Developing affordable housing is no easy task. It requires creativity. A good example? The work that the NRP Group did to bring The Davis affordable-housing development to Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.
NRP Group negotiated with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to acquire the site of the former Harry E. Davis Elementary School, a building that had been vacant since 2006. The goal was to use the site to bring affordable housing to a city neighborhood that had long been neglected by developers.
And the result? Last November, the NRP Group celebrated the opening of The Davis Apartments, a 52-unit affordable-housing apartment community located less than a mile from Cleveland’s busy University Circle area.
Scott Skinner, vice president of development with NRP Group and director of public policy behind The Davis, said that apartment development was fully leased within 30 days of opening. NRP Group is now planning the second phase of the development, 70 additional affordable multifamily units. The developer plans to start the application process with the city in February.
Scott Skinner, vice president of development, NRP Group
Getting to this point wasn’t easy. Skinner said that NRP Group worked closely with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the city of Cleveland to bring the plans for The Davis to life.
The financial incentive provided by the city and state were the key to making The Davis pencil out, Skinner said.
“You need incentives when you are developing affordable housing,” Skinner said. “When you are keeping rents low, your revenues are lower, too. We need significant support from our partners to consistently build affordable housing and to close the gaps in our financing sources.”
Skinner said that the city of Cleveland understands the importance of affordable housing and has dedicated significant resources to help developers bring new affordable stock to the city.
“The city is well aware of the challenges that Cleveland faces when it comes to population loss and affordable housing,” Skinner said. “It is doing what it can to address them.”
Skinner said that Cleveland’s lack of affordable housing stems partly from the city’s consistent population decline during the last five decades.
The demand for affordable housing remains, but developers haven’t flocked to the city to build new affordable supply. The falling population has discouraged much new development.
Much of the affordable housing that is available is old and of a lower quality. The city also has many residents whose incomes aren’t high enough to afford the monthly rents being charged by many of the multifamily units labeled as affordable in the market.
“Cleveland has an enormous affordable-housing problem,” Skinner said. “We need more, especially three- to four-bedroom apartments or homes for families.”
The solution? Developers need to build newer, higher-quality affordable projects in the city, Skinner said.
This isn’t easy. But The Davis is a good example.
As Skinner says, the Glenville neighborhood is a longstanding Cleveland community. Unfortunately, it has been neglected and suffered from redlining for decades. This happened even though Glenville is located less than a mile north of University Circle, home to the Cleveland Clinic and one of the largest job centers in the state of Ohio.
“Despite that, this neighborhood has seen disinvestment for a very long time,” Skinner said. “We have been looking to develop something in that neighborhood for quite a while.”
The timing was right for The Davis. Skinner said that partly because of Cleveland’s long-time population decline, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has had to close some neighborhood public schools. That included The Davis.
The building, which sat vacant for nearly a decade, had become an eyesore, Skinner said. NRP Group negotiated with the school district to purchase the building, removing a troubled property from the neighborhood and turning it into much-needed affordable housing.
“Our goal was to find a use for this building that was no longer a public school. Let’s try to find a productive use for this site,” Skinner said.
The school district agreed and transferred the land on which the school sat to NRP Group. The developer then worked with the city to demolish the building, which was built in the 1970s and would not have worked as a conversion to multifamily.
The resulting development, The Davis, has brought 52 new affordable-housing units to the neighborhood, units that include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment units and townhomes.
Being affordable doesn’t mean that The Davis doesn’t offer amenities. The development features a fitness center, community room, clubhouse and outdoor playground.
The property’s two-story townhomes also feature front porches, something that Skinner said was important: Glenville has long boasted an active front-porch culture, with residents sitting on their front porches to chat with their neighbors.
But the amenity that most sets The Davis apart? Cleveland’s University Hospitals operates 3,000 square feet on The Davis’ first floor. The hospital isn’t using this space for traditional healthcare. Instead, it is operating a healthy food pantry open to all residents of the neighborhood, not just those living in The Davis. University Hospitals is also staffing a demonstration kitchen dedicated to teaching the basics of healthy eating and cooking.
The first-floor space also features classroom space for pregnant women and young mothers. The hospital system uses this space, too, for social events designed for local seniors. Residents can also access telehealth stations set up on the first floor, giving them quick access to medical professionals at University Hospitals.
Skinner said that the rental base at The Davis is primarily made up of residents of Glenville and neighboring communities. They are also primarily people who are working but have struggled to find rentals in Cleveland that they can afford.
“The people we are serving are those who are members of the local workforce who can’t find quality affordable housing elsewhere,” Skinner said.
The apartment units at The Davis rent for 60% of the area median income.
“This is a type of development that we believe in,” Skinner said. “Partnering with healthcare providers is something that we think is powerful. We are excited about offering these kinds of services in our buildings.”
