By ideastream's Brian Bull
Construction begins in January on a $112-million luxury residential high rise in University Circle. It’s the latest in a string of development projects popping up around the Case Western Reserve University neighborhood. But just beyond the train tracks, neighboring East Cleveland is struggling to emerge from its deep financial woes.
But the possibility exists that development dollars could cross the border.
It wasn’t so long ago that downtown Cleveland looked a lot like East Cleveland today…poverty, crime, and vacant space were recurring concerns in the area.
“So if you were walking up and down Euclid Avenue between East 9 th Street and Playhouse Square five years ago, you may say same thing we’re saying about for East Cleveland today," says Rico Pietro. "That it‘s kind of a ghost town, that anybody rolls up their doors at 5pm….”
Pietro is a commercial real estate broker in Northeast Ohio. He sees opportunity for East Cleveland, though he says the city should build on its services and security first.
Pietro says already there are some groups interested in the area.
“I’d probably say within three years, you’ll see an apartment building built in East Cleveland ground up, you’ll see new…probably restaurant-based, retail, or mixed-use projects coming to East Cleveland as well as the potential for some office space that will likely be healthcare anchored.”
Pietro says healthcare and insurance are major drivers for the region, so an extension of an existing system – like the Cleveland Clinic or University Hospitals – could be a good start for an East Cleveland venture.
And he adds there are federal tax incentive programs for businesses that move into low-income areas like East Cleveland.