Cuyahoga County requires $1 million aid recipients to provide public benefits
A new advisory committee voted unanimously to approve its first project, incorporating an existing Cleveland agreement for a law firm renovation.
By Rebecca Svoboda ·
The Cuyahoga County advisory committee voted unanimously on Nov. 2 to approve its first community benefits agreement. The decision involved a $1.24 million county loan for Flannery | Georgalis LLC to renovate a 120-year-old building on West 25th Street. The firm sought to use its existing agreement with Cleveland for this project, a request that sparked debate among committee members.
County Council Member Michael J. Houser Sr. sponsored the ordinance passed this summer. The rule requires any project receiving at least $1 million in county financial assistance to provide tangible resources to the public. Houser stated that he believes developers using tax money should give back to the community. He noted that the goal is not to delay development but to ensure taxpayers receive value for their investment.
The seven-member committee includes county officials and community representatives. Members include County Fiscal Officer Michael Chambers, Department of Development Director Paul Herdeg, and Housing and Community Development Director Anthony Scott. Community members include business owner Adrian Maldonado and Tania Menesse, CEO of Towards Employment. Menesse emphasized the committee's focus on creating opportunities for low-income residents and second-chance workers in construction projects.
Rich Morehouse, a lawyer representing the law firm, told the committee that the firm would overachieve on the project. He said Cleveland-based small businesses and women-owned businesses would hold key roles. The agreement also includes hiring city residents and using Job Corps participants as pre-apprentices. Morehouse and Mary Champa, the firm's director of HR and administration, waited anxiously for the vote. They feared the committee might require a new agreement to be negotiated from scratch.
Committee members debated whether to simply adopt Cleveland's agreements. Herdeg stated that the city's established process provides comfort, but the county should not automatically adopt what another city has done. Chambers questioned if the county needed to strengthen its own standards. Cleveland often requires developers to hire local residents for 20% of construction hours and use local small businesses for 30% of subcontracting work. Houser explained that the county's ordinance is less detailed than the city's to avoid conflicts with federal diversity policies, though he said the ordinance can be revisited.
The committee decided to incorporate the Cleveland agreement into the county's pact but will conduct its own oversight. The county will monitor whether the project meets the agreement's terms. This approach allows the county to recognize existing work while maintaining control over compliance. The vote ended the debate over whether the law firm's project would be the first approved by the new advisory body.
The committee will likely review several more projects in the coming year. Recent projects that would have required agreements include a $2 million loan for Famous Supply in Maple Heights, a $2 million loan for the former Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights, and a $2 million loan for a birth center in Cleveland. Other recent recipients include Hikma Pharmaceuticals in Bedford and Erieview Tower in downtown Cleveland. Both the birth center and the tower already have community benefits agreements with the city of Cleveland.
