City council on Monday approved an amended lease it hopes will attract hundreds of jobs, but will also see gatherings like the Cleveland Auto Show leave the space.
CLEVELAND — The days of large conventions at the I-X Center are officially coming to an end.
On Monday, Cleveland City Council approved a new agreement that extends Industrial Commercial Properties’ lease on the 2.2 million-square-foot building for another 49 years. However, the space will no longer host the exhibition events that have become staples for decades, such as the Cleveland Auto Show or the Great Big Home and Garden Show.
Instead, the city plans to lure a Fortune 100 (a top 100 company from the Fortune 500) company to occupy the space full time. Such a project would bring an estimated 200 jobs to the area with an overall payroll of $23 million, lawmakers said.
“The I-X Center was bought by the city when new runways for Hopkins were expected and planned, but the need vanished,” city council said of a 2001 land swap that saw Brook Park hand over the I-X Center to Cleveland in exchange for much of NASA Glenn Research Center. “While rent is paid to the airport, all taxes generated by the facility are paid to the City of Brook Park per a legal settlement agreement dating to the acquisition of I-X Center.”
The building’s history dates back to 1942, when it served as a construction plant for B-29 bomber planes during World War II. After many more years as a military tank plant, it was used for a number of purposes before being christened as the International Exposition Center in 1985, and served as one of Greater Cleveland’s premier event spaces for the next 30-plus years.
Due to the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city announced the I-X Center’s planned closure at the end of 2020, but the trade shows returned after just over a year later thanks to an infusion of cash from ICP and Industrial Realty Group. Some events never came back, though, such as the iconic I-X Indoor Amusement Park.
Last November, Council President Blaine Griffin and Majority Leader Kenny McCormack introduced legislation to both extend the lease (which was originally due to expire in 2039) and end the center’s status as an event space. The Fortune 500 company being targeted by ICP and the city is still unknown, and it remains to be seen if events like the Auto or Home and Garden Show can find new places to go.
As part of Monday’s legislation, the city reserves the right to end the lease and take back the I-X Center after 10 years via eminent domain if it sees a need for expansion at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
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