LORAIN, Ohio — The Lorain Port and Finance Authority and the City of Lorain are seeking proposals for three prime waterfront properties near the Black River and its confluence with Lake Erie. Officials said the acreage, which is all publicly-owned, presents a unique and tantalizing opportunity to build up the city’s waterfront while also ensuring public access to the water is protected.
The port authority and the city released three separate requests for proposals on Wednesday morning for three large waterfront properties: the city-owned Pellet Terminal site, the port-owned southern portion of Black River Landing, and the port-owned boat launch facility. Given the relative scarcity of development-ready, publicly-controlled waterfront property in Northeast Ohio, port authority and city officials are hopeful that development on the sites will create jobs and spur additional investment.
“They’re beautiful parcels because they’re key properties that are on Lake Erie and the Black River. They’re large parcels. They’re publicly owned,” said Tiffany McClelland, the assistant director of the Lorain Port and Finance Authority. “We have a lot of control over this stuff. It really is making it perfect to continue the momentum of the downtown.”
Collectively, the three sites include nearly 100 acres of waterfront property with the Pellet Terminal site and the boat launch site amounting to more than 70% of the available land.
McClelland said the boat launch site, which flanks the railroad tracks south of Black River Land, presents the best opportunity for job creation. The other two sites are expected to include public access components.
“We want to make sure there is public access. There is a vision to have a park at the Pellet Terminal site. We just want to make sure that our community and any visitors that come into our community continue to have access to our waterways,” McClelland said. “We control the destiny of these sites. That’s huge. We’re hoping that will attract developers in this community to see the assets we have. There’s also the ease of working with the port authority and the city in getting these developed.”
The potential development of the three sites also presents an opportunity to build upon the continued growth of Rockin’ on the River, the city’s immensely popular summer concert series that draws thousands of visitors to the city every weekend.
Dennis and Joanne Wish are every-week attendees to the concert series, despite living in Medina County.
“It’s just a great venue. Whether you get here early or late, there is plenty of room to pull up a chair. Beautiful summer nights and beautiful sunsets over the lake. It’s the perfect place,” Dennis Wish said. “Anything on the water, people just love it.”
Not only has the summertime tradition helped make the available properties even more enticing, McClelland said Rockin’ on the River has also had a positive impact on public perception of Lorain.
“Rockin’ on the River has really been a catalyst for development in our community. We had a really negative perception of what Lorain was and what Lorain could be,” McClelland said. “When you start to have the momentum of having a concert series that brings thousands of people to your community every day, people realize how fantastic of a place it is.”
Developers have until May 17 to submit their proposals.
