The long-awaited groundbreaking of a 52-unit senior-living apartment complex on Cleveland’s near West Side marks the first investment of a unique public-private partnership fund announced earlier this year.

Shovels are in the ground near the corner of Clark Avenue and Fulton Road for the Walton Apartments, the result of a multi-partner collaboration that included land assembled by Cuyahoga Land Bank and Cleveland Housing Investment Fund (CHIF) dollars.

“I spent a better part of five years thinking about what this site could become when I was at what is now the MetroWest CDC,” said Ricardo León, President and CEO of Cuyahoga Land Bank.

“We always talked about having quality, affordable housing in our community for residents, in need … and it’s amazing to know that Cuyahoga Land Bank could be a small part of it.”

The Land Bank assembled the parcels where, after multiple failed attempts to find a project that would work financially, the $19 million development in the heart of Latino-community will sit.

Walton Apartments was made possible by the Cleveland office of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the national non-profit behind CHIF. In partnership with the City of Cleveland, the fund is designed to stimulate economic growth by addressing address the affordable housing crisis facing neighborhoods with little or no investment.

The long-term plan is to leverage an $18 million grant from the city and $20 million investment from KeyBank folding in additional civic, business and philanthropic investments. The fund is expected to raise up to $100 million over the next decade under the LISC Fund Management, which has $865 million in total assets.

“We knew that we needed to unlock flexible capital to create affordable workforce and mixed income housing in Cleveland. But while we’re still moving towards that $100 million goal, we’re not waiting to make impact,” explains Kandis Williams, executive director of LISC Cleveland.

CHIF dollars will be available over the life of the fund, Williams said. The goal, she added, is to support building between 2,500 to 3,000 low- to moderate-income housing units and provide neighborhood rehabilitation project funding, with an average loan or investment of $1 million to $5 million per project.

While the Cleveland fund is unique to the city’s needs it is based on similar funds LISC created in partnership with Dallas, Charlotte and Detroit.

The Walton Apartment project, which will include at least 20 affordable housing units, Williams points out will be a catalytic investment for seniors and families in the Clark-Fulton where the lack of development is stark contrast to the hot housing markets that surround the neighborhood.

“Here we’re seeing the vision take shape with real homes for real people and real progress in less than six months. It is a perfect example of what CHIF was meant to do helping community minded developers to bring complex projects to life,” Williams added.

The CHIF created in 2025, joins another $100 million fund dedicated to brownfield remediation.

In 2023, the city partnered with the Cleveland Foundation’s on the Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund seeded the initial investment with $50 million in federal ARPA funds.

The Cleveland Foundation manages the assets that are expected to redevelop about 1,000 acres of land for commercial use to attract new industries and jobs to the city. The Foundation offers a direct donation option to the Site Readiness Fund.

In addition, funding the construction of affordable housing, CHIF funds are also available to community-based organizations and smaller developers facing challenges accessing capital.

Two-million dollars from the CHIF were used for the Walton project by Völker Development Inc., a national affordable housing development company specializing in workforce and affordable housing.

Greg Baron, Völker Development Inc.’s midwest managing director of development said the funding supports the Walton’s age-in-place design of one and two bedroom open-concept units that all have a washer and dryer unit.

The building was designed to be an anchor in the community, Baron added, and will have a fitness center with equipment selected specifically for the senior tenants.

There will also be a computer lab, on-site salon, a community and conference room, and office space for staff to meet with the tenants and help with senior services, he added.

“The Walton apartments marks our third recent large-scale investment in Cleveland,” Baron added. “These amenities will not only help in the effort to redevelop this section of Clark-Fulton but most importantly, the development will provide brand new, affordable homes for seniors, most in need.”

The Walton capital stack also includes $800,000 in gap funding from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati; $500,000 from the Cuyahoga County Home Funds; and a state of Ohio Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).

“This project proves what’s possible when you align public and private capital around community priorities. This can provide a blueprint for how Cleveland can build housing in an inclusive, sustainable and accessible way,” Shanelle Smith Whigham, a KeyBank senior vice president and national community engagement director said. “It represents someone’s future. It represents peace of mind. It represents a seat at the table. It represents a community’s promise in renewal.”