Developers: Pennrose Properties, LLC, and Neighborhood Progress, Inc.
Architect: Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC
Major Funders: Enterprise Community Investment, Inc.; PNC Bank; city of Cleveland; Ohio Housing Finance Agency; Ohio Department of Development; Cleveland Foundation; Saint Luke's Foundation; The Gund Foundation
Pennrose Properties, LLC, and Neighborhood Progress, Inc., have teamed up to transform a historic hospital in Cleveland into 137 units of affordable housing for lower-income seniors 55 and older.
Saint Luke's Hospital was built in 1927 and 1929 and had been vacated in 1999. The local architectural landmark was vandalized repeatedly as it sat vacant for 12 years. The development team relied on a complicated funding stack, including stimulus funds, federal and historic tax credits, low-income housing tax credits, HOME funds, and foundation money, to make the $38.7 million Saint Luke's Manor feasible.
Careful attention was taken to preserve the historical exterior façade of the building, and the team worked with the Ohio Historic Preservation Office to find windows, insulation techniques, and HVAC systems that preserved the historic nature of the building in an energy-efficient way. The first two phases are expected to achieve LEED-Silver by the end of the year.
The first phase contains 72 units and is expected to be 100 percent occupied in July. The second phase with 65 units will be available in September.
“We have a number of tenants that were born in the hospital, more that were treated in the hospital, and even some that worked in the hospital,” says Ryan Bailey, development officer at Pennrose. “There is a real love for Saint Luke's in Cleveland.”
