CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County recently approved $500,000 in life support to help build a cold storage facility along Opportunity Corridor that officials say is critical to fulfilling the roadway project’s promise of creating jobs and attracting new development to the area.
Construction of the planned $32 million facility is supposed to begin next week, but rising material costs and supply chain challenges brought on by the pandemic left a $3 million funding gap that developers say needs to be filled before they can move forward.
Roughly $2.5 million of that funding is expected to come from the state, Tracey Nichols of Project Management Consultants, told the county’s Board of Control on Monday. She asked the county to make up the difference.
If the funding isn’t secured by Jan. 14 and construction is delayed, the cost of the project will go up another $1.5 million, Nichols warned.
The Board approved the $500,000 grant on the condition that the remaining funds are secured to move the project forward. The county expects to have an answer by next week.
The county’s money will be paid out of the Economic Development fund, which typically only gives loans, but exceptions can be made for “compelling reasons,” Paul Herdeg, the county’s director of development, said. $500,000 is the maximum amount the Board can approve without going through the council.
Herdeg and Christine Nelson of Team Neo say the facility is vital to sparking the economic development promised in an area of Cleveland once dubbed the “Forgotten Triangle.”
“We see it as a real linchpin in the middle of the corridor to really help us get the rest of the development started and be able to attract new investment in,” Nelson said.
The planned 150,000 square-foot facility will be located at 2777 E. 7th St., across from Orlando Baking Company, which will occupy a quarter of the space. It will rent the remaining pallet space to grocers and food industry operators in Greater Cleveland and potentially across the globe, officials said.
There are already 17 food processing companies located near the site, but with no other cold storage facilities like it within a 6-hour drive, it could support businesses along the east coast as well, Tracey Nichols of Project Management Consultants said. Orlando is currently renting space in Columbus but has no more room to grow there, she said.
“Other states are trying to develop a similar facility,” Nichols said, citing plans for a warehouse in South Carolina. “It’s something that is needed across the country, and there’s very little available in our region.”
It’s also expected to attract new business. Nichols said she’s received dozens of inquiries from potential land buyers wanting to locate along the corridor, a 3-mile thoroughfare linking Interstate 490 at East 55th Street with the eastern suburbs and I-90. The roadway was completed in November.
With those businesses come new jobs.
Officials have already said that the project could create 70 additional jobs at Orlando Baking, which employs 300 people already. Another 30 employees would be needed to run the freezer facility.
At least 20 of those jobs are guaranteed with the county, Herdeg said, with “best efforts” also required to hire from surrounding low-income neighborhoods and at least 50% minority.
Another 500 to 600 food industry jobs are expected to follow, as new businesses move into the area to take advantage of the freezer space, Herdeg said.
Construction is expected to be complete by Dec. 31.
