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The strategic plan builds on almost a year’s worth of discussions, Friedman said during Thursday’s board meeting. It includes a climate action plan, outlining the port’s aspiration to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and steps to achieve that goal.
“I believe we are the first port authority in the Great Lakes to adopt a climate action plan,” said Friedman, though he noted that the Wayne County Port Authority in Detroit is working through a planning process to reduce its environmental impact.
The port, located on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River, has been tracking pollution from equipment and vehicles since 2016. Emissions from vessels are higher now because of new cruise lines that stop in Cleveland and heightened activity at the port’s bulk terminal, which handles raw materials. The agency faces the challenge of finding ways to offset those emissions.
Friedman said the port already is taking steps to incorporate cold ironing infrastructure, which will allow ships to dock, turn off their engines and plug into an on-site electrical supply.
“We want to be in a position to at least help, to be of assistance, to a vessel. … And, at some point, we could mandate it,” he told board members.
A recent economic analysis commissioned by the port found that the agency fuels $4.7 billion in annual economic activity and generates $240 million in state and local tax revenues. Approximately 13 million tons of cargo move through the Cleveland harbor each year.
The new strategic plan, for 2024 through 2028, calls for exporting more Ohio-grown and -made products to Europe. It also identifies revenue-growth opportunities tied to transporting palm oil, more agricultural products, lumber and polymers.
In addition to its core business of shipping, the port offers a suite of financing tools for business expansions, public infrastructure and development projects. The agency issues bonds and, through certain deal structures, provides sales-tax exemptions on construction materials.
This year has been relatively slow for that side of the port’s business – and for commercial real estate in general, due to higher interest rates, tighter lending standards and economic uncertainty.
But the port expects to close on several projects soon, including financing for the ongoing overhaul of the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel downtown into the Hotel Cleveland and funding for the slow-moving Fidelity Hotel project on East Sixth Street, north of Euclid Avenue.
“It has been a challenging year not just for our port but for other ports throughout the state,” Rhonda Winslow, the port’s vice president of development finance, told board members.
But the agency has notched other big wins in 2023, including the recent groundbreaking for the $60 million stabilization of the Irishtown Bend hillside in Ohio City. The steep and shifting slope, between West 25th Street and the Cuyahoga River, has been threatening shipping activity.
That stabilization project, which was on the drawing board for more than a decade, involves a dramatic re-grading of the hill and installation of new bulkheads along the river. Once construction is complete, in 18 to 24 months, the hillside will be transformed into a 23-acre park. That’s a separate, $45 million project being championed by many partners.
The port also is a partner in CHEERS, short for the Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment & Resiliency strategy. That long-term project calls for using sediment dredged from the river to create a more sheltered, resilient shoreline and new green spaces, trails and coves between the East 55th Street Marina and Gordon Park on the city’s East Side.
“We are steadfastly committed to balancing a working and recreational waterfront,” said Stefan Holmes, the port’s board chairman, in a written statement.
Improving riverfront infrastructure and water quality will continue to be priorities under the new strategic plan. Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, who each appoint members to the port’s board, applauded the agency’s broad vision.
In a written statement, Bibb described the strategic plan as “admirably aggressive in its objectives.” He said the approach will help “build resiliency to climate change impacts such as increased storm intensity and heavy rainfalls, while also decarbonizing the port.”
Ronayne, a past chairman of the port’s board, characterized the plan as visionary and forward-thinking. The strategy “will not only chart the course for the port’s success but also position it to become a leader in economic development and environmental sustainability in the country,” he said in a written statement.
The port also reaffirmed its commitment to partnering with and hiring minority-owned and woman-owned businesses and small companies. The agency has a 30% participation goal for minority-owned and woman-owned businesses on its projects. And it spends a portion of its fees from development-finance deals on workforce-development grants and a paid internship program for Cleveland high school students.
“Our aim is to foster a business environment where everyone, regardless of background, has an equal opportunity to contribute to and benefit from the growth and success of the port,” Friedman said in a written statement.
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