Cuyahoga County Council has introduced talk of ditching its digs at the corner of Lakeside and Ontario.
At a work session last week, members said they might tap into Med Mart and convention center backup funds to enhance the property’s future value.
The plan would make it easier for a developer to knock down the current administration building and invest in, say, a hotel connected to the convention center across the street. Thus far, no such developers have been identified.
Several council members believe the site of the current administration building would be better suited to convention center expansion than county business. “Common sense tells you that five years from now, this building won’t be here,” says councilman Dan Brady.
This article appears in May 4-10, 2011.
Why does Dale Miller think “it would be expensive” to move into an existing building, that our tax payer money was used to renovate, and now sits empty, versus building a new facility for the County Administration?????????
@taxpayer: The county paid $40 million for the place, but there was no renovation done other than asbestos removal. The cost of a renovation to configure/add on adequate office space as well as bring it up to current code would be significant.
On the other hand, when real estate collapsed and the recession hit, the resale value of the building dropped to $23 million. The former commissioners wanted to sell it at a loss at that $23 million. It might not be a bad move for currenty county government to wait out the real estate market and see what happens.
In any case, there was no significant rennovation that renders the building useable for office space right now.