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January 19, 2009
Forest City in the News
Crain's Cleveland Business, Parmatown retailers shelve rumors of mall shutdown
With news reports that the owner of Beachwood Place, Northeast Ohio's most upscale mall, is flirting with bankruptcy as it struggles with loan issues, the rumor mill in more modest corners such as Parma is that Parmatown will lose its anchors and be demolished. In Elyria, the talk is that Midway Mall will be shut and sold to the Cleveland Clinic.
Both Parmatown and Midway management say the chatter is not accurate. However, a wave of store closings by retailers amid a decline in consumer spending means mall managers and others spend a lot of time quelling rumors while shopkeepers face the unenviable task of trying to sell in such an environment.
Parma Mayor Dean DiPiero said he has heard juicier, but even more wrong-headed, rumors about Parmatown being torn down for a Kalahari-style water park, a casino or even public housing.
“It's not true,” the mayor said. “I talk with them weekly. Retail is struggling everywhere. Sure, Parmatown has lost stores. But it is continuing to chug along.”
A casino or government-subsidized housing? In a mall?
Part of the strategy at Parmatown is to install other uses on the grounds, so it now operates a community conference center and houses the city of Parma's recreation department, a congressional office of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Cleveland, and the Parma Chamber of Commerce. The mall underwent a $12 million renovation in 2001.
Government offices in a mall? Where have we heard that before?
Parmatown is owned by Parmatown LLC, which is controlled by RMS Enterprises, a venture formed by the founding Ratner, Miller and Shafran families of Forest City Enterprises Inc.
Ah, now it all becomes clear. Forest City is no stranger to casino development, and New York State has helped out cousin Bruce by locating a large Department of Motor Vehicles office in the developer's Atlantic Center Mall.
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Convention expert Bruce Harris supports Tower City medical mart site
One of the most influential figures in convention and conference booking says Cleveland could wreck its future as a meeting place if Cuyahoga County commissioners pick the existing Cleveland Convention Center as the site for a replacement facility.
The other site under consideration -- a riverfront locale behind Tower City Center -- holds every make-or-break advantage, barring some fatal, as-yet-unrevealed flaw, said Bruce Harris.
...Harris insisted he has no ties to principals at Forest City Enterprises, which owns the Tower City site and wants $40 million for it.
Posted by eric at January 19, 2009 4:30 PM