The City of South Euclid is experiencing a residential construction renaissance, with five major housing developments in the works totaling 128 new units. This building boom in the built-out Cleveland suburb is being driven by strong demand for new housing and creative development approaches. With a population of more than 21,000 people, the residents and South Euclid city officials take pride in having a diverse city with plenty of greenspace, amenities, recreational and social outlets, and a rich housing stock.

As the city has recently increased South Euclid’s amenities, commercial districts, and community gathering spaces, officials realized the growing suburb on Cleveland’s east side was also in need of some new residential options.

“The hope is to diversify our housing stock,” explains Michael Love, South Euclid director of planning and development. “South Euclid is very much a bedroom community of single family homes—many of them built in the era of 1945 to 1960. We’re trying to diversify the type of homes.”

Love says five new housing development projects will not only add single family homes, they will also bring townhomes and custom homes built as infill projects.

“These projects will bring a whole new audience into the city with single family new construction homes and townhomes for homebuyers who may not be currently looking at South Euclid,” he says. “We see a lot of young professionals and empty nesters looking at the townhomes and, potentially, new families who are looking at the single family homes and want that new construction.”

Lowden Place developmentLowden Place

The largest project underway is Lowden Place, located on just under six acres of land on the former Lowden Elementary School site, 17 new homes are now under construction in the north side of the city on Greenvale Drive, between South Green Road and South Belvoir Boulevard.

Lowden Elementary closed in 2007 and was demolished shortly after the closure. After nearly 15 years of marketing the land to potential buyers, South Euclid Lyndhurst City Schools was able to sell the property to Sommers Development, which divided the property into 17 oversized lots.

“The homes match the existing housing stock on Lowden and Greenvale, so they will sit at the same street setback,” explains Love. “But because it is a large site, the [parcels] have large back yards—the average yard site is one-half to three-quarters of an acre, which is very unique for that neighborhood.”

Sommers prepared the lots for development last year and then turned the land over to Ryan Homes for construction.

Ryan built two model homes late last year, and the remaining 15 homes under construction sold out after just two weeks on the market in February—selling for between $275,000 and $425,000.

There are six floor plans to choose from—ranging from 1,366 square feet to 2,203 square feet— and all of the homes feature fully furnished kitchens, fist-floor living options, at least two full baths, plenty of closet space, and attached two-car garages.

Lowden Place developmentFilling it in

In addition to the new homes under construction in Lowden Place, Love says the city sold nine vacant lots on Greenvale Drive to Sommers Development, which then turned the land over to Ryan Homes for construction.

Additionally, Summers bought seven additional lots through the CDC One South Euclid's Build Grow Thrive program to have Ryan Homes build seven more homes scattered throughout the Lowden/Greenvale/Princeton neighborhood.

"Build Grow Thrive is a program where we're able to in collaboration with one South Euclid where we are able to sell land directly to a purchaser for infill development—construction in between existing homes on land,” says Ashley Holloway, South Euclid assistant director of planning and development. “What was once previously developed land is able to be developed right. We have a good amount of infill lots available.”

Holloway says the city gets weekly calls about proposed developing infill lots.

“It can streamline the purchasing process for the infill development,” he says. “The purchaser works directly with One South Euclid to purchase the land.”

South Euclid demolished dilapidated homes on the lots and Ryan Homes took over these lots. All nine lots sold within two weeks of the lots being publicly marketed.

“This is the first time in the history of Ryan Homes they've ever done infill development,” Love notes. “The Build Grow Thrive program helped facilitate these urban infill projects on small, scattered sites.”

Preliminary Design of St. John Woods and St. John Meadow townhome developments Green light

On Monday, July 8, South Euclid City Council approved three new development projects—St. John Woods and St. John Meadow, which are townhomes, and an extension project in Queen Ann Court. Construction on these projects is expected to begin this summer.

All three developments were approved as Planned Unit Residential Developments (PURDs) that come a variety of conditions the developers must follow as they construct the developments. Two of the most transformative developments are proposed for sites across Mayfield Road from each other near St. John Lutheran Church on Mayfield Road.

The St. John Woods project will have 41 townhomes on six acres behind the church. Across Mayfield Road, St. John Meadows with have 24 townhomes and two single-family homes on the site of an incomplete development that was started before the 2008 housing crisis.

The townhome developments will have a private street serving the development. Sommers will create the private street and provide site infrastructure work before turning the project over to Ryan to construct the townhome units. Ryan has in house architects who will be responsible for the home designs.

The townhomes in both developments will start at $250,000 and go into the mid-$300,000 range, based on the style and the level of interior customization chosen by the buyer.

There will be an HOA responsible for the maintenance of all common property and all landscaping. St. John Woods will feature a common area green space that will serve as a community gathering space for the residents.

Queen Ann Court

The Queen Ann Court project would extend the street that runs off of King George Boulevard, between Anderson and McFarland Roads. It will be the first project to get underway with City Council’s approval this week.

Rendering of Queen Ann Court as Fully Developed Queen Ann Court currently has eight homes on it and ends in a cul-de-sac abutting properties on Trebisky Road. Sommers will purchase vacant land that currently is part of three backyards of Trebisky Road homeowners and Ryan will build 15 single family homes.

“The original proposal for Queen Ann, when it was built in the 70s, was the street was supposed to go straight through to Trebisky to match Queen Mary, which is the next street over,” explains Love. For whatever reason, it didn't, and it ended in this weird cul-de-sac. If you drive down Queen Ann, you can tell that it's an unfinished street just based on the layout.”

Love says Queen Ann will still end in a cul-de-sac because it won’t go all the way through to Trebisky. The homes on Trebisky Road would remain, which currently sit on more than a half-acre of land, with a portion of their backyards will be split to create the land for the Queen Ann Court expansion.

The new Queen Ann homes will match the existing homes and the street would become city property. Because there will be some stormwater management necessary, Love says an HOA will be created to maintain the homes, which will have a starting price of $300,000.

The final development in the works is a two-acre site at Monarch Road and Montagano Boulevard, where builder Al Steplight of Highland Heights-based Gorgeous Homes by Steplight plans to construct nine single-family houses.

Love says he is also excited about the project. "We're very impressed with his work,” he says, “and we’re excited to see what he'll be able to do with that site."