Cleveland Debuts Lakefront Development Corporation to Guide Plan for North Coast

The city’s pursuit of a revitalized lakefront will have a formalized steward going forward that will be dedicated to its future and well-being.

On Friday, City Hall announced the creation of the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation, an organization formed to carry out the design concepts James Corner Field Operations has been showing off this year in continuously updated forms.

Calling it a “hybrid public-private structure,” this corporation will, the city said, be in charge of ensuring that the fertile 23 acres north of the Cleveland Browns Stadium are developed in line with the wants and needs of Clevelanders.

“This focused and purpose-driven entity is the way to ensure that our planning translates into action,” Mayor Justin Bibb said in a release. “This is a long-term project, and the development authority model is a best practice that ensures the work continues, regardless of future leadership changes.”

Along with Bibb, the NCWD’s board will include a cast of characters with varied stakes in the public realm:

David Gilbert, CEO of Destination Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission
Ayonna Blue Donald, Vice President of Ohio market for Enterprise Community Partners
Michael Taylor, PNC Community Development Banking
Blaine A. Griffin, City Council President
Pat Rios, Executive Director of Buildings and Design at the Cleveland Clinic
Greg Harris, CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Kirsten Ellenbogen, CEO of Great Lakes Science Center
Will Friedman, CEO of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority
David Jenkins, CEO of the Haslam Sports Group

It’s no secret that a city’s waterfront is some of the most cherished land, even when, like in many industrial cities, it goes vastly underused. Architects are often called in with brainy notions of what that water’s edge could be—an outlet mall, an amphitheater, or, like in San Francisco, an entire neighborhood.

Cities like Philadelphia, Boston and Louisville, KY, all have similar waterfront corporations that keep track of what’s good and bad for the city’s overall health and prosperity.

Philadelphia’s Delaware River Waterfront, for example, has specific bylaws to ensure that any development—like Penn’s Landing, a $225 million collection of ice rinks, parks and marina dining nestled near Philly’s Old City neighborhood—is born out of a sense of democracy.

The Delaware River Waterfront, its constitution states, “will work to provide a benefit to all of the citizens of the city regardless of race or economic status. To this end, the corporation will only engage in private commercial activities when doing so will help the city as a whole.”

It’s safe to assume that Cleveland’s North Coast Corporation will operate under a similar philosophy, once City Hall chooses a director to lead it. One, the job description on Indeed says, “will be responsible for organizational leadership, advocacy, funding strategies, and maintaining alignment with public and private sector stakeholders.”

James Corner’s and City Planning’s listening tour to get North Coast picture perfect in Clevelander’s minds officially wraps up in January. City Hall is likely to have the corporation, and its director, finalized by that time.

And then, it seems, the elephant in the room comes forth: How to pay for it?

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