During the Segregation Era, the Cedar Road Branch of the YMCA was featured in the Cleveland Green Book as being the only one in town friendly to Black patrons– whether they needed a spot to swim, work or stay the night.
The building will once again serve as a stronghold and gathering point for African-Americans thanks to the vision of developer James Sosan.
In November 2023, Sosan acquired the building at 7515 Cedar in Fairfax, finding its size and location fitting for what he plans as the African Town Plaza, the city’s first event and educational space devoted solely to pan-African culture.
A space he hopes can anchor an even larger African Town, an ethnic neighborhood akin to Cleveland’s Asiatown or Little Italy. And elucidate the links and bridges between Cleveland’s Black residents and African immigrants.
“That’s one of the reasons why we’re doing this, because a lot of people don’t understand African history,” Sosan told Scene on a recent tour of the space, walking through stacks of drywall and electrical. “A lot of Black Americans don’t truly understand that.”
“When we come together in a place like this,” Sosan said. “It will make the connection easier.”
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Sosan moved to Chicago in his twenties to study. In the early 2000s, he relocated to Cleveland to take a job at the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. But a developer inclination stung him: by the 2010s, Sosan was rehabbing old buildings around town—most notably those in Shaker Square and the old YMCA in Ohio City.
According to recent American Community Survey estimates, Africans make up 10 to 15 percent of Cleveland’s immigrant base, clocking anywhere from 6,000 to 9,000 people. But a scattered population often needs a focal point and a place of gathering — something like Sosan envisions — to come together.
The promise of an African Town is what sold County Councilman Pernel Jones Jr., whose family owns a funeral home two blocks over.
When asked about the building, Jones’ mind immediately went to the personal. He and his brother learned to swim in its Olympic-sized pool. (Soon to be office space.) There were field trips. Arts and crafts.
Last year, Jones helped set aside $300,000 from his community development fund, and okayed a $450,000 county loan, to aid Sosan’s $9-million effort.
And even extra worthwhile for Cedar and its recent history.
“If we green-line a community that’s historically been redlined, then you’ll start to see a change in public perception,” Jones told Scene in a phone call.
He thought of his funeral home and the renovated apartments next door. “The fight is to change market forces and bring market forces back into play,” he said.
Other than ground-level office space (the old YMCA pool) and an event hall carved from the past gym, Sosan is installing 19 apartments on the building’s second floor. He plans to price them at just below market rate. Across Cedar, Sosan envisions food trucks and more apartments after the first phase wraps up this August.
“I feel good about the concept, because we have a lot of Africans” in Cleveland, Sosan said. “And, you know, we need to celebrate our people.”
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