The Observation Deck

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

From http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... r_lon.html:

Forest City Enterprises and its subsidiary Rockport Square LLC are partnering with developer Ryan Homes to build townhouses on the north and south sides of Detroit, near Beach and Winchester avenues, according to city officials.

In other words, Rockport Square is the company controlled by a holding company. In this case, said holding company is Forest City Enterprises.

See http://www.forestcity.net/company/peopl ... ctors.aspx

Does anybody notice any familiar names toward the bottom of this list? Does the Ratner Family ring a bell?

Now, see https://my.clevelandclinic.org/about-cl ... f-trustees

Scroll down toward the bottom of the list. Whose name appears? Ronald Ratner.

Also, go to http://fiscalofficer.cuyahogacounty.us/ ... efault.asp , search by address and type in 1379 Fry, 1381 Fry, and 1422 Hopkins. Rockport Square LLC acquired these properties roughly ten years ago. There were previously homes on these land parcels. Now they are vacant lots. These were probably purchased for more room for these townhomes. Also notice the interesting transfer history for 1422 Hopkins. Rockport Square LLC sold the land to the City of Lakewood on 08/26/2004 at no cost. Rockport Square LLC then bought the land back form the city on 04/15/2005 at no cost.

Finally, also notice that the tax mailing address for these properties is Forest City Enterprises.

Next, remember the small building that used to stand across the street from the YMCA? It is now a vacant lot. It is owned by Detwards LLC, a company owned by a Christopher R Lamb. In addition, Mr. Lamb owns the two houses behind said vacant lot. Although I have not found a direct connection yet, it is interesting to note that Mr. Lamb is never made to clear the sidewalks around these properties in the winter, nor is he made to maintain the red and white house that he owns behind the lot (1386 Edwards). Mr. Lamb works for Emmco Realty Group, an affiliate of Coldwell Banker that specializes in commercial development. How long before those two houses are knocked down and more ugly development is built at the expense of the residents of Edwards?

Also notice that according to Lamb's Linkedin profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrislamb22 , that he is affiliated with LakewoodAlive.

Green Urban Enterprises is owned by a Justin Husher. Green Urban Enterprises owns two vacant lots in Lakewood. One at 2086 Magee and one at 2042 Dowd. Cuyahoga County sold the lot on Magee to Mr. Husher at no cost in March 2014. In addition, the City of Lakewood sold the vacant lot at 2042 Dowd to Mr. Husher at no cost in March of 2014.

2107 Robin is a vacant lot is owned by an Eric Stoffer and Annabel Khouri. They live in Cleveland. Stoffer and Khouri bought this vacant lot from the City of Lakewood in August of 2012 at no cost.

The vacant lot at 1369 Westlake is owned by David & Patricia Laform. They live on Atkins Ave. here in Lakewood. For this vacant lot, they owe $48,213 in taxes. $24,000 of this is related to city expenses for cutting his grass and for not paying his water and sewer bills. According to County and City court records, the owners are not in court for this. How long would any of us get away with this?

Is any of it connected? Maybe or maybe not. Although It is interesting to note Rockport Square's heavy connection to CCF.

I'd love to get a vacant lot for $0.

I can see having to pay taxes on the land but a water/sewer bill w/o a building present, that does not compute.

cameron karslake wrote:I'd love to get a vacant lot for $0.

I can see having to pay taxes on the land but a water/sewer bill w/o a building present, that does not compute.

Land Bank gets them and moves them all the time. A little known secret, the county is still shrinking. Actually I thought that is why CLE came up, the city and county is that much smaller.

As for the keeping the names of Forest City, Ranter, CCF, out of Cleveland deal is nearly impossible. Add in the Cleveland Foundation, and you start to understand why I refer to "Slaughter of Cities" so often.



It should be noted, one of the many versions of the "new yet unnamed non-profit" is that of a "small Cleveland Foundation."

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It is also worth noting that many of Summers' friends are now putting their rental properties into real estate trusts, or LLC's. While not illegal or unusual, it does make one think why all of the sudden.

It is also worth noting that many of Summers' friends are now putting their rental properties into real estate trusts, or LLC's. While not illegal or unusual, it does make one think why all of the sudden.

Lori,

Can you give more details?

Hi Bridget,

I am still researching everything, so I don't want to mention specific people or properties yet. However, according to my research, one of the benefits of putting real estate into an LLC can be additional protection from liability. For example, if you get sued or if you owe people money, your property has more protection. I am not a lawyer, but this is how it appears. You can read all about LLC's here: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/form ... -pros-cons Again, not terribly uncommon, but it does make one wonder why many of the mayor's friends are doing this.

You can look up any property by the address or parcel number here: http://fiscalofficer.cuyahogacounty.us/ ... efault.asp You can also search entire streets by just searching the street name with no house number (for example, Belle or Nicholson, no suffix).

If you find an LLC that you are curious about, you can sometimes find the owner by matching the tax mailing address. If the tax mailing address goes to a mortgage company or something like that, you can usually find the owner information by searching for the company here: http://www5.sos.state.oh.us/ords/f?p=100:1:0:::::

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ss ... facil.html

Samuel Miller, former chairman of Forest City Enterprises, and his wife, Maria, donated $1 million to the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday to be applied to the Stanley Shalom Zielony Institute for Nursing Excellence.

Rockport Square is a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises.

No wonder Summers wanted these built so badly!

Did not see this before. Apparently, Samuel Miller, a CCF Board of Trustees member, is also on the Board of Directors for Forest City Enterprises.

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/florida/s ... -directors

Charles Ratner is the Chairman of the Board of Forest City Real Estate Trust.

http://www.forestcity.net/company/peopl ... personID=4

In addition, Bruce, Brian, & Deborah Ratner are also on the Board.

http://www.forestcity.net/company/peopl ... ctors.aspx

Every time you drive by the new Rockport Square development, just think "Rockport Square, brought to you by the Cleveland Clinic!"

This thread is rather old, so a quicker reminder:

Rockport Square LLC is an arm of Forest City Enterprises. Rockport Square LLC is the developer that is building the condos on the eastern end of Detroit. Roughly half of the Board of Directors for Forest City Enterprises is composed of CCF people, mainly the Ratner Family.

Anyway, Rockport Square LLC has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed in February 2016. In this lawsuit, Pioneer Environmental Systems claims that Rockport Square did not compensate them for asbestos removal services, and that Rockport Square owes their company roughly $48,000.

Here is a copy of the complaint:
Scroll down to page 6 of the complaint. William Sanderson is listed as the registered agent for Rockport Square LLC.

Is this the same William Sanderson that lives in the condominium building across from the old Skindell/SLH office? Is this the same William Sanderson that donated to the Summers' campaign? Is this the same William Sanderson that received a tax abatement of over $300,000 on his condo when no other units around him received the same abatement? Is this the same William Sanderson that wants to build new homes on City Hall vacant lots, apparently without competitive bid or sale? While I applaud the effort to build new homes on these lots, the process needs to be open, competitive, and transparent, not given away to an apparent Summers campaign donor. According to my research on the issue, (which is quite extensive) it appears that the answer to all of the above questions is "yes." This does indeed appear to be the same Mr. Sanderson.