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Dear Cleveland Heights resident,
Since I took office in 2022, my administration has worked to bring appropriate development back to Cleveland Heights. This effort has paid off in the form of the Marquee at Cedar Lee, the Cain Park Village redevelopment, the Nobility Court development, and other projects underway across our city.
Severance Town Center, however, remains Cleveland Heights’ greatest development opportunity—and challenge. It’s a unique asset for our city. Few built-out communities like ours have the chance to reimagine and revitalize forty contiguous acres of underutilized property in the heart of their cities.
Taking advantage of Severance’s potential, however, hasn’t been easy. Despite the City’s best efforts, the cost, risk, and complexity of redeveloping Severance have deterred potential investors. Other than the ongoing commitment of Dave’s and Home Depot and MetroHealth’s multi-million-dollar investment in its new Behavioral Health Center, there have been few bright spots on Severance’s horizon.
Until now.
I’m thrilled to report that MPACT Collective, an innovative development company from Long Island, New York, has signed a Master Developer agreement with Namdar Realty Group, which owns much of Severance’s property, giving MPACT development rights over the Severance site, allowing the two companies to partner on its redevelopment.
The partnership between Namdar and MPACT is the first significant step towards redeveloping Severance in almost a decade and represents a huge opportunity for Cleveland Heights. I’m grateful to Namdar for their collaboration, and I’m excited they’ve chosen MPACT Collective to work with on the project.
We began talking with MPACT more than a year ago because their approach to development seemed exactly what Cleveland Heights needed for a project as large and important as Severance. They invested nine months of due diligence before concluding Severance was a project they wanted to take on, and during that time, I’ve become more persuaded they’re right for Cleveland Heights.
MPACT’s business model focuses on finding high-challenge, large-scale properties and putting them to their highest and best use. They’ve repeatedly succeeded in developing large, complex properties when others have failed.
As a Master Developer, MPACT doesn’t develop a property alone; from the outset, they bring on partners—other firms, investors, and the surrounding community. They organize an ongoing, transparent conversation to build trust among their partners and stakeholders. And they focus this conversation on three priorities: developing a shared vision that reflects the surrounding community’s interests and desires, creating the greatest value possible from the property, and ensuring the project is financially viable.
The results they’ve achieved in other communities speak for themselves. The majority of their projects have resulted in mixed-use, walkable environments that include housing and retail. They build transformative projects that reflect the best of their surrounding communities.
Severance has had many lives. From a country estate to one of the first indoor shopping malls in the country to a retail “power center,” Severance has evolved to fit the times. The agreement between Namdar and MPACT Collective is only the first step in the next stage of Severance’s evolution, but it’s a big one.
MPACT’s Managing Partner told us recently, “If you have the will and the creativity of the community and City, you can make amazing things happen.” Cleveland Heights has will and creativity in great supply. I’m looking forward to our applying it to the Severance project and can’t wait to get started.
Sincerely
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