The Uptown Expansion EB-5 Project

The Uptown Expansion Project is CiF’s fourth EB-5 project and the second development in Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood to receive EB-5 funding (CiF also issued an EB-5 loan to University Hospitals that partially financed construction of the Seidman Cancer Center in University Circle.) Developed by local real estate company MRN Ltd., the Uptown Expansion is a mixed-use project located on corner of Euclid Avenue and Ford Drive and builds off of the initial Uptown development.

The first Uptown development saw the construction of two three-story buildings, each divided into market-rate apartments on the top floors and retail space on the ground floor. The Uptown expansion mimics this layout, placing living space on the upper floors and retail space on the ground floor of a single, six-story building. The expansion is located just south of the original Uptown project site, situated across Euclid Avenue from Cleveland’s new Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) and a block southeast of the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) main campus.

The proximity to CIA and MoCA (not to mention the Cleveland Museum of Art, located about a quarter mile to the east of Uptown) is important because half of the 84 apartment units in the Uptown expansion are reserved for CIA students. This is a beneficial arrangement for the both the developer and CIA since, for the developer, it guarantees the apartments will be leased and for CIA it means they can use Uptown’s high quality residential options to help attract prospective students.

The rest of the Uptown expansion residences are leased out as market-rate apartments, available in studio and one-bedroom layouts. All the buildings in the Uptown development were designed by award-winning San Francisco architect Stanley Saitowitz and the distinctive aluminum and concrete buildings are attracting numerous residents; from the medical community, to graduate students, to empty-nesters.

The retail component in Uptown’s ground floor is an integral part of the development and it has helped to create a central commercial district within University Circle. Though home to premier medical and cultural institutions, the neighborhood was lacking diverse retail options. However the addition of street level retail along Euclid Avenue has helped create a vibrant ‘downtown’ atmosphere and given a previously empty section of Euclid a real sense of place.

CiF is glad to have been involved with the Uptown Expansion project. The completion of this project has helped support one of Cleveland’s vital neighborhoods by adding high quality residential and commercial space to the community.

http://cifeb5.blogspot.in/2015/10/eb5workscleveland11.html

Mentions

• Uptown Expansion Project
• Cleveland International Fund, Ltd

States

• Ohio