Developer John Ferchill hopes to replace an outdated police station and a library branch in Cleveland with a $98.6 million office-and-research project meant to capitalize on growth of the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Developer John Ferchill hopes to build a $98.6 million office-and-research project at the edge of University Circle, near the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University.
The Cleveland developer detailed his plans Tuesday morning during a joint hearing of Cleveland City Council committees. Ferchill is working with the city to build a new Third District police station in Midtown and to buy and redevelop the site of the current station, at Chester Avenue and East 107th Street.
The new police station, at Chester and East 55th Street, would house 195 officers and open up outdated police facilities for private development. The Third District police cover a territory from the east bank of the Flats to University Circle.
Ferchill wants to demolish their old building and replace it with an "Innovation Center." According to documents distributed to council members, his potential financing partners include the Cleveland Foundation, a real estate investment fund for retirement plans and a program that lets foreign investors put money into developments in exchange for a shot at U.S. citizenship.
The project faces considerable hurdles. It hinges on the city's success moving the police station. The real estate market remains shaky, and financing is hard to find. Ferchill reluctantly shared his plans in response to requests from council members.
"My style is not to go in and make an announcement on something that's not real," Ferchill said later in an interview. "And it's not real at this stage of the game. Who knows what's going to happen here? I know it's a good site, I'll tell you that."
The Ferchill Group never realized plans for a tech center on Euclid Avenue near East 55th Street, on land now slated for a regional psychiatric hospital. But Ferchill has built two lab-and-office buildings near the University of Pittsburgh and is developing a data center for educational institutions in Chicago. The Innovation Center concept focuses on CWRU, the Clinic and UH, which are hungry for space and also attract and spawn other businesses.
"We've had an inordinate amount of interest in these project sites if we can get them up and going," Ferchill told council members.
The project, on 2.36 acres, would involve two phases, starting with a 100,000-square-foot building at Chester and East 107th. A second building could replace the Cleveland Public Library branch on Stokes Boulevard. Ferchill is talking to the library about relocating the branch, though no decisions have been made.