City staffing shortage threatens some Cleveland projects

With the first phase of Intro (at left in a simplified blue massing) in Ohio
City being a phenomenal success, its developers are eager to construct
phase two (at right in yellow). But trying to get the project far enough along
before the city of Cleveland’s tax abatement policies change at the end
of the year are proving to be difficult due to the shortage of staffing in
departments that administer approvals for construction projects (GCP).
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At the start of 2024, the city of Cleveland’s new tax abatement policy will go into effect. While the policy will remain basically unchanged for much of the city, it will become less supportive of developments in neighborhoods where construction has been most active — University Circle, Ohio City, Tremont and parts of downtown. So, in those areas, developers are trying to expedite the delivery of projects before the 15-year property tax abatement on new developments declines from 100 percent to 85 percent. But there’s something standing in the way of that acceleration: a lack of city staff to get projects approved in time.

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