Now celebrating its centennial, the historic Henry W. Longfellow School in Cleveland has been redeveloped into affordable senior apartments.
The project was selected as the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Award for redevelopment of the year for Cleveland, as judged by a local team of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
The longtime Cleveland public school in the city's Collingwood neighborhood has come full circle. After closing in 2011, the building received national landmark status. The Cleveland Restoration Society and Cleveland Municipal School District partnered to seek adaptive reuse proposals, and Vesta Corporation stepped in to develop The Longfellow senior apartments.
The housing developer took on the challenge of converting the historic school building into a space for 80 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Vesta incorporated original school elements, such as vintage chalkboards and cabinets, into the design of the apartments and common areas, preserving the building's history and character.
In addition to renovating the existing school building, Vesta also constructed a new building on the campus to hold 50 additional apartments and 3,000 square feet for dedicated social activity.
About the Project: The project represented a $23.7 million investment, and the capital stack includes state historic tax credits. Original school architect Walter McCornack was one of the first American designers to advocate for affordable housing. The former auditorium now serves as The Longfellow's community center and the gymnasium is now a fitness area.
What the Judges Said: "This will show revitalization for the neighborhood, assist its senior population and provide a gathering location to local community groups," said Richard Kassouf, owner/broker with New Hope Realty.
"The biggest challenge being faced by most cities across the country, and Cleveland being no exception, is lack of workforce and low-income housing. Adaptive reuse of historic buildings, putting them back in service to meet the established needs in the market, is truly deserving of recognition. The state removing the ability to combine historic tax credits with low-income tax credits has made projects like this one more challenging. Finding a way to fill the capital stack and successfully deliver low-income senior housing in this beautiful historic school was a great achievement," said Antonin Robert, president of community development, GBX Group.
They Made It Happen: Arthur Greenblatt, Jaime Larkin and Aaron Greenblatt of Vesta Corp.; Arne Goldman and Jared Freeman of Marous Brothers Construction; Kathleen Crowther of the Cleveland Restoration Society; Michael D. Polensek, Cleveland City Council member, Ward 8; Tony Love of Bellwether Enterprise; Kelly Frank of KeyBank; Michael Sanbury of LDA Architects; Margo Kelleher of Lifelong Learning.