CLEVELAND, Ohio — The City of Cleveland holds a pre-bid meeting Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Huntington Convention Center for companies interested in the first construction package of the downtown lakefront plan, a $285 million first phase that would begin converting the Shoreway into a boulevard, according to NEOTrans reporting published by Cleveland Magazine.
Phase One covers the Shoreway conversion from roughly West Ninth Street to about 1,000 feet east of East Ninth Street, along with related infrastructure and a land bridge, NEOTrans reported for Cleveland Magazine. A pedestrian bridge over the lakefront railroad tracks and a Lake Erie Plaza north of the Great Lakes Science Center are also planned before the current stadium is demolished, according to the report.
“We have the resources to make meaningful progress,” Mayor Justin Bibb said, according to the NEOTrans report in Cleveland Magazine. The city cites more than $150 million in federal and state grants toward the work, the report said.
Demolishing the current Huntington Bank Field, by 2032, will cost about $30 million, paid from the $100 million Haslam Sports Group settlement, with the other $70 million of that settlement going to community benefits, according to NEOTrans reporting in Cleveland Magazine. The Browns are building a new stadium in Brook Park and are set to leave the downtown lakefront site ahead of the 2029 season.
Funding is in hand to start the Shoreway conversion and the land bridge next year, and construction could begin by the end of 2027, NEOTrans reported. A second phase would run from east of East Ninth Street to the Innerbelt Curve once its funding is secured, according to the report.
DiGeronimo Development of Brecksville was chosen in December 2025 as the master developer for the lakefront buildings, NEOTrans reported for Cleveland Magazine. Wednesday’s pre-bid meeting is the city’s first formal step toward putting the initial $285 million package out for construction bids.
The lakefront work is the centerpiece of a downtown shoreline that has been dominated for decades by the stadium, the Shoreway highway and surface lots between the central business district and Lake Erie. Replacing the highway segment with a boulevard and adding the land bridge and pedestrian crossings are intended to reconnect downtown streets directly to the water.
What happens next is the bidding itself: companies that attend Wednesday’s session at the Huntington Convention Center will be positioned to compete for the Phase One contracts, with construction possible by late 2027 if the schedule in the NEOTrans report holds.
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