Latest news with #NorthCoastWaterfrontDevelopmentCorporation
Axios
15-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Cleveland launches search for lakefront developers
The city of Cleveland is officially seeking developers to transform up to 50 acres of its downtown lakefront into a year-round neighborhood — this time without the Cleveland Browns. Why it matters: This is the city's most ambitious lakefront redevelopment effort in decades. Mayor Justin Bibb sees it as an opportunity to undo past planning failures and finally connect the downtown core to Lake Erie. If successful, it would reorient downtown toward the water — a key component of Bibb's "Shore to Core to Shore" development framework — and create new housing, jobs, and cultural destinations in an area long occupied by surface lots and the Browns stadium. Driving the news: The city and its nonprofit development partner, the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation (NCWDC), issued a formal request Tuesday to solicit interested developers. Developers have until Sept. 19 to submit. Zoom in: The city encourages a mix of uses on the waterfront site between West 3rd and East 9th streets, including retail, housing, entertainment, hotels, and public spaces. The request offers flexibility to repurpose or replace the existing stadium, which the city expects to be demolished in 2029 if the Browns move to Brook Park. Bibb told reporters last week that he hopes the Haslams will be "good corporate citizens" and contribute to demolition costs upon their exit. State of play: The city developed a lakefront master plan over three years of public engagement to identify core values for development, including racial equity, economic opportunity and climate resilience. Between the lines: That work was spearheaded by the landscape architecture firm Field Operations. The current request is for developers to execute on the vision. By the numbers: The city has already secured $150 million in federal and state grants to construct a pedestrian land bridge connecting downtown to the project site. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027. The city is also offering an array of "incentive opportunities," including residential and commercial tax abatements, TIFs, the Opportunity Zone designation, job creation tax credits and proceeds from a New Community Authority to finance infrastructure and public amenities. The last word: Bibb wrote the 50-acre North Coast site "sits at the intersection of civic pride, economic opportunity, and global ambition" in an introductory letter to developers.
Axios
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Pop-up park coming to lakefront this summer
The North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation is launching a "pop-up public space" on the lakefront this summer. Why it matters: The major infrastructural work of the North Coast Master Plan, including a pedestrian bridge, is still years away. The master planning has been complicated by the Trump administration and the likely departure of the Browns' stadium. But leaders want Clevelanders to be able to experience the waterfront today. State of play: The North Coast Yard will be erected with temporary materials on the city-owned lot north of Browns Stadium, next to the steamship Mather. It will feature concerts and other live programming from May through September, food vendors, outdoor games, basketball courts and seating for relaxing and enjoying views of the water. What they're saying: "Cleveland's residents should not have to wait to experience a lakefront that belongs to them," said Scott Skinner, NCWDC's executive director, in a press release. "The temporary infrastructure and exciting programming of the North Coast Yard gives our community a chance to enjoy Lake Erie now." Flashback: When leaders pitched local businesses on a costly redesign of Public Square before the RNC in 2016, they called it Cleveland's front yard. The North Coast Yard is being promoted, in a similar vein, as downtown Cleveland's lakefront backyard. What's next: The Yard will be constructed through May with a grand opening weekend June 13-15. The summertime destination will host a Wednesday basketball league and Friday skate nights, with a DJ and roller skate rentals.
