Cleveland developers promised $147M in contracting opportunities for city subsidies

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland developers receiving public financial assistance have promised local worker hours, internships and apprenticeships, business for city-certified contractors and, on some projects, additional investments in surrounding neighborhoods.Across 33 agreements executed from September 2023 through June 2025 under Cleveland’s Community Benefits Ordinance, the city reports more than $156 million in projected financial assistance supporting more than $959 million in development.Developers committed to more than $147 million in projected contracting opportunities for certified firms, according to the city’s Community Benefits records.Those are contractual commitments, not proof that the benefits have been delivered.Cuyahoga County’s new community-benefits requirement, modeled on Cleveland’s law, raises a practical question about the city program already in place: What are taxpayers and neighborhoods supposed to get when Cleveland subsidizes a development?To compare the agreements, cleveland.com reviewed all 19 projects in the city’s current Community Benefits directory and totaled the city assistance or incentives disclosed on those pages. Seventeen provide dollar amounts, totaling about $43.6 million. The ArtCraft Building page does not provide financial terms, while The Finley identifies a tax abatement without giving its projected value.The directory, therefore, represents only part the city’s totals through June 2025.The largest subsidy in the directory belongs to Erieview Towers, a $217 million redevelopment receiving a projected $18.6 million through a commercial tax abatement and tax-increment financing.In return, the agreement sets participation goals of 15% for minority business enterprises, 7% for female business enterprises and 8% for Cleveland small businesses. It also calls for Cleveland residents to perform 20% of construction-worker hours, at least five registered apprentices, at least five internships for Cleveland students and five youth employment opportunities.Franklin Yards has the second-largest disclosed city assistance, about $7 million through a tax abatement and tax-increment financing. Its agreement includes the same 15%, 7% and 8% certified-business goals and 20% Cleveland-resident worker-hours requirement, plus three mentor-protégé relationships, three paid Cleveland-resident interns and three Cleveland-resident apprentices.But the size of the subsidy does not determine the baseline requirements.Oasis in the City, whose project page lists $300,000 in city assistance, carries the same 15%, 7% and 8% certified-business goals and 20% Cleveland-resident worker-hours requirement. It also calls for three paid interns, one mentor-protégé relationship and participation by a subcontractor in a registered apprenticeship program.That reflects how Cleveland structured the ordinance. Developers receiving at least $250,000 in city assistance must agree to requirements covering certified-business participation, resident employment, mentoring, apprenticeships or internships and community meetings. Projects costing at least $20 million must add negotiated project-specific benefits. Residential projects receiving multifamily tax abatements move into the expanded tier at $75 million in project cost.The agreements can vary even within those broad rules. Puritas Senior Apartments, with $892,500 in listed city assistance, has 5% goals for minority business enterprises, female business enterprises and Cleveland small businesses rather than the 15%, 7% and 8% goals found on many other project pages. It retains the 20% Cleveland-resident construction-worker requirement.Other agreements go beyond hiring and contracting percentages. The $850,000 Shaker Square agreement requires hiring a city-certified real estate management firm and providing capital injections to at least three certified contractors.The $2.7 million Cleveland Cold Storage agreement calls for a contribution to a community equity fund, first consideration for workers referred by OhioMeansJobs and Ward 5 residents and support for local nonprofits, entrepreneurs and businesses.The citywide $156 million figure does not represent $156 million in direct payments. Under the ordinance’s definition of city financial assistance, it can include grants, loans, tax-increment financing, multifamily tax abatements, below-market land transfers and city-funded infrastructure.Whether developers ultimately deliver everything they promised is harder to determine from the project pages.Developers are required to submit quarterly reports until their agreements are closed. The ordinance also requires the Office of Equal Opportunity to send quarterly compliance data to City Council and maintain a public dashboard covering benefits including revenue to certified firms, Cleveland residents and tangible community improvements.The public project pages reviewed by cleveland.com primarily describe commitments and, in some cases, list events or activities that have occurred. They do not consistently provide project-by-project results showing whether every contracting, hiring, internship, apprenticeship or neighborhood commitment has been fulfilled.The agreements carry enforcement provisions. Noncompliance can result in denial or termination of city assistance, recovery of a proportional share of assistance already provided or stipulated damages, depending on the agreement and violation.