Infill development is a term used to describe building on vacant or under-used parcels within densely developed urban areas. Not unlike other large legacy cities, the City of Cleveland and its inner-ring suburbs have many vacant lots left behind after the demolition of abandoned and blighted properties. As demand for new housing in established neighborhoods increases, these communities are finding infill development to be the most viable solution to meeting those housing needs.
The advantages of infill development include promoting sustainability, reusing underused or vacant lots, boosting surrounding home values and helping revitalize a community. Not only does it return properties to county tax rolls, but when more people utilize the existing infrastructure, maintenance and upgrading costs are reduced, and fewer tax dollars are spent on developing new services in greenfields. Infill development can also serve community goals for sustainable development and energy conservation and present opportunities for diversity in housing.
The Cuyahoga Land Bank’s strategic land assembly work is a critical tool that we offer in achieving our mission of strategically returning non-productive, vacant and abandoned properties to productive use. Our work has supported the development of countless infill homes throughout Cuyahoga County, including the Slavic Village Green Homes project, which brought 37 new, affordable homes to Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood and two aging-in-place homes currently being built in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.