CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council has given a million dollars to a local nonprofit to help build a new senior living apartment complex on Detroit Avenue.
One out of five adults in Cleveland are over the age of 60, and Department of Aging Director Mary McNamara said a lot of those seniors don't want to leave Cleveland.
"People are living longer and healthier lives every day," said McNamara. "As their needs change, perhaps moving from a two-family house to a more accessible place, they want to find that kind of housing in a place that's still close to their place of worship, where they shop, where their friends are."
To meet the needs of changing demographics, the nonprofit Northwest Neighborhoods is building a 51-unit senior living apartment on West 80th Street and Detroit Avenue named Karam Senior Living.
Marketing Director Josh Jones-Forbes said it would fit all the needs of adults 55 and over. Each room will be handicap accessible, there's a 24-hour bus line in front, and the new Walz Branch of the Cleveland Public Library will be on the ground level. There is also a health campus across the street and food options nearby.
"We have a lot of vulnerable senior residents here in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood," said Forbes. "There are displacement pressures; it gets more and more expensive and expensive to live here."
Rent will also be catered to lower-income residents at a fixed rate based on area median income.
"That keeps rent down into the low hundreds," Forbes added.
McNamara said there's a waitlist for affordable senior living in Cleveland, and Karam Senior Living will help combat that problem.
"We are really excited to have that multi-generational space and also a true community hub," said Forbes.
While the Cleveland City Council's award was a great financial boost, Northwest Neighborhoods still needs less than $500,000 in additional funding. They hope to break ground this year.
