Ruling on Cold Storage building opens up Inner Belt Bridge cost question
By Pat Galbincea, The Plain Dealer
ODOT acquired the Cleveland Cold Storage building by eminent domain.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Officials from the Ohio Department of Transportationknow for certain they will be starting construction of a new westbound Inner Belt Bridge in the spring of 2011.What they don't know is how much they will have to pay to remove a vacant 82-year-old structure on West 14th Street that stands in the way of the bridge.
A decision by Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell on Tuesday negated the Oct. 26, 2009 sheriff's sale of the building, known as Cleveland Cold Storage, to Marketing Holdings LLC for $66,667 and returned ownership to Fred Finley.
Since ODOT filed for eminent domain of the building in January, the final price of the building will be determined in Cuyahoga County Probate Court. Finley's lawyers said that case should be resolved before the end of the year.
The problem is that liens totaling several million dollars have been filed against the property, including $638,000 in back property taxes. The court ruling allows creditors a chance to recover money from Finley.
It also means ODOT will be paying a higher price for the building than the amount it sold for in the sheriff's sale. The department has said the structure, with its large painted billboards, is worth about $400,000 but that the lease for the large billboards is valued at $4.1 million.
Last year, ODOT offered $4.5 million for the building and property. According to Finley, ODOT should have offered $7 million, which he said is the building's value had he gone forward with a proposal for a condominium and retail development. He planned that in 2004, when ODOT said it didn't need the building to complete the new bridge, but in 2005, he aborted those plans when ODOT changed its mind.
"We're looking for fair value in this compensation," said Kenneth Callahan, Finley's attorney. "The judge Tuesday agreed, saying creditors who have liens should receive fair compensation. Had the sheriff's sale gone through for $66,667, those creditors would have been wiped out.
"The property itself has considerable value to those creditors and Mr. Finley."
Stanley Gorom, the attorney for Marketing Holdings LLC, which is affiliated with the company that holds the billboards lease, would not comment on whether he would appeal O'Donnell's decision, other than to say "the real story here is that ODOT has filed its action to take the building."
If O'Donnell had allowed the sheriff's sale, ODOT could have saved millions in purchasing costs.
Ali Lehman, a spokeswoman for ODOT, said the department is not yet worried about the final cost to buy the building. ODOT can deposit money with the court and take possession of the building.
"We don't intend to postpone any work on the bridge," she said. "We don't foresee any issues starting that construction on time. The court's decision Tuesday is not impacting us yet. We'll just wait until Probate Court jurors decide the price . . . that's all we can say for now."
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