Cleveland’s Vacant Factory to Get New Economic Life
An immense vacant factory in Cleveland, where massive Hulett ore unloading cranes were made over a century ago, will have a new chance at economic life as part of the city’s $50 million Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund.
The city recently announced the acquisition of the 10-acre property, including the 183,000-square-foot Wellman-Seaver-Morgan factory, for $845,000. The purchase sets the stage for an engineering and marketing study to explore new uses for the site, potentially including food production, microelectronics, energy, vehicle manufacturing, or other businesses.
The Site Readiness Fund is a key initiative of Mayor Justin Bibb, who proposed endowing it with nearly 10% of the $511 million the city received through the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The goal of the fund is to repurpose vacant, disused, or abandoned industrial sites, create jobs, and revitalize neighborhoods.
The Wellman-Seaver-Morgan factory, which has been largely inactive since the 1970s and vacant since the 1990s, is seen as a potential catalyst for economic growth in the surrounding area. The site fund is working with Cuyahoga County’s land bank to assemble, clean, and market the property.
Once redeveloped, the site is expected to create walk-to-work jobs and contribute to Mayor Bibb’s vision of turning Cleveland into a 15-minute city, where all basic necessities can be met within walking distance.
While the structural stability of the factory’s steel frame is still under evaluation, there is excitement about the potential for adaptive reuse, preserving the building’s historic character while creating a modern and vibrant space for businesses and workers.
