An exciting new housing development project recently kicked off in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood that will bring 37 new, affordable homes to the heart of the neighborhood. Cleveland Housing Network (CHN) and Slavic Village Development Corporation are partnering on the project, which is being funded through Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). The energy-efficient homes will be concentrated in a targeted area on vacant lots left behind after demolition of abandoned and blighted properties in the area by the Cuyahoga Land Bank and the City of Cleveland. Since 2009, the Cuyahoga Land Bank has demolished more than 685 vacant and abandoned houses in Slavic Village, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods by the housing foreclosure crisis.
“To my knowledge this is the first, and to date, only LIHTC project that successfully utilizes a large amount of land left vacant by demolition using U.S. Treasury Hardest Hit Funds,” says Bill Whitney, Chief Operating Officer at the Cuyahoga Land Bank. OHFA gives extra bonus points for LIHTC projects that reuse land cleared through demolitions using Hardest Hit funds. The Cuyahoga Land Bank administers the Hardest Hit Funds in Cuyahoga County.
“These new homes will not only offer new, affordable housing but also tremendously impact property values of surrounding homes,” says Whitney.
Stay tuned for more details as the development progresses.
Updated July 19, 2018 – Photo shows completed home.