Cleveland seeking qualifications to turn McCafferty Health Center site into affordable Ohio City housing

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CLEVELAND (WJW) — The city of Cleveland is looking for real estate developers that are qualified to turn a 1.3-acre site along Lorain Avenue in Ohio City into affordable rentals.

The Thomas F. McCafferty Health Center, a 19,000-square-foot clinic built in the 1970s at the West 44th Street intersection, is “largely underutilized,” reads a Thursday news release. Right now, about a quarter of its space houses the Cleveland Department of Public Health, which is planning to move its clinical services soon.

The vision for redevelopment includes nonprofit or social services prioritizing low-income residents, as well as a public gathering space, according to the city’s request for qualifications . The site would be leased long-term to the developer, while the city would retain ownership.

According to the Cleveland 2030 Housing Equity Plan , about 9,300 homeowner households and 23,600 renter households were severely cost-burdened — meaning necessary housing costs accounted for at least half of their income — at the time the plan was developed in 2021, toward the end of former mayor Frank Jackson’s administration.

“In order to sustain a vibrant and equitable city, we believe that it’s critical to maintain and create housing opportunities where individuals do not have to pay more than 30% of their income on this basic need,” Trudy Andrzejewski, bureau chief of neighborhood revitalization in the city’s Department of Community Development, is quoted in the release. “Projects like this are an opportunity for the city to play a part in reducing the intense housing cost burden of Clevelanders at various income levels, in this case, focused on the rental market.”

The deadline to submit an RFQ is Oct. 1. Officials plan to pick a developer by Nov. 1.

A virtual informational session is planned for 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6. Register here .

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