Lorain Avenue

The Lorain Avenue Redevelopment is a proposed 72-unit senior housing development located in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. This project, a partnership between Pennrose LLC and Ohio City Incorporated, will transform the former Thomas F. McCaffery Health Center site into an environmentally sustainable, transit-oriented, and affordable residential community. The development will include ground-floor nonprofit space dedicated to supporting neighborhood residents. The Lorain Avenue Redevelopment will provide affordable housing for households with incomes ranging from 30% to 70% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The development team plans to utilize project based voucher subsidy from the local housing authority. The building will offer a mix of studio and one-bedroom units, along with a range of on-site amenities, including property management services, a fitness center, community room, and a laundry center. 

February 2026 Project Update

Ohio City, Inc. and Pennrose plan to submit two applications for 9% tax credits in February of 2026. Awards will be made in May 2026.

On February 2, 2026, the project team held a community engagement meeting to share information about the proposed Lorain Avenue Redevelopment. Feedback from this meeting will continue to inform project scope, design, ongoing outreach, and project communication. Community members specifically highlighted the importance of enhancing the streetscape along Lorain Avenue, including the addition of more trees. In response, our team plans to work closely with the City of Cleveland to explore opportunities to strengthen and expand the tree line along Lorain Avenue as part of the broader public realm improvements.

Our next Community Engagement Session is anticipated in June following award announcements by OHFA in May.

Changes to the Tax Credit Process

Under the 2026 Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP), age-restricted awards (Senior Projects) and non-age-restricted awards (General Occupancy) are made on a regional basis using a defined funding sequence. Within each region, OHFA ranks eligible projects by score and awards credits in a rotating sequence until the region’s allocation is fully exhausted. Funding begins in rural areas and moves to urban areas.

Within each region, awards are made using the following sequence:

• Step 1: Fund the highest-scoring Rural project, either General Occupancy or Senior.
• Step 2: Fund the highest-scoring project from the opposite funding pool of Step 1. For example, if a General Occupancy project is funded in Step 1, the highest-scoring Senior project would be funded in Step 2.

If more than two projects are funded within a region, OHFA seeks to maintain its targeted funding balance of 60% New Affordability – General Occupancy and 40% New Affordability – Senior Housing by continuing this alternating funding sequence.

In response to this funding structure, the development team is preparing to submit two separate 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit applications to OHFA in 2026, with the goal of securing funding for at least one proposal. The first application is for a proposed 72-unit senior housing development. The second application is for a 62-unit family housing development featuring one-, two-, and three-bedroom units and serving households earning between 30% and 70% of Area Median Income (AMI), along with similar amenities as the senior proposal.

This past fall, the development team was awarded Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) funding, which will serve as the first source of financing committed to the senior housing development, if that project is awarded in May, and supports continued advancement of the project.

We value our continued partnership with the community and remain committed to sharing information as it is available. To that end, the project team has posted initial drawing schemes for both development concepts on the project website.