Buy-By St, Roberts?

The City Should buy the closed St. Roberts church land. The cost of the approximate 7.8 acres is
$647,000. I not only favor the purchase, but, have pushed this purchase strongly. Here are some points to consider:

No tax or fee increases related to this purchase. The trash and lighting fees recently passed by City Council is not going toward this purchase. In fact, those monies are to pay for general operating expenses such as police and fire salaries and benefits. St. Roberts purchase is coming out of our capital funds. Capital funds can not be used to pay for salaries.

Shore is not the target of this purchase. It is not my intent to purchase St. Roberts to somehow
close down Shore. We are purchasing this property as a "pass thru" until the lakefront project is farther along and, we are ready for its redevelopment.

The City has done a poor job with properties on Euclid Avenue and at 205. True. But the problem was not in the purchase itself, but, in not having a plan. With JJR, our lakefront consultants, we have a top notch waterfront planning firm.

And, St. Roberts IS a part of the lakefront planning: Since at least 1994, lakefront development planning envisioned redevelopment pushing south of Lakeshore Blvd. I have always felt that the entire area between the golf course and the marina should be a target of redevelopment efforts.

JJR, our lakefront development consultants, and the "quarterback" of the project believes St. Roberts is a critical piece of the overall lakefront development area.

So, what do we do with St. Roberts once we buy it. Ideally, we would immediately pass it thru to an interested and sympathetic developer. Short of that, the City should rent out the church to an interested congregation. This will allow the City to recoup some of the purchase price while we work on other aspects of the lakefront plan.

Some might say that it is still risky. The risk is minimal. If we are not successful on the lakefront the City can always sell off the property.

Euclid is at a critical time. Our population is falling, and, we are losing wealth. That means we have fewer and fewer resources to pay for services. Therefore, from an economic development standpoint, we must do the marina as a catalyst for apartment conversion into condominiums. JJR estimates that such public investments will leverage 8-12 times that amount in private investment.

Purchasing St. Roberts gives the City options in creating a truly great redevelopment project.
We will have none south of Lakeshore if we miss.

Let me know what you think.