State Parks to return to local hands

Northeast Shores is very excited that the Governor's proposed budget includes a provision to return our state parks (Euclid Beach, Wildwood, and Villa Angela) to local hands. We are diligently working with the MetroParks to make sure that the future of these parks is strong.

Councilman Polensek shared the following press release regarding this news:

Mayor Jackson Urges State of Ohio to Terminate Lease for Cleveland Lakefront Parks, including three in Ward 11
Councilman Polensek has long championed the termination of the lease to return these properties to the city 

CLEVELAND (February 7, 2013) – Cleveland City Councilman, Michael D. Polensek, Ward 11, personally thanked Mayor Frank G. Jackson for his action in urging and asking the State of Ohio to terminate their 50-year lease with the City of Cleveland pertaining to the Cleveland Lakefront State Park System. Councilman Polensek, who has three Lakefront State Parks in his ward, the historic Euclid Beach, Villa Angela Beach and Wildwood Marina, has long championed and advocated the termination of the lease and the return of these critical and historic properties back to the City of Cleveland. 

Councilman Polensek states, “for far too long the State of Ohio has neglected its responsibility along our precious lakefront. It is time for us to go in a new direction by reclaiming these parks and ultimately working with the Cleveland MetroParks System to create a real “Emerald Necklace” that would incorporate all of our lakefront parks and properties into a regional MetroParks System.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create the kind of recreational facilities and economic development opportunities that we all have longed for in Northeast Ohio. Now is the time is for bold steps to be taken.” 

Councilman Polensek looks forward to working with Mayor Frank G. Jackson, State Representative Bill Patmon, who represents the Northeast Side of the City, the Governor’s Office and ODNR to make this dream a reality so all Greater Clevelanders may benefit. 

For additional information or if there are any questions please feel free to contact  Councilman Polensek. He may be reached at his office at (216) 664-4236.

Taste the Neighborhood (5th Annual)

Taste the Neighborhood is the only fundraiser that Northeast Shores Development Corporation has. We do this event once a year to try to raise funds and recognize people and businesses in the North Shore Collinwood area that go above and beyond to help improve the Quality of Life in the community.

The award recipients this year will be in the following categories:

North Collinwood Hall of Fame - Francis Hunter for her dedication to North Collinwood.

Partner of the Year - Neighborhood Housing Services for partnering with us in the Cover Your Assets Roofing Program.

Business Investment of the Year - Muldoons owner Billy Dagg for providing the “Neighborhood Gathering Place” a wonderful outdoor patio.

Block Club of the Year  - Shore Acres Block Club/Homeowners Association for their dedication to their neighborhood.

Volunteer of the Year  - Leonard “Lenny” Kedys for his many hours of volunteer work repainting the marquee on the LaSalle Theater

This year’s event promises to be the best Taste the Neighborhood in the five years that we have been hosting this event. We will again have over 20 restaurants and eateries donating food. North Collinwood boasts some of the best ethnic food around. We have Greek, Italian, Slovenian, Lithuanian, Croatian, Irish, Mexican, Barbecue, comfort food and desserts from all over North Collinwood. We have many new restaurants that have recently opened and many set to open in the near future. 

Come try the many tasty dishes that these eateries have to offer. February 19, 2013 from 6-9 Tickets are going fast. They are $25. in advance and $30. the day of the event. The event will once again be held at the Lithuanian Hall 877 East 185th St., Cleveland, OH 44119. You can purchase your tickets from Denise Lorek at (216)-481-7660.

Draft Action Letter - HUD Homes

After several requests, we are posting this boilerplate letter to submit to elected officials regarding the elimination of the HUD Homes program.

Dear ______:

I am writing today to ask that you look into the recent decision by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to cancel its sales of post-foreclosure homes to the Cuyahoga County Land Bank at a deep discount.  

I am sure you know the story of the recently created county land banks in Ohio.  In Cuyahoga County, the land bank is making a real difference for urban redevelopers by serving as a clearinghouse for rectifying the most title-clouded properties on the market.  

Historically, HUD's presence in the chain of title has been a death knell for many properties.  The program that shifted these HUD homes into the land bank has been far more successful than previous efforts to push HUD-foreclosed homes directly into the hands of developers.  In Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood in particular, real strides are being made to put this housing stock back into the private market.  One such program is bringing artists from across the country to the Collinwood neighborhood in concert with numerous other arts-based neighborhood development initiatives in the area.  Please do what you can to reverse HUD's change of policy.

Thanks,

Action Alert - HUD Homes

The Plain Dealer recently reported that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development will cancel its ongoing deal to sell post-foreclosure homes to the Cuyahoga Land Bank at a deep discount.

As many of you are aware, Northeast Shores has aggressively used this program to create nearly 30 homeownership opportunities in our neighborhood since the Land Bank opened in 2010. This program allowed us to sell homes to interested buyers for as little as $5,000. In a few circumstances, these homes were completely rehabilitated and sold for nearly $100,000. These homeownership opportunities allowed us to further attract artists to the neighborhood, remove the number of blighting structures by returning them to productive use, and increase the rate of neighborhood homeownership.

During a time when our community is still dealing with the aftereffects of the foreclosure tsunami, it is essential that we are able to continue to provide these opportunities for homeownership. We are currently under-supplied due to a significant uptick in artist demand from across the country. As we are finally seeing a possible neighborhood recovery, it is critical that this program continue so our plans can proceed.

Please take just a few moments out of your busy schedule and contact your senators and representatives and let them know that they need to reverse this bad decision. Even if you do not live or work in the Collinwood community, this is a national decision that needs further examination.

It is very rare that we ask you to reach out to Congress on our behalf. Please help!

If you missed the Plain Dealer stories, they can be read here:

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/12/us_department_of_housing_and_u.html

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/12/hud_abandons_land_bank_deal_--.html

To get contact information for your member of Congress, please use the following links:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Collinwood Rising - December

Our December question from ArtPlace was recently responded to. Check out our response below (and our new website welcometocollinwood.com)

Question:

What has been the thorniest issue you've faced to date?  How have you dealt with it?

Brian:  The thorniest issue we have been facing is getting additional site control while also managing increased interest from for-profit developers.  Northeast Shores acts as a developer of last resort, rehabilitating abandoned housing and acquiring parcels of vacant land for new construction. Our mission is to provide artists and other potential residents with affordable rental units, the opportunity to own their own homes, and an avenue to contribute to an increased level of neighborhood investment, pride and stability. We’re the lead provider of housing in North Shore Collinwood and we’ve successfully worked with a wide range of individuals from first-time homebuyers to empty nesters.  Over the last 10 years, our activities have resulted in over $42 million in neighborhood investment. Northeast Shores has substantially rehabbed over 125 existing homes and built over 60 new homes in our 15 year existence. As a result of our success, we’ve been introduced to another issue. Because artists are at the core of our marketing efforts, they have historically made up a significant portion of our home buyers. Over the past few years, however, general demand for our homes has substantially increased. Qualified non-artists are increasingly expressing interest in our homes. The supply of vacant houses on which we work is staying relatively small, while demand is increasing.

Because of this, it is becoming more difficult to make sure artists are having access to this opportunity. Similarly, demands for commercial spaces in our neighborhood have increased significantly, particularly in our Waterloo Arts and Entertainment District. Artists are now seeking a shrinking supply of commercial space opposite other potential tenants and owners, including a number of restaurant tenants seeking to open in 2013 such as Alan Glazen’s Project Light Switch.  The remaining commercial vacancies are often the ones that require the greatest degree of rehab investment, with many requiring major improvements to electrical, plumbing as well as heating and cooling systems. To justify the costs of these expenditures, Northeast Shores needs tenants and owners with robust, sustainable business plans. The non-commercial nature of many artists’ work means that it can be more difficult to provide them ownership opportunities.

Despite these challenges and our current endeavors in the neighborhood, we are continuously planning for the community's future. Northeast Shores remains more committed than ever to providing artists with pathways to space ownership. We’ve launched a $150,000 small loan pool to help artists finance art space that’s not traditionally easy to finance through residential and commercial mortgages. We’ve also launched a $125,000 grant program that provides artists with funds to support their community art projects, both as a way to address community priorities through the arts and as a way to provide artists with a direct revenue stream for the work that they want to do. Through ArtPlace’s investment, we’re able to justify holding a number of properties that we are developing specifically for artists.