Cleveland unveils Midline master plan: 2,500 jobs planned for East Side brownfields
Photo: Places That WereCleveland unveiled the master plan for the Midline Business District on Friday, a blueprint to turn 200 acres of polluted, vacant industrial land on the city's near East Side into a manufacturing and employment hub with more than 2,500 jobs.
The plan envisions 1.5 million square feet of new light industrial and advanced manufacturing space spread across 21 sites, along with more than two miles of trails and at least 10 acres of public open space, according to the plan published Friday. At full build-out, the district is projected to generate $1.3 billion in annual economic activity and up to $100 million a year in city tax revenue.
The City Planning Commission approved the plan on Friday, after the Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund (SRF) presented it for the commission's input and support. The nonprofit SRF was created three years ago by Mayor Justin Bibb's administration in partnership with the Cuyahoga Land Bank to acquire, clear and assemble underutilized industrial land for redevelopment.
The 200-acre core of the project runs from the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 55th Street in Midtown south to Opportunity Corridor Boulevard in the Kinsman neighborhood, through the Midtown, Hough, Central, Fairfax and Kinsman neighborhoods. The district's full area of interest totals more than 350 acres, though about 150 acres are occupied by active businesses that will remain in place.
The corridor was once packed with manufacturers. Westinghouse, TRW, Wellman-Seaver-Morgan, Van Dorn Iron and others closed in the late 20th century, leaving behind empty factories, polluted soil and tangled legal claims. "The Midline aims to repair economic and environmental harms — decades in the making — by reclaiming polluted land to create a thriving employment district connected by a vibrant greenway trail and public spaces," the master plan says.
The plan was drawn up by Cleveland-based LAND studio, Merritt Chase of Pittsburgh and Utile of Boston at the request of the SRF and a steering committee of neighbors, faith leaders and representatives from the City of Cleveland, Burten Bell Carr, Fairfax Renaissance and Midtown Cleveland. It identifies which sites suit industrial use, research and development, mixed uses including housing, and energy assets such as substations, solar panels and wind turbines.
The district was announced in May as the largest industrial redevelopment in Cleveland's history. It sits within reach of bus rapid transit routes, two RTA rail stations and interstate highways, putting it within a 30-minute commute of nearly 900,000 workers — a selling point for employers the city hopes to attract to the cleaned-up sites.
What happens next is financing and cleanup: the pace of public-private funding and environmental remediation will decide how fast the first manufacturers move in. The plan also guides a new form-based zoning code being introduced neighborhood by neighborhood, meant to put offices, lobbies and shops facing the street, with factory and warehouse work behind them.
Sources: Cleveland Magazine / NEOtrans, "Midline Business District Masterplan Emerges" (Nov. 6, 2026); The Midline (clevelandmidline.org), project timeline (Nov. 6, 2026); Sustainability Directory, "Cleveland Approves Midline Plan to Reclaim Industrial East Side" (Nov. 6, 2026); Site Selection Magazine, "Cleveland's 15-Minute City Vision Attracts Long-Term Commitments" (Oct. 13, 2026).
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