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ANALYSIS
Sin tax shows wider needs
By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
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f the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections finds Tuesday night that a majority of Cuyahoga County voters approved Issue 7 — the extension of the sin tax to repay existing debt on Cleveland’s three sports facilities and to cover the cost of improvements to the buildings — the issue’s backers will breathe a sigh of relief. Win or lose, though, there is a bigger
picture that shouldn’t be ignored. The sin tax was never a popular tax. Only 51% of voters approved of it in its first go-round in 1990, and this time a small but vocal opposition was able to set the tone for the debate. The Coalition Against the Sin Tax, or CAST, wants voters to say no and then spend the next few months coming up with an alternative suitable for the November ballot. See NEEDS Page 24
ABOVE ALL — OHIO
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Developers are trying to rekindle East Sixth’s glory days Once-lively street’s empty storefronts are getting makeovers By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
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Once dubbed downtown Cleveland’s “Grand Canyon” due to office buildings towering over narrow
East Sixth Street, the street is on the verge of regaining some long-lost luster with renewed retail action in long-empty storefronts. Several developments have realty types talking about a brighter fu-
ture for the street. However, what may be a crucial crowning step surfaced as Millennia Cos. on April 23 acknowledged plans to buy the 11story Garfield Building, 1963 E. Sixth St., and redo its empty offices
as apartments. What’s afoot at street level is not lost on Frank Sinito, the CEO and founder of the apartment concern with 12,000 suites. His other business activity is running — with his wife, Malisse — the well-regarded Lockkeepers Restaurant. Both the restaurant and apartment compa-
ny are located at the Millennia-developed Thornburg Station officeretail project, 8001 Rockside Road. “We think that with everything going on at East Fourth Street and the Euclid Avenue corridor that it is an extremely desirable location,” Sinito said in an interview. See EAST SIXTH Page 8
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ENTERTAINMENT
NOT ALL SAD Play aims to take amusing look at tortured history of Cleveland Browns fans ■ Page 4
Entire contents © 2014 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 35, No. 18