CentroVilla25, Cleveland's First Major Latin Market, Closes in on Funding Goal

After nearly a decade or so of planning and feasibility research, CentroVilla 25, the would-be gem market of Clark-Fulton's Latino community, moved closer to capping off its lengthy era of fundraising.

Tuesday morning, Councilman Anthony Hairston, chairman of the Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee, approved Cleveland city council's allocation of $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to the project, which will cost around $12 million in total.

At the meeting, which was attended by members of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development, council members reassured Hairston that CentroVilla's realization would do for Clark-Fulton what has happened in other, more touristy pockets of the city.

"We have a Little Italy, we have an AsiaTown, we have a Slavic Village, we have an Irish Town Bend," Councilman Kris Harsh said. "In other parts of the city that are dedicated to the people who have built that first town. [But] we've never had the stamp of the Latino and Hispanic community in Cleveland."

A development darling of a melange of Latino-guided CDCs and public entities, CentroVilla25, as displayed in the six-minute trailer shown to council, has long been painted as an epicenter arts, food, business and commerce.

The $12-million build, which could break ground next summer, would makeover the long-dormant, 32,500-square-feet warehouse situated at 3140 West 25th St. According to a colorful brochure on NEOHCED's website, the revamp, styled in the architecture one might find in historic San Juan, would house a specialty grocery, a Galleria + Plaza arts space , a commercial kitchen and 20 "micro retail" kiosks.Jenice Contreras, NEOHCED's executive director, told both council and Scene that CentroVilla25 would have far-reaching positives in and outside of the Clark-Fulton community. She anticipates 119 long-term jobs being created in market operation, along with 46 construction jobs in the next two years—a good deal of those, Contreras urged, to be held by workers inside the community.

"We want at least 10 percent of the 20 percent minority hires to be Latino-owned business," Contreras said outside Council Chambers on Tuesday. "We want our community to say, 'We did this, we built it, we financed it, we worked on it.'"

Finishing a nearly decade-long funding race was also an emotional milestone for Contreras, who grew up nearby on West 30th and Clar, and who'd attended Lincoln West High School. The vast majority of Contreras's career, whether in public health or small business development, has been rooted on the corner of West 25th and Clark, just one block north of where CentroVilla25 will be built.

Unlike Little Italy to the east, or Ohio City's Market District to the north, Clark-Fulton has long been plagued by a lack of any official historical recognition and a business main street marred by fast food chains and a lack of walkability.

Clark-Fulton's own West Side Market, Contreras knows, will change that.

"We have been like a secret: Where's the Latino community? Where's the best rice and beans? Where's the best empanada?" she said. With a centralized market, "there will be no secret. Our community will be visible."

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