An Ohio City living facility housing mentally ill seniors is shutting down, and it is not clear where the residents will go. Developers plan to turn the iconic Vantage Place building into apartments.
Vantage Place owner Thomas Scheiman announced the closure on October 16.
The facility gets assistance from The Medicaid Assisted Living Waiver program. Scheiman said the program had not increased rates in years, and it was becoming more difficult to get new residents qualified for participation.
Scheiman said the doors won’t shut for good until all seniors are relocated.
“The [Vantage Point] staff is making every effort to see to it that the residents are placed in the most integrated and appropriate facility…taking into consideration the needs, choices and best interests of each resident,” Scheiman said.
Independence-based developer, The Dalad Group, purchased the building and will turn it into an apartment complex, with construction starting in late 2019.
Vice President of Development and Construction with the Dalad Group, Andrew Iarussi, said he is working with Ohio City Inc., the City of Cleveland and nearby property owners to figure out the best renovation.
“Rather than market the property through a broker, the owner wanted to work directly with a buyer that would be able to revitalize the site and reposition the historic facility,” Iarussi said.
Executive Director of the non-profit organization Ohio City Inc., Tom McNair, said the closure is unfortunate for seniors living in the building, but it is an opportunity for new development in Ohio City.
“It’s time for a new evolution of that space,” he said. “It’s a really unfortunate situation, where the funding that supported those operations is being phased out.”
McNair said there is a lot of history in the more than 150-year-old building.
The mansion has dozens of rooms that can easily be transformed into apartments, as well as large common spaces. It is an old covenant, which became dormitories for nuns.
The determined future of the Vantage Place is proof of the blossoming developments in Ohio City.
“We’ve seen about 100 new businesses open. Right now, we have nearly half a billion dollars in development that has either been recently completed or is underway,” McNair said.
As for what type of apartments will pop up late next year, that’s still up in the air.
“All we can do at this point is work with the future owners, and try to ensure that we are doing a development that makes sense for the neighborhood,” McNair said.
