VOL. 39, NO. 50
DECEMBER 10 - 16, 2018
Source Lunch
Akron Bounce is getting a lift from partnership with Zips. Page 21
Tami Brown, Greater Cleveland Aquarium general manager Page 23
CLEVELAND BUSINESS
Technology Blockland could be start of something big. Page 3
REAL ESTATE
THE LIGHTS GO OUT FOR FOREST CITY Development giant’s demise as a public company signals an end of a Cleveland empire
By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter
L
ong before Forest City Realty Trust decided to define its vision for itself as being the “creative leader in realizing the power of place” around the nation, it played a big part, literally, in shaping Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Back in the 1920s, the owners of the Glenville lumber yard had a good business building garages in town. By the 2000s, it was building skyscrapers for offices and apartments in New York and big deals in Washington, D.C., Boston and San Francisco. That run, and the so-familiar name, ended as an independent company on Friday, Dec. 7, as Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management concluded its $11.7 billion purchase, including debt. Many staffers exited its headquarters at Key Tower for the last time on Friday, Dec. 3. Forest City’s founders three generations ago picked the name well. At one time, Cleveland itself was commonly referred to as “The Forest City.” Over time, members of the Ratner family and Sam Miller, former co-chairman emeritus, would become high-profile members and leaders of the city’s business, civic and philanthropic communities. As the city’s population and prominence declined, Forest City stayed. Its power grew as other big names were plucked from the place, from Sohio to TRW Inc. All the while, it was constantly sharpening its craft and extending its reach with properties, first throughout the region, and then beyond. First came residential projects, as Forest City widened its scope from supplying building materials to developing land, especially in the post-World War II era as suburbanization took hold. It evolved from buying lots to undertaking larger land developments, such as converting the former Parma Airport south of its Brook Park Road location to streets and bungalows. SEE FOREST CITY, PAGE 19
In 1982, Forest City bought out partner U.S. Realty Trust for sole ownership of Cleveland’s iconic Terminal Tower. The company would later sell the struggling complex. (David Kordalski)
Legal Affairs >> New
chapter begins for Cleveland Legal Aid. Page 12 Opioid battle rages in a Cleveland courtroom. Page 14 Entire contents © 2018 by Crain Communications Inc.
SPORTS BUSINESS
Startup basketball league says it can compete with the NCAA By KEVIN KLEPS kkleps@crain.com @KevinKleps
In 18 months, the Historical Basketball League plans to launch with games in 12 cities. The Cleveland-based league, which says it will pay college players $50,000 to $150,000 per year and guarantee them scholarships, has a to-do list with a longer reach than Kevin Durant.
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No one ever said going Cleveland attorney Ricky toe-to-toe with the NCAA Volante was one of the few — a 112-year-old instituwho believed it was an eftion — would be easy. fort that could prove worthwhile. Schwarz’s idea has “The most common feedchanged some over the back I got was ‘your idea is brilyears, but the driving force liant, but it will never work,’ ” behind it — allowing stusaid Andy Schwarz, a Bay Area dent-athletes to be comantitrust economist and the pensated for playing and HBL’s co-founder. “And when Schwarz profit from their likeness — I pushed as to why these people thought that, it was always some vari- has remained. ant of ‘you can’t fight city hall.’ ” SEE LEAGUE, PAGE 22
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