbor and has discussed the sites with several hotel developers.
KUD's team includes Van Auken Akins Architects and EE&K, two architecture firms that helped craft the city's most recent lakefront plan. According to its submission, KUD would work on the lakefront project from the company's New York office and the Van Auken Akins office in downtown Cleveland.
The KUD document also mentions the Thompson Hine law firm and ABM Parking Services, which manages the parking lots north of FirstEnergy Stadium and the garage at the Great Lakes Science Center.
Industrial Realty Group, the third company chasing both sites, does not discuss potential partners in the portions of its submission that the city left untouched. Stuart Lichter, president of the California-based company, is working with Chris Semarjian, a frequent participant in Lichter's deals in the Great Lakes states.
The last pitch, from Executive Caterers and companies formed by logistics executive Brian Hall, focuses on a restaurant -- a redevelopment and relocation of the cafe at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum at North Coast Harbor. The team includes Robert P. Madison International, Inc., a Cleveland architecture firm.
View Harbor West and North Coast Harbor in a larger map