Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration passed on the former Plain Dealer building, Tyler Village, a parking lot by the Federal Bureau of Investigation building and several other locations in its search for a new police headquarters.
Records released to Signal Cleveland on Tuesday show the variety of sites in and around downtown that city officials considered before settling on the ArtCraft building.
Cleveland City Council this week held its first committee hearing on the Bibb administration’s $90 million plan to buy and redevelop the property.
Here are the proposals the city considered:
ArtCraft Building – TurnDev
In its submission to the city, developer TurnDev proposed to build a parking garage connected to the ArtCraft Building by an elevated walkway. The building’s closeness to Interstate 90 and public transit were also selling points.
“The building is a foundational component of the nationally recognized Superior Arts Historic District. It is unquestionably part of the City’s culture and historic fabric,” Managing Partner Jon Pinney wrote.
The project is estimated to cost $90.3 million, or $75.3 million once incentives like tax credits are factored in.
East 55th Street – Brandywine Financial
Brandywine Financial, a privately held real estate firm with offices in Pennsylvania and Florida, proposed building a 10-story headquarters on East 55th Street just south of Superior Avenue.
The land is owned by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and is the site of the abandoned Wilson Middle School. Across the street is the Richman building, an abandoned factory.
“Our track record has proven that a facility like this, if done correctly with the right team, can spur economic opportunity, create a positive social impact on a community, and create more excitement towards the public safety sector, especially with the youth,” the firm’s proposal reads.
Brandywine’s partners in the proposal included USA Architects and the contractor InTech. The proposal did not include a cost estimate.
Davenport Bluffs – KRA Management
The Kassouf family of real estate owners and parking lot developers proposed two sites to the city. One was the parking lot between West 3rd and West 9th Streets north of the Shoreway.
The other site was off of Davenport Avenue just east of the FBI building. The Cleveland EMS headquarters is immediately to the south.
KRA Management pegged the project cost at $85 million. The city would have leased the property for an initial term of 20 years, paying $7.7 million a year with 2% annual rent increases.
The Kassoufs’ partners on the proposal were Cleveland Construction, the architecture firm Vocon and Brown Gibbons Lang, a real estate advisory company founded by former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons.
Tyler Village – MRN
MRN, the development team led by Ari and Jori Maron, pitched the police headquarters at Tyler Village on Superior Avenue as the cornerstone of a new international neighborhood at the edge of Asiatown.
“The new Tyler neighborhood will seek to break down barriers by providing goods and services to residents in need, educational opportunities for all Clevelanders and visitors and real economic development,” they wrote.
The buildings in Tyler Village would offer police both public accessibility and security, the Marons wrote. Cleveland would have the option to buy the property for $83 million after redevelopment.
Plain Dealer Plaza – Industrial Commercial Properties
This was the second time Cleveland considered the former Plain Dealer headquarters on Superior Avenue for the home of the Division of Police. Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration initially picked the building for the project in 2018. When those plans fell through, Jackson looked to the Opportunity Corridor.
The Plain Dealer, which is owned by Advance Publications, sold its former headquarters to Industrial Commercial Properties last year for $12.4 million, property records show.
The developer offered the city a 20-year lease with five 15-year options to renew. The city also would have had the option to buy the property for $85 million early in the lease.
ICP proposed to build a 405-car parking garage and storage facility on the site, while refitting the building with a crime lab and offices. The former Plain Dealer newsroom would have become a police gymnasium, the plans show.
2001 Payne Avenue and 5701 Carnegie Avenue – InSITE
A development team led by InSITE proposed two locations to the city. One was the historic police headquarters building on Payne Avenue and the land surrounding it. The other was the Warner and Swasey Building on Carnegie Avenue.
“Our team can create a new high quality built environment for the CPD Headquarters Building that will revitalize much needed areas of the city, convey openness and will be viewed as ‘less intimidating and more welcoming’ to the public (balancing force and friendliness),” the developers wrote.
InSITE’s partners included Welty Development and Next Gen Construction. The project was estimated to cost almost $128 million.
More on the police headquarters:
Check out photos from a media open house at the ArtCraft Building.