A sample of Gothic architecture in Cleveland can be found on Scranton Road at the old St. Michael School, which is now in the process of being converted into senior apartments called The Arch at St. Michael. The start of renovations yesterday coincided with the 50th anniversary of the funding program that helped make the renovations possible (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Start of work coincides with funding anniversary
Renovation work for The Arch at St. Michael is a day old. The funding program to pay for the renovations is 50 years old. And the Gothic Revival beauty located in Cleveland’s South Tremont neighborhood that will gain new life from the work is 118 years old. Combined, the milestones involved a lot of celebrating.
Among those celebrating each of the milestones were officials from the U.S. Department of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, developer CHN Housing Partners (CHN) and the Cuyahoga Land Bank. NEOtrans broke the story about this proposed housing project in 2020.
The Arch at Saint Michael, 3146 Scranton Rd., is a green adaptive reuse of the iconic Saint Michael School, formerly known as Central Catholic School and convent. Those structures will be converted to affordable senior housing, funded in part by the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. That program marked its 50th anniversary yesterday.
“CDBG funding is often a catalyst to attract or leverage additional public and private funding,” said James Cunningham, HUD’s Great Lakes deputy regional administrator, in a written statement. “Over the years, the city of Cleveland and other grantees have put CDBG funds to use in creative and innovative ways to maximize the program’s impact.”
Created in 1974, the CDBG program awards grants annually to develop communities by providing housing opportunities and expanding economic opportunities, primarily to low- to moderate-income individuals.
In the summer of 2019, all of the trees and other vegetation invading the front of St. Michael School were cut down by an investor group seeking to preserve the structure from further decay. Now, construction work is underway to renovate it (Google).
This foundational community development program has made a difference in the lives of millions of people and communities across the country, with funds used to meet critical needs such as housing rehabilitation, public facilities, infrastructure, job creation, public services and more.
“The CDBG program has provided necessary resources to the City of Cleveland over the past 50 years. With these funds, we have been able to support the redevelopment, stabilization, and reimagination of our communities,” said Alyssa Hernandez, Director of Community Development for the City of Cleveland.
“These funds have enabled us to analyze our markets, invest in the look and feel of our neighborhoods, support our non-profit partners, and make projects like The Arch at Saint Michael come to life,” she added. “Because of this program, we can preserve the history of our neighborhood and produce quality, affordable housing through projects like The Arch at Saint Michael.”
The Arch at Saint Michael is a 46-apartment development for low-income seniors. Like the 1906-built school, the 132-year-old St. Michael Church one block north was also constructed as a Gothic Revival structure but is not part of the redevelopment.
However, the convent, set behind the former school on Prame Avenue, was built in 1960 and is part of the project. Hiti, DiFrancesco & Siebold, Inc. of Cleveland is the project’s architect. Construction is due to be completed by the end of 2025.
The before-and-after views of the school’s renovation may not look much different at first glance, but careful inspection reveals the extent of work necessary to revive this aging beauty to its former grandeur (HDS).
CDBG funds from HUD make up part of the capital stack of the $23 million investment into the Tremont neighborhood. In addition, the development is funded by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, federal and state historic tax credits, a HUD 202 Capital Advance and Project Rental Assistance, the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing and KeyBank.
“We are incredibly grateful for the significant support from HUD, which makes The Arch at Saint Michael possible,” said Kevin Nowak, president and CEO of CHN.
“Also, this development would not be possible without support from the Cuyahoga Land Bank and Cleveland City Council members Jasmin Santana, Ward 14, who represents the Tremont neighborhood where the Arch at St. Michael is located, and Anthony Hairston, Ward 11, who chairs City Council’s Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee,” Nowak said.
The Cuyahoga Land Bank owns the property and has leased it to the development. The Arch at Saint Michael will allow seniors who earn below 50 percent of the area median income to age within their own community while preserving a cornerstone of the Tremont neighborhood for over 100 years.
The former school, one of three sites used by Central Catholic until 2003, was most recently used as offices for the West Side Ministries. The nonprofit group was affiliated with the Community Care Network, Cleveland Christian Home and other charities to provide social services to the neighborhood.
The 1960-built convent on Prame Avenue is not only less ornate and newer than the neighboring school, it is also smaller — measuring just 12,845 square feet compared to the 70,695-square-foot school (Google).
But Key Bank foreclosed on a loan for the property in 2017 and the property went to auction in February 2018 with a minimum asking price of $600,000 — or two-thirds of the property’s appraised value of $900,000. There were no takers at that price.
An investor group led by SoTre Properties‘ Managing Partner Eric Lutzo along with Kim F. Bixenstine and her husband Bart of Shaker Heights, engaged CHN Housing Partners of Cleveland to purchase and redevelop the site. The Cuyahoga Land Bank acquired the site in early 2023.
St. Michael School was one four structures designed for religious institutions in Cleveland’s urban core by French immigrant Emile Uhlrich. Each were Byzantine-Romanesque, Gothic Revival or High Victorian Gothic themes evocative of European cathedrals, which helped many of Cleveland’s early 20th-century immigrants feel right at home.
Unfortunately, St. Michael School is the only one that has a future at this point. St. Andrew Catholic Church, built in 1907 at 5135 Superior Ave., was demolished in 2009. St. Procop Church, built in 1902 at 3181 W. 41st St., was closed in 2009 and sits vacant. Church of the Nativity/Blessed Virgin Mary, built in 1925 (the school Ulrich designed was built in 1913) at 9600 Aetna Rd., closed in 1992, was heavily vandalized, and demolished last month.
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