Warrensville Heights Archives - Cuyahoga Land Bank

Cuyahoga Land Bank’s Targeted Revitalization in Warrensville Heights Spurs Private Investment

Rachel Trem — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:26:25 +0000

The Warrensville Heights housing market surges after strategic Cuyahoga Land Bank development.

The city of Warrensville Heights has seen housing value surge, over the last five years – brought on in no small part by a Cuyahoga Land Bank program to revitalize suburban real estate markets.

The most recent Cuyahoga County sexennial reappraisal in 2024 found median home value throughout the southeastern suburb increased on average 32%, and the city’s median property value went from $111,200 to $121,100 – about a 9% increase across the board.

The spark that helped guide what had been a lethargic residential housing market began with a Cuyahoga Land Bank program designed to jumpstart housing suburban markets experiencing challenges like population and industrial losses.

“We targeted areas throughout Warrensville Heights close to community and commercial anchors – like schools, hospitals or industry,” Cuyahoga Land Bank Chief Strategy Officer Dennis Roberts explained. “We wanted to work in a weaker housing market, jumpstart it and move out to make way for private investors.”

The Land Bank, using County Housing Program funds and parcel-level housing data, went to work evaluating tax delinquent, vacant and privately-owned properties located in those neighborhoods close to the city’s viable commercial centers. 

Land Bank housing data allowed specific streets and parcels to be analyzed for the highest impact properties to construct new housing. 

“Three streets were identified as the area where a concentration of new market rate housing would have the most impact,” Roberts said. After acquiring the properties, three new single-family homes were built – using a combination of modular and traditional stick-build construction.

The new single-family homes were sold at a loss to Land Bank, however the higher-than-median home sale prices proved to private developers that market rate housing in Warrensville Heights can be successful.

“With rising material and labor costs, it has become increasingly difficult to build affordable homes in depressed markets,” Roberts said. “But by providing examples of viable modern housing in these areas, it spurs on private development.”

The Land Bank’s efforts have paid off. The three-home construction, which began in 2022, was the springboard subsequent partnership between Warrensville Heights and GLH, LLC to bring more than a dozen single-family homes built on city-owned vacant lots. 

The proposed 15 concrete-paneled homes, partially constructed off site, are expected to sell in the mid-to high-$200,000 – currently above the city’s average home price – and come with a 15-year, 75% property tax abatement.

Building on the success of the vacant lot development program, the Land Bank moved from construction to financing, offering a Housing Construction Gap Grant to smaller real estate developers to cover construction costs versus appraisal value-funding gaps in distressed markets. 

“We wanted to test if building three high-quality homes in one strategic and targeted neighborhood would catalyze more new construction. This will also determine the best tool the Land Bank can use to create the biggest ripple throughout the market. If it doesn’t spur change, it does not make sense,” Roberts said. 

The wave of new development, including a plan to add new senior-housing in the city for the first time since 2006, proves that small but targeted investment by the Land Bank can stimulate private investment and help solve one of the county’s most challenging housing market problems.

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Modular Home Set in One Day

The Cuyahoga Land Bank — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 23:19:00 +0000

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A crowd of Cuyahoga Land Bank staff, city officials, and curious neighbors watched in awe as a crew set the Cuyahoga Land Bank’s latest modular home on Longbrook Road in Warrensville Heights. Transported from southwest Ohio, it took mere hours to place the pre-manufactured home.

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Demolition makes way for Heinen’s expansion

The Cuyahoga Land Bank — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

On an early December morning, Cuyahoga Land Bank contractors began work to demolish a dilapidated 77,000 square foot structure for the future site of Heinen’s new food production plant in the City of Warrensville Heights. The demolition process included the removal of the building, asbestos remediation, building cleanout, and fencing and debris removal which cost totaled at $610,000.
Heinen’s is purchasing the property from the Cuyahoga Land Bank and reimbursing all costs related to the demolition. Heinen’s plans to build a nine million dollar, 70,000 square foot food production plant. “The Cuyahoga Land Bank was instrumental in the acquisition and clean-up of this site, which is contiguous to our present warehouse,” said Heinen’s Director of Finance Daniel Musil. “This allows us to build our new food production plant. It leverages the shipping and receiving infrastructure that we currently have in place at our present warehouse facility. It also grants access to future potential expansion. The food production plant will be utilized to expand the wide array of meat, prepared food and bakery products, enhancing our selection for customers.”
“The Heinen’s expansion project has been a top economic development priority that the City of Warrensville Heights has been actively facilitating for a long time. Heinen’s forty year history in Warrensville Heights and Northeast Ohio demonstrates their commitment to revitalizing the region,”said Warrensville Heights Mayor Brad Sellers. “Without the assistance of the Cuyahoga Land Bank, I can’t promise you this effort would have come to fruition as quickly as it did.”
The creation of a home for Heinen’s food production plant in Warrensville Heights began two years ago for the Cuyahoga Land Bank, when Warrensville Heights Economic Development Director Pequita Hansberry reached out for assistance.
“When Heinen’s approached the city regarding an expansion project in Warrensville Heights, I immediately reached out to the Cuyahoga County Department of Development and the Cuyahoga Land Bank for assistance,” said Hansberry. “The Department of Development and the Land Bank worked diligently to locate the owner of the vacant building and assisted Heinen’s, the city, and other parties with the acquisition. Now, two years later, expansion will spur economic growth and revitalization in Northeast Ohio.” Heinen’s went through the Cuyahoga County’s Western Reserve Fund a revolving loan fund that offers gap financing to job creating and job retaining projects in the county.
Heinen’s wanted to expand their warehouse and had attempted to purchase the dilapidated property on approximately five acres adjacent to them with no success. With some research, the Cuyahoga Land Bank discovered that the property in question had a $1 million lien on it and was significantly tax delinquent. With this information, the partners reached out to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office to handle a foreclosure on the property.

“Because of a team effort between the County Development Department, County Prosecutor Office, the City of Warrensville Heights, and the Cuyahoga Land Bank, we were able to provide Heinen’s the opportunity to expand in Warrensville Heights. Thus bringing in new jobs and reducing blight,” said the Cuyahoga Land Bank’s Director of Acquisitions, Dispositions and Development Cheryl Stephens.“Through a collective focus on jobs and economic development, this project is now a reality.”

This project is yet another example of how the Cuyahoga County Western Reserve Fund is a great financial resource that assists businesses with business growth and land reutilization,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald. “The expansion of the Heinen’s food production plant will not only create additional jobs for our region, but it will also revitalize a blighted area that has been vacant for several years. I am delighted that we were able to collaborate successfully to keep a successful family-owned business here in Cuyahoga County.”

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