Final designs for six modular townhomes called Arcade Place were unanimously approved yesterday by the Cleveland Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee. They will be built on a vacant lot on East 156th Street at Arcade Avenue, just north of the Waterloo Arts District (HEART Design Group). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Half-dozen mods near Waterloo Arts District
Six townhomes may not sound like much, but their builder says they’re an “historic” next step toward increasing the amount of modular housing in Cleveland. City officials and some home builders say more modular homes are needed here to address shortages in quality, affordable housing, fill vacant lots, repopulate the city, increase homeownership in Cleveland and build equity.
The design of those six townhomes, called Arcade Place and due to rise on a vacant lot at the southeast corner of East 156th Street and Arcade Avenue, were granted final approval yesterday by the Cleveland Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee. That authorized their developer, Rebuild Cleveland LLC, to seek building permits for the project.
Plans for the project show the six townhomes would be built along the sidewalk of East 156th with a patio and grassy yard behind, then a garage with vehicular access from a driveway off Arcade. The design is similar to many 19th-century neighborhoods in Cleveland where garages are behind the homes and accessed by vehicles off an alley.
Seth Task, a partner and co-founder of Rebuild Cleveland, said he anticipates breaking ground on Arcade Place by the end of the second quarter of 2025. The development is located about a four-minute walk from the Waterloo Arts District, the Collinwood Recreation Center and large potential developments. Assembling the six townhomes should take only about two days although site preparations will take longer, he said.
Site plan for Arcade Place with East 156th Street to the left and Arcade Avenue at the top of the site. A driveway from Arcade to the six garages behind the six townhomes allows the townhomes to be built along the sidewalk of East 156th ((HEART Design Group).
“I am elated that the city of Cleveland is embracing modular housing as an acceptable form of construction and exceptionally proud of our team for accomplishing this milestone with the first-ever development of its kind,” said Task in a written statement. “We look forward to a continued partnership with the city to make the dream of homeownership more attainable in Cleveland.”
He explained that their goal in developing these townhomes is to offer workforce-affordable, high-quality housing with expected pricing under $300,000 — making homeownership and particularly custom home-building more accessible for Cleveland’s residents.
Rebuild Cleveland has successfully completed and sold its first modular single-family home on Colgate Avenue in the southern part of Cleveland’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. That project got underway in the latter half of 2023.
The Colgate house was assembled and the electricity turned on within five hours, Task told the Planning Commission yesterday. Commission members expressed excitement about the North Collinwood project but also wanted to make sure that quality and diverse designs are provided for this and future housing products.
This view of Arcade Place townhomes is from Arcade Avenue, showing the vehicular access to the garages. Between the garages and the townhomes is a grassy area and patios for each home ((HEART Design Group).
“Congratulations — I can’t wait to see them,” said commission Chair Lillian Kuri, who is also president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation. “I want a tour when they’re done.”
The Arcade Place townhomes will be constructed by Champion Homes, based in Troy, MI but has more than 30 manufacturing facilities located across the United States and Europe and employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. It is a subsidiary of Skyline Corporation, a company that is publicly traded as “SKY” on the New York Stock Exchange.
Last week, Cleveland issued a request for proposals to modular home manufacturers so the city could attract a factory to Cleveland’s near-East Side. While city officials said they want to repopulate approximately 25,000 vacant residential lots across the city and inner-ring suburbs with affordable, quality homes, the nearest modular homes manufacturer is more than 100 miles away.
“I would urge the city, as they’re deciding on what company is going to bring a factory here to Cleveland, that we be very enjoined in bringing a company and factory that provides for diversity in design because many of those large companies do not,” Task said.
The Arcade Place townhomes site is within a short walk of the Waterloo Arts District to the south and the Collinwood Recreation Center plus future development sites to the north ((HEART Design Group).
Rebuild Cleveland is moving forward with a new single-family modular home on Westropp Avenue, also in the Waterloo Arts District, with permits already secured and construction set to begin. Task said they are working on gap financing applications for several other properties in Cleveland’s Wards 8 and 15, and have the support of City Council members Jenny Spencer and Michael Polensek.
Task noted that they aren’t limiting their focus on the city of Cleveland. He hinted at going beyond the city limits by saying that they are in the preliminary planning stages of “an exciting development in an inner-ring suburb — more to come,” he teased.
In 2021, Rebuild Cleveland was formed by Chris Grimaldi, president of Grimaldi Property Management, Ilya Palatnik, executive vice president of Cross Country Mortgage, and Task, leader of The Task Team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
They said their mission is to contribute to the revitalization of Cleveland and surrounding communities through high quality, innovative, and sustainable real estate development.
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