During the Transit Oriented Design presentation at CSU’s Levin College last week, one of the RTA personell – Mr. James DeRosa  jderosa [at] gcrta [dot] org  - presented a few RTA owned properties as development opportunities.  One of the properties is 6611 Euclid, the 7 story mill style building in the photo above. 

I went by 6611 and took a few photos because during the RTA presentation  I had  learned:  The RTA took the building by eminent domain – paying $1,000,000 -  from a Cleveland landowner who also owns other properties in the area.  I went up to the podium after the TOD presentation and asked Mr. DeRosa why it was that the building was required by the RTA for the Euclid Corridor Silver Line development.   It seemed to me that if the building had existed on Euclid for decades, why was it that it was suddenly in the way of the Euclid Corridor project? 

Mr. DeRosa told me that the rubber-tired street cars which will be used on Euclid have a “docking arm” – or something to that effect – which requires that there be additional width to the existing Euclid street right of way.   Mr. DeRosa said that the RR underpass at 55th, and the historic Dunham Tavern to the east of 6611 precluded widening Euclid at those locations, leaving the only alterative being to buy the mill at 6611.   Mr. De Rosa also explained that under Ohio eminent domain law a public agency can’t take a slice or a portion of a property – if the agency needs a little piece – it has to take it all (I assume at fair market value).  So that’s what the RTA did, and now it owns 6011 all the way through to Chester.  Basically a city block with a 7 story building shell on it. 

Back to the photograph.   So I wake up in the middle of the night and I’m thinking about the size/width of the concrete bays in the building.  And I’m thinking about the edge of the concrete where the RTA demo contractor has sliced off the floor slab and concrete beams which used to extend one more bay towards Euclid.  And it dawned on me that the RTA has a real liability risk here:  there is no fencing, railing or fall protection anywhere along any of the 7 floors.  Sure the building is fenced, but look at the graffiti which was painted on the outside wall of the building from on top of the fence sections which are leaned stacked against the building.  Clearly kids are already getting into the building.   If someone falls off the unprotected edge of the building, the RTA will be held partially, if not entirely, liable.  Hopefully, the RTA will sell the property fast and get out from under this liability.

The other feature you can see in the photo is that the floor slabs are quite sagged.   Put a straight edge on the photo, you can see the center span of the concrete beam is 4 or 5 “ lower than over the columns. Is this a structural deficiency (which affects floor loadings/leveling) which was considered when the fair market value was assessed? 

I wonder how long the prior owner of the building owned the property before the RTA bought it?

I wonder if there was another way to proceed with the Euclid Corridor project without involving the demolition of the façade of this building?