CLEVELAND — It's been almost one year since ground was broken on CentroVilla25 turning a vacant warehouse into a cultural hub in the heart of Cleveland’s Clark Fulton neighborhood. There’s a possibility the doors will open by this fall.
At Tropical Bay Latin restaurant, through different dishes and flavors, Dayana Pizarro gives her customers a taste of home.
“There's Dominican and Puerto Rican in this way, even flavored it's not as spicy and all that stuff. It just makes me very proud. Teaching other people, my culture,” said Pizarro.
Soon, thanks to a new expansion, her reach will go beyond the walls of her current shop in Broadview Heights to the heart of the Clark Fulton neighborhood in CentroVilla25. There, she’ll run a rum bar with small eats.
CentroVilla25 has been years in the making, from the digital prints to the groundbreaking. Now it’s hard to miss the colorful painted 32,000 square foot warehouse shining down West 25th Street.
“It's intended to be a place where culture and community meet and engage and celebrate the rich Latino history and culture right here in our city,” said Jenice Contreras, the president and CEO of Northeast Ohio’s Hispanic Center for Economic Development
Major progress is underway inside the building, where they’ll have indoor and outdoor event spaces, offices, a commercial kitchen as well as multiple business opportunities.
“There will 20 micro retailers in the kiosks spaces, we have five anchor tenants, so that includes our empanada factory, pizza shop or bar operator,” said Contreras.
Within those walls, Contreras hopes to see Northeast Ohio’s rich Latin community come together.
“Having a place to connect. I think that's something anyone that leaves their country of origin always longed for, as well as really celebrating the culture and the vibrancy of our community,” said Contreras.
“You feel homesick. I wish I can have all this good food. All this people around me,” said Pizarro.
People like Pizarro can finally experience a place of their own here in Cleveland
“That's what I’m looking for, to be with all my Latino community all together, getting together and offering them our appetizer food and all this stuff,” said Pizzaro.
They say phase one will open by the fall, and if all goes well, CentroVilla25 could be fully running by the end of the year.
