The 25-story courthouse tower on Ontario Street in Downtown Cleveland will be renovated for $150 million according to a new agreement reached today. At left is the Cleveland Division of Police headquarters, owned by the county, which may be disposed of or retained depending on a strategic master plan requested in a separate action today (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
County seeks to add, subtract properties
Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, County Council, and Judge Michael Shaughnessy, the administrative and presiding Judge for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, announced they have reached a tentative agreement on a path forward for capital improvements to county courthouse facilities downtown.
Under this tentative agreement, Ronayne said the county will invest $150 million over the next six years to repair and modernize the Justice Center, and likewise establish a guaranteed stream of funds to continue thereafter for ongoing repair and maintenance to the court’s facilities.
“These improvements will enhance safety, accessibility, and functionality for our judicial partners, employees, and those who rely on our justice system every day,” Ronayne said in a written statement.
The multi-structure, 1976-built Justice Center, 1300 Ontario St., is set on 7 acres of land in Downtown Cleveland. That site is bounded by Ontario and West 3rd streets, plus St. Clair and Lakeside avenues.
Included in the Justice Center campus is the 25-story, 675,887-square-foot courthouse tower which was considered too cramped to accommodate 893,120 square feet of desired space, as outlined a request for proposals for a Consolidated Courthouse facility issued by the county in 2023.
Standing along West 3rd Street are the two jail blocks that would be vacated by Cuyahoga County’s proposed Central Services Campus corrections center in Garfield Heights. The 25-story courthouse tower stands beyond and above (Google).
The Justice Center also has a 124,230-square-foot glassy atrium, a 318,738-square-foot underground parking garage with 645 spaces, two jail blocks 10 and 11 stories tall, and the soon-to-be-vacated, 280,000-square-foot Cleveland Division of Police headquarters.
As a city-funded $90 million project, the police department is moving into the renovated Artcraft Building, 2530-2570 Superior Ave., next to Interstate 90 at the east edge of downtown.
Coincidentally, the county’s Department of Purchasing today issued a request for qualifications for Real Estate Strategic Management Consulting Services to develop a master plan for the county’s real estate portfolio. Real estate brokers and others consultants were invited to respond.
“The Scope of Services also includes real estate services for the disposition of underused or unused county properties and acquisition and/or leasing of new properties,” the RFP noted. Overseeing the strategic plan will be the county’s Department of Public Works.
Ronayne’s spokesperson Kelly Woodard did not immediately have information as to whether the properties to be considered in the scope of work will include the to-be-vacated jail blocks or the police headquarters at the Justice Center.
The buildings at left have Cuyahoga County offices in them that were to be consolidated into a new or renovated consolidated courthouse building. There is a possibility that may still happen as a result of yet another county study of property needs (Google).
Construction or renovation of a Consolidated Courthouse facility, costing perhaps $400 million to $700 million, was proposed by seven RFP respondents to the county’s 2023 RFP. It was the result of years of meetings and planning work overseen by an ad hoc committee of county and city leaders.
Downtown-only site options that were proposed included two that would have renovated and expanded the existing Justice Center, building a new one in “The Pit” at 600 Front Ave., and repurposing either the old Sherwin-Williams HQ, 101 W. Prospect Ave., or the Centennial, 925 Euclid Ave.
Funding would come from a 40-year, quarter-percent countywide sales tax extension that was narrowly passed 6-5 by Cuyahoga County Council members in December 2023.
That sales tax also would pay for building the county’s new $889 million Central Services Campus corrections center in Garfield Heights to replace the two aging jail buildings that are currently located in the Justice Center downtown.
For at least another decade, the future of the brutalist-designed, block-shaped courthouse tower at the Justice Center appears assured. The rest of the complex is less certain, however (CBRE).
The agreement announced today also allows legislation under review by the Cuyahoga County Council regarding the new jail complex to move forward. The legislation would adopt plans, bills of material and specifications of work for the project.
County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley alleged last month that allowing work on the new jail is illegal under Ohio law because county officials failed to form the committees required to review and approve the project plans.
Ronayne said that allowing that legislation to advance and be approved by council will result in “a new, modern jail to improve conditions for both staff and those in our care. By aligning on a long-term plan, we are making strategic investments that address immediate needs while avoiding more costly challenges in the future.”
“Together, we are taking an important step forward to strengthen our justice system, support our workforce, and better serve our community for years to come,” Ronayne added.
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