Air Traffic Shuffle Reopens Lakefront Development Possibilities in Cleveland

United Airlines recently decided to eliminate its hub at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Some are hoping the city will shift traffic from the Burke Lakefront Airport into Hopkins, freeing up lakefront property for development.

1 minute read

February 21, 2014, 7:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Leila Atassi reports that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson might be wavering on an earlier stand against closing Burke Lakefront Airport to free up the airport’s land for development.

The possibility arose after United Airlines announced that it would eliminate its hub at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, freeing up Concourse D to potentially absorb Burke's 75,000-80,000 yearly landings and take-offs.

Although Mayor Jackson has presented plans for lakefront development that denied the possibility of developing the Burke property, he seemed to step back from those claims at a recent city council hearing, according to Attasi’s article.

Even if the Burke property is developed, it won’t be any time soon, according to Mayor Jackson. “[The] cost of dealing with the environmental hazards of the site, a former landfill, wouldn’t make sense financially for most developers, and [Jackson] added that he did not believe that inviting more air traffic to Hopkins would resolve the conundrum of what to do with Concourse D.”

Tuesday, February 18, 2014 in Cleveland.com

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