Recent Developments

Major residential project expansions occurred in 2003 with the 20-unit Villa Carabelli; in 2005 with the 15-unit Random Road Lofts townhomes; and in 2011 with the 27-unit 27 Coltman townhouses.

The 13-unit three story loft condominium building was planned to infill sensitively on vacant property in the neighborhood.

City Architecture

These 27 Townhouses, developed by Adobe Modern Lifestyle Developers and designed by DIMIT Architects, occupy a brownfield site east of downtown Cleveland, close to Case Western Reserve University. Cement board and wood laminate exteriors give the development a modern prominence from the adjacent train tracks.
27 Coltman [has an] industrial, urban edge site located between Cleveland’s Little Italy historic neighborhood, and a major east/west railway right of way.Because of this boundary nature, we were able to conceive of the townhouse design as more of a modern residential buffer wall, providing wide open ‘modern loft style’ spaces that frame views of the traditional neighborhood residences to the east, and an equally interesting view of the passing trains and commuter trolley’s to the west.
American Architecture Review

The Villa Carabelli Townhomes are unusual in that they are a project of neighboring Alta House, a settlement house built to serve the earlier generations of Italian immigrants to Little Italy and named for one of John D. Rockefeller’s daughters. They were built to create an endowment for the social services work, done on a $400,000 yearly budget by the settlement, on land owned by it.

The homes themselves are named after famous sculptor Joseph Carabelli and the company of stonemasons responsible for much of the masonry and sculpture seen in Lake View Cemetery across Mayfield from the townhouses.

“Alta House owned this two acres of land, and was an important asset,” says Volpe. “We looked at a multitude of ways to develop it.” The criteria: the new project should be in scale with and contextually appropriate to the neighborhood, with upscale, for-sale housing, “dense enough to provide substance but not overcrowded, with self-sufficient parking.” High-end residents will bring new energy to the area. –
from: BXMagazine Article

Urban redevelopment provides numerous opportunities to builders, particularly smaller ones, for whom a small lot can present a world of opportunity. Villa Carabelli Townhomes in Cleveland, for example, turned an underutilized 1.4-acre parking lot into 20 upscale, four-story townhouses.

This was a unique lot and a unique development, because Alta House, a pillar of Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood for more than a century, owns the land. The nonprofit organization partners with the United Way and other charitable organizations to provide youth, adult and seniors programs ranging from sports and recreation to health and counseling — bocce to boxing; flu shots and meals on wheels.

When recent years brought shortages in government and charitable grants, this small, high-density development filled the funding gap in a manner that earned it national recognition as a best in region winner in BALA. Read more at Housing Zone