Cleveland Heights spent millions on The Terraces, a shopping/condo complex pictured above.
With all the hand-wringing about the real estate slump, one particularly depressing tale in Cleveland Heights bears extra mention.
Over the past few years, the city has
invested millions of dollars in The Terraces, a complex of shops and 48 condos that was supposed to be built on Lee Road at Meadowbrook. Taxpayers footed the bill to buy the land, clean up pollution, and build a $6.2 million public parking garage near the Cedar Lee Theatre. That was the public end of the deal—and the government upheld its end of the bargain.
It was the private company that fell through. Cincinnati developer Al. Neyer, Inc. recently
dropped the project after not selling enough condos to even begin construction. Now, the people of Cleveland Heights are left with just a parking garage, mocking them with its gaping newness and the absence of shoppers to fill it.
–Lisa Rab
