City-Owned Vacant Lot Set for Habitat Home

The city-owned plot of land on Dowd Avenue — the home once deemed a “persistent blight” and — is now the future location of an energy-efficient, 1600-square-feet home.

The plans for an arts-and-crafts-style bungalow at were unveiled last week at the city’s architectural board of review.

Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity will oversee the project.

Thomas Meyer, the operations director for Habitat for Humanity, presented plans for the four-bedroom, 1600-square-feet home.

He said the home is designed to “blend in with the surrounding market-homes” in appearance, scale and proportion.

City officials are looking forward to the project.

“This isn’t the Habitat that we're familiar with of 10 to 15 years ago,” said Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development. “The projects they’re doing now are really high-quality, and well-crafted homes.

“The other good news is that this project will cost the city almost nothing.”

Kay Bacho, a nearby resident who lives on Halstead Avenue, had her reservations. Then, she saw the architectural renderings.

“It looks very nice,” she said.

Mary Louise Madigan, the city councilwoman who represents the neighborhood where the home is slated for construction, shared some of the same optimism.

 “I put my faith in this building,” she said. “I am very happy to have (Habitat for Humanity) as a partner.”

The city had a with the property. 

As part of its program to around the city, officials had hoped to get a bid for less than the $200,000 federal Neighborhood Stabilization grant awarded to pay for the construction of a new home.

But the lone bid on the project wasn’t even close to the city’s projections. 

The bid came in at $275,000 — or $175 per square foot. The city had targeted $119 per square foot.

“We went back to the drawing board,” said Siley.