CLEVELAND, Ohio – Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration has recommended a headquarters for Cleveland police be built along the future site of the Opportunity Corridor between Kinsman Road and East 79th Street.

The building would replace the current police headquarters in the downtown Justice Center. The administration estimates design could begin in 2020 with construction starting in 2021. The majority of the complex could be finished by sometime in 2022.

No cost estimates were available Thursday. Firm figures likely won’t be available until design work is submitted, the administration said. A discarded plan to move to Superior Avenue would have cost about $60 million.

The city already owns the bulk of the property. That leg of the Opportunity Corridor is expected to be completed in late 2021.

“What we looked for was to try to accommodate the [police department’s] campus concept,” Jackson’s acting chief of staff and finance director, Sharon Dumas, said. “We’re excited about this. We’re excited about the project. It will be the largest project we’ve undertaken in decades.”

The administration made a presentation Thursday about the project as part of an update to City Council’s Safety Committee. Before the project can proceed, it will require legislation to be introduced and approved by City Council. The legislation is expected to be introduced on Monday.

Once completed, the project will provide as much as 200,000 square feet to 250,000 square feet of office space for hundreds of employees, including the department’s command staff, multiple investigative units and significant amounts of equipment.

The site has quick access to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Association’s rail service and to bus service. Once that road is completed, it will provide quick access to Interstate 490 and I-77 to the west and University Circle to the east.

The complex would border on the Opportunity Corridor, just south of the existing Grand Avenue at East 75th Street near Orlando Baking Co.'s headquarters.

“It’s outside of the initial headquarters target area, but it provides a lot of the same sort of things we were looking for,” Cleveland’s Economic Developer David Ebersole said. “This gives us the opportunity to build to meet our current needs the way we want to do it.”

This is the second plan for a new home for Cleveland police. The search began two years ago after Cleveland sold its share of the downtown Justice Center to Cuyahoga County and reached an agreement with the county for jail service.

In June 2018, the administration announced it would move into a building at 1801 Superior Avenue that was once home of The Plain Dealer and is the current home of cleveland.com.

That site, which would have cost the city about $60 million, was deemed ideal because in addition to office space it would have provided public meeting space and plenty of parking, something the current headquarters lacks.

But that fall Cleveland backed out of that deal. The Jackson’s administration has never detailed exactly what led to the decision.

Proposals also were submitted for redeveloping property on Payne Avenue, but at significantly higher cost that the 1801 Superior site.

The city sold its downtown police headquarters building at the Justice Center complex to Cuyahoga County for $9.25 million with the intention of moving into a new permanent location by spring 2019.

The deal with the county was reached in 2017. As part of that deal, the county agreed to take over jail services for the city. The property transfer took place in October 2018.