Over the past two decades, Cleveland has torn down tens of thousands of vacant houses in poor condition. Now the city is trying to find a housing manufacturer that can help fill the gaps created by those empty lots.
The city said this month it wants to recruit a company to make modular housing, promising commitments from developers and builders to buy up to 200 of the houses annually. Unlike traditional residences built from the ground up on a lot, modular housing is partially built in a factory and finished on the house site.
Between the city and surrounding Cuyahoga County, there are 25,000 publicly owned vacant lots available. Many of the “zombie” houses that once occupied those properties were removed after owners abandoned them during the Great Recession starting in 2008, according to Kris Harsh, a Cleveland city councilor.
“A lot of the city’s east side has really been decimated. That’s where the majority of the work will be happening,” Harsh said in an interview. “We’re also looking for a builder who can serve all of Northeast Ohio.”
The city has a 15,000-home shortage, according to its request for proposals from potential manufacturers to build a factory in Cleveland. Providing between 100 and 200 house lots annually to whoever builds the homes will be important to make the factory a worthwhile investment, Harsh said.
The number of new homes built in the metropolitan area in 2023 was roughly 2,700, about 30% below the historical average of 3,500, according to city data. More than half of the existing houses were built before 1940. To address the shortage, the city’s goal is to build 5,000 homes over the next 10 years, including a significant number of detached, single-family homes as well as duplexes and triplexes.
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Modular housing is already under construction in the city, including 24 homes Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity is building, the city said in a statement about the project. The Habitat project is unrelated to the city's search for a modular housing manufacturer.
"These homes are built to high quality standards, often at a lower cost than traditional construction methods,” John Litton, Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity chief executive officer, said in the statement. “The controlled manufacturing environment ensures consistent quality and greater efficiency, allowing us to provide more families with safe, affordable housing options."
The city set a deadline of Jan. 17, 2025, for companies to respond to its request for proposals.