Cleveland officials have chosen development and nonprofit teams for nine of the 18 school buildings the Cleveland Metropolitan School District closed, directing the sites toward affordable and senior housing or social-service uses. The picks followed a process of about seven months that opened with February listening sessions and produced 29 proposals covering 12 buildings. Eight groups were selected, mixing real estate developers with nonprofits.
None of the projects is settled. The school board has to approve land transfers to the city before anything moves, and the chosen developers or their partners must still line up financing, which the city describes as slow and uncertain for large projects in aging school buildings. Timing adds pressure: once a building has sat empty for a year, districts have a harder time avoiding an Ohio requirement to offer such properties to charter schools first.
Mayor Justin Bibb, speaking at a Collinwood town hall, said the city had an immediate repurposing plan for the 18 closing sites and that he did not want charters he considers unaccountable acquiring them.
Selections include ThirdSpace Action Lab for Michael R. White, Winn Development with First Interstate Bank for Collinwood High School, MCM Co. for Charles A. Mooney and Mary Church Terrell, The Finch Group for Kenneth W. Clement Boys' Leadership Academy, Sustainable Community Associates for Tremont Montessori, and the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority for Dike School of the Arts. Two sites are set for sale-and-lease-back arrangements: Canopy Child Advocacy Center at Bolton and Rehoboth Cares at Hannah Gibbons-Nottingham.
Adlai Stevenson, Alfred A. Benesch and Louisa May Alcott drew no developer, so CMSD and city planners will develop plans for them, a city spokesperson said. Seven other sites would be swapped for city property, with possible residential tax abatements or Cleveland Housing Investment Fund grants. The board is scheduled to consider transferring three schools for fire and EMS use. About 230 residents gave feedback in February, and officials said community input will continue.