City of Cleveland releases Request for Proposals for the Watterson-Lake School site in the Gordon Square Arts District

Feb 01, 2023

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023 — Cleveland — The City of Cleveland will soon acquire ownership of the former Watterson-Lake School site through a land transfer with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). The site will be made available for redevelopment through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process, which opens today, Feb. 1, 2023. This 2.2-acre tract of land is situated at W 74th St. and Detroit Ave. in the Gordon Square Arts District in Cleveland’s Ward 15. The project presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine a strategic site in a burgeoning neighborhood.

City administration and Cleveland City Council partnered to pilot a new method of community engagement that informed the development process of the site. In fall 2021, Councilmember Jenny Spencer allocated funding for a community engagement process facilitated by Free By Design, LLC. A significant amount of public input informed the structure and weighting of the RFP. The process culminated in a Site Engagement Report which will be included as an exhibit in the RFP, a model that the team hopes will become a standard practice in future development projects.

“I provided community engagement funding because it is truly unique to have City-owned land of this scale in an already densely developed area. It is an opportunity to infuse equity into the neighborhood's growth,” said Councilmember Spencer. “Our community provided great feedback and insights and I look forward to proposals from developers that are responsive to the findings of the report and process.”

The City released a draft RFP for Watterson-Lake to the public in August 2022, incorporating the findings of the Site Engagement Report. City staff along with Councilmember Spencer hosted a community meeting on August 17, 2022, to seek residents’ feedback on the RFP scoring criteria.

“Additional feedback gathered from residents and stakeholders in August allowed us to further refine the RFP and adjust the weighting of the scoring criteria,” said Alyssa Hernandez, Director of the Department of Community Development. “This is the first time the City of Cleveland has taken this approach to redeveloping City-owned land. I am confident that our final RFP reflects the values and needs of the Gordon Square community.”

Prior to transfer of the site from CMSD to the City of Cleveland, CMSD will demolish the existing Watterson-Lake building. The process is expected to take approximately ten months and will include asbestos abatement. Information regarding the demolition and other updates can be found at www.clevelandmetroschools.org/Segment8.

The deadline for responses to the RFP is 5 p.m. EST on May 31, 2023.

The RFP, including details on the site and application guidelines, is available at RFPs/RFQs: Watterson-Lake School Site | City of Cleveland (clevelandohio.gov) 

More information on the project is available at Watterson-Lake Cle (wattersonlakecle.com).