Ever since the real estate housing crash in 2008, Cleveland communities have been faced with tackling the problem of vacant and blighted homes—pulling down property values and aesthetic appeal in neighborhoods already struggling.
According to Justin Fleming, director of real estate for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP), there are about 9,500 vacant homes in the City of Cleveland. “I’d estimate that approximately 4,500 of those are structurally capable of being rehabbed within a reasonable budget,” he says. “The other 5,000 are likely structurally too far gone to reasonably saved.”
But thanks to a three-year, $700,000 grant given to CNP by Detroit-based Quicken Loans, some of those homes that can be rehabbed will get that much-needed work. Read about how this grant will help blighted neighborhoods and rehab vacant homes here.
For decades, the hot topic among Clevelanders has been “what to do with the city’s lakefront,” comparing Cleveland’s lakefront use, or lack thereof, to other Great Lakes cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, and even Buffalo.
With the groundbreaking of Harbor Verandas at North Coast Harbor last Tuesday, Aug. 29, the City of Cleveland and Cumberland Development are proving that lakefront community living is a feasible reality.
Cumberland CEO Dick Pace says the development of North Coast Harbor as a mixed-use community has been a concept in the making since the 80s when George Voinovich was mayor and backed a lakefront development plan.
Read about how North Coast Harbor is taking shape as a lakefront community here.