Tuesday, October 17, 2006
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs
Glickman-Miller Hall, Atrium

About the Program | Robert Stark bio (pdf) | Agenda | Watch Video | See Stark speaks about Pesht on GreenCityBlueLake website

Presented by the Levin College Forum, a program of the Center for Civic Education in the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University. Where the community gathers to discuss challenges, create opportunities, and celebrate accomplishments.

Developer Bob Stark will discuss his proposed 21-acre development to transform downtown Cleveland and the Warehouse District. With 1 million square feet of new street-level retail and 6 million square feet of new mixed residential and office space, this project would remake and brand a substantial portion of the central business district. Mr. Stark is also exploring connecting downtown and the Lakefront by extending the Warehouse District street grid to the land just west of Cleveland Browns Stadium. This massive undertaking will require the collaboration of many public and private institutions and individuals including Cleveland, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Cleveland’s foundation, and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Mr. Stark lives by the challenge, “Make No Small Plans.”

This forum will be an opportunity to hear Mr. Stark talk about his vision for Cleveland‘s future. Join our panelists, Steven Fong, Dean of the School of Architecture and Environmental Design, Kent State University and City Councilman Joe Cimperman as we consider some of the exciting opportunities and potential challenges raised by such a large scale proposal.

Can Cleveland become a model for sustainable, thoughtful and cutting-edge downtown, mixed-use development? What synergies are likely with the other development projects underway or proposed for downtown and the lakefront*? How can the city best capitalize on the growing interest on the part of private developers to transform the city center and what, if any role should the city play in determining the type and form of development that takes place at our front door? What will the project mean for the look and feel of the warehouse district, arguably Cleveland‘s most successful downtown neighborhood?

*Those projects include The Flats East Bank Neighborhood, by Scott Wolstein of Developers Diversified (331 housing units that include apartments and townhouses slated for 2007), The Avenue District Development on 12th Street, by Zaremba, Inc. (400 condominiums that include lofts, penthouses and townhouses slated for 2007), The Euclid Corridor Project, by The City of Cleveland (4,000 residential units along the corridor slated for 2008), Lighthouse Landing, by Walnut Grove Ventures Development Corporation (228 condominium units in two towers of 18 and 22 stories slated for 2008), East 4th Street Corner Alley, by MRN Ltd. (163 rentable housing units slated for 206/2007) and 515 Euclid Avenue, by Golberg (28-story condominium tower).

• 4:00 to 4:10 p.m.
  Registration
• 4:10 to 4:15 p.m.
  Welcome and Overview
  Mark S. Rosentraub, Dean and Professor, Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
• 4:15 to 4:45 p.m.
  A Vision for the Warehouse District
  Robert L. Stark, President and CEO, Robert L. Stark Enterprises
• 4:45 to 5:15 p.m.
  Panel Discussion
  Steven Fong, Dean, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Kent State University
  Valerie McCall, Chief of Government Affairs, Office of the Mayor, City of Cleveland
• 5:15 to 6:00 p.m.
  Open Discussion