Cuyahoga County holds open house for county-owned properties

CLEVELAND - Developers interested in 13 properties that Cuyahoga County had placed for sale had to be sure-footed as they walked through the former Ameritrust building at the corner of East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue Tuesday, August 7.

Broken concrete on the floors, walls and ceilings were lined by crude construction lighting, but it didn't seem to deter the groups led by Cuyahoga County's real estate program manager, CBRE.

Safe floors were limited to only a few under the tower of the building, but the rotunda under the oldest part of the former Cleveland Trust Bank building is in excellent shape.

Groups of interested bidders were given an early conference Tuesday, then led on the tours through the buildings. After noon another tour began at the former Juvenile Court and Detention Center on East 22nd Street. A huge, aging complex wrought with possible lead paint and asbestos issues when it was built, it is an animal of solid construction built when budgets weren't as carefully scrutinized.

These days every dollar is of concern to the new county executive with transparency to the public of the county's dealings paramount.

"We really looked at how efficient could the county be and is there any way we could do with fewer buildings and the bottom line is we are going to save millions of dollars for the taxpayers of this county as a result," said Fitzgerald.

Interested parties are asked to submit a RFP registration to request information from CBRE or CBRE, Group, Inc., at www.cbre.com/cuyahogacounty or send for information at the Office of Procurement and Diversity, 1219 Ontario St., Room 110, Cleveland, Ohio 44113. 216-443-7200, or go to www.opd.cuyahogacounty.us