The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Council approves project
Apartments to replace junkyard in South Lorain
A project to replace a junkyard with new affordable apartment units will be a showpiece for South Lorain, city officials said.
But current residents have misunderstood the nature of a new complex with up to 60 units and retail space planned at Grove Avenue and Homewood Drive, said Ward 6 Councilman Rey Carrion.
The future tenants there will be regular working people, Carrion said.
On Dec. 20, Lorain City Council voted 11-0 for a zoning change that would allow Cleveland-based NRP Group to build at 2261 Homewood Drive.
The 4.35-acre site is the former Hills department store and power equipment salvage yard that also uses the address 3725 Grove Ave.
For years, city officials have targeted the building and land as an eyesore for junked cars and trucks and other property code violations.
NRP Group is seeking to change zoning from R-3 Residential to B-2 Business.
The commercial space would be designed for community services.
The project prompted another round of praise from Lorain’s elected leaders, including Mayor Jack Bradley, who said the project will be top notch.
Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski said it will be “such an improvement, night and day from what is currently there.”
Councilman-at-Large Mitch Fallis called it a significant upgrade to a corridor that leads into the city.
But South Lorain residents have a misperception about the apartment complex and their future neighbors, Carrion said.
The project will use a low-income housing tax credit in its financing plan, he said.
The residents fear creation of an “extremely lowincome development,” Carrion said.
“They have a lot of fear, a lot of concerns, and I want them to be reassured that that’s not what this project is,” he said. “This project will focus on affordable housing, affordable housing has many components.”
The project will work with the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority to offer some units.
But the majority of the units will be occupied by regular hard working people who will spend a lot of their money on rent, Carrion said.
In the new units, residents will spend up to 30 percent of their income on rent, allowing them to save money or spend it on groceries, medical care “or just living,” he said.
He, Bradley, Springowski, Safety-Service Director Sanford Washington and Building, Housing and Planning Director Max Upton toured NRP Group apartments in the Cleveland area.
“This is the message that needs to be said, and I’m telling you, probably the majority of the calls that I have received are from folks that are not too pleased with the project because they don’t understand it,” Carrion said. “It’s going to be a quality project with quality retail on the first floor.”
The first-floor tenants have not been revealed yet, but once the public knows what is coming, they will be reassured, he said.