A city of Cleveland project to move its Third District police station would give 195 officers a new home, put a prominent security presence on the health-and-technology corridor and open up two municipal properties for private development.
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View full sizeA rendering shows a possible design for Cleveland's new Third District police station, planned for the old Ward Bakery property between Chester and Perkins avenues, west of East 55th Street. The Third District police now occupy a 50-year-old building in University Circle, at one end of their expansive territory. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A police station project in Cleveland could move 195 officers to Midtown and open up two city properties -- one in University Circle and the other near Cleveland State University -- for private development.
The city wants to build a new Third District police station on the former Ward Bakery property, about 3.8 acres between Chester and Perkins avenues, west of East 55th Street. The building, the city's first new police station since the 1970s, would replace a 50-year-old facility at East 107th Street and Chester.
For the Third District police, who cover territory from the east bank of the Flats to University Circle, the project would be a much-needed upgrade to a modern building in a central location. But from an economic perspective, the development is about more than a three-story, 64,000-square-foot building to house safety forces.
By moving to Midtown, the police would create a prominent security presence in the middle of the city's burgeoning health and technology corridor. And by shifting police officers and downtown communications operations, the city would enable the redevelopment of the existing police station site and the renovation of a historic police building on Payne Avenue.
On Friday, Cleveland's City Planning Commission approved legislation allowing the city to assemble an unusual financing package for the new station. City Council will vote on the legislation in August, but economic development officials already are working out the details and negotiating a multi-part deal with developer John Ferchill and MidTown Cleveland Inc., a nonprofit community development group.
The city hopes to combine sources including New Markets Tax Credits and a federal loan to make the $14.5 million police station a reality. But cities are not eligible users of New Markets Tax Credits, federal income tax credits that help developers attract investors. Banks and large companies buy the credits and use them to offset what they owe in taxes.
To seek and obtain credits, a property owner can be a non-profit or for-profit entity. So Cleveland, which owns the land where the new police station would stand, plans to sell it to MidTown Cleveland.
MidTown would own the police station for at least seven years, the life of the credits. The city would lease the police station, with its rent payments going to repay project debt, and could buy the facility after the seven years are up.
"The city of Cleveland has not used New Markets for any type of public facility," said Economic Development Director Tracey Nichols. "We believe this is a way to fund the police station in a difficult economic time that will give us a tool for our men in blue."
Cleveland also is hoping to obtain a low-interest loan of more than $7 million through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city has secured similar loans, known as HUD 108 loans, for private developments including the first phase of the planned Flats East Bank office and hotel project.
Cities including St. Louis and Seattle have combined New Markets and HUD 108 loans, but Cleveland might be the first city to meld those sources for a police station, said Tom Jackson, a director with the National Development Council, a nonprofit community development organization in New York.
"It's a very creative way for the city to make its funds go further," he said.
The project also would include:
• $1.6 million of federal economic development grant money held by the city.
• $700,000 currently set aside for repairs to the existing police station.
• Money from the sale of the existing station, which has been appraised at $3.2 million.
Ferchill, a Cleveland developer well-versed in complex financing deals, and the Geis Cos., based in Streetsboro, have signed on to build the new station, which will have more interview rooms, more work spaces and the infrastructure to support evolving technology.
The station will be designed to qualify for certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, with energy-efficiency features that could cut monthly utility costs by $10,000, Police Chief Michael McGrath told planning officials Friday.
Once the police move, Ferchill intends to redevelop the property on East 107th Street -- on the edge of the city's health and technology district.
"We're finalizing the plans for the 107th site," he said, declining to elaborate. "We don't like to talk about things when we don't have all the details finalized."
And Ferchill could pick up a third, related project. McGrath and Public Safety Director Martin Flask said the city wants to upgrade and consolidate its emergency, fire and police communications, currently housed in a former police station at Payne Avenue and East 19th Street. The 184 communications employees could move to the third floor of the new station in Midtown, leaving the Payne building empty.
"We anticipate trying to reuse that property on Payne once they move out," Ferchill said.
CSU also has expressed interest in the building, McGrath said.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mjarboe@plaind.com, 216-999-4830