New Gateway Garage to Aid Future Development

This article was published through an exclusive content-sharing agreement with neo-trans.blog.

While a proposed new parking garage for Downtown Cleveland’s Gateway District isn’t intended to structurally support a vertical development above it, the new garage is intended to support new developments next to it, according to two sources who spoke to NEOtrans on the condition of anonymity.

City Planning Commission’s Downtown/Flats Design Review Committee is scheduled review the plans for the garage tomorrow. Non-binding suggestions or recommendations by that panel are offered for future consideration to the Landmarks Commission whose votes are legally binding.

The new eight-level garage will offer far more parking spaces than those that have and will succumb to the development of Bedrock Real Estate’s 3.2-acre Rock Block site, bounded by Prospect Avenue, East 4th Street and Huron Road.

With roughly 600 parking spaces, this second phase of the Rock Block will more than compensate for the 170 surface-lot parking spaces lost to the construction of the Cosm immersive experience venue across Huron from Rocket Arena. Cosm, the Rock Block’s first phase, is due to open in summer 2027.

The garage will support Cosm and the Rock Block’s third and final phase — a vertically mixed development at Prospect and East 4th. It could also provide parking relief for a full or partial demolition of the 1,650-space Gateway East Garage, 650 Huron, called the Great Day Improvements Garage since April.

Potentially replacing that garage is a ballpark village comprised of shops, offices, housing, hotels and more experiential venues, sources said. The experience model is the fastest growing sector of the economy. The Gateway District is Cleveland’s heart of that sector.

Bringing that vision to life are billionaires Dan Gilbert and David Blitzer. Sources have told NEOtrans for years that the two men have been working together on a vision for developing a ballpark village next to Gateway’s two largest sports/entertainment venues — Progressive Field and Rocket Arena.

Gilbert, of Detroit, owns the Rock Ventures family of more than 100 companies including Bedrock and Rock Entertainment Group which in turn owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Monsters, and Cleveland Sirens.

Blitzer, of New York City, may exercise an option to acquire the majority ownership stake in the Cleveland Guardians from Paul Dolan after the 2027 baseball season, elevating from minority owner.

NEOtrans broke the story in 2023 that the Guardians were acquiring the Great Day Improvements Garage. NEOtrans asked representatives of both members of this budding partnership if the new parking garage will allow the Great Day Improvements Garage to be partially/fully demolished for future development.

“No comment,” said Curtis Danburg, vice president of communications and community impact at the Cleveland Guardians.

“Info will become more available once we are ready to share. Lots of balls in the air,” said Dan Whalen, managing director at Bedrock. He referred further inquiries to Bedrock Senior Vice President of Communications Lora Brand who has yet to reply to NEOtrans’ e-mail.

Gilbert and Blitzer’s partnership has already changed downtown’s landscape. They jointly invested $250 million in Cosm in 2024 after which Cosm announced it would add Cleveland to its growing list of host cities.

Construction continues on its $86.5 million shared-reality venue as the first phase of the Rock Block. Cleveland will be Cosm’s fifth city next summer after Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and Detroit. Cosm has yet to announce venues in Chicago or in any East Coast cities.

After the second phase, being the new parking garage, there will be one remaining development site for Bedrock’s third phase of the 3.2-acre Rock Block. That will be a roughly 35,000-square-foot plot now hosting an 81-space parking lot at the southeast corner of Prospect and East 4th.

Bedrock representatives have said they plan to build a vertically mixed-use structure here. It could be comprised of residential, office, hotel, and/or structured parking.

But plans likely won’t be released for this third phase until after the Rock Block garage gets underway. And sources say this structure may not be a high-rise, which suggests that a larger motivation for the Rock Block garage is instead across Huron.

An announcement about the future of the Great Day Improvements Garage could coincide with with Blitzer’s expected elevation to majority owner in one year. Ironically, the timing of that could also coincide with the start of construction of the Rock Block garage.

In addition to parking, the new garage will feature a significant, ground-level commercial space of about 27,000 square feet along the East 6th Street walkway linking Prospect and Huron, according to plans submitted to the City of Cleveland. A local design review committee will.

It will require demolishing a 120-year-old two-story commercial building that recently hosted Mister Albert’s Men’s World, 618 Prospect. And it will erase a newly built, 36-space parking lot put in place of the 330-space condemned Arena Parking deck that was razed in 2024.

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