Posted on Wed, Jul. 19, 2006 

 

 

 

City to create biomedical cluster in razed Innerbelt area

 

By John Higgins

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic announced Wednesday that the city plans to demolish part of the Innerbelt -- a city goal since 1999 -- to help create a biomedical-friendly business district anchored by the city's three main hospitals.

 

By downsizing the freeway to a boulevard, the city would no longer have to maintain expensive bridges and ramps between West Exchange and Howard streets and would gain 37 acres for development favoring biomedical businesses and could include upscale housing....

 

 

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John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or 1-800-777-7232 or [email protected] 

 

Damn, how did I miss this in today's paper.  Great to hear, I hadn't heard anything in a while about Plusquellic's plans for the northern end of the innerbelt.  Can't wait to see this project get moving, I'm more than ready to see the land this under-utilized highway sits on be better used to continue the revitalization of the region's economy.

I worked at the Akron Bureau for the last three months I worked at Fox-8 News in 1997.  I always wondered what they were thinking when they built that expressway.  Nice highway.... but it didn't go anywhere.  I agree, it'll be a big improvement to rip it down and create a Boulevard.  Go Akron!

From the 7/21/06 ABJ:

 

 

Bait: Polymers, tax incentives, skilled doctors

Akron puts its strengths forward to try to capture more businesses for planned biomedical district

By Cheryl Powell

Beacon Journal medical writer

 

Whenever Theken Spine wants expert advice about the medical implants it designs and markets for spinal fusion surgeries, it doesn't need to go far...

 

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15089672.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

 

Support still being drummed up for saving the northern end of the Innerbelt.

From the Akron Beacon Jounal 8/4/2006

 

 

Big changes to Innerbelt worth a look

 

In 1960, when Akron traffic planner Byron Sturm put pencil to paper and began to sketch the Akron Innerbelt, John Dziurlaj was T-minus 26 years and counting...

 

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Bob Dyer's column appears every Friday. He can be reached at 330-996-3580 or [email protected]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/columnists/bob_dyer/15196433.htm

Competing ideas

 

To check out the elaborate Web site created by Interbelt Integration Initiative, go here:

www.akroninnerbelt.org

 

To see the four possibilities for the Ohio Department of Transportation's upcoming remake of the west leg of the Akron Expressway -- and comment on them -- go here:

http://centralinterchange.org/alternatives1.html

 

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15196441.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

 

 

Does anyone know what is going on with this? I went to Odot's website and it looks like they are no longer considering doing anything with the innerbelt. It would be amazing if they turned this into a normal road and put more businesses along it. That city and surrounding neighborhoods would benifit tremendously from it.

Sadly, ODOT lacks the money to maintain that labrynth of highway infrastructure... or to demolish it and replace it with something less elaborate and intrusive. It may remain there until it begins to collapse from neglect, and that would be a horrible burdern for those neighborhoods. ODOT may be able tap some federal Livable Communities funding, but only if the city will push them to do it. And that means having locals push the city.....

This was mainly an idea floated by the mayor to reduce the width of the Innerbelt.  I don't see it being too realistic.  There could be some minor future alterations especially with ODOT looking/needing to work on the Central Interchange in the next 5-7 years.    This section of highway gets much usage at rush hour. 

 

He was also including the Innerbelt as a reference for the biomedical corridor's outline hinting at using some of the excessive land by the Innerbelt for new companies.  I don't think Akron land prices are so high in the downtown area that the government can start to cannibalize the Innerbelt for potential medical companies. 

 

Besides, as more success happens to the Biomedical Corridor the more important the Innerbelt becomes as a thruway.

The main reason I'm questioning this idea isn't because the Innerbelt (Interbelt?) doesn't have room to spare--it definitely does.  It's just that downtown Akron as a whole already has a large amount of underutilized property that could be acquired far more cheaply--and redeveloped more cheaply after being acquired cheaply, too.  Taking out part of the highway (by filling it in or whatever) would be a real chore.  The investments in both time and money involved would be steeper than necessary.  Why bother?  The sail-shaped area between 8, 76, and 59 has plenty of usable land, and of course there's no reason one should feel boxed into that area, either.

I somewhat agree with that last post. I think a lot of places downtown are way underutilized. I would still like to see a lot of places go in near the innerbelt. Everytime I drive down that road it makes Akron seem like a ghost town. It would be nice to see more businesses start to pop up along the southern end of town. Opportunity Parkway should really hold up to its name. If they did anything to the innerbelt they really need to add a way to get onto 76 East from 59. Im sure that would help with a lot of traffic patterns throughout town during rush hour.

ODOT shoved around some ideas of getting federal funds to connect rt 59 to rt 8 and creating a bypass of sorts. Would have also solved part of the interchange issue but nothing came from it.

I thought I'd bring this topic back to life since this is the topic of Akron city government and a bit on the various Akron threads.

 

I'm starting to get my head around the concept that the city is wanting to implement.  My understanding is it will really only be the last mile of the innerbelt will be moved to Dart and Rand.  This will be a great spot for a large corporation that wants a slick new high profile spot.  First Energy just announced they are exploring moving from their current location without saying where in downtown they would move to.  I believe they were implying they are looking at building anew.  This is the likely impetus for the recent push back to the front burner for the city to get this done.  I could see in the near future where Akron General, Akron Childrens, and First Energy have office towers on that section of the innerbelt.  Parking decks on the bottom 3-5 levels so that one could very easily access these complexes from downtown Akron since the trough would filled in by parking decks.

 

I don't know that there are that many good options to build a signature headquarters in downtown Akron for a large company.  Yes there are handfuls of parking lots strewn throughout Akron.  Tall buildings are going to be pretty much located between Market and Exchange and really between Market and Bowery.  Without knocking some things down, really not a lot of options.

 

Interesting reading my previous post from 4 years ago, it didn't quite make sense to me.  Now with likely throwing First Energy in and re-evaluating how close the innerbelt is to Cascade Plaza, I'm on board.

 

 

I thought I'd bring this topic back to life since this is the topic of Akron city government and a bit on the various Akron threads.

 

I'm starting to get my head around the concept that the city is wanting to implement.  My understanding is it will really only be the last mile of the innerbelt will be moved to Dart and Rand.  This will be a great spot for a large corporation that wants a slick new high profile spot.  First Energy just announced they are exploring moving from their current location without saying where in downtown they would move to.  I believe they were implying they are looking at building anew.  This is the likely impetus for the recent push back to the front burner for the city to get this done.  I could see in the near future where Akron General, Akron Childrens, and First Energy have office towers on that section of the innerbelt.  Parking decks on the bottom 3-5 levels so that one could very easily access these complexes from downtown Akron since the trough would filled in by parking decks.

 

I don't know that there are that many good options to build a signature headquarters in downtown Akron for a large company.  Yes there are handfuls of parking lots strewn throughout Akron.  Tall buildings are going to be pretty much located between Market and Exchange and really between Market and Bowery.  Without knocking some things down, really not a lot of options.

 

Interesting reading my previous post from 4 years ago, it didn't quite make sense to me.  Now with likely throwing First Energy in and re-evaluating how close the innerbelt is to Cascade Plaza, I'm on board.

 

Interesting concept about the parking decks filling in the dip where the road is.  I don't think it will make much difference though as it looks like the hospital expansion machine is quickly running out of steam.  Summa and General can't even stay afloat independently anymore, and within 2 years or less Akron General will be sporting Cleveland Clinic across the top of the building.  I'm not sure what Children's situation is.

 

I also find it funny that people are claiming the hospitals are landlocked.  The only way they are landlocked is if one insists on having surface parking everywhere.  Look behind Children's new building where Pronio's used to be: one big, fat surface parking lot, big enough to fit another quite ample size facility in there.  Likewise, Akron General already has acres of surface parking ringing the campus.  Google Map both facilities and look at the aerial view.  One can also easily see tons of open greenspace backing into Akron General from the suburbanesque Opportunity Parkway.

 

The only way the hospitals can be used as a justification is by insisting on mediocre land use efficiency.

 

As for FirstEnergy, that would free up plenty of space for a new building, however it would simultaneously remove most ground level economic benefit to Downtown by setting them away in an area with virtually no supporting service based businesses (think restaurants and the like).  And, given the demolition of most non-institutional structures in that stretch, the only way to provide an opportunity for nearby businesses to service them would be to either build retail into the project (which doesn't seem to be a priority for most projects) or hope someone comes along and can build out new buildings providing that space and make the project fly with the nominal rents charged Downtown.

 

Then there's the whole issue of having a vacant 19 story tower smack dab in the middle of Downtown with the resultant impact on already weak rental rates in the market, and the direct loss of those employees in the Main St. corridor.

 

In my opinion a better option would be to builda new FirstEnergy building in the Arena footprint and stick that project (if it ever comes to fruition) out in the middle of the Innerbelt.

Regarding FirstEnergy:

from the City: “What we know is that FirstEnergy is coming to the end of their lease, and that their desire is to stay downtown,”

from FirstEnergy: “We are an Akron company and we prefer to remain an Akron company,”

 

This sounds like two different things to me.

 

In regards to hospitals being "land-locked", it's pretty easy to tell someone how to spend their money. A surface lot compared to deck space is about $25k difference at minimum, per space.

Regarding FirstEnergy:

from the City: “What we know is that FirstEnergy is coming to the end of their lease, and that their desire is to stay downtown,”

from FirstEnergy: “We are an Akron company and we prefer to remain an Akron company,”

 

This sounds like two different things to me.

 

In regards to hospitals being "land-locked", it's pretty easy to tell someone how to spend their money. A surface lot compared to deck space is about $25k difference at minimum, per space.

 

That's true, re: FirstEnergy.

 

And that is also true re: money, and I don't see any of the hospitals volunteering money to create more buildable land for themselves by contributing to the Innerbelt project.

Is there any chance that First Energy could relocate back to Cleveland? Jacobs is looking for an anchor tenant for Public Square. And, First Energy already has a presence with the Stadium naming rights. First Energy could use this as a bargaining tool! Just a thought!

Pretty sure First Energy is content with being in downtown Akron with that statement and "working the mayor's office".  I don't have any visibilty about their operations. I just understand that utilities are fairly conservative and plan further ahead than most any other industry.

  I agree as well that the hospitals are not hurting for land nor would i expect them to in 3-5 years. The idea behind this original project was more to create a corridor for like-minded bio-medical organizations near these hospitals. There are some medium sized fast growing companies that left akron about 3-5 years ago they were looking to retain. Perhaps those companies will decide to come back from Medina and wherever else if they can get space near the hospitals.

  The corridor as it was designated makes a whole lot more sense to me once First Energy is added into the equation as a first mover and sort of anchor of this project. It doesn't have to come together all at once. Maybe in 5 years Gojo wants a new HQ. This would be a good spot for them as well as they do a lot of bio-medical with their anti-bacterial products.

Is there any chance that First Energy could relocate back to Cleveland? Jacobs is looking for an anchor tenant for Public Square. And, First Energy already has a presence with the Stadium naming rights. First Energy could use this as a bargaining tool! Just a thought!

It's highly doubtful they will ever move back to Cleveland after their conflict with then-Mayor Kucinich. But Akron was more than willing to embrace them, to the point of reshaping its skyline into its near-present form. Maybe the Innerbelt demolition will pave the way for some new additions? Akron is long overdue for another skyscraper or two; but the commercial real estate market in the city will likely keep that from happening for at least another 10-15 years, if then.

Is there any chance that First Energy could relocate back to Cleveland? Jacobs is looking for an anchor tenant for Public Square. And, First Energy already has a presence with the Stadium naming rights. First Energy could use this as a bargaining tool! Just a thought!

I would say about 0.5% chance. All of their operations are in Akron and they have invested $10's of millions in their White Pond (Akron) campus in the past decade.

 

Pretty sure First Energy is content with being in downtown Akron with that statement and "working the mayor's office".  I don't have any visibilty about their operations. I just understand that utilities are fairly conservative and plan further ahead than most any other industry.

  I agree as well that the hospitals are not hurting for land nor would i expect them to in 3-5 years. The idea behind this original project was more to create a corridor for like-minded bio-medical organizations near these hospitals. There are some medium sized fast growing companies that left akron about 3-5 years ago they were looking to retain. Perhaps those companies will decide to come back from Medina and wherever else if they can get space near the hospitals.

  The corridor as it was designated makes a whole lot more sense to me once First Energy is added into the equation as a first mover and sort of anchor of this project. It doesn't have to come together all at once. Maybe in 5 years Gojo wants a new HQ. This would be a good spot for them as well as they do a lot of bio-medical with their anti-bacterial products.

 

You keep throwing "Downtown" in there. While I would like nothing more than to see them remain downtown, I think the Mayor's biggest concerning is keeping them in Akron proper in regards to employees and taxes. Also, see my previous statement...hmmm

The Interbelt project is really about transportation.

Check out the thread:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8697.msg736103#msg736103