Flats East Bank Redevelopment

The challenge.

An 18-acre former industrial site along the Cuyahoga River, hemmed in by rail corridors, floodplain, and utilities that didn't match historical mapping. The redevelopment needed to bring residential, retail, and public riverwalk together on land that nobody had surveyed in 30 years — and do it under aggressive schedule pressure from anchor tenants.

Our approach.

We started with a full boundary, topographic, and utility survey — pulling records from four prior site owners and physically locating every manhole, vault, and outfall. From there, our planners built a phased master plan that respected floodplain and rail easements while still creating the continuous riverwalk the city required.

Our civil engineers designed the stormwater system as a series of bioretention cells tied to the riverwalk, treating runoff before it reached the river while doubling as landscape amenities. Our landscape architects designed the riverwalk itself — pavements, lighting, plantings, and signage — as a single integrated package.

The result.

Phase 1 opened with 320 residential units, 80,000 SF of retail, and a half-mile of public riverwalk. Subsequent phases are now in design with our team continuing as lead civil and landscape consultant.