CLEVELAND — Developing downtown Cleveland’s lakefront could take decades.
But Scott Skinner believes it’s possible to bring life to underused land much sooner.
As the first executive director of a nonprofit devoted to the North Coast Harbor area, Skinner isn’t just focused on long-term, high-cost projects. He’s thinking about events and activities that will bring people down to the water – and make them want to stay.
“I just want the general public to know that the lakefront will be a place for them,” he said Tuesday afternoon during an interview at Voinovich Park.
The North Coast Waterfront Development Corp. is a startup tasked with carrying out the city’s downtown lakefront master plan – and finding public and private money to pay for it. The final version of that ambitious master plan is likely to be released in late spring.
The nonprofit debuted last fall with a 10-member board and seed funding from the city. But it didn’t have a full-time leader until this week.
'We need action'
Skinner, who started work Monday, comes from the private real estate development world. Until last week, he served as vice president of development and director of public policy for the NRP Group, a national apartment developer based in downtown Cleveland.
His experience spans affordable housing and high-end apartment projects throughout the Midwest, and he has worked with residents and community groups across the city.
“We’ve had a lot of 'what’s.' A lot of plans. Plans are wonderful. But we need action,” David Gilbert, chairman of the nonprofit’s board, said of the lakefront.
“When you have someone like Scott who has developed projects, who understands what it takes to identify resources, get a spade in the ground and build things, that’s what we need,” he added.
The development corporation is responsible for the city-owned land around Voinovich Park, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Science Center and Cleveland Browns Stadium. Its territory does not include Burke Lakefront Airport, to the east.
The emerging master plan for the area calls for a land bridge that will link the grassy downtown Malls to North Coast Harbor; 20-plus acres of public space; and new buildings, including a multi-modal transit station, a hotel, apartments and restaurants.
Cleveland is pursuing federal and state money to support those projects, along with other creative financing structures.
Separately, Cleveland City Council is considering legislation to create a novel tax-increment financing district blanketing downtown. That district would let officials tap new property-tax revenues from private development to pay for public infrastructure on the lakefront, the riverfront and elsewhere in the city.
Mayor Justin Bibb and City Council President Blaine Griffin sit on the new nonprofit’s board. So do executives from the Rock Hall, the science center and Haslam Sports Group, the owners of the Browns.
'Dialogue with the Browns'
The Browns are negotiating with the city over a lease extension at the stadium. On Tuesday, a member of the mayor’s cabinet said those talks are ongoing. But the lakefront will be reimagined with or without an NFL team.
“We’re continuing to dialogue with the Browns,” said Jeff Epstein, Cleveland’s chief of integrated development. “We believe that they should be on the lakefront and hope that they’re a part of the future lakefront vision. But even if they’re not, we think that these plans are important.”
Skinner echoed that. He’s focused on public amenities that will bring residents and visitors – and more private investment – downtown.
“This is a new tool,” Epstein said of the nonprofit. “And so we’re going to do our best to figure out how to best use it.”
'Voices will be heard'
A California native, Skinner moved to Cleveland six years ago. He had jobs in journalism, with the Peace Corps and with a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. before joining NRP in 2017.
Now, at 37, he lives in Ohio City with his wife and their one-year-old son.
Asked why he wants to tackle the lakefront, which is the subject of a century’s worth of unrealized plans, Skinner laughed.
“Because it seemed easy,” he joked.
“The city’s been very, very good to my wife, to my son and I,” he added. “I see this as a way to use some of the tools that I’ve developed in the private sector … to do something that will benefit Clevelanders.”
Days into the job, he has a lot to learn – and dozens of people to meet with. But when it comes to the lakefront, he’s already sure about one thing.
“There are no shortage of opinions," he said. "And I imagine that anything that comes down here is not going to be the perfect solution for everyone. But voices will be heard.”
