CLEVELAND — A 90-unit apartment complex, with a penthouse unit still under construction, sits near the corner of Euclid and East 30th Street, serving as one of the first signs on the way into MidTown Cleveland from downtown that something new is coming.
“We’ve been in this area when MidTown was not the way it is right now,’ said Guenet Indale.
She sat in an office across the street from 3101 Euclid Avenue for 15 years, watching workers come and go from the office building. Eventually, the workers left for good, the building closed, and the rest of MidTown Cleveland seemed to follow.
Now, that’s changing.
“We see the MidTown growing now,” said Indale.
That’s why she and Lemma Getachew bought the old office building at 3101 Euclid Avenue to be their third redevelopment project along just a few block of Euclid Avenue.
Their $24 million renovation will turn the old office space into The Midtown Apartments, right next door to WEWS’ station, on the western edge of MidTown.
Right now, much of the rest of midtown is mostly commercial space with a few pockets of housing.
“This apartment is very close to the Cleveland Clinic and CSU,” said Getachew, pointing out that the RTA Healthline stops right outside.
That means residents at The Midtown Apartments can be at University Circle or Public Square relatively quickly, attracting medical students or CSU grad students.
“Our neighborhood has very much been a pass-through for many many years,” said MidTown Cleveland Vice President of Community Development, Joyce Huang.
She says the apartments at 3101 Euclid will give residents a place to live and no longer just pass through. It’s the first of many projects that will build up the population density near downtown but more than just a few blocks off Public Square.
“Being able to go to work where they live but also as we try to increase amenities, other retail amenities would be something close to them,” said Huang.
The amenities haven’t arrived quite yet but the hope is that 2,700 and 17,000 square foot commercial spaces on the ground floor of The Midtown Apartments could be a start. Getachew and Indale say they’re open to any kind of business but admit it would be a solid place for the coffee shop that doesn’t exist in MidTown yet.
Other plans in other parts of MidTown are set to break ground soon.
The Cleveland Foundation plans to break ground on its new headquarters on East 66th Street in 2021, creating new office space but also dedicated public areas where residents will be allowed to gather and spend time. It would also come with a new streetscape on East 66th Street, making that roadway more inviting for pedestrians and cyclists.
The former Warner Swasey Factory on East 55th and Carnegie could move ahead in the next year as well. That project would bring 140 affordable housing units, with commercial space dedicated to job training.
Just outside MidTown, Allen Estates will eventually bring affordable living within a few blocks of League Park in the Hough neighborhood.
Those projects come as Huang says MidTown Cleveland is wrapping up its Equitable Housing study in the next month or two, taking stock of what housing exists in MidTown, identifying what the community needs. MidTown’s Neighborhood Vision Plan has a targeted release in mid-March.
“How do we create housing that fits the different typologies, the different styles, and then also the different price points,” said Huang.
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