University Park Alliance picks head

Cleveland Port Authority's Eric Anthony Johnson starts within days as executive director

By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal business writer

Friday, July 09, 2010

A new executive director has been chosen for the University Park Alliance.

Eric Anthony Johnson of the Cleveland Port Authority will head the 9-year-old organization dedicated to revitalizing the 50-block area around the University of Akron.

He will begin as soon as July 19 or 26. Details and length of contract were still being negotiated Wednesday afternoon.

Johnson was chosen from a field of 70 local and national candidates. He will succeed Ken Stapleton, who left after seven years to re-establish a consulting practice in Miami.

UPA Board President Tony O'Leary, executive director of the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, said three of the final four candidates had Northeast Ohio ties and the other finalist had Summit County ties.

The board heavily debated knowledge of the Akron community in making its decision, O'Leary said. But Johnson ''definitely had the
edge based on past experience and education and overall presentation,'' he said.

The board's priorities included finding someone who had a strong background in economic development, strong leadership skills and the ability to work with business and community leaders as well as neighborhood groups. Another skill was the ability to carry out complex real-estate transactions.

Johnson has a bachelor's degree from Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., where he played basketball. He has a master's from Minnesota State University at Mankato and a Ph.D. in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware.

''He carried out major economic development projects both in Cleveland; Charlotte; Pompano [Beach], Fla.; and New Orleans. It was the experience and the feet on the ground . . . knowledge he has about how these deals come together in terms of major real-estate transactions,'' O'Leary said.

Johnson is considered a consensus builder, which the organization believed is important.

UPA is a collaboration of public and private organizations that include the University of Akron, Summa Health System, the city of Akron and other partners.

''At the end of the day, he needs to be able to pull together divergent opinions,'' O'Leary said.

Johnson joins UPA during a year of major transition. The organization in April merged with a similar community-based group, the University Park Development Corp., to eliminate duplication.

Since 2001, UPA has been housed at UA and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with support from the university and other partners. UPA is in its fourth year of a $10 million, five-year grant awarded by the Knight Foundation in 2006.

The goal of the new organization is to become self-sufficient as it revitalizes the area.

Johnson, a New Orleans native, has spent time in different parts of the country. He served as real-estate manager for the city of Charlotte, N.C.; director of housing and urban development for the city of Pompano Beach; and a presidential fellow and community development policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Johnson said that experience leads to a position such as the new job in Akron.

''The thing that's exciting about this position is first and foremost, the efforts of the Knight Foundation. Because I'm a student of cities and urban development, I have to tell you, this is really exciting,'' he said.

Johnson said with so many communities struggling for resources, there is potential for an initiative backed by a foundation and anchored by strong institutions in the community.

''You have the recipe for really transforming the community in Akron,'' he said.

At the Cleveland Port Authority, where Johnson has been real-estate director since November 2008, his main project has been leading redevelopment efforts for 100 acres on Cleveland's waterfront.

Johnson's salary is still being negotiated, but O'Leary said it would be about $140,000, slightly less than Stapleton's.

Until the transition is made to its own organization at the beginning of the new year, Johnson will have a professional services contract with the University of Akron, which has a contract with UPA. All UPA employees are paid out of the Knight Foundation grant.

Johnson, 44, is already eyeing some places where he might live in Akron.

''I think I'm pretty sure I'm going to be downtown Akron somewhere. I'm an urban guy. I like to be in the city. I need to live where I work,'' said Johnson, who is single.

Jennifer Thomas, the new Akron program director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, said she was pleased with Johnson's appointment. Thomas and Johnson know of each other professionally from their Cleveland ties, since Thomas launched and led the Cleveland-based Civic Innovation Lab.

''Eric is a world-class executive whose experience in real-estate development will support the revitalization of the UPA neighborhood, including new housing, investment, jobs, and community involvement, to create an informed and engaged community,'' she said.

Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@
thebeaconjournal.com.