CLEVELAND — Until recently, the Superior Arts District was generally pretty quiet. There aren’t many places to eat, grab a coffee, and there are only a few places to live.
A new project at 2125 Superior Ave. is trying to change that.
“This is a 60-unit, mixed use project,” said developer Bobby George. “Apartments and a cafe bar.”
George already has businesses in Ohio City, Downtown Cleveland, and the Warehouse District with TownHall, ReBol, and Barley House respectively.
The new apartments will add to an already bustling rental market downtown but won’t be right in the middle of it.
“I would never want to live right in the bubble,” said George who lives along Superior. “[In the Superior Arts District], you’re right outside and it’s not too crazy. It’s easy to get in and out, there’s parking.”
The top three floors are for apartments with the Green Goat Cafe Bar going into the corner of the building on the first floor.
The center of the building has an interior courtyard with metal beams above the open space. The building surrounding the courtyard blocks out much of downtown creating a unique location just a few feet from Superior Avenue.
The courtyard will be a place for resident and Green Goat customers to sit when the weather permits it.
“I think retail is the trick to this neighborhood,” said George. “You’re going to have a great coffee shop, cafe bar where people can congregate.”
George says Green Goat will be a place to come at all times of the day.
“The food will be healthy, but not boring and then the atmosphere will be fun,” said George.
George says the project is possible because of an intricate stack of financing, including historic tax credits. Over the year that workers have been renovating the building, supervisors say much of that time has been spent making sure the building will meet the historic standards to qualify for the tax credits.
Behind the building, a planned dog park will bring some of the comforts of a yard in the suburbs to apartment living.
“Especially if they want to make this area, the Superior Arts District, a neighborhood, you can’t just have restaurants and bars, which we don’t have that either,” George points out. “We need those too, but you need mixed use.”
George estimates the apartments could be ready in the fall without construction delays.
“In other communities, if you go to Denver, this is normal,” said George. “Cleveland needs more of this.”
Have you ever noticed something interesting in Northeast Ohio and wondered, “Hey…what’s going on there?”
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