State of Ohio awards brownfield money to 24 projects in Cuyahoga, Summit, Lorain counties

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Development on Tuesday announced the awarding of more than $60 million in brownfield funding for 78 projects around the state, including 13 in Cuyahoga County, six in Summit County and five in Lorain County.

Among the projects to be funded in Cuyahoga County is the Foundry Project Arts Incubator. Developer J. Storey plans to use a $670,000 brownfield award for cleanup and remediation of the tower portion of a building at 2469 East 71st in Cleveland, and to convert it into a tech support center for game designers and an arts incubator for local arts graduates.

“We were thrilled and honored to be selected in the first round of projects which we believe will greatly revitalize and transform Cleveland,” Shorey said.

Plans for the proposed multi-use business park near Opportunity Corridor also include a fish farm and a CBD grow operation, but the brownfield funds are not for those portions of the project, Storey said.

Storey said the CBD grow operation “is moving forward” with money from private investors while the fish farm is still in the conceptual phase.

“This money will be instrumental in bringing much-needed economic growth to several communities, many of which include underserved neighborhoods that have long been neglected,” Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish said in a prepared statement.

“These are exciting projects and many of them have mixed-use plans for development, which include a hotel, brewery, public park, office and industrial space, arts and technology incubator, new apartments and other residential buildings geared toward affordable housing.”

This was the first round of brownfield grants to be awarded. The state also anounced for Cuyahoga County that:

* WXZ Development Inc. will receive $4,206,780 to clean up and remediate the site of the old Ferry Cap and Screw Co. on Scranton Peninsula for future development. The location in the Flats had also been the site of the Ohio Machine and Boiler Co. and Scranton Road Lumber.

* West 117 Development LLC is getting $4,038,978 to cleanup and remediation of three properties. One had been used for manufacturing, another had been the home of a National Tire and Battery dealership and filling station and the other is the site of the former Phantasy Theater and Nightclub.

* Westinghouse-Breakwater Properties is getting $2,638,750 for cleanup and remediation of 3.6 acres at 1200 West 58th St. in Cleveland where Paramount Stamping and Welding was located until it closed in 2019. The site is planned for mixed-use development.

* A project known as Opportunity Commerce Park will receive $2,169,295 for cleanup and remediation of land near East 55th Street and Woodland Avenue. The property has had various uses over the years, including as a gas station, a place to store coal and a scrap metal yard. The plan is to build a 140,000-square-foot building for industrial or distribution purposes.

* Great Lakes Brewing Co. and 2516 Corp. will receive $1,953,417 to cleanup and remediate 8 acres of Scranton Peninsula on which a new tap room and brewery are planned.

* Hawthorne Elementary Partners is getting $1,534,740 to clean up and remediate the former Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School and convert it into 40 apartments, a park and potentially more housing.

* BC Empire School LLC is getting $1,050,000 for cleanup and remediation of the former site of Empire Junior High School, which closed in 2011. The site in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland is to be developed into 52 affordable apartments of either one, two or three bedrooms.

* Vesta Lynette LLC will get $775,000 for cleanup and remediation of the vacant Lynette Gardens Senior Apartment Homes in Hough. The plan is to construct 65 units of affordable senior housing.

* Bridgeworks LLC will get $223,500 for cleanup and remediation of a former Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works and Bridge Garage site at the corner of West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue in Cleveland. The plan is to build a 15-story tower with hotel rooms, apartments and a bar/restaurant.

* Richard Singleton will receive $220,000 for an assessment of former apartments at 884 Parkwood Drive in Cleveland that was acquired from the Cuyahoga Land Bank. After checking for environmental issues, Singleton’s plan is to build new apartments, including some considered affordable.

* CCH Development Corp. will get $113,094 to conduct an assessment of 1.5 acres of MetroHealth System property on West 25th Street that is slated for senior housing and a hospital police headquarters.

* Great Lakes Towing Co. will receive $76,500 for an assessment of nearly 5 acres along the Cuyahoga River where a new shipyard facility, including relocated parking and offices, is planned.

The biggest award among the Summit County projects went to IRG Rubber City LLC for its Goodyear Akron Mix Center Redevelopment project. It’s getting $6,426,130 to cleanup and remediate property developed by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in 1915. Operations there ceased in 2016 and the property will become greenspace.

Other Summit County projects receiving grants were Barberton’s South Van Buren Ave. Parcels project, $250,000; Hudson’s Remediation of Former Youth Development Center Site project, $211,612; Cuyahoga Falls Front Street project, $200,401; Summit County Land Reutilization Corp.’s Former Buckley Towing project, $125,709; and the Powell and Barberton Herald Buildings project in Barberton, $200,000.

In Lorain County, the biggest award went to the city of Lorain. It’s getting $4,025,899 for cleanup and remediation 0f 20 acres of Lorain Pellet Terminal property. Multiple uses are being considered as part of the Lorain Downtown Riverfront Redevelopment Plan.

Other projects receiving wards were Elyria Block Development LLC’s Forge 417 project ($590,000), Shewango Valley High’s Gateway Business Park ($300,000), the Avon Lake – Lake Road Power Plant Property Assessments project ($300,000); and Lorain’s Former St. Joseph Hospital Assessment project ($195,750).