Jackson administration mum on details of plan to put asphalt and concrete plants on

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration has refused to answer questions about its push to build a construction school that includes asphalt and concrete plants along a prime section of Opportunity Corridor.

The revelation that the administration wants to sell land in the city’s Kinsman neighborhood off East 79th Street, which sits off a near-completed roadway that will connect Interstates 490 and 77 to University Circle, to a group tied to close Jackson ally Norm Edwards caught off-guard the organizations that had worked with the city to buy land for future development.

Leaders at the organizations – Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc. and The Fund for Our Economic Future – have questioned whether placing operations for the “Construction Opportunity Institute of Cleveland” could present possible environmental issues for nearby businesses and residents and whether it’s is the best use of a site that stakeholders repeatedly spoke about as part of a potential hub for food distribution companies. Leaders at both groups wondered why city administration officials didn’t keep them in the loop, sources told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

But while Burten, Bell, Carr met last week with administration officials, Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland and the project’s developers, the administration has yet to talk at length publicly about why a plan involving asphalt and concrete plants is a good fit for Opportunity Corridor, and how it could affect future development along the road.

Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer sent an inquiry before publishing a story last week requesting to speak with an administration official about the project. The reporter also sent an email this week with questions about interest in the site, how the proposed construction school fits into the original vision for Opportunity Corridor and the administration’s relationship with outside groups that worked on economic development projects along the under-construction roadway.

The administration has refused to make any official available to talk about the site and did not answer the questions. Instead, spokeswoman Latoya Hunter sent a statement Wednesday evening that said the following:

“The Construction Opportunity Institute of Cleveland is one of many steps in a path that allows the City to assist in eliminating systemic inequities, disparities and racism. We have been engaged with the leadership behind the Institute for some time and have been working with them as they have refined their proposal from an idea into a project that will include first-class education facilities.

“The curriculum is focused on training residents – in particular, city young adults in and around the Opportunity Corridor – the skills that are needed to get into the construction industry. It is our belief that the project’s vision to build a more inclusive workforce in Cleveland is entirely (in) keeping with the vision for Opportunity Corridor. There will be an upcoming hearing of the legislation authorizing a lease/sale of the site before the Planning Commission and we encourage the public to follow along.”

When a reporter asked whether the administration would answer the emailed questions, Hunter wrote that “we are providing a statement.”

The nonprofit construction school, spearheaded by Edwards and longtime contractor Fred Perkins, aims to provide skilled trade opportunities for Northeast Ohioans, especially women and people of color.

The school would do that by running training programs on the proposed campus, including a 47,800 square-foot education center and a 5,000 square-foot service center. Also included in the plans are a 0.7-acre concrete facility, a 1.4-acre concrete plant and a 1.5-acre asphalt plant “for hands-on learning,” according to a presentation submitted to the Cleveland City Planning Commission.

Several City Council members introduced legislation this month to first lease and then sell the more than eight-acre site to a company tied to Edwards and Perkins. The city and state will have to sign off on several aspects of the project before moving forward. Cleveland Economic Development Director David Ebersole said in a previous statement that city officials anticipate the site will have remediation work done and move through the design process this summer.

Betsy Figgie, a consultant on the project, said in text messages that the nonprofit and Burton, Bell, Carr plan to hold several public meetings to discuss the plans for the site, though dates for the meetings are not scheduled.

As of now, the questions about whether the site was marketable to companies that fit with the stated goals of economic development along Opportunity Corridor – light industry, logistics and warehouses – remain open.

Deb Janik, senior vice president of real estate and business development for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, who serves as the chamber’s point person for the Opportunity Corridor project, declined comment through a spokeswoman.

Cleveland real estate broker Terry Coyne said a problem he’s had with Opportunity Corridor were that the lots were too small. The bigger a property is, the more interesting it is for warehouses and manufacturing, he said.

“Nine acres is good, 15 would be interesting,” Coyne said. “Twenty is very interesting.”

Coyne was hired to find a site for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s headquarters, which recently broke ground at an 18-acre site off Coit Road on the edges of the Collinwood and Glenville neighborhoods. He said he looked at a site along Opportunity Corridor, near East 105th Street and Cedar Road. The problem with the site was that it wasn’t big enough.

He also noted that while asphalt and concrete plants can win deals because they can be close to construction projects, the odor an asphalt plant emits can be unattractive.

“From a marketing perspective, it would be difficult to me,” Coyne said. “(Businesses) don’t like it because they’re dusty and they smell.”