The Observation Deck

In this thread, users of the Observation Deck get to be the planning director of the City of Lakewood.

As planning director, you get to propose your concept for the redevelopment of the former hospital site.

Here is what you have available to use for redevelopment:

5.7 acres of land;

$7,000,000 in funds for site preparation;

and, a further $3,000,000 for additional site work.

The only prohibition that you face is that you cannot build a hospital or a medical facility. Additionally, if you believe there will be left-over funds, you can propose a use for these funds.

Let me launch this with one idea for redevelopment:

A New Public Park

A public park designed for year-round use that includes an outdoor amphitheater for summer music festivals and an area that can be easily flooded to form a natural skating rink in the winter with a large stone fire-pit adjacent. Remaining unused funds go to a scholarship fund for Lakewood High School students who are planning careers in health care.

A Cultural Center

Set amidst a smaller park, the City of Lakewood will build a new cultural center designed by a nationally-recognized architect. The City of Lakewood will lease space (at subsidized rates) in this new building to local and regional arts and culture non-profits, such as the Lakewood Historical Society and others. The building will include gallery space and performance space. This space could also house offices for the Three Arches Foundation and the New Foundation. The idea here is to create an anchor for a "mini-university circle". It supports the major goal of the current administration to expand the not-for-profit base.

Mark Kindt wrote:A Cultural Center

Set amidst a smaller park, the City of Lakewood will build a new cultural center designed by a nationally-recognized architect. The City of Lakewood will lease space (at subsidized rates) in this new building to local and regional arts and culture non-profits, such as the Lakewood Historical Society and others. The building will include gallery space and performance space. This space could also house offices for the Three Arches Foundation and the New Foundation. The idea here is to create an anchor for a "mini-university circle". It supports the major goal of the current administration to expand the not-for-profit base.

Mark

Be careful what you wish for.

A huge difference between Chris Ronayne, and the idea bankrupt group we have here. Just because a boy want to fly like superman doesn't mean he can.

Already they are making comparisons between 3 Arches and the Cleveland Foundation. While I might agree that they are destroying Lakewood at nearly the same rate TCF has "rebuilt" Cleveland , a tiny difference between a group that has billions and raises millions and a group that grabs millions and raises nothing.

But be assured, they will have their beautiful offices in a new building somewhere in that footprint.

.

Thank you, Mr. O'Bryan for your cautionary advice.

A point of clarification. This is only a "thought experiment". No one on the Observation Deck is actually planning director for the City!

It seems that all of you high-rollers might need some more money for your development ideas.

For development purposes related to health care, you now can plan with $5,000,000 from the Three Arches Foundation and another $3,000,000 from the New Foundation.

Here we go again:

New Health Science Graduate School

The City of Lakewood, working closely with its state representative and state senator as well as two local foundations, met with the Ohio Board of Regents and is tentatively announcing a letter of intent to transform the former site of Lakewood Hospital into a new campus for a specialized graduate school in the health sciences.

Now you try....

O.K. Here is some more low hanging fruit.

Opioid Crisis Treatment Center

"Today at a joint press conference in Washington, D.C. with the Mayor of Lakewood Ohio and Cleveland area members of the Ohio congressional delegation looking on, the Director for the Center for Disease Control and United Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown announced that Lakewood Hospital would be rededicated as a model treatment center for opioid addiction. 'Recognizing that Ohio has become a center of this nationwide epidemic, this agency has agreed to acquire, re-purpose, and expand Lakewood Hospital as a model treatment center....'"

(Imagine this kind of fictional Lakewood Observer article).

Mark Kindt said

For development purposes related to health care, you now can plan with $5,000,000 from the Three Arches Foundation and another $3,000,000 from the New Foundation.

I will accept $4,000,000 from Three Arches and $2,000,000 from the New Foundation- build a full scale laundromat like the new Tide at Wagar and Center Ridge thereby saving each of the aforementioned foundations a million each. Also, I don't think I'd need $7,000,000 from the City after, of course, it left me with a clean lot to build on.

A Jail for Crooked Politicians.

Re: Opioid Center. I told the mayor to do this, at the Lakewood Dem Club meeting where he commented about our city having to deal with: regionalism and the opioid crisis.

He didn't want to hear it. He just maintained his painted-on smiley-face and said nothing.

"The redevelopment of the 5.7 acres is a once-in-a-50-year opportunity that will likely become a new mixed use development [...]."

(Source: City of Lakewood CAFR, 2016, p. 86, note 22.)

Folks -- If this is really the "once-in-a-50-year opportunity" that the City tell us that it is, why are we not taking advantage of that opportunity to do something really significant with the former hospital site?

That's the theme of this thread.

What the city administration brings forward for the great opportunity is merely to build some apartments, some offices and some retail. C'mon, really?

We gave up an invaluable community asset and resource to do this? It borders on the ridiculous.

The current city administration proposal is a complete waste of the "once-in-a-50-year opportunity" considering what is actually being replaced.

We are missing an opportunity to do something really beneficial to the City of Lakewood in a big public way. We are also missing out on the opportunity to leverage other public participation and financing (as you can glean from some of my sample concepts.)

Join me again tomorrow, when we will do something really policy wonky. Two federal economists will forecast for us the need for apartment space in our region.

In the meantime, I encourage you to post your concept ideas for the redevelopment of the former hospital site.

With all due respects, I have read all the complaints of losing millions of dollars in tax revenues by closing the city's only hospital due to the injustice, vested interests, unhanded and back room manipulating that is typical of the City of Lakewood's mayors and council members political politics. I never read the loss of revenue associated with the other tax revenues associated to contractors, suppliers, and medical facilities in Lakewood that supported the hospital. Behold, now there are asinine suggestions that the 5.7 acres of taxable commercial develop able land be used for a nontaxable city park or whatever.

Am I missing something here but is this just another Democrat ploy to continue to eradicate commercial taxable property. Perhaps we can use Detroit as a model for sound fiscal planning. When the taxes become prohibitive to the residents with older homes of high maintenance, a mediocre school system that uses new buildings as education and with the new limit on federal tax deductions, property values will plummet. Lakewood has only one saving grace, Lake Erie to the sole advantage of those living near it's shores but then Detroit is also on the lake.

For information only purposes, any government employee will tell you that they pay taxes, however, the taxes they pay taxes with are tax dollars. To consider a government employee as a viable source of income is a Ponzi scheme. Would someone please publish the number of city employees that reside in the City of Lakewood and those that actual own property. They are no fools, the majority live in other cites to avoid Lakewood high property taxes.

With all due respects, I have read all the complaints of losing millions of dollars in tax revenues by closing the city's only hospital due to the injustice, vested interests, unhanded and back room manipulating that is typical of the City of Lakewood's mayors and council members political politics. I never read the loss of revenue associated with the other tax revenues associated to contractors, suppliers, and medical facilities in Lakewood that supported the hospital. Behold, now there are asinine suggestions that the 5.7 acres of taxable commercial develop able land be used for a nontaxable city park or whatever.

Am I missing something here but is this just another Democrat ploy to continue to eradicate commercial taxable property. Perhaps we can use Detroit as a model for sound fiscal planning. When the taxes become prohibitive to the residents with older homes of high maintenance, a mediocre school system that uses new buildings as education and with the new limit on federal tax deductions, property values will plummet. Lakewood has only one saving grace, Lake Erie to the sole advantage of those living near it's shores but then Detroit is also on the lake.

For information only purposes, any government employee will tell you that they pay taxes, however, the taxes they pay taxes with are tax dollars. To consider a government employee as a viable source of income is a Ponzi scheme. Would someone please publish the number of city employees that reside in the City of Lakewood and those that actual own property. They are no fools, the majority live in other cites to avoid Lakewood high property taxes.

The new headquarters for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. World-class architecture, high-paying jobs, and artwork! Hundreds focused on wealth extraction and community wellness.

Richard Baker wrote:With all due respects, I have read all the complaints of losing millions of dollars in tax revenues by closing the city's only hospital due to the injustice, vested interests, unhanded and back room manipulating that is typical of the City of Lakewood's mayors and council members political politics. I never read the loss of revenue associated with the other tax revenues associated to contractors, suppliers, and medical facilities in Lakewood that supported the hospital. Behold, now there are asinine suggestions that the 5.7 acres of taxable commercial develop able land be used for a nontaxable city park or whatever.

Am I missing something here but is this just another Democrat ploy to continue to eradicate commercial taxable property. Perhaps we can use Detroit as a model for sound fiscal planning. When the taxes become prohibitive to the residents with older homes of high maintenance, a mediocre school system that uses new buildings as education and with the new limit on federal tax deductions, property values will plummet. Lakewood has only one saving grace, Lake Erie to the sole advantage of those living near it's shores but then Detroit is also on the lake.

For information only purposes, any government employee will tell you that they pay taxes, however, the taxes they pay taxes with are tax dollars. To consider a government employee as a viable source of income is a Ponzi scheme. Would someone please publish the number of city employees that reside in the City of Lakewood and those that actual own property. They are no fools, the majority live in other cites to avoid Lakewood high property taxes.

My view - expressed much earlier in these various posts - is that it should be a commercial development, but not just "mixed use" store fronts and housing. Make it attractive for companies that will bring a lot of jobs/people to downtown, eventual tax revenue (there's the reality of offering tax abatements), and just maybe something architecturally pleasing and consistent with the rest of the city. If it's medical, all the better.

First priority for any foundation money would be to reimburse the uncovered ambulance fees for those who need them now.