Technology, health care, food, and rock and roll: These are just a few of the industries flourishing in the eclectic Midtown neighborhood, its leaders told a sold out crowd at the Midtown Cleveland Inc. annual meeting at the InterContinental Hotel.

Key accomplishments within the past year include a successful lawsuit that stopped the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) from closing Innerbelt ramps until a study has been completed; breaking ground on several new projects within the Health-Tech Corridor; securing a commitment for a new Third District police headquarters on Chester Avenue; facilitating the redevelopment of the historic Agora Theatre; and completing a new plan to transform the East 55th and Euclid intersection into a more vibrant downtown for the neighborhood.

"We are succeeding in reinventing MidTown Cleveland," said Director Jim Haviland.

"A healthy urban core helps all boats to rise, and MidTown is an example," said Len Komoroski, President of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena, during a keynote address that touted the Cavs' investment in Cleveland. Komoroski said the Cavs had spent millions renovating Quicken Loans Arena into a "dynamic urban environment" that attracted people to visit downtown.

Komoroski shrugged off concerns that the new Horseshoe Casino would be a self-contained facility whose visitors would not spend money elsewhere in Cleveland. "This is a decidedly knit-into-the-urban-environment casino," he said. As an example of the spillover benefits of a casino that Komoroski claimed is "underserved from a food and beverage perspective," he cited the fact that Michael Symon recently tweeted about a record night at Lola on East 4th.

Source: Jim Haviland, Len Komoroski
Writer: Lee Chilcote