The Port’s Green Marine certification was recently renewed. Green Marine is a voluntary environmental certification program for the North American marine industry. It targets prioritized environmental issues such as greenhouse gases, community impacts and water and land pollution. To get re-certified, the Port had to benchmark annual environmental performance through exhaustive self-evaluation guides, have results verified and agree to publication of those results.

The Port of Cleveland was a founding member of the Green Marine program in 2007. In the recertification, the Port achieved “continual improvement” by improving levels in both the Air Emissions – Greenhouse Gases and Community Relations performance indicators.

The Port’s development finance team is issuing up to $70.2 million in bonds for several new construction and redevelopment projects. Those include:

• $32 million in tax-exempt, multifamily housing revenue bonds for an extensive renovation of the 191 unit Gates Mills Villa Apartment Building in Mayfield Heights. The $48 million project includes modernization of all units, significant upgrades to common spaces, mechanical repairs and replacements, new free WIFI, new windows, new roofs, landscaping and other site improvements. The property serves elderly tenants, age 62 and older, and 167 of the 191 units are under Section 8 contracts.
• $15 million in bonds for the development of a new residential project and rehabilitation of a historic building into residential in Ohio City. The $19.8 million Franklin Yard project, located at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and West 32nd street, will include construction of a modern new three-story apartment building with 29 units and restoration of a former YWCA women’s residence and a mid-19 century mansion that will create an additional 38 units.
• $15 million in lease revenue bonds for the 46 two and three bedroom affordable housing apartments and 8 two-bedroom market rate units to be known as the Gordon Crossing Project in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. The new $17.1 million project is expected to begin construction in Q2 2024. Woda Cooper Development Inc. and Frontline Development Group LLC are partnering on the project. Woda Cooper operates more than 350 properties with 16,000 housing units in 16 states. Frontline Development Group, LLC is a female led, minority owned real estate development company based in Cleveland, Ohio. Frontline develops real estate projects that are committed to innovative economic development and partners at each step of the development to grow the balance sheets of economically and socially underutilized businesses.
• $8.2 million of taxable bonds for construction of a cargo and aircraft storage hangar, cargo terminal, pass-through passenger terminal and vehicle parking spaces for Jets FBO at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The total project is planned to cost $12.6 million. Jets FBO and its subsidiary provide Ohio airports with fixed base operator aircraft services, including aircraft storage, fuel sales and de-icing.

Port authorities in Ohio can offer an array of benefits in the real estate and economic development space. Since 1993, the Port of Cleveland has provided more than $5 billion to more than 160 projects in Cuyahoga County and beyond.

The Port of Cleveland has already proven to be an environmental leader by being the first port on the Great Lakes with a Climate Action Plan. They are now hoping to take that to the next level by pursuing a nearly $95 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant that will help make it one of the most sustainable maritime shipping operations on the Great Lakes. The grant is part of the $3 billion EPA Clean Ports Program, which is designed to fund sustainable infrastructure and electric equipment at U.S. Ports.

Carly Beck, the Port’s senior manager of planning, environment and information systems, said this is the largest grant application the Port has ever submitted. “The EPA is looking for really large and robust ideas and have set a minimum project ask of $10 million,’’ she said. “These grants are to cover 90 percent of costs and only require a 10 percent match.”

The Port’s application proposes a public-private partnership with Logistec USA Inc. – the general cargo and bulk terminal operator – and Great Lakes Towing – the owner and operator of the tugboats that service the Port. The grant funds would be used for warehouse rooftop solar and associated battery energy storage systems, electric cargo handling equipment, shore power for vessels to plug in while at berth, and the construction of two new electric tugboats.

The grant program, if fully funded, would reduce the Port’s maritime CO2 emissions by roughly 40%.

A decision on the grant awards is expected in September.

Dredging is critical for maintaining Cuyahoga River and harbor shipping, and therefore crucial for our regional economy. The Spring dredge cycle is currently being handled by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) contractors, DMYLES Inc. and Ryba Marine Construction Co. They have wrapped up the hydraulic placement of approximately 50,000 cubic yards of material from the federal navigation channel into the Port’s Sediment Processing & Management Facility (SPMF) to the northeast of Burke Lakefront Airport. This material is being dewatered and will be sampled and excavated for beneficial use. The remaining 150,000 cubic yards of material to be dredged this spring will be placed into the Port’s silt basin at the SPMF for permanent storage. An additional 20,000 cubic yards of material from Cleveland-Cliffs’ docks was also placed onsite under a separate contract.

Beneficial uses of sediment include use in construction aggregate, general purpose backfill, brownfield reclamation, and blended topsoil and landscape applications. A major future use will be to create CHEERS, short for the Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Strategy, a collaborative effort with multiple partners to create more than 100 acres of parkland north and east of the East 55th Street Marina.

USACE to dredge Cleveland Harbor

The first phase of soil removal is nearly done at the Irishtown Bend Stabilization and Rehabilitation Project, and preparations have started for bulkhead construction. Relocation of utilities is continuing.

Upcoming activities include:

• Completing the installation and testing of cables in the Cleveland Public Power underground electrical duct bank tunnel to support removal of the current Riverbed Street overhead electrical lines.
• Completing installation and testing of the relocated 16” Cleveland Water Department line on Franklin Ave.
• Completing construction of the Franklin Avenue re-alignment grade to serve as a temporary construction access road to the site and allow for removing the existing Franklin Avenue and completing phase one of excavation.
• Resubmitting bulkhead drawings for engineering approval.
• Dredging along the face of the proposed bulkhead.

To project webcams have been installed across the river from the site to provide 24/7 viewing of site activities.

The Port is leveraging $32+ million in state and federal grants to overhaul of a key warehouse and electrical infrastructure at the General Cargo Terminal. This strategic move will ensure ongoing efficiency of Port facilities and prepare the Port for upcoming electrification efforts.

William Friedman, Port president and CEO, said the investments were critical to successful port operations as well as sustainability.

The undertaking is part of a broader investment of $93.8 million in Port infrastructure since 2015, with more than 75% of it covered by state and federal grants. Aligned with the Port’s recently implemented Climate Action Plan, the overarching goal is to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, making Cleveland the first Great Lakes port to adopt such an ambitious plan.

Learn more details about the grants and the plan.

The Port of Cleveland’s development finance team is busy collaborating with developers and other ports to provide unique, competitive financing that most recently was used to help make possible a new Cleveland rental housing development and a mixed-use project that could help revitalize downtown Painesville:

• The Port is issuing up to $15 million in bonds for the $19.8 million Franklin Yard project. Located at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and West 32nd Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, it will include construction of a modern new three-story apartment building with 29 units and restoration of two nearby historic buildings that will create an additional 38 units.

• The $10.5 million 89th Rising Housing Development is the first modern market rate rental development in the central part of Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood. The development is planned by a company founded by Timothy L. Tramble Sr., president of We Rise Development, a resident of the Fairfax neighborhood and president and CEO of the Saint Luke’s Foundation. With the Port’s approval of up to $6 million in bonds, the initiative is poised to address vacancy and blight. The first phase will include 48 one- and two-bedroom rental units in six large structures designed to give the appearance of the Victorian houses that once anchored the street. Learn More

• The $33 million+ Grand River Walk is envisioned as a vibrant, mixed-use complex with 120 residential units, retail space and covered parking. The Port is committed to issuing up to $6 million in bonds for the project through their A- rated bond fund under a Cooperative Agreement with the Lake County Port Authority. Learn More

Beyond their maritime origins, port authorities have evolved into catalysts for comprehensive economic development, offering an array of benefits including speed of closing, confidentiality, off-balance sheet financing, sales tax exemption and flexible, competitive financing products.