Multi-Level Industrial Building: A Possible Incentive for Additional Central City Employment and Industrial Development

The exodus of industrial plants from the central city to modern one-floor facilities in suburbia and exurbia has become a chronic complaint - and ailment - of central cities across the country. Results of this migration have posed nearly insolvable problems to central cities. The unemployment rate is steadily climbing, city population is declining, taxable incomes, properties and goods are decreasing and consequently there is a multitude of vacant old industrial buildings, adding to the slums and conditions which are reflected in increased building deterioration, non-taxable land and a variety of safety hazards. This article describes a study of the buildings in central Cleveland completed by William A. Gould and Associates of Cleveland in an effort to minimize some of these problems. The study was completed under a technical assistance grant from the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.