A 63-unit, affordable-rate, senior apartment building with ground-floor space for LakewoodAlive is proposed to be built on the former site of the Hilliard Square Theater. Highly competitive 9-percent housing tax credits are sought for the project along with a state loan. This view looks southwesterly along Madison Avenue, just west of Hilliard Road (LDA). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Project depends on winning housing tax credits
The site of the former Hilliard Square Theater that closed in 1988 and was demolished in 2017 could become an affordable senior housing development if its developers win highly competitive Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and a loan from the state.
Seeking the financial assistance is Salus Development LLC of Cleveland which has built or renovated affordable housing throughout the country including the Franciscan Village on Rocky River Drive north of Kamms Corners in Cleveland. It submitted its application for assistance to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) this past week.
Proposed is Barton Place Apartments, a five-story building at 16021 Madison Ave. It is planned to have 63 apartments for residents 55 years and older with 2,310 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 26 off-street parking spaces in a garage, 9,143 square feet of common area and 1,552 square feet of support and program space, according to its OHFA application.
All of the apartments will be 1-bedroom units, averaging 622 square feet each. Their rents will be priced to be affordable to those earning 60 percent of the area’s median income (AMI). According to the U.S. Census, Greater Cleveland’s AMI in 2024 was $42,145 per household with a per capita income of $27,253. Barton Place Apartments is intended to be “a diverse, inclusive and supportive community,” per its OHFA application.
Site of the proposed Barton Place Apartments is highlighted in red, between Madison Avenue and Hilliard Road (Google).
“The vision is to create a place where seniors ages 55 and older can age gracefully within their community, living close to friends, family and familiar surroundings,” Salus said in its application. “The affordable senior housing will be tailored to meet the needs of older adults, complemented by supportive services and activities that will help residents maintain their independence and quality of life.”
Additionally, the ground-floor commercial tenant is already spoken for, Salus noted in its application summary. The entire space is to be dedicated to LakewoodAlive, a local nonprofit that provides community development resources to the Lakewood community. They are currently located at 12815 Detroit Ave.
All development costs of the proposed senior apartment building project are estimated at just under $18 million, according to Salus’ LIHTC financing application recently submitted to OHFA. It is also seeking a $1.75 million housing development loan. Salus requests $15.7 million in 9 percent LIHTC spread over 10 years, allowing it to deduct the eligible basis of the project’s construction budget.
The site of the senior housing is a 0.463-acre parcel owned by the city of Lakewood, which acquired it in 2018. The city has an option to sell the property to Barton Affordable Housing Inc., which would be executed if the OHFA financing is awarded.
Barton Affordable Housing was incorporated last year by Lakewood-based LSC Service Corp., according to Ohio Secretary of State records. If Barton Place Apartments are built, the property will be managed by LSC, led by CEO and President Donnald Heckelmoser Jr..
Looking southwest on Madison Avenue, the green space is where the Hilliard Square Theater stood, and where the Barton Place Apartments could rise (Google).
Barton manages six senior housing properties in Northern Ohio including the Barton Senior Center and high-rise Westerly Apartments right across the street from the Lakewood Baptist Church, 14321 Detroit Ave.
In a story broken by NEOtrans, Salus and LSC teamed up last year with a plan to raze Lakewood Baptist Church and build in it splace a 66-unit senior apartment complex over ground-floor commercial. That project is also seeking financial assistance from the state. The project was passed over for a 9-percent LIHTC in 2024, but its backers have reapplied.
The former Hilliard Square Theater was built in 1927 and closed in 1988. During its run, the 1,200-seat venue began showing silent movies, then “talkies” and later, operating as an “art-theater” showing adult films. But it was best remembered as a place to see a midnight showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in the 1970s and 80s.
Most large, neighborhood-based movie theaters like the Hilliard Square Theater failed in the era of smaller, multi-screen venues, multiplex cinemas and later, home video. The Silver Apartments, built in 1963 on the theater’s parking lot, created a parking crunch and hastened the theater’s demise and complicated efforts to revive it. The city demolished the condemned theater.
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