Cleveland Housing Investment Fund Commits Nearly $6 Million to 60-Unit Affordable Development at Depot on Detroit

The Cleveland Housing Investment Fund has committed nearly $6 million to Depot on Detroit, a 60-unit affordable multifamily development at 10300 Detroit Avenue in Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, officials announced at a press event marking the milestone.

The project, developed by Flaherty & Collins Properties and Northwest Neighborhoods CDC, will deliver one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for households earning between approximately $22,000 and $68,000 per year — targeting residents at 30% to 60% of Area Median Income. Monthly rents will range from roughly $500 to $1,450.

Project Details and Financing

Depot on Detroit carries a total development cost of approximately $18.4 million. The four-story building will include 60 outdoor parking spaces and indoor bicycle parking, and is situated on surplus Greater Cleveland RTA land adjacent to the West Boulevard–Cudell Red Line station.

The Cleveland Housing Investment Fund, known as CHIF, contributed approximately $5.76 million — described publicly as nearly $6 million — structured as flexible gap financing. Developers said the CHIF investment was critical to assembling the full capital stack and moving the project forward after roughly three years of pre-development work.

Additional financing sources include Merchants Bank, which provided construction and permanent financing; the City of Cleveland, which contributed HOME funds; Cuyahoga County, which committed $1 million in Emergency Rental Assistance 2 funds; and National Equity Fund, Inc. as an equity partner. The project also carries a HUD Section 811 designation covering 12 supportive housing units for persons with disabilities, and three units are backed by City of Cleveland HOME funds.

CHIF is managed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Cleveland and is backed by public, private and philanthropic partners, including KeyBank and Huntington Bank. The fund was created to give affordable housing developers access to capital that may otherwise be difficult to secure, with a stated goal of raising $100 million to help create 3,000 new housing units for low- to moderate-income residents.

Transit-Oriented Design and Community Siting

City officials described the location as intentional. The site sits directly adjacent to the West Boulevard–Cudell RTA Red Line station and the Detroit Avenue bus corridor, and is walkable to a local recreation center. City leaders said the siting reflects a broader goal of placing affordable housing in areas accessible to public transportation and community services.

The land is surplus Greater Cleveland RTA property, acquired through an option-to-purchase structure — an approach the city and its partners are also replicating for a separate affordable project near the West Park station.

CHIF's First-Year Progress and City Housing Goals

Depot on Detroit represents CHIF's third closed project. In its first year of operation, the fund has raised more than $50 million — roughly halfway toward its $100 million capital target.

"In just one year, we raised over $50 million of new investment," Mayor Justin Bibb said at the press event. "About $50 million short of our goal. So we got more work to do, but also in just one year we have built roughly 216 new units of affordable housing in our city."

Bibb said future efforts will include modular housing construction, a recently launched tax increment financing district, and what the city described as the first housing innovation district of its kind in the country.

Cleveland has set a broader target of building 23,000 housing units by 2030, approximately 10,000 of which are designated as affordable. The city seeded CHIF with an $18 million grant as part of its effort to accelerate affordable housing production.

Sources

LISC Fund Management — Cleveland Housing Investment Fund Celebrates Major Milestone at Depot on Detroit Press Event