CLEVELAND — A decade after the project was announced and 1.5 years after construction finished, some Cleveland leaders say the vision of Opportunity Corridor is coming to life.
Several projects are under construction on either end of the three mile stretch between East 55th Street and East 105th Street From its inception, the thoroughfare has been touted as a catalyst for economic development in the historically underserved communities of Cleveland once known as the “Forgotten Triangle.”
READ MORE: Take a drive down the newly opened Opportunity Corridor
“It creates jobs and investment in these neighborhoods that have been historically disinvested in. That’s the whole point of it. And people in the neighborhoods benefit because of the roadway,” said Denise Van Leer, the executive director of the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation (FRDC).
The organization is spearheading the revitalization of the neighborhood on the corridor’s Eastern end. The Cleveland Clinic and other stakeholders collaborated to begin the development of underutilized land into Innovation Square. The section will include mixed-income apartments, single-family homes and new streets connecting East 105th Street with the residential area. Additionally, a Meijer grocery store will address the neighborhood’s challenges as a food desert.
“It’s nice to build up the neighborhood, which I feel would help. It would help our property value and everything,” said Fairfax neighbor Loretta Bey. “I’m looking forward to the new neighbors, I’m looking forward to the change. I really am.”
Bey, who’s lived in the neighborhood for nearly a decade, said she appreciates the investment, but she worries the development will eventually take over her home.
“I may be here a couple more years, maybe not. I’m just going to stay until they say, ‘Ok we want your house,’” she said.
FRDC has spent years engaging with neighbors to thoughtfully redevelop the area.
“We want to help existing residents by connecting them to jobs and other opportunities. But we also need to attract new families because the population in the City of Cleveland has decreased,” said Van Leer. “We’ve been really, really intentional about making sure that the people that stayed and still live here have opportunities as well.”
Innovation Square sits within Cleveland’s Ward 6 boundaries, but the majority of the roadway cutts through Ward 5. Ward 5 City Councilman Richard Starr is hoping for more opportunities for his constituents as well.
“We want to make sure we’ve got some community benefits agreements on these projects. It’s not about just an employer coming in and making so much money and we don’t have the opportunity to get those jobs,” Starr said.
On the corridor’s eastern end, a 156,000-square-foot cold storage facility is under construction. Developers of the project across from the Orlando Baking Company expect it could create 70 new jobs when it’s up and running.
Development may be starting on both ends of Opportunity Corridor, but the area in-between contains large stretches of unused land. In February, the city approved funding to remediate contaminated soil and make it more appealing to potential developers.
READ MORE: Local initiative aims to make property near Opportunity Corridor ‘shovel ready’
“There’s a lot of interest. There are a lot of companies reaching out wanting to do projects, not only along the corridor, but in the Fairfax neighborhood as well,” Van Leer said.
Many city leaders and residents are hoping the new investment will strike a balance with the existing community to create opportunities for both current and future neighbors.
“I hope that they continue to redevelop it. I look forward to the change, I really do. And I hope I can be a part of that change,” Bey said.
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