Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson sees the stretch from Browns Stadium to Burke Lakefront Airport as an opportunity for a mix of offices, parking, dining and public spaces.
The plan answers long standing questions about the locations of the port -it stays put --- and Burke Lakefront Airport remains as an airport. It primarily services corporate aircraft.
Jackson is asking the City Council to put the city in charge of lakefront land north of Browns Stadium, instead of sharing control as it does now with the port authority. The city has also applied for federal grants to build covered walkways to connect the waterfront's main attractions. The city's hope is that development of offices, restaurants and possibly residential use would come from private investors. .
Scott Wolstein, developer of the Flats East Bank project by the new lakefront development proposal, has been upset over the port's plan to stay. Wolstein told the Port Authority in September that killing plans to move out of downtown could jeopardize the second phase of his mixed use development project.
Wolstein is out of the country and couldn't be reached for comment on today's presentation.