Cleveland is turning abandoned real estate into ‘housing innovation district,’ jobs

Cleveland city leaders are looking to address the city’s housing crisis and income problem at the same time through converting unused real estate into homes and job sites. The city’s Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund has raised over $80 million for real estate conversions, which the city estimates will create over 25,000 jobs.

If Cleveland residents do not have accessible work, they cannot afford housing, and the city’s existing housing deteriorates as a result. To combat these issues, Cleveland put together a “housing innovation district” to focus on redlined, disinvested neighborhoods to create effective, pro-housing policies, Jennifer Castenson writes for Yahoo News. Yahoo News reports:

“To deliver jobs and homes, the 1,500 acres around the Midline was rezoned using form-based codes--codes based on the form rather than based on use--to make it easier for investment. In addition, permit fees for some types of single family housing were eliminated, and fees for multifamily housing were reduced by 50%. A tax incremented financing structure was also added to that area, giving the city the ability to reinvest in the infrastructure for water and sewer connections to further reduce the cost of housing development.”