CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The city of Cleveland has its first potential buyer for land that state officials rejected last year for a psychiatric hospital project.

Superior Technology Partners LLC, based in Columbus, hopes to buy 2.25 acres of the nearly 14-acre site and build a data center there.

Cleveland City Council approved legislation Monday night to give the company an option on land along Chester Avenue, between East 61st and East 63rd streets.

The deal indicates that the city and MidTown Cleveland Inc., a neighborhood nonprofit, aren't letting the rare large, cleared site sit fallow in the middle of Cleveland's emerging health-and-technology corridor.

In 2009, the state chose the site, once slated for a technology center, for a regional psychiatric hospital. The city spent millions of dollars clearing the property and preparing it for construction. But the Ohio Department of Mental Health walked away last year, in favor of the less-costly option of renovating a Summit County hospital.

Now Superior Technology Partners might use a slice of the Cleveland site for a $35 million to $40 million project. The data center could comprise 80,000 square feet and create 40 "high-paying jobs," said Tracey Nichols, the city's economic development director.

And the company is interested in more land, between Euclid and Chester avenues and East 59th and 61st streets.

"They're looking to put in this facility and expand from there," Nichols said. "We've indicated to them that we'd appreciate it if they went first for the data center and then came back to apply for the additional land. ... We like to know that people have their funding package together."

The company has not asked for city incentives, she added.

The city still needs to determine the market value of the property. But Superior Technology Partners needed site control - in the form of a $500, nonrefundable option to buy the land - to secure financing for its project.

Reached Monday, a company official would not discuss the scope of the data center or the potential for expansion.

"I can't really commit to any numbers," said Michael Kowal, head of business development. "We're excited about the opportunity, and we think Cleveland is a great market for this type of product. It's IT, it's progressive, and we really think it has a long-term benefit for the city."

The year-old company, led by executives with history in the data-center industry, aims to own and run facilities in under-served, Midwestern cities. Kowal said Superior Technology Partners sees opportunities as businesses look to outsource server storage, credit-card processing and other services.

The company has yet to open a data center but is pursuing several opportunities, including new construction, acquisitions of existing buildings and joint ventures. The timeline for the Cleveland project is unclear.

Jim Haviland, executive director of MidTown Cleveland Inc., believes the data center will keep corporate and institutional technology work in Northeast Ohio, while luring business from outside the region. The project also should spur interest in the rest of onetime hospital site, he added.

"Between MidTown and the city assembling land there over the last eight or nine years," he said, "we've gotten to the point where that land is desirable."

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