CLEVELAND OPPORTUNITY CORRIDOR MARKET STUDY

CLEVELAND, OHIO

The Fund for Our Economic Future commissioned the development of an economic growth strategy for the area surrounding the Opportunity Corridor, a $330-million-plus roadway investment connecting Cleveland’s two most significant hubs of economic activity: downtown and University Circle. BLD served as the landscape architect and human ecologist on the project team; a diverse collaboration including local real estate and neighborhood development partners; to develop a strategy at the intersection of regional economic opportunities, neighborhood assets, and land assets.

BLD contributed high-level analysis of ecological resources of significance to the development corridor, including identification of stormwater infiltration patterns and capacity, sites open to the development of civic spaces, and integration of blue-green infrastructure within future development, including the potential use of private cooperative stormwater infrastructure. This infrastructure would allow for the use of stormwater in various aligned sectors’ manufacturing processes.

The team devised a comprehensive vision for the Opportunity Corridor area, including what the economic activities will be, as well as neighborhood composition. A set of differentiated Economic Growth Zones and Community Development Zones were delineated to determine how to tailor strategies and programming, a set of preliminary economic uses that best align with each zone were identified, and the work necessary to ensure successful implementation of the strategy was articulated.