CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The former site of a school in the Gordon Square neighborhood on Cleveland’s West Side is now an opportunity to create a community hub that could include affordable housing or new green space.
The city of Cleveland earlier this month put out a request for proposals to revamp 2.2 acres where the former Watterson-Lake Elementary School sits vacant on West 74th Street. The school closed in 2019. The city is to receive the land from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, which will take care of demolishing the existing three-story structure along with the parking lot.
Councilwoman Jenny Spencer called this a unique opportunity not only for developers, but for the neighborhood .
“Normally, when there is a piece of land for sale that’s this big, it’s privately owned and the city would never acquire it, or have site control,” she said, “so this land swap mechanism allows the collaboration of the school district and the city to open the land up for redevelopment with community priorities in mind.”
In 2021, Spencer allocated $12,000 to begin getting feedback from the community. The effort was also lead by Cleveland’s Free By Design LLC.
Spencer said in talking to Gordon Square community members, she heard two major requests.
“The people basically said, ‘We don’t need any more luxury housing. What we need is housing for all income levels.’ People also wanted access to the site whether it was a play space or a green space,” Spencer said.
Though it is not clear what will become of the site once it is in city hands, what is clear is that Spencer hoped for creative submissions that will make everyone feel welcome in the community.
“It’s a living breathing neighborhood and really one of the most diverse and mixed-income neighborhoods in the entire city and the people who live there are really committed to making sure it remains diverse,” she said. “And the idea with this site is to welcome new neighbors to Gordon Square.”
Adam Stadler, executive director of the Northwest Neighborhood, the community development organization in the area, said he appreciated the outreach efforts ahead of proposals and hopes the project will lead to more affordable housing.
“The popularity of the area has the unintended consequences of skyrocketing home prices and rents that are unaffordable to many Clevelanders,” Stadler said in a statement. “The 2-acre Watterson-Lake site, centrally located in the neighborhood and within walking distance of Gordon Square Arts District, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to diversify our housing.”
The deadline for responses is on May 31, but it is unclear what the timeline will be following submissions.
Megan Sims covers real estate for cleveland.com. See previous work at this link.
Also:
Cleveland receives $15 million in federal funding to transform the historic Huntington Building
Cleveland may get its first outdoor drinking area on East Fourth Street, with swings and canopy
What is a landlord’s liability to keep their properties and tenants safe?