Cleveland offered gap funding for housing projects

Sep 6, 2023

When the city of Cleveland solicited proposals this year for housing projects in need of gap financing, developers responded in droves.

Officials received 91 applications, for a combined ask of $165 million in grants and loans. That’s more than three times the amount the city had set aside – most of it from an infusion of federal cash meant to heal economic wounds created or intensified by the pandemic. Cleveland City Council approved a slate of 22 potential projects in June. But the full lineup of recipients probably won’t be clear until next spring. Many applicants still are working through a due diligence process with the city, which is requiring projects to be finished by late 2026.

The applications show the deep need for dollars to get modestly priced housing projects off the ground, in the face of rising interest rates, volatile construction costs and labor shortfalls. Across Ohio, developers and policymakers are wrestling with a deepening housing shortage and a mismatch between what it costs to build and what many buyers and renters can afford.

For organizations like McGregor, this is why we support programs for affordable senior housing and programs that bring value to the community and to the lives of those who live in our communities.

McGregor’s campus is undergoing a transformation with the completion of our latest new building.  The new building received the Certificate of Occupancy on August 11th and the final HUD approval on August 18th.   We were excited to greet our first resident the following Tuesday with the plan to have the entire building fully leased by September 30th.  We will have a small celebration to recognize the addition to our new campus on September 7th at 4 pm with a public open house to follow at 5 pm.  While the building had several delays due to supply chain, transformer delivery delays, and weather in the early days of construction, the building is beautiful home for the 54 new residents on campus.

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