Planning for the redevelopment of MLK Plaza in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood is advancing with the application of financing and the creation of renderings for the first phase of the project (RDL). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Project seeks competitive tax credits from state
While Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures, LLC (NREUV) is getting ready to break ground this week on its first Cleveland development, it’s already putting together the pieces for its next project here. The redevelopment of MLK Plaza, 9300 Wade Park Ave., in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood would replace an aging, mixed-use complex with modern, low-income housing over ground-floor programming and common areas.
More details about that residential building have emerged recently in an application by NREUV to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) in which the developer is seeking highly competitive 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). If awarded, they would subsidize up to 73 percent of the project’s $20.65 million total development cost. Hard construction costs are estimated at $14.34 million.
NREUV of Washington DC and Sullivan Land Services Co. (SLCO) of Galveston, TX are breaking ground on a redevelopment of the former Kingsbury Apartments. 9410 Hough Ave., built in 1973 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Vacant since 2011, it will reopen in 18 months as Ninety-Four Ten, with 116 affordable apartments plus a new, attached community services building. It is the latest of many developments in Hough.
Both developments would transform what NRUEV has called “underutilized, distressed parcels.” But while 9410 Hough will be renovated, MLK Plaza will be demolished if for no other reason is because the area needs more housing units to restore population density to the neighborhood to support new businesses and create more of a walkable community, said Gina Merritt, NREUV’s founding principal.
MLK Plaza is a year older than 9410 Hough but has been active more recently with multiple occupied retail spaces topped by 14 apartments called King Manor. Now vacant, MLK Plaza was designed by Robert P. Madison, the first black architect licensed in the state of Ohio. It was one of the first projects built after the 1966 Hough riots and intended to be a beacon of progress for black entrepreneurs and the re-building of the Hough community.
Full site plan for the redevelopment of MLK Plaza in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. The proposed uses are considered preliminary and may change with the market and available funding (NRUEV).
Merritt said she would like to continue that legacy of helping black entrepreneurs with the creation of a food hall market at the corner of Wade Park Avenue and Crawford Road. That commercial component is considered to be phase 1B.
Representing phase 1A is a 53-unit, 62,336-square-foot apartment building with 11,700 square feet of ground-floor programming and common area spaces is planned along Wade Park. Planned for this building are 30 parking spaces. Phase 1A is the subject of the OHFA filing and its request for $15.1 million in LIHTC.
According to that filing, 25 one-bedroom units, 22 two-bedroom apartments and six three-bedroom suites are planned. All of the apartments will have rents that will be affordable to people earning 30-60 percent of the area’s median income (AMI). Greater Cleveland’s AMI in 2023, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, was $31,650 for a one-person household or $36,200 for two people.
“The redevelopment will reinvigorate this historic site with the construction of 120 multifamily units, 25 townhomes, and a 7,000-square-footmarket/food hall for black entrepreneurs,” according to the OHFA application submitted by NREUV, a black woman-owned firm specializing in affordable housing. “The project will include robust amenity spaces including a community room, fitness center, library/computer room, playground, and supportive services offices.”
Unlike 9410 Hough, NREUV has no co-developer for the MLK Plaza redevelopment, according to the OHFA filing. But it does have project partners including Cleveland Development Advisors and Enterprise Community Partners. The general contractor is John G. Johnson Construction of Cleveland and the designer is RDL Architects Inc. of Beachwood. Cleveland-based CHN Housing Partners was chosen to manage the property.
The southeast corner of Wade Park Avenue and Crawford Road could look very different in the coming years if a Washington DC-based developer is available to pull together the financing to redevelop the vacant MLK Plaza (Google).
In addition to the LIHTC-financed equity, permanent funding will come a $1.25 million federal Affordable Housing Program grant, $500,000 Cleveland Foundation grant, $300,000 Brownfields Revolving Loan from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, plus a seller’s note, mortgage and deferred developer’s fee.
Merritt’s affiliate NREUV MLK Plaza, LLC acquired the 90,000-square-foot plaza and the 4.45-acre MLK Plaza property last year for $2.75 million, Cuyahoga County records show. In February, the city rezoned the MLK Plaza site as well as the adjacent 0.7-acre, former Cleveland Public Library Hough Branch, 1566 Crawford.
Limited retail business zoning was enacted with an urban form overlay along a short stretch of Wade Park Avenue west of Crawford where street-facing retail or other commercial spaces will be offered and reduced parking requirements are desired. The overlay allows parking to be reduced by 25 percent which will be shared with Phase 1B. The height district limits building heights to no more than 60 feet.
The library was replaced last year with a new building at 6530 Lexington Ave., near League Park. NREUV has expressed interest in acquiring the old library property and incorporating it into the development site. Cleveland Public Library officials said in March they will work with consultant ThirdSpace Action Lab to conduct community engagement with the neighborhood on what to do with the former Hough branch.
Merritt said she became interested in MLK Plaza after an affiliate of her SLSCO partners at 9410 Hough acquired in 2021 two vacant parcels across Crawford that extend south of Amwell Avenue between East 93rd and 94th streets to Kenmore Avenue. Multi-family housing is being considered on those lots that total 1.8 acres.
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