CLEVELAND, Ohio – The giant International Exposition Center, closed for nearly a year, could again begin hosting large shows soon.
Industrial Realty Group, one of the country’s largest owners of commercial and industrial properties, announced Wednesday it will purchase the stock in the I-X Center Corp. from that company’s parent, Park Corporation, which had operated the I-X Center for 35 years.
IRG will partner with Industrial Commercial Properties on the transaction.
The company said it will immediately prepare the main hall in the I-X Center for events, with promoters to market trade show events such as Auto, Home & Garden, Recreational Vehicles, I-X Christmas Connection and I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama Show.
“The I-X Center has been on our radar for years,” said IRG President Stuart Lichter. “It has 159 acres full of potential and a versatile 2.2 million square foot building.”
Shortly after IRG’s announcement, the Cleveland Auto Show announced it will return to the center to hold its 2022 show from February 25 to March 6.
“When given the opportunity to return to the I-X Center, we couldn’t pass up shifting back to our traditional early spring timeframe,” Louis A. Vitantonio, president of the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association and the Cleveland Auto Show, said in a statement.
“The team at Industrial Realty Group worked closely with us and the other shows that were disappointed to lose access to the facility,” Vitantonio said. “We appreciate the opportunity to work together to produce shows at the I-X Center again.”
In addition to reopening the main exhibition hall, the developers also intend to expand the development on the land surrounding the I-X Center, which is adjacent to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
“These trade shows have significant impact on the region’s economy,” said Lichter. “We are delighted to facilitate these events on site once again.”
The two companies teamed up to converted Goodyear’s former world headquarters in Akron into a successful mixed-use hub. They plan to take the same approach at the I-X Center, IRG said in a statement.
The I-X Center opened in 1985 and was operated by the Park Corp. through its I-X Center Corp. Park announced last September it was shutting down the exhibition business permanently due to the coronavirus.
The building already had been idled for months by the pandemic. The last event held at the center was the Cleveland Auto Show in February and early March in 2020. The 54th Summit Racing Equipment I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama, scheduled for March, was canceled two days prior to opening because of the pandemic.
The 2.2-million-square-foot event center is owned by the city of Cleveland, which acquired it by threat of eminent domain in early 1999. Since that time, it has been leased to the I-X Center Corp., which handled the day-to-day operations for the facility.
It is unclear what, if any, affect the purchase by IRG will have on that lease agreement. Cleveland.com has asked Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration for comment on the deal, but has not received an answer.
Having the exposition center operational is important for Cleveland.
The leasing was handled by the city’s Department of Port Control – which includes Hopkins, Burke Lakefront Airport and dock areas along the lake.
Losing the revenue “will be a financial burden that the airport needs to deal with,” Rybka said then.
As an enterprise operation, taxpayer dollars are not used to support the airport. Hopkins produces revenue, but its operating agreement with the airlines calls for the carriers to pick up costs that Hopkins is unable to cover.
Prior to the pandemic, Cleveland had expanded the amount of revenue that Hopkins generates to more that 50% of its budget. But the airlines still kicked in about $90 million a year.
The city also lost payroll taxes collected on the nearly 180 employees who worked at the I-X Center and will had to pick up property tax payments on the site that had been covered by I-X Center Corp.
The lease with I-X Center Corp. runs through 2024. Rybka acknowledged in September, though, that if the company remained shut down, Cleveland would have to consider other options.
“There’s probably a need for us to work to identify another future operator and tenant for that,” Rybka said.
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New management team to take over operations at I-X Center, reopening it for events - cleveland.com
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