NRP Group’s Midtown Lofts will be designed similarly to another project by NRP — A Place For Us apartments at Madison Avenue and West 116th Street in Cleveland. Midtown Lofts will have two four-story buildings like this and will be marketed to families and others who earn up to 80 percent of the area’s median income (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Asiatown mixed-use development to boost area
Asiatown was a neighborhood that was on the upswing 20 years ago. There were new restaurants, shopping venues like Asia Plaza, Tyler Village and other commercial developments, multiple new housing offerings such as the Asian Evergreen and Body Block Arcade apartments, plus several longstanding grocers including Dave’s Market, 3301 Payne Ave., had renovated their properties.
Today, Asiatown is much quieter investment-wise as it has fallen behind other Cleveland neighborhoods where development is more brisk. No major new developments were built, and Dave’s moved to a new, larger store in Midtown eight years ago. Asiatown is located in Cleveland’s St. Clair-Superior which has the third-lowest median household income of any neighborhood in Cleveland.
And the Census tract in which the closed Dave’s Market is located is even lower, with a median household income of $24,569, according to the City of Cleveland’s Geographic Information System, its data updated in April. It’s so low that all but eight units in a proposed, affordable housing complex would nearly equal or lift the median income for that Census tract.
That housing complex is the first major development moving forward in Asiatown in a long time. Midtown Lofts is a $42.3 million joint development of Cleveland-based NRP Group and the local community development corporation, Midtown Cleveland Inc., which has a 25 percent stake in the project.
After the vacant store is razed and a pair of four story buildings are built on either side of Payne, Midtown Lofts will offer 120 general occupancy apartments (ie: not just for seniors). The project continues to be refined by input at community meetings, the fifth of which was held Tuesday and offered in three languages — English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
A conceptual site plan for the Midtown Lofts development which not only shows the ground-floor plan for each building but the parking lots for the two buildings and a third which is currently used a pop-up park but could become a permanent park in the future ((MA Design).
The project got a big boost in December when it won from the Ohio Housing Finance Authority a 4 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) that subsidizes about 30 percent of the development costs.
In the north building will be 65 apartments and 3,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space fronting the street. In the south building will be 55 units plus 1,500 square feet of ground-floor private community space for Midtown Lofts residents.
Eight apartments will be affordable to those earning 30 percent of the area’s median income (AMI), 11 units will be for those earning 80 percent AMI and the rest, or 101 apartments, will be affordable to potential renters earning 60 percent AMI. According to the US Census, Cleveland’s AMI per household is $39,041. Sixty percent of that is about $23,425.
Despite that, some persons attending the community meetings and have labeled the development “the projects” while others have said it is too expensive for neighborhood residents. Some said the project doesn’t have enough parking even though its 127 spaces exceeds the city’s minimum.
Payne Avenue in Cleveland’s Asiatown lacks the population, traffic and vibrancy to attract new retailers that the neighborhood wants, like a bakery or a dry cleaner. But that could change if a plan to build 120 affordable apartments on the former Dave’s Supermarket and its parking lot across the street is realized. Another Dave’s lot at far-right would become a full-time park rather than a pop-up park (Google).
Others protested a variance unanimously awarded Monday by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals which allows the developer to build parking lots without an 8- to 10-foot-wide landscaped buffer between the parking and the adjacent neighborhoods, as required by the city’s building code. To build the landscaping buffer would mean the loss of 19 parking spaces, said NRP Group Project Manager Carolyn Behmer.
The southern building is lined by an alleyway on the southern end of the parking area which City Planner Xavier Bay said serves as a suitable buffer. On the northern site, the developer is planning screening that he said would diminish the negative impacts of the headlights from cars in the new lot.
Ward 7 Councilwoman Stephanie Howse expressed support for the variance and the housing development in general. A spokesperson for the councilwoman said a petition opposing the variances was sent to her office. But only 10 percent of those signing it lived in the city of Cleveland.
Cleveland City Council also has an ordinance pending to change a mix of zoning classifications — limited retail, two-family residential and semi-industry — on the two sites to a Limited Retail Business District. A public hearing is required as part of the approval process.
Conceptual elevations of the proposed Midtown Lofts. This is for Building A, which would rise on the south side of Payne Avenue (MA Design).
The density would be increased to a ‘G’ Area District allowing buildings having a gross floor area that’s up to three times that of the lot area. But the allowable height will be reduced from a ‘3’ height district allowing buildings 115 feet tall to a ‘2 height district limiting buildings to 60 feet.
“Things that we’ve heard, in terms of concerns we’re working to address with the community, is a desire to see commercial remain on Payne Avenue,” said Midtown Cleveland Inc. Executive Director Ashley Shaw. “There is a commercial space on the north side of this project that we are working with the community on.”
Some suggested uses for that space include a cafe, computer lab, community space and a gym. She said Midtown Cleveland and NRP are working with Cleveland’s Economic Development Department to do a market analysis this year to understand what Asiatown can support in terms of new businesses.
That analysis will be used to attract new businesses to this site and to others in the neighborhood. Residents also said they want a bakery, dry cleaner and additional grocery options in the community. But Shaw said Midtown Lofts is needed because Asiatown doesn’t have enough residents to support those desired new businesses.
Another site plan for Midtown Lofts, with this one emphasizing how the parking lots would be designed without the required landscaped buffers. The development team was granted a variance from the city’s building code so the buffers do not need to be provided (MA Design).
“We’re actively working to attract a tenant that aligns with what the community would like to see there,” Shaw added. “Parking has been a major concern and so again the desire to maximize parking on the site.”
More residents also are needed to help improve safety. She said having more eyes on the street naturally helps. Behmer said the buildings will be “completely secured” and the site will have enhanced security cameras plus automatic license plate readers at parking lot entrances.
“At our other sites, those work very well,” she said. “And we’re considering renting a unit to a Cleveland police officer.”
The project has not yet gone through the city’s design-review process. Shaw said a major concern that is being raised at the community meetings is a loss of Asian identity in the neighborhood. So Midtown Cleveland is assembling an Asiatown Cultural Committee that will help shape the Midtown Lofts.
Existing conditions in the vicinity of where the Midtown Lofts are proposed to be built. The development team said the new apartments will help bring new life to the faded Payne Avenue commercial district (BZA).
This will address everything from naming of the building, artwork outside and inside of the building, wayfinding, multiple languages on the signage in the building and interior design that feels like home to the Asian community.
“We’ve also had residents in the community who said they would like to live here when this project is built,” Shaw said. “Will give priority to neighborhood residents in leasing. We’re committed to staffing a leasing office. We have staff people who are fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin and can help residents navigate the application process for those who would like to live there.”
There is a third parking lot property in play, not just the two proposed to host the Midtown Lofts. All three are owned by Dave’s Markets CEO Burton Saltzman, son of the founder and market namesake Dave Saltzman. When they are sold to Midtown Cleveland, the third lot, southwest of Payne and East 33rd Street, is proposed to go from being used as a pop-up park to a full-time park.
“It has become a rather important gathering space for the community,” Shaw said. “That pop-up park is not a part of this project. It would actually be transferred to Midtown Cleveland so we can begin fundraising and developing a permanent park on that site.”
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