Stan Austin wrote:It just occurred to me--- I think it's time for someone--- Mayor? Finance Director? Law Director? Council Member? to recap up to today's filling in of the hole which was once a parking garage and office building.
Specifically, who owned which building, why was it determined to demolish those buildings, who is paying for the demolition, and--to what end?
Stan Austin
Thanks for the vote of confidence but my political career is over.
When I applied for a position on the LHA Board I made it quite clear that:
1. The Cleveland Clinic intended to abandon its lease in 2026 and leave Lakewood Hospital as an outdated and bankrupt facility without any customers.
2. And that it was the duty of the Board to take immediate action to guarantee that Lakewood Hospital would continue as an ongoing concern even if that meant booting out the Clinic.
Shortly after the interview someone told me that the Mayor agreed with my assessement. I thought that meant that the Mayor would fight for the Hospital. It turns out that he decided to accelerate the process.
We ended up with a very bad deal.
Parking is an interesting aspect of that very bad deal.
The bullet point version:
• The LHA held all of the assets of the Hospital until the end of the lease term. At the end of the lease term the LHA was required to returns all the assets to the City. That included cash, investments, receivables, land, buildings, beds and any asset of any kind INCLUDING the City’s beneficial interest in the Lakewood Hospital Foundation.
• The important part is that all of the assets of the LHA belonged to the City.
• The LHA (City of Lakewood) is responsible for wind downs costs.
• The City is responsible for paying for the new parking facilities.
From the Master agreement: "6.2, demolition, abatement and relocation expenses related to the FHC Site,employee severance and retention costs, insurance costs as described in Section 9.12, a $2,500,000 allocation for funding a parking solution for the FHC consistent with Section 2."
Also from the Master agreement: " 2.2 Parking. On-site, adjacent and proximate parking is critical to the success of the
FHC. The Clinic contemplates the FHC will need the support of 325 parking spaces, which
spaces will be obtained as set forth below.
(a) The Clinic contemplates constructing a parking structure on the FHC Site
that will accommodate approximately 120 parking spots. The parties agree that the Wind-Down
Costs (as defined in Section 3.3(b)) shall include $2.5 million to fund the construction of such..."
So, the City pays $1,000,000 to demolish a perfectly good parking garage,
The City pays $2,500,000 to build a new parking lot.
The City guarantees 325 new parking spaces adjacent to the new Clinic facility.
Bad deal?
The Master agreement:
