YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Two years ago, a single-block street on the east side of Mill Creek Park, just off Glenwood Avenue, was closed to traffic, most of it overcome by brush and weeds.
Bernard Street, as it was then named, was also consumed with debris, and at one time became a refuge for errant dumping.
“It was overgrown. There wasn’t much here,” said Ian Beniston, executive director of Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.
Wednesday morning, though, the organization and its numerous partners celebrated the resurrection of this city block, with three recently completed single-family homes, three new houses under construction, new sidewalks, a freshly paved road and a new street name.
“This proves that there’s nothing in Youngstown that’s dead,” said Councilman Julius Oliver, 1st Ward, as he and others participated in a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction on the new dwellings. “There’s nothing that can’t be brought back.”
Oliver also introduced the street’s new name: Cliff View Street. He said the name incorporates the neighborhood’s history – initially known as Cliff Street – while presenting a vision moving forward. It is also so named because the side road is perched atop a high point that provides a panoramic view of the city’s downtown.
“There aren’t many streets like this,” Beniston said. “We’re also a block from Mill Creek Park. We thought that this block had some unique attributes that made it opportune for new housing development.”
Construction on three new houses on the street’s north side began during the summer and were completed in the fall, Beniston said. Each house has since been sold and are now occupied. The new houses were sold at approximately $200,000 apiece.
The first phase of the project was partially funded through allocations from Oliver’s share of American Rescue Plan money that the city received because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “That helped fill the gap on the first three houses, as well as some of the infrastructure that needed done here.”
The second phase of the project – the construction of three additional single-family houses –is already underway, as excavators and earth movers were busy preparing the sites. This phase, Beniston said, was made possible from funding through the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Home Investment Partnership program.
The entire neighborhood development project cost approximately $2 million, Beniston said. Of that, $500,000 of ARP money was used during Phase I and another $400,000 from the Home Investment program was allocated for Phase II. The remainder was provided through construction financing from PNC Bank during the first phase, and Premier Bank on the second phase, he said.
“We pay off the financing when we sell off the homes,” Beniston said.
Beniston also thanked partners such as the Mahoning County Land Bank, which helped assemble the parcels needed for the redevelopment project.
“It’s about a spirit of collaboration – that no single entity could do this alone,” said Debora Flora, the land bank’s executive director. “Despite everything this community has been through over time, we’ve never completely lost our hope.”
This year, YNDC expects to start on approximately 45 new houses and another 20 or so rehabilitation projects, Beniston said.
“As we continue to move forward with a housing strategy, we’re going to do more of this,” Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said. “We are doing what we need to do to continue the momentum for out next generation.”
Pictured at top: From left are Ian Beniston, YNDC executive director; Councilman Julius Oliver; Mayor Jamael Tito Brown; and Debora Flora, executive director of the Mahoning County Land Bank.