Rust Belt Riders will purchase, not lease, the former city-owned waste-transfer station on East 79th Street for its new composting hub. Cleveland will sell the six-acre brownfield site for $790,000, minus the cost of some environmental remediation at the site. Rust Belt Riders plans to spend about $3.5 million building the consolidated facility, which will bring its scattered operations under one roof.
Originally, Rust Belt Riders planned to sign a long-term lease that City Council approved in March. But the composting company later found out that it couldn鈥檛 borrow money at a reasonable rate without owning the property, Nathan Rutz, director of soil at Rust Belt Riders, told council.
John Fahsbender, the Brownfields and Sites manager in Cleveland鈥檚 economic development department, said the city owning the land would have opened more opportunities for Rust Belt Riders to receive grants. But because of the high-borrowing costs, the city is now pivoting to sell the land instead.