LORAIN, Ohio — The city of Lorain is looking for developers to reshape its waterfront. Leaders are requesting qualifications from developers to build a mixed-use district known as Lorain Harbor West Bank.
“We’ve seen more interest in the city of Lorain in the past five years than I think ever before,” Matt Kusznir, director of building, housing and planning, said. “There is so much positive momentum now; that is the thing that’s going to set us apart, whereas in years past things maybe didn’t come through.”
The city’s safety service director reached out to tell me about the project. Storm Water Manager Kate Golden got things going in 2021 at the mayor's request to increase public access to the waterfront.
“We have worked over the last about four to five years to bring awareness to the activities we’re working on,” she said.“It is certified and ready to go and we are now looking for developers that are interested in working with us.”
This area of the riverfront, near city hall and the water department, was once used for the steel industry. “It was used for industrial purposes up until just 2003,” Golden said. “It was used as an offloading location for steel mills that were bringing raw materials in on very long boats.”
City leaders tell me it's taken years and millions of local, state and federal dollars to clean it up and get it shovel-ready for a developer.
“It was remediating the contamination that existed on the property from those industrial activities that were occurring, to clean it up to standards that would allow us to build it out as mixed-use development,” Golden said.
The underground infrastructure, like water and sewer lines, is also complete. Mayor Jack Bradley believes Great Lakes cities are the future because of the freshwater sources, the economy and the money available to help with development.
“The old economies that gave us jobs but also gave us pollution aren’t going to work in the new economy,” he said. “We’re going to be talking about high-tech types of jobs, we’re going to be talking about high-tech type of development, and people want a community that not only they can work in but also enjoy."
Bradley said he’d be willing to support moving city hall to a more central part of downtown for the right developer.
“Not only do we have to develop Broadway and our lakefront, but we also have to think about our residents that live in South Lorain, live on the West Side and make sure they have a better life too,” he said.
The two finger piers are being prepped for park space.
“There is a lot of attention to detail, from the lighting that we use to the railings and fences that we use, we really want to create that seamless atmosphere and we really want to make the space safe,” Golden said. “Having a young child adjacent to water is kind of scary right, so in order to increase access for families, which is really what is of interest here, we’re railing this area so that it’s safe for families to visit.”
Kusznir said the more than 13 acres are ready for mixed-use development.
“We believe that this is the best site between the cities of Sandusky and the cities of Cleveland,” he said. “We’re looking for creativity, we’re looking for experience and we’re looking for someone who shares our same vision in transforming not only our downtown district but also really the city of Lorain.”
Requests for qualifications are due by Nov. 24 at 3 pm. CLICK HERE for more information.
