Cleveland unveiled Wednesday a preliminary plan designed to strengthen the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood by targeting East 67th Street for new housing and other resources such as home repair funds for residents.
New homes have been rising on vacant lots in Cleveland for years. In the past, the city has directed resources and services to specific neighborhoods.
But the Housing Innovation District is supposed to be different, city leaders say. The goal is to test out strategies and practices for neighborhood revitalization that can eventually be replicated throughout the city. This includes updating zoning to “fit the character of the neighborhood” and streamlining the permitting process. A 30-year tax increment financing (TIF) district is also planned to pay for infrastructure upgrades and demolition. As property values rise in the TIF district, a portion of the increased taxes will be put into a fund for the improvements.
Before the Housing Innovation Districts are implemented, the city intends to launch two neighborhood development pilots. One will be on East 67th Street, off St. Clair Avenue, in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood, and the other will be in the area of East 66th Street and Wade Park Avenue in Hough. The city is still working on how much these pilots will cost and the breakdown of funding, said Adam Davenport, manager of neighborhood planning, one of the city officials who was part of Wednesday’s news conference in St. Clair-Superior.
Funding for the pilots will include city grants, site-prep support from the County Land Bank and financial support from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. In Hough, the Cleveland Foundation, will be among the funders. The pilot area isn’t far from its headquarters at 6601 Euclid Avenue.
The city’s Department of Development has already received a $750,000 federal grant designed to assist physically and economically distressed areas. City Council will have to pass legislation for the program to fully take effect, including the TIF. When Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration proposed the “Shore-to-Core-to-Shore” TIF district in 2024 to fund downtown revitalization and other improvements, council was adamant that funding be set aside for neighborhoods. Last year, Bibb said his administration wanted to try out a TIF district to encourage neighborhood housing construction. What was announced Wednesday is part of this.
The neighborhood pilot is the second vision for a major development effort the Bibb administration has announced this month. The other is The Midline, an initiative to redevelop a large swath of long-vacant industrial land in the Central and Fairfax neighborhoods.
Ten new homes are scheduled to rise on vacant lots on East 67th Street, city officials said as they stood in front of the parcels now in the Cleveland Land Bank. Construction could begin as soon as this summer, Davenport said. The Mandel Foundation will be a major funder, he said. Homeowners will be able to tap such programs as Tax Abatement, downpayment and mortgage assistance. The city won’t charge permit fees to build the homes, which he said could run $3,000 to $4,000 per home.
The strategy for improving the area will include more than building these new homes, said Taylor Jones, advisor to the city’s chief of integrated development. Ten existing homes will get exterior repairs, she said. Some residents will be eligible to receive land from the land bank to expand their yards or to create a community garden, Davenport said. Some nearby businesses will receive storefront renovations, Jones said.
“We don’t want to just plop new homes down and not think about what else is happening in the neighborhood,” Jones said.
What St. Clair-Superior residents and businesses think about Cleveland’s plan for the area
Jerry Watson has lived on East 67th Street for 40 years. His house is next to some of the vacant lots on which houses are planned. He remembers when houses stood on parcels before the former homeowners moved to the suburbs. He remembers how absentee landlords bought the homes and then allowed them to deteriorate to the point where they had to be torn down.
While he wants to see change, Watson is skeptical.
“What’s the word they use?” he said. “Gentrification! I’ve been around long enough to know that every generation has got new terms and a political and a social process for gentrification.”
Tom McNair, chief of integrated development, said that the Housing Innovation District pilots don’t aim to gentrify St. Clair-Superior.
“We’re looking at investing in the neighborhood,” he said. “We’re going to ensure that the neighborhood stays affordable for people that are living here – that more investment doesn’t push people out.”
Small business owners on St. Clair Avenue said more housing and storefront renovations are potentially good for businesses.
Kayla Dial, who owns KafeLA, which she describes as a community hub, looks forward to more customers with more residents nearby. A spruced up business district helps in attracting customers beyond the neighborhood, she said. (The city held the news conference at the cafe.)
“If things look good, people want to stop by and check it out,” Dial said.
Joe Abraham and Robert Ivanov, who own Zagreb Quality Meats, like that the city is planning more investment for the neighborhood. Abraham lives on East 67th Street.
“This neighborhood is half empty,” Abraham said, referring to the many vacant lots and empty storefronts. “Any insertion of people is helpful. If you drive around, you can tell that people take care of their property. We just need more people.”
