Depot on Detroit breaks ground to the west of GCRTA’s West Blvd-Cudell rapid transit station, served by Airport-Downtown-Windermere Red Line trains (Harrison Whittaker). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Progress Pics: Depot on Detroit, Karam Senior Living, Seltzer Elementary
Construction activity on Cleveland’s West Side is ramping up inside the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Zone — defined by the city as the land within a quarter mile (about a five-minute walk) of a high-frequency transit station. Developments within the zone are exempt from parking mandates, reducing construction costs and encouraging transit ridership.
One such project, the 60-unit Depot on Detroit, broke ground this month on a vacant site previously owned by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA).
The $20 million residential project by Flaherty & Collins Development LLC of Indianapolis sits across a Norfolk Southern rail underpass from GCRTA’s West Blvd-Cudell rapid station, served by the heavy rail Red Line, the 24-hour No. 26 bus route, and the hourly No. 18 bus route.
A rendering of Depot on Detroit, viewed from the south side of Detroit Avenue (City Architecture).
The apartments will be located at 10300 Detroit Ave. — a five-minute walk from the West Blvd-Cudell station — and leased at rents affordable for households making less than 60 percent of Area Median Income.
While the developers have chosen to include one parking space for every unit, transit ridership will be encouraged by including GCRTA passes in tenants’ rents.
Also within the TOD zone is Canopy at Herman Park, a 135-unit residential development which broke ground this month. Many similar projects are listed on TOD Navigator, an online tool that maps recent and ongoing TODs across Cuyahoga County.
Three townhomes at Edgewater South filled a vacant site on West 74th Street — a two-minute walk from a high-frequency bus stop (Harrison Whittaker).
Not included on TOD Navigator are numerous smaller-scale developments just steps away from the county’s most frequent transit lines. Vine Development’s Edgewater South built three modern townhomes on West 74th Street, a two-minute walk from a high-frequency bus stop.
Also missing from the map is Karam Senior Living, which will add 51 affordable apartments for seniors atop a rebuilt Walz Branch of the Cleveland Public Library (CPL).
The $34 million mixed-use development is under construction at 7918 Detroit Ave., directly behind a high-frequency bus stop. Both Karam Senior Living and Edgewater South are served by the No. 26 bus route, which connects to Downtown Cleveland in about 10 minutes.
Signage on Detroit Avenue displays a rendering of Walz Library-Karam Senior Living (Harrison Whittaker).
As a TOD, Karam will include only 46 off-street parking spaces. But some of its residents — seniors with lower levels of income — may not own a car at all, whether for cost-related reasons or simply because they are no longer able to drive.
Karam Senior Living is being jointly developed by Salus Development LLC of Cleveland and nonprofit Northwest Neighborhoods Community Development Corp. (NNCDC) and built by Marous Brothers Construction. However, the Walz Branch library is being developed separately by CPL and constructed by Gilbane Building Company.
Construction on the building began last fall and is expected to take up to 16 months, not including the interior build-out.
Vertical construction at Walz Library-Karam Senior Living is visible from the corner of Detroit Avenue and West 80th Street (Harrison Whittaker).
Because of its location within a five-minute walk of the West Blvd-Cudell rapid station, a $33 million project to rebuild the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s (CMSD) Marion C. Seltzer Elementary School is also considered a TOD.
The project will replace the school on its existing site adjacent to Cudell Commons. A previous plan for the project was revised due to community concerns around the loss of trees and green space.
Demolition of the old building has now completed. Construction of the new school will follow and is expected to conclude in time for the 2027-2028 school year.
On West 98th Street, CMSD’s former Marion C. Seltzer Elementary School has been demolished to make way for a new building (Harrison Whittaker).
As GCRTA prepares to cut a small amount of service on Aug. 16 to offset rising expenses, TOD provides a path to increase ridership and generate income from unused land around stations. Fortunately, none of the service cuts are in the NNCDC’s service area.
For more construction updates around Greater Cleveland, check out NEOtrans’ other Progress Pics articles.
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