CLEVELAND — The city of Cleveland boasts two waterfronts with prime real estate on the coast of Lake Erie and along the Cuyahoga River, but access to those shores is limited.

What You Need To Know

  • Over the past century, city leaders have launched more than a dozen failed proposals to reimagine Cleveland’s lakefront, now pushing to ensure the Browns decision to leave downtown doesn’t put their latest plan in jeopardy

  • Local historian John Grabowski said the root of some of the city’s challenges with developing that land can be traced back to a wave of settlers in Cleveland at the end of the 18th century

  • Grabowski said those settlers created man made land on the lake using fill and debris, and on top of that, they built the railroad to keep Cleveland on the map as a destination for commerce

  • Scott Skinner, executive director of the North Coast Waterfront Development Authority, said that land presents unique challenges for the city to overcome to attract developers

Over the past century, city leaders have launched more than a dozen failed proposals to reimagine Cleveland’s lakefront, now pushing to ensure the Browns decision to leave downtown doesn’t put their latest plan in jeopardy.

Local historian John Grabowski said the root of some of the city’s challenges with developing that land can be traced back to a wave of settlers in Cleveland at the end of the 18th century.

“The natives had been here for a long time, but the lakefront was pretty much just a cliff at the edge of the lake,” Grabowski said. “And the first settlers here had a difficult time getting down to the cliff.”

The lake and Cuyahoga River made Cleveland an important destination for commerce at the time. Grabowski said by the 1850s, the settlers built out man-made land in front of the cliffs, where the first railroad tracks were laid down.

“They basically go along the edge of the lakeshore and that locks that area off, if you will,” he said.

That separation still impedes access from downtown to the lake today. From Mall C next to city hall, you can catch a great view of Lake Erie, but to get down to the water, you have to walk several blocks east or west before you can bypass the train tracks and highway to access it. 

Scott Skinner, executive director of the nonprofit working to transform the lakefront, said they plan to start construction on a land bridge from downtown to the water in 2027. 

“Once that land bridge is connected, that’s a five-minute walk,” Skinner said.

Another challenge has been making the lakefront land into a place people would want to walk to. Skinner said there are procedural issues that come with man-made land that was built on the water, from extending utilities to all needed areas and figuring out street grid logistics to leasing issues.

“Those are all things that my organization is charged with doing, and they’re all really challenging things to have to happen in order to develop our downtown lakefront,” he said. “And those are all some of the many reasons we haven’t seen the site be developed before.”

Skinner said the city realizes they’re sitting on an underutilized asset, and he knows Clevelanders are jaded by failed lakefront plans over the years. But there’s one thing that’s keeping him confident that this time, they’ll deliver.

“It’s really alignment, not just from politicians, but from the from business leaders and civic leaders, that I think is the most important piece of why we’re in a position to be successful now, when we have not been successful in the past,” he said.