The Uptown Expansion Project is CiF’s
fourth EB-5 project and the second development in Cleveland’s University Circle
neighborhood to receive EB-5 funding (CiF also issued an EB-5 loan to
University Hospitals that partially financed construction of the Seidman Cancer Center in University Circle.) Developed by local real estate company MRN Ltd.,
the Uptown Expansion is a mixed-use project located on corner of Euclid Avenue
and Ford Drive and builds off of the initial Uptown development.
The first Uptown development saw the
construction of two three-story buildings, each divided into market-rate
apartments on the top floors and retail space on the ground floor. The Uptown expansion
mimics this layout, placing living space on the upper floors and retail space
on the ground floor of a single, six-story building. The expansion is located just
south of the original Uptown project site, situated across Euclid Avenue from
Cleveland’s new Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) and a block southeast of the
Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) main campus.
The proximity to CIA and MoCA (not to
mention the Cleveland Museum of Art, located about a quarter mile to the east
of Uptown) is important because half of the 84 apartment units in the Uptown
expansion are reserved for CIA students. This is a beneficial arrangement for
the both the developer and CIA since, for the developer, it guarantees the
apartments will be leased and for CIA it means they can use Uptown’s high
quality residential options to help attract prospective students.
The rest of the Uptown expansion residences
are leased out as market-rate apartments, available in studio and one-bedroom
layouts. All the buildings in the Uptown development were designed by
award-winning San Francisco architect Stanley Saitowitz and the distinctive aluminum
and concrete buildings are attracting numerous residents; from the medical
community, to graduate students, to empty-nesters.
The retail component in Uptown’s ground
floor is an integral part of the development and it has helped to create a
central commercial district within University Circle. Though home to premier
medical and cultural institutions, the neighborhood was lacking diverse retail
options. However the addition of street level retail along Euclid Avenue has
helped create a vibrant ‘downtown’ atmosphere and given a previously empty
section of Euclid a real sense of place.
CiF is glad to have been involved with
the Uptown Expansion project. The completion of this project has helped support
one of Cleveland’s vital neighborhoods by adding high quality residential and
commercial space to the community.
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