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Corridor: Construction could begin soon continued from PAGE 1
It was among the buildings that were part of a factory complex built in 1906 by Peerless Motor Car Co. Sometime after Peerless stopped making cars in 1931, it was home to the Model Box Co. It was abandoned when Forge Products’ parent company bought it in 2010. So, Mr. Wright expects the Ohio Department of Transportation will take that building under eminent domain — the right of the state to acquire private property for a public purpose. If it does, Forge Products will need to consider its alternatives, because it needs to expand. “We’ve been here since 1978, give or take, and we like where we are; we’re comfortable here and our employees are comfortable here,” Mr. Wright said in a telephone interview last week. “It would cost a crapload of money to move.” Todd Shaker, owner of The Final Cut, a business that turns raw fruit into bite-size pieces it sells to institutional food service customers, likewise is worried about his building at 8630 Evins Ave., which also is slated for taking under eminent domain. At a public meeting last Tuesday, Oct. 1, to update neighborhood residents and business owners on the Opportunity Corridor and hear their comments, Mr. Shaker tried to explain to an ODOT staffer that he couldn’t use some equipment in his current building in whatever new building he would move into because he couldn’t afford the downtime a move would entail. He would need to buy new. “A new building doesn’t make me whole,” he told a reporter later, adding, “We want to stay in Cleveland.” A study by ODOT estimates the state will need to take 64 residential buildings, including single- and multi-family homes, 25 commercial buildings, some of which are vacant, and a church to clear the path for the corridor.
Suddenly, money Road building — and property taking — on this scale haven’t been undertaken in Cleveland in years, though the rebuilding of the Inner Belt Bridge over the Cuyahoga River did have some fights over property values. In July, Gov. John Kasich told Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson the state would come through with the lion’s share of the cash needed to build the Opportunity Corridor. The project would carve out a roadway that has been promoted as the foundation on which the city could rebuild a struggling, deteriorating East Side neighborhood, often called the “Forgotten Triangle.” The 3.5-mile road would be a divided, 35-mph boulevard linking Interstate 490 at East 55th Street to University Circle along East 105th Street. It would make it easier to reach the growing health care and employment center at University Circle from the west and, transportation planners believe, relieve congestion on the Inner Belt. The city of Cleveland rejected ODOT’s original plan a decade ago for
a freeway to University Circle, but embraced the idea of a roadway that would spur redevelopment along the route. But the project was on the back burner until a change in state law this spring allowed the Kasich administration to tap the Ohio Turnpike for an infusion of road building money. The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission sold $1.1 billion in bonds, and Gov. Kasich said the Opportunity Corridor would share in proceeds of the sale. Construction is expected to start along East 105th as early as next year, though the full project likely won’t be completed until the end of the decade. Once the construction dust settles, it will be up to the city of Cleveland and private developers to as-
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Exerting a ‘heavy hand’? With the ball beginning to roll for the Opportunity Corridor project, some people and businesses along its proposed path now are anxious. At last week’s meeting with ODOT officials, some neighborhood residents and community leaders voiced some of the same concerns expressed by Forge Prod-
can continue negotiating a settlement or can ask a court to determine the property’s fair value. “This is the classic problem for property owners,” said Craig Miller, a Cleveland attorney and former Cleveland law director who represents several clients with property along the corridor. “This heavy hand of eminent domain can be pretty troublesome for property owners.” It also could have a negative effect, at least for the time being, on whatever economic activity still exists along the route. Mr. Wright said while Forge Products would like to stay in the neighborhood, it is exploring its options. “We’ve been a part of this community for a long time,” Mr. Wright said. “We’re trying to be a good corporate citizen because we want to see things succeed, even if we’re in the cross hairs, so it’s a real challenge for us.” ■
¢ ¤§ ¤ £ ¤ ¤ £ ¡ဠ£ ၼၸ ¡ ၼၸဘ 2013 Lynlee Altman, Pinnacle Construction and Devlopment Group
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Christopher A. Bayham, AssuraMed
Julie Maurer, Echogen Power Systems, SilverLine Consulting
Anne Bitong, Akron Marathon
Marty McGann, Greater Cleveland Partnership
Matt Brakey, Brakey Energy
Brian Muskoff, UrbanCode (an IBM Company)
Bridget Meehan Brennan, United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Ohio
Scott Orr, Gilbane Building Co.
Tim Brokaw, Brokaw Inc.
Jeff Pacini, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission
Tessa Burg, SparkBase Inc.
Stella Paparizos Dilik, The Salvation Army of Greater Cleveland
Dan Burkons, Marcus & Millichap
Laura Passerallo, Fifth Third Bank
Ken Burns, TinyCircuits
Rico Pietro, Cresco Real Estate
Dan Charney, Direct Recruiters Inc. J. Brandon Davis, URS Corp.
Tony Rospert, Thompson Hine, Cornucopia Inc.
Jacob Duritsky, Team NEO
Victor Ruiz, Esperanza Inc.
Michael Foran, Market Garden Brewery, Nano Brew, Bar Cento, Bier Markt, Speakeasy
Chris Salata, Fairmount Properties Andrew Samtoy, Dworken & Bernstein Co. LPA
Sarah Forrer, Main Street Cupcakes
David Sawicki, Cleveland Construction Inc.
Troy Gerspacher, Gerspacher Real Estate Group
Marybeth Shamrock, KPMG LLP
Rob Heiser, Segmint Inc.
Fattar Thomas, Delaware North SportService
Will Lazzaro, Dakota Software
Ryan White, Price for Profit
Jonathan Levoy, Alego Health
Keith Williams, Good Karma Broadcasting, ESPN Cleveland
Shannon I. Lyons, LaunchHouse Cary Majors, Steris Corp.
Kim Wilson, Slate Rock Safety LLC
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semble land along the boulevard into developable parcels for offices, warehouse and light industrial buildings and even new residential communities. A July 2012 land use study estimated that about 29% of the land along the corridor is vacant, “dominated by isolated residences, dilapidated properties and incomplete land uses.”
ucts’ Mr. Wright and Final Cut’s Mr. Shaker about eminent domain. Their worries are economic; they are related to property values that are depressed by the recession, the age of their homes and buildings, and the additional markdown their land faces because of the blight that surrounds them. They fear the price ODOT will put on their properties — what the law calls its fair market value if sold on the open market — won’t be enough for them to afford comparable homes or buildings in other neighborhoods. “Where are you going to find a $5,000 house?” Mr. Wright said later in a telephone interview. Ohio law allows ODOT to take possession of a property before it comes to final terms with the owner. Under this so-called “quick take” process, the transportation department can begin construction work and the property owner either
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