Dick Pace of Cumberland Development said this week that he's shifted focus to a possible hotel site north of the Great Lakes Science Center.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If developers build a hotel on downtown Cleveland's lakefront, the project won't sit between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Great Lakes Science Center.
Dick Pace of Cumberland Development said this week that he's shifted focus to a possible hotel site north of the science center. That's a change from September, when Cleveland-based Cumberland and Trammell Crow Co. of Dallas were weighing several possible hotel locations, including land closer to the space-starved Rock Hall.
The hotel move eliminates the potential for conflict between the private development and a $25 million public pedestrian bridge. That bridge, funded by the city, Cuyahoga County and the state, is being designed to link the grassy downtown Malls to North Coast Harbor. The northern end of the span will touch down between the science center and the Rock Hall, on a tight site where Cleveland's lakefront plan also calls for a two-story, 45,000-square-foot retail building.
Pace and Trammell Crow still hope to start constructing that retail building and other projects north of the Rock Hall next year.
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View full sizeAn updated phasing plan for the downtown Cleveland lakefront shows how developers hope to split their projects into four phases. Construction could start with land between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Great Lakes Science Center and sites along the East Ninth Street Pier. On Friday, the Cleveland City Planning Commission signed off on a few modifications to the developers' lakefront proposal - including a reconfiguration of the project in to four phases instead of three.
The phasing change won't impact the overall development timeline.
But biting off a more limited first phase, on land east of the science center, could allow the developers to be more nimble as they assemble financing and push to open the first buildings before mid-2016. Those early projects are smaller and don't require hefty infrastructure work, which will be necessary for larger buildings - apartments, offices and the possible hotel - and public spaces north of the science center and the football stadium.
"I know the developer is very interested in getting started because some of the items in phase one, we'd like to see them open for the Republican National Convention," Tracey Nichols, the city's economic-development director, told planning commission members.
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View full sizeDevelopers originally proposed a three-phase lakefront development. Their decision to split the project into four phases won't impact the project timeline, Dick Pace of Cumberland Development said, but it will allow them to separately finance smaller, swifter projects that don't face major infrastructure hurdles. Pace said a restaurant operator has expressed interest in a site near Voinovich Park, at the northern end of the East Ninth Street Pier. The early lakefront projects could include other restaurants and water-related retailers and recreational opportunities. Broader development plans call for more than 1,000 apartments, offices and a downtown school, set for completion by mid-2022.
Cleveland City Council committees will start reviewing the phasing change and other adjustments to the city's potential deal with Cumberland and Trammell Crow next week. Council is scheduled to vote on the legislation Dec. 1.
The proposed legislative tweaks also include an extension of the deadline for the city to wrap up an option agreement on the lakefront land. Cleveland can't sell lakefront land without a public vote, so the city hopes to enter long-term leases with Trammell Crow and Pace. That process is taking slightly longer than expected because of the complexity of the lakefront sites and the need for some underlying agreements with the state.
The city hopes to push back the deadline to sign an option agreement - which will give the developers site control and the eventual ability to sign a lease - from Dec. 2 to June 30. That extension won't delay construction.