Prior to its latest update in 2020, the master plan for the City of Brooklyn hadn’t been touched since 2006, so it was high time for a refresh.
“The plan from 2006 was fine, but little action was taken to implement the plan,” says Brooklyn Mayor Ron Van Kirk.
For its current master plan, which was officially adopted in early 2021, the city sent out a large resident survey seeking priorities that were important to residents. From there, city officials came up with several categories to focus on and specific actions to achieve these goals.
“We began working through the recommendations and have been completing action items,” Van Kirk says. “The master plan provides a blueprint — a path — for the city to follow.”
Mayor Van Kirk, Jack Abbruzzese, recreational commissioner, and Jeremy Rowan, economic development director, provide details on how Brooklyn’s master plan was created and what it entails.
1. New Businesses
Rowan notes that a refresh to the master plan was especially important after The American Greetings headquarters — and all the income tax that came with it — moved out of Brooklyn in 2014.
However, the situation changed for the better when the American Greetings warehouse space became redeveloped into a multi-tenant business park that houses 11 companies and more than 2,000 employees.
The 1.6-million-square-foot complex is now home to Inogen, Progressive Insurance, TRG Multimedia, Graphic Packaging, MMI Textiles, Navage, HKM Direct Marketing, Health-Mor Industries, National Safety Apparel and Taylor Exhibitions. About 118,000 square feet remain of available warehouse and some residual office space for lease.
A key tenant for the complex is Medical Mutual, which took occupancy in 2020 of the 320,000-square-foot former American Greetings office tower. The company invested $30 million to modernize the four-story building.
Additionally, in exchange for bringing at least 750 jobs and $57 million in payroll, Brooklyn agreed to provide the firm with economic-development incentives valued between $1.3 million and $5 million over six years, Rowan says.
“Medical Mutual signed a 20-year lease and has 1,000 employees in that space,” Rowan says. “So, it turned from a fairly devastating situation when American Greetings left to a success story of how to repurpose a vacant facility.”
Van Kirk adds that the long-term investment of companies such as Medical Mutual is especially key.
“It’s not just that new businesses are coming here — it’s also their staying power and that they’re investing millions,” says Van Kirk.
In addition, Amazon began operating a new 124,000-square-foot delivery center on a 15-acre parcel in 2022. Plus, 25 acres of additional vacant property provides more opportunities for future projects.
In fact, marketing efforts are currently underway for the 300,000-square-foot industrial and manufacturing building that includes modern features such as 36-foot clear height ceilings, an ESFR sprinkler system, a 50-foot-by-60-foot column spacing and LED lighting. The building can be leased by a single tenant or be divided into 75,000-square-foot suites meant for multiple tenants.
“The business community is the lifeblood of our finances,” says Van Kirk. “What’s been accomplished within the past five to seven years from an economic development perspective is really incredible.”
2. Housing Opportunities
New businesses aren’t alone in calling Brooklyn home — soon, new residents will, too, as the city is setting the foundation for new houses to be built.
“We haven’t built houses in Brooklyn for quite some time, but it’s important to do so if we want to continue drawing in a new generation of residents,” Mayor Van Kirk says.
Rowan notes that one of the biggest recommendations from the master plan was to revisit the zoning code, which hadn’t been updated in 30 years. The process of rewriting the Planning and Zoning Code, which residents supported in a recent referendum, has taken place over the past 2.5 years.
The areas selected for residential rezoning included properties held by the city and some privately-owned parcels. These areas were rezoned to allow for the construction of attached single family and detached single family homes, Rowan says.
“We recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to the development community asking for proposals to build housing on the city-owned former Up-to-Bat property on Memphis Avenue,” Rowan adds. “We’ll evaluate the proposals and move forward with utilizing the property for new housing.”
The city also plans to develop housing on other city-owned property.
“We have other vacant pieces of property that have been in limbo for years because they weren’t zoned correctly, but now the zoning is aligned with what the market wants to build,” Rowan says.
“There is a lot of interest in Brooklyn. Increasingly people want to live in places with the services of a suburban community and proximity to the amenities provided in a more urban environment, which perfectly describes Brooklyn,” Rowan adds.
3. Infrastructure Improvements
As recommended in the master plan, the City of Brooklyn is implementing a robust capital improvement plan.
Every year, the city decides which roads should be updated based on a road classification system and spends between $1 million and $2 million on road construction, says Mayor Van Kirk.
“We repair a number of streets every year based upon need and budget,” Mayor Van Kirk says. “When people drive through Brooklyn, they have an expectation of good roads, and Brooklyn has some of the best roads in the county. Updated roads allow our safety forces to get to emergencies quickly. The city invests a lot of money into infrastructure.”
Ridge Road and Brookpark Road are currently undergoing repairs, and, while those constitute county and state projects, the city has contributed significant funding to each effort. The city is also working with the Norfolk Southern Railroad to repair the railroad bridges over Memphis Avenue and Clinton Road. These should be completed this year.
Cuyahoga County recently replaced the Memphis Avenue Bridge, which is part of the travel corridor for the Amazon facility and other companies in the area. The next major infrastructure project planned for this area is the Memphis Avenue Road Diet.
Currently, the section of Memphis Avenue that spans from Tiedeman Road to Ridge Road includes two travel lanes, one east and one west, with no center turn lane. Because the lanes are expansive, Rowan says people drive two cars wide even though the travel lanes are meant for one vehicle.
With that in mind, the city is planning to undertake a whole corridor road diet so that Memphis Avenue will have one true east lane and one true west lane, with a center turn lane so cars can make left-hand turns safely.
“When the engineers studied this corridor, they found the area has a high rate of accidents because of the way it was originally built,” Rowan says. “The project could also include bike lanes heading east and west, traffic calming features such as bump outs at key intersections, reevaluating light sequencing and installing landscape medians. All these enhancements will improve safety for pedestrians and drivers.”
The revamped infrastructure will also serve to beautify the area.
For example, the city recently completed a project that landscaped and installed brand-new signs at the I-480 and Tiedeman Road interchange.
“As residents, we all know this is a great place to live. When people see the updates upon entering the city, they will understand Brooklyn is a thriving community, open for business and moving forward. We will continue to build on that recognition as we make Brooklyn a destination city,” Mayor Van Kirk adds.
4. Recreational Developments
The master plan encompasses updates to the city’s recreational offerings, says Abbruzzese.
“While our recreational facilities are well maintained, they’re showing their age and require updating,” he says. “The buildings require mechanical and HVAC updates, have ADA compliance issues and just need general upgrades to keep our patrons coming back.”
Based on the results of a recent survey, the city plans to embark on several renovation projects, starting with the pools. The hope is to secure an architect for the pool renovations this year, finalize the design in 2024 and start those renovations in 2025.
“We hope that people will appreciate all the improvement projects and continue visiting our facilities and signing up for programs,” Abbruzzese says. “The Recreation Department continues to market our facilities throughout the community.”
Abbruzzese adds Behnke Landscape Architects and the City of Brooklyn are finalizing a master plan for Upper and Lower Memorial Park.
The Upper Park renovations will include:
• A new pavilion to replace the
Grand Pavilion
• A new maintenance and park office to replace the existing building
• A new multiuse sport court area to house tennis, volleyball, basketball, pickleball, hockey, etc.
• Extended walking trails
• Extended green space to accommodate large community events
• A new fence, lighting and infield on Memorial No. 1 Field
• Additional playground amenities to include handicap-accessible features and areas
The Lower Park will receive the following renovations:
• A new baseball infield
• A new walking trail around outfield fence of Memorial No. 2 to connect residents to the lower park, upper park trails and baseball diamond
• Updates to Old Stone Pavilion
• A new restroom facility
Looking Ahead
While the city has continued full speed ahead implementing the steps outlined in its current master plan, Mayor Van Kirk says that it will never stop updating the document.
“It’s a document that will be ever-changing, it guides the city moving forward,” Van Kirk says. “If you’re not looking forward and evolving as a community, you’re not going to be able to achieve the desired progress in the future.”
Rowan adds that the city’s willingness to invest in implementing the master plan recommendations further encourages people to make Brooklyn their home.
“It’s hard to ask people to invest in a community if the community isn’t going to invest in itself,” Rowan says. “When you look at all the recent public and private investments throughout Brooklyn, it makes for a place that people want to be.”
