The Cleveland Council of Worlds Affairs (Council) through its Assistant Program Officer, Katie Ferman, contacted the Cuyahoga Land Bank to host a meeting for Sylvain Barfety of Bordeaux, France. The Council sponsors a International Visitors Leadership Program in which the they host hundreds of current and emerging leaders from around the world.
The Council coordinates meetings for international visitors to build the bridges of understanding between local citizens and their foreign counterparts.
On July 17th, Sylvain arrived in Cleveland as a guest of the Council and began his visit with a trip to the Cuyahoga Land Bank to meet with Bill Whitney, the Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Barfety, a young developer engaged in the sustainable redevelopment of a large brownfield site in Bordeaux, was eager to hear about the Cuyahoga Land Bank’s operations and assistance to sustainable reuse projects in Cuyahoga County.
Mr. Barfety was most excited to hear about the Cuyahoga Land Bank’s assistance to the multifaceted redevelopment of the Foundry Project, a sustainable redevelopment in its infancy at E.71st and Platt in Cleveland. The Cuyahoga Land Bank assisted in the acquisition and transaction of the property to the future developers.
Ms. Ferman and Mr. Barfety were able visit the Foundry Project and get a tour of the future development site. According to Ms. Ferman, Mr. Barfety was extremely excited about his visit to the Cuyahoga Land Bank and that touring the Foundry was “thoroughly exhilarating for Sylvain! He kept saying that he wished there were more bui
ldings like that in Bordeaux because of its potential.”