Cleveland launches search for lakefront developers
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The 50-acre development site. Rendering: Courtesy the city of Cleveland
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.
- "This is more than a development opportunity," he noted. "It is a once-in-a-generation chance to build a vibrant, connected, and iconic neighborhood on the shores of Lake Erie."