Vacant building in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood causing safety concerns

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A local man says he worries about his safety every time he walks by an old, vacant building. It’s falling apart, littering the ground with dangerous chunks of wood and brick.

He said the city ignored his complaints, so he decided to call the 19 Troubleshooters for help.

“No one wants to take pride in their neighborhood when they see incidents like this going on,” said Walter, a Hough Neighborhood resident.

People living in the Hough neighborhood are frustrated.

Walter, who didn’t want to give his last name, says he’s been living in the area since the 70′s.

He’s seen plenty of revitalization and improvement recently, but says buildings like this give the neighborhood a bad name.

“This building here seems to stand out as an eye sore,” said Walter. “It contradicts everything else that’s going on in the area.”

Not only is it ugly, it’s dangerous.

“Do you ever worry about your safety?” 19 News asked. “Constantly,” said Walter. “As you can see, debris is falling on to the street, it’s falling on to the sidewalk. Young children walk by here, constantly, daily, on a daily basis, going back and forth to school.”

If you take a quick walk down the sidewalk on Hough Avenue, you can’t miss the debris and risks involved with getting near the building. That’s why Walter says he wants something done now.

“I would like them to either renovate this building, renovate an apartment building suitable for cohabitation, inhabitants, or have it torn down,” said Walter.

He says the city ignored his concerns. That’s when he called the 19 Troubleshooters to get answers.

We discovered a local company called Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures became the developer of the property in 2021. That’s according to Cleveland development blog “NeoTrans.”

We tried to call the company ourselves, but the call went straight to voicemail.

We learned through a limited partner of the project that the property is still in the planning stages and awaiting the funding needed to start construction.

So what can be done about this mess in the meantime? Hard to say. We called the city to find out and were forwarded to another voicemail.

A frustrating outcome Tuesday, but we’ll stay on the city and the new developers of this property until we get answers and action.

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