I love when people still call Slavic Village, Slavic Village, which isn’t
often anymore. It seems to be being rolled into South Broadway, which makes
sense, it hasn’t been a Slav neighborhood, well most of my life. Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you white flight. But all that aside, Slavic Village has a fun a long
history, which took a turn for national recognition during the foreclosing
crisis in 2007, where it has been called “ground zero.” CLEVELAND!
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Michelle
Jarboe McFee wrote a story about Slavic Village’s potential comeback funded
by private companies. Anyone familiar with me or Cleveland knows I typed that
with hesitation. After all, the Browns have entered their second rebuilding decade.
And I really hate the idea that private companies are going to deliver us all
from poverty. If I had a self-congratulatory masturbation gif, I’d insert that
here (that isn’t an invitation to send one).
Let me start by telling you what Cleveland does with foreclosed houses in
Slavic Village we bulldoze them. People freeze to death in Cleveland during the
winter, and we destroy houses to prevent squatters; Slavic Village has more of
a “squatter problem” than “homeless problem”. I understand the logic, I do. There
is something unbelievable cold and cruel about this. People strip the copper
piping out of the houses and then they burn down because of 100 year old wiring,
which is the motivation behind this.
Slavic Village is one of the most depressing looking places in winter
with gray snow and slush on the roads and a coating of salt on everything.
There are large vacant lots where homes used to be. Houses are boarded up with
a variety of colors of spray painted information on the doors to indicate
drugs, foreclosure, and if copper remains inside this on top of the declining storefronts.
There is little business left here. When I think of distopenian futures where
society is in decline and people have decreased in numbers, I think of my home.
People rounded because of layering just kind of wander in the streets, and
there is nothing to do with a backdrop of buildings in disrepair and vacancies:
homes, businesses, and lots. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not beating up on
Cleveland. I love Cleveland, and I love Slavic Village. But things are bleak
and have been for a while. This doesn’t even include a summary of the rolling
our police force into another district, the violent crime, the drugs, and
gangs. This is just what it looks like any mid-morning in winter. Of course we
still have some things. Slavic Village still has a strong community development
corporation, recreation facilitates, and business, which includes Third Federal
Savings and Loan (last time I checked not many locals employed here).
Back to Jarboe McFee’s article. A private-philanthropic partnership has
focused on Slavic Village to acquire, renovate, and sell or rent out the houses
left vacant from the foreclosing crisis. The number looks like about 50 houses
to start, but could grow to hundreds in the southeast side of Cleveland. The
company appears to be a joint venture composed of Neighborhood Progress Inc.,
Slavic Village Development, Forest City Enterprises Inc., and Safeguard
Properties (their founder is Robert Klein). The group is focusing on a specific
530-acre slice of Slavic Village with between 23 and 30 percent vacant homes
(according to Neighborhood Progress Inc. and Slavic Village Development).
Personal fact, this includes where my parents still live (north of Fleet on E
54th).
This effort doesn’t rely on public money. Instead private sector
investment layered with targeted public services for example swift demolition
for quick development. The leaders think this promises profit and alleviating
the communities from the weight of the empty homes. Neighborhood Progress and Slavic
Village Development expect to sign an operating agreement this week with Forest
City and Robert Klein. The non-profits will own 10% of Slavic Village
Recovery LLC, the rest will be split between Forest City and Klein’s RIK
Enterprise LLC.
Each group gets one vote on how the project is run. Councilman Tony
Brancatelli said, “It’s a complicated endeavor, but it’s very simple in terms
of what we’re trying to accomplish. We are really looking at market recovery in
one of the hardest-hit communities in the United States.”
Slavic Village Development is going to identify the houses that need to
be razed and provide a list to the city this will speed up demolition.
Meanwhile, Slavic Village Recovery LLC will pinpoint houses that can be saved
and purchase hem from lenders, mortgage services, or the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization
Corp, the country’s land bank. The land bank takes houses after the county
forecloses on delinquent property tax and received near-worthless properties
from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Mortgage
giant Fannie Mae. Most of these structures can’t be saved. So far the land bank
has demolished 201 houses in Slavic Village since 2009 and only developed 20. If
this is effective the land bank can focus on the neighborhood and not the
redevelopment.
Klein is a proponent of fast-tracking the foreclosure process and
eliminate the empty homes in neighborhoods. Most likely because he’s a
capitalist. “Klein believes lenders will give away those troubled houses,
starting in Slavic Village, to get the burden off their books.
“His goal: Get a house for free or fore very little money. Invest $40,000
to $50,000 in renovations, using Safeguard’s national network of contractors to
lower the cost. Then sell the house for $60,000, turning a small profit and
providing affordable housing in the city neighborhood.”
Call me cynical. Actually, go ahead. I’ll believe this when I see it.
Government redevelopment has longer timelines, but they tend to use local labor
and actually focus on the neighborhoods. I’m not convinced that is what is
going on here.
Marie Kittredge, who leads Slavic Village Development said, “Not that
there’s not a role for the public sector, but when we keep relying on them to
bail us out, it gets more and more costly because of their limitations. Being
able to rehab at scale is the only way to get ourselves back on an even playing
field.”
Kittredge noted that Slavic Village Development can only fix up 20 houses
a year when the neighborhood has more than 400 homes in need. Slavic Village
Recovery hopes to sell 15 of the first 50 and rent the other 35. Renovations could
start in the next few months.
So this is kind of an experiment as well to see if this model can work in
neighborhoods. Forest City will focus on marketing, promotion, and property
management. Neighborhood Progress will provide market data, digging for vacant,
foreclosed, and troubled real estate (this is a concerning phrase). Slavic Village
Development will handle daily opps and work with the community to engage
repairs to occupied homes and neighborhood clean-up.
Alan Mallach, senior fellow at Brookings Institution (nonresident) who
has studied housing challenges in Cleveland and other cities said, “I think it’s
a very interesting idea, and I’m hopeful it’s going to work. What I really like
is the fact that all these people, as I understand it, are really trying to
take a comprehensive approach to the area where they are working. It’s not I’ll
fix up this house and I’ll fix up that house.”
Mallach posed two questions:
“Can the Slavic Village group churn out high-quality renovations without
subsidy and sell or rent the homes at a profit?
And if so, will there be enough demand to fill the houses without
cannibalizing other Cleveland neighborhoods?”
To these
questions, I have to say I’m not sure. Cleveland schools are shitty, so
families with kids probably won’t want even the renovated homes. As I mentioned
briefly, Slavic Village’s police force is now shared with another district.
Cleveland has been hemorrhaging their population for a while. I do hope this is
successful, and doesn’t exploit the neighborhood or the people they claim to be
aiming to help.
