TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................3 Local Assets ...................................................5 Regional Assets ..............................................9 Challenges ....................................................15 Community Input .......................................21 Opportunities ..............................................23 Concepts ......................................................25 Future Directions ........................................31 1 2 St. Clair Avenue Revitalization INTRODUCTION Project Description The Urban Design Center (UDC) was retained by the Collinwood & Nottingham Villages Community Development Corporation (CNVDC) to assess the opportunities and constraints for economic development in the St. Clair corridor. St. Clair Avenue is a historically prosperous commercial corridor linking Nottingham Village with Collinwood Village and Five Points, and continuing into downtown Cleveland. In the early 1970’s, 30,000 people were employed by major industries in Collin- wood. During the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s 20,000 jobs were lost as industrial sites were abandoned. The loss of major local in- dustries and competition from new strip centers and suburban South Collinwood in Cleveland, Ohio shopping malls contributed to the decline of retail viability on St. Clair. Today the corridor suffers from disinvestment and decaying visual quality. St. Clair Avenue 3 Study Area The study focuses on the CNVDC service area, an area of approxi- mately two square miles referred to as “South Collinwood”. It is bounded by E. 152nd Street to the east, E. 185th Street to the west, I- 90 to the north, and the Norfolk and Western railroad tracks to the south. This area is smaller than the City of Cleveland’s statistical planning area (SPA) called South Collinwood, which extends west to E. 131st Street into the Euclid-St. Clair CDC service area. In this report the city’s statistical planning area is referred to as the South Collinwood SPA. The name, “Collinwood,” refers to a larger area which extends north to Lake Erie, east to the Euclid border, south to East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, and west to E. 131st Street. “North Collin- wood” refers to the area north of I-90 between E. 131st Street and E. 185th Street. The UDC included all of Collinwood as well as the City of Euclid in its evaluation of the region. Process The UDC began the investigation with a comprehensive survey of commercial and industrial uses in the study area. Field-checked uses were matched with Cuyahoga County parcel information and keyed to a land use map. An analysis of the urban design characteristics of St. Clair Avenue itself was conducted. Land use patterns and invest- ments in a larger study area were identified in order to gain an un- derstanding of regional influences on the St. Clair corridor. Com- munity input was solicited through personal interviews and group meetings. A steering committee was convened by CNVDC to direct the study and generate feedback on initial concepts. Collinwood Boundaries 4 St. Clair Avenue Revitalization LOCAL ASSETS Institutions South Collinwood is well served by community facilities. Within a quarter mile of the Five Points intersection are a public library, po- lice station, fire station, post office, high school, and community health center. Churches with deep community roots – St. Mary’s and Holy Redeemer - anchor Collinwood’s historically Italian and Slovenian neighborhoods. These churches keep former residents connected to their old neighborhood. Nottingham Presbyterian Church also has a long history and commitment to the area. Historic The neighborhoods on either side of the deteriorating St. Clair corri- dor remain strong. The historic housing stock is in relatively good Neighborhoods condition and there are few vacant lots. The overall vacancy rate of housing units in South Collinwood in 2000 was 12%, approximately the same as the city as a whole. Pre-WWII single family and “Cleveland double” housing types pre- dominate, coexisting with industrial uses. Houses in Collinwood Village south of St. Clair date almost exclusively from 1910 to 1930. North of St. Clair, more of the houses were built before 1910. Not- tingham Village has a mix of houses dating from pre-1910 to the 1950s. Very few of South Collinwood’s homes were built after the 1950s. Almost all of the neighborhood areas, therefore, are poten- tially eligible for local or National Register historic designation. HOUSING VACANCY RATES 5-10% Vacant 10-15% Vacant 15-20% Vacant 20-25 % Vacant 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Miles 5 Moderate Density The overall housing density in South Collinwood, including large tracts of industrial property, is 3.7 units per acre. Within the resi- dential pockets, densities are closer to 5-6 units per acre. Moder- ately high housing densities like Collinwood’s are common to older city neighborhoods and are advantageous in several ways. Higher densities are attractive to retail development because they result in greater buying power (collective disposable income) in the area. Ac- cording to GreatLakesCB’s 2002 Retail Analysis of St. Clair Avenue, South Collinwood’s buying power per acre is greater than that of Richmond Heights or Solon, even though its average income is much lower1. The moderate densities of traditional neighborhoods allow transit and other city services to operate more efficiently. Brick Street in Nottingham Village They also tend to foster a stronger sense of community. Population Growth and From 1990 to 2000, South Collinwood’s population grew 16% while the city as a whole shrank by 5.4%. This is a significant reversal of Diversity population loss from the previous decade when the South Collin- wood SPA’s population declined 18%. In the 1990s the white population in South Collinwood declined by 56%, but the African- American population grew by 1120% from just over 400 to just un- der 5000 people. Collinwood’s diversity is one of its strengths. The increase in the black population opens new opportunities for retail which targets African-American tastes and preferences. Schools As a result of the growth of population in Ward 11, which includes both North Collinwood and South Collinwood, schools are being added, expanded, and rebuilt in the area. Margaret Spellacy Junior High will be closed and Hannah Gibbons Elementary will be enlarged to accommodate 7th and 8th grades. The continued com- mitment of the Cleveland School Board to maintaining a local pub- lic elementary school in South Collinwood will be an attraction for families. Local Catholic schools, supported by Cleveland’s voucher program, are another option for families. Workforce Collinwood has a relatively large skilled and unskilled labor pool. In 1990, unemployment was 12 % in Collinwood, compared with 5.3% in the metropolitan area2. Many employees can potentially walk to work in South Collinwood. This gives Collinwood an industrial re- cruitment advantage over the suburbs where industries often have trouble finding employees. The available workforce in Collinwood is used to promote the area to business and industry. Organization Cleveland has a strong network of neighborhood Community De- velopment Corporations (CDCs). The Collinwood Nottingham Vil- lages CDC works to protect and improve the quality of life for the South Collinwood community. Northeast Shores CDC administers a business revitalization district (BRD) and a storefront program on portions of St. Clair. In the BRD, a design review board approves new development and major changes to properties in accordance with a set of design guidelines. The Cleveland Storefront Program 6 St. Clair Avenue Revitalization gives matching grants for improvements to storefront properties. The Nottingham Civic Club is a private organization that provides regular dialogue between Nottingham Village residents and city rep- resentatives at monthly meetings. REVITALIZATION TOOLS Storefront Program Business Revitalization District Abandoned Building, St. Clair Avenue The Eastside Industrial Retention Initiative (EIRE.net) and the Cleveland Industrial Retention Initiative (CIRI) work to help retain, expand, and attract industrial and manufacturing firms to the Collin- wood area. EIRE.net is a membership-driven organization for busi- nesses and property owners in Wards 10 and 11. CIRI is an eco- nomic development program serving Cleveland east of Martin Lu- ther King Blvd. Supercast, London Road A 1996 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory Services Panel studied the Collinwood area and identified priority areas and strategies for industrial redevelopment. To coordinate efforts to implement the recommendations of the ULI study, EIRE.net, CIRI, the Greater Cleveland Growth Association and the Second Growth Institute joined together to draft the Collinwood Asset Plan. A steering com- mittee was formed and several focus group sessions were held to generate community input on the plan. The plan identified recent and planned industrial investments, potential sources of funding and marketing strategies. The Second Growth Institute is a non-profit organization which was formed in 1997 as a response to the Cleveland Catholic Diocese “Church in the City” initiative. Second Growth’s mission is to fa- cilitate the redevelopment of abandoned and underused urban in- dustrial sites. Second Growth has worked to implement some of the ULI panel’s recommendations. It first tackled the Eaton Axle facility on E. 140th Street, coordinating the remediation, renovation,