The city of Cleveland released two studies looking at the economic impact of Burke Lakefront Airport last week as officials consider what to do with the municipally operated air terminal situated along the lake just east of Downtown.
The looked at a few different scenarios when it came to keeping or getting rid of the airport, Jeff Epstein, Cleveland鈥檚 chief integrated development officer, said Monday on the Sound of Ideas, 91福利's public policy radio show.
鈥淲e looked at a minimal development scenario with a bunch of sports fields, a few small buildings,鈥� Epstein said. 鈥淲e looked at a maximum development scenario that had a couple of hundred apartments, a hotel and some commercials. Then we looked at a hybrid, where we kept the airport and did some development in the western half.鈥�
The maximum development scenario is projected to have a $92 million impact, when the current impact is only $77 million, according to Epstein.
鈥淭his was an exercise, not to say this is what鈥檚 going to happen but to say 鈥楬ey, if we look at the cost-benefit of closing Burke, could this make sense?鈥欌�� Epstein said.
The economic impact of the airport is relatively small, Epstein said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about $76.6 million a year based on some assumptions about the businesses that are there,鈥� Epstein said. 鈥淲e believe that the vast majority of that, close to $67 million will remain in Cuyahoga County if Burke were to close.鈥�
Though there might be a lot of advantages to the airport closing, the Airport Layout Plan Narrative Report said there are some disadvantages as well.
鈥淭here are a lot of non-airport related businesses that are located there, so obviously they like the lakefront location,鈥� said Steven Litt, a former art and architecture critic at the Plain Dealer. 鈥淭he city, I understand from reading these reports, would like to negotiate some of the leases with the companies that use the airport.鈥�
The release of the reports is the most recent happening in a conversation that鈥檚 been ongoing for more than two decades, Litt said.
鈥淭his has been a staple of discussion,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would say under this administration, led by Mayor Bibb, the city has pushed this conversation on the lakefront further than at any time that I can remember. So, we鈥檙e getting closer.鈥�
Bibb called the studies 鈥渃rucial to understand the feasibility and potential benefits of transforming Burke Lakefront Airport into a space that better serves our community,鈥� in a media release.
鈥淭he findings have reinforced my long-held belief that closing Burke is both possible and economically advantageous for Cleveland,鈥� he said.
No final decision on what to do with the airport has been made.