Port of Cleveland approves agreement to acquire holdout property needed for $100 million Irishtown Bend project
The Port's agreement paves the way for averting a potential landslide into the Cuyahoga River's shipping lane. The Port of Cleveland's board of directors unanimously voted unanimously to approve a draft agreement that would allow work to begin this year on a $100 million project to stabilize the Irishtown Bend hillside and build a regional park overlooking the Cuyahoga River and the downtown skyline. The agreement concerns a.4-acre property off the southeast corner of Detroit Avenue and West 25th Street, at the western end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge. It also provides for payment of $1.25 million to Mortgage Investment Group LLC, the entity formed by the Port, and other agencies will pay the remaining $890,000. The project is designed to avert a landslide that could halt shipping and embarrass a city still smarting over a notorious fire on the river in 1969. The disagreement over the eminent domain taking the contested property spawned three costly legal actions.
Pubblicato : un anno fa di Steven Litt | [email protected], slitt in Business
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Port of Cleveland’s board of directors voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a draft agreement that would allow work to begin this year on a $100 million project to stabilize the Irishtown Bend hillside and build a regional park overlooking the Cuyahoga River and the downtown skyline.
The agreement concerns a .4-acre property off the southeast corner of Detroit Avenue and West 25th Street, at the western end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge. Most of the property is occupied by the Royal Castle building, a former hamburger restaurant, topped by a billboard.
Real estate developer and restaurateur Bobby George bought the property in 2018 with his father, developer Tony George, through Mortgage Investment Group LLC. They rejected the Port’s first offer of $360,000 for the property in 2022 and fought its attempt to obtain it through eminent domain.
In addition to the Port, other public entities including Cleveland Metroparks will have to approve the agreement in order for it to take effect. Port officials didn’t immediately have information on which agencies would be involved, or how they’d contribute to it financially.
“It feels great,’’ J. Stefan Holmes, chairman of the Port’s board, said after Tuesday’s vote. “It’s been a long time.’’
Among other things, the agreement provides for payment of $1.25 million to Mortgage Investment Group LLC, the entity formed by the Georges to own the property.
The amount includes $360,000 already paid into an escrow account by the Port. Other agencies will pay the remaining $890,000, although it was unclear immediately Tuesday how the amount would be divided.
The agreement also states that partners in the Irishtown project not including the Port will build a small restaurant on the corner property that will be leased to Mortgage Investment Group once the Royal Castle building and billboard have been removed.
“I feel good’' about the agreement, Bobby George said Tuesday. “In business, you just want to keep moving forward and make progress.” He said the agreement “Solved a problem for them and for me, so it’s a good decision.’’
The Royal Castle property was the last piece on the 23-acre hillside needed by the Port and partnering agencies in order to start work on the stabilization project. Because it occupied the highest part of the hillside, work couldn’t commence without it, the Port’s director, Will Friedman, said in recent interviews.
The stabilization project is designed to avert a landslide that could halt shipping and embarrass a city still smarting over a notorious fire on the river in 1969.
The project will include removing 250,000 cubic yards of unstable soil on the downhill side of an escarpment that runs north-south near the top of the hillside, just east of West 25th Street. The Port also plans to build a new bulkhead along more than 2,000 feet of riverbank below the crescent-shaped hill.
Once the stabilization is finished, a 23-acre park will be built on the slope for an estimated $45 million by entities including Cleveland Metroparks and the nonprofit Ohio City Inc.
The disagreement over the eminent domain taking the contested property spawned three costly legal actions. They included the Port’s petition filed in Cuyahoga County Probate Court in 2022 to grant the eminent domain taking, or appropriation, and a subsequent lawsuit filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas by Mortgage Investment Group LLC to block the taking.
The LLC also filed a separate lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas alleging that the Port had engaged in a conspiracy with other public agencies to obtain the property. The Port was prepared to argue that it had simply collaborated with other public entities, an activity that should be considered normal and praiseworthy.
The Port said it has spent nearly $1.57 million on legal fees related to the legal actions. Cleveland Metroparks spent over $110,000.
The Port and partnering entities, including the City of Cleveland, Metroparks, Riverbed LLC and the nonprofits Ohio City Inc., and LAND Studio, announced last Thursday they had reached a tentative agreement over the acquisition of the property.
Tuesday’s meeting, which followed quickly after last week’s announcement, states that all legal actions over the contested property will cease and that the billboard on the Royal Castle building will be replaced by three smaller ones in other locations. It was unclear who would pay for the new billboards.
The Port will be given access to the contested property via an easement that will allow work to begin before the ownership ultimately transfers via a donation from Mortgage Investment Group to Riverbed West, LLC, one of the partners in the Irishtown project.
The Port will be allowed to demolish the rear portion of the Royal Castle building as it begins the stabilization project. The billboard will remain on the front of the structure until the rest of the agreement is carried out.
“They’re tearing down half so they can do site work that fits in its plan for the park,’’ Bobby George said. “They will eventually tear down the whole thing.”
Temi: Ohio, Cleveland