As published in Toledo Business Journal - March 1, 2010
Port Clinton Waterworks Site may invest $100M
Project designed to spark year-round tourism
The City of Port Clinton is working on a $70 to $100 million project to develop its Waterworks Site. The property is approximately 14 acres of open land with lakefront to the north and river frontage to the west. The City is interested in a mixed-use development including a hotel / convention center with more than 300 rooms, waterpark, retail, dining, condominiums, and a transient marina. Residential opportunities include condominiums incorporated into mixed-uses or semi-detached townhomes.
The corner of Perry and Jefferson will likely act as the “front door” to the development. According to the City of Port Clinton, the development of the Waterworks Site should draw the public to the water’s edge 12 months a year and strategically link current and future activity in historic downtown with that along the Portage River and Lake Erie. It should also complement and add continuity to the historic downtown, extending the historic fabric of downtown to the water’s edge.
The City wants the design to be scaled to complement the existing downtown core with the streetscape character of the site enhancing pedestrian experience, encouraging mobility, and reinforcing connections between site elements.
Additionally, desirable uses along the waterfront / promenade are destination-type, such as a restaurant with outdoor seating areas or boutique retail, designed to reinforce the desired pedestrian and public character.
The northern portion of the site holds potential to act as an interior anchor. Uses focused along Perry Street should act as an extension of the downtown corridor, appropriately scaled and decreasing in density toward the existing Derby Pond park. Along the Washington Street extension, the City would like to reflect the quiet and reserved character of the park and be less dense in nature.
The project could potentially create hundreds of jobs, depending on the developers / investors selected and whether or not the project is completed in phases.
While specific companies have not been finalized for the development, four firms have expressed interest so far.
According to Port Clinton Mayor, Debbie Tester, the City has rezoned the property and is working on obtaining stimulus dollars for the project. The funds would be used to remove a sewage storm separation within the city that is connected to a combined sewer overflow (CSO). The City has also been working on revising the site plan, abating the waterworks building, and searching for engineering or consulting firms.
The City hopes to attract developer / investors by the second quarter of this year.
Recently, Port Clinton also obtained an additional piece of shoreline and is working on completing the boardwalk and restoration of wetlands adjacent to the property.
Tester stated, “We’re going to enhance our whole waterfront… We have hundreds of thousands of people that travel through here every year and get on the Jet Express and go to Put in Bay. I love Put in Bay and I go there myself, but we would really like to capitalize on some of the people that are coming here and staying here spending their dollars… [The project] would have a great impact. The waterpark portion would be great, because it would give us a yearlong opportunity [to attract tourism]. We kind of dwindle in population in the wintertime. A lot of businesses close up for a month or two to save money, and this could help them stay open.”