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(Gallery by Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A rambling cluster of buildings, including an 1870s brewery and beer-wagon stable, will become 70 apartments under a long-stalled redevelopment plan creeping forward in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood.

The revival of West 25th Street is stretching north, enabling developers Rick Foran and Chris Smythe to turn historic buildings into homes after years of delays. Sidelined when the economy collapsed and financing dried up, the West 25th Street Lofts could see construction start in March.

In August, the developers got a preliminary nod from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development for a government-insured loan -- a key part of their financing package. Late last month, the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board voted to create a new historic district, centered on West 25th and Detroit Avenue, that would make the $21 million project eligible for federal tax credits for restoring historic buildings.

Landlords and investors in the area say the lofts would eliminate one of the last blighted gaps along West 25th Street between Lorain and Detroit avenues. And the redevelopment would bring much-needed supply to a market where nearly every apartment is full.

Foran and Smythe say occupancy in the neighborhood surpassed 97 percent early this year, based on a market study for their project. Nearby property owners say it's closer to 100 percent.

"I had a vacancy come up at the Metzner Building, and we rented it in about two hours," said Doug Perkowski, who owns and manages several apartment buildings on or near West 25th. "I found out the guy was moving out, and we had it leased the same day -- at a higher rent."

Foran and Smythe, longtime participants in Northeast Ohio commercial real estate, have been trying to make their project work for half a decade. Now Ohio City's momentum, some key pieces of financing and the strength of the apartment market are working in their favor.

On the south side of Church Avenue, between West 25th and West 28th streets, the future apartment complex includes the former Baehr Brewing Co. building, a onetime Odd Fellows Hall and four industrial buildings most recently used as offices.

One cavernous building, large enough to house a crane, will hold three stories of apartments, with a penthouse level perched on top and parking on the ground floor. A charter school will keep its space in the back of the complex. Storefronts on West 25th could be home to small companies and restaurants.

A two-bedroom apartment might rent for $1,200 to $1,400 a month -- or $1.10 to $1.20 per square foot, slightly cheaper than rates in downtown Cleveland.

"As we and others begin to invest in the area, we're finding others joining in," Foran said. "People are opening up their boarded-up windows and putting nice glass back in, and sort of giving up that '70s bunker mentality."

For three years, activity in Ohio City has radiated from West 25th and Lorain, where the West Side Market sits. Now developers are picking off the last empty spaces in the crowded market district and looking further afield for opportunities.

Tom Gillespie, the owner of several West 25th Street buildings, is seeking state historic preservation tax credits to turn the old Jay Hotel, on Jay Avenue, into eight apartments over first-floor retail. A former settlement house at 3000 Bridge Ave. is another potential apartment project. And a few developers are considering new construction -- even for-sale townhouses, as apartment rents inch up.

"The increase in calls we get from people who want to live here but can't find a place has increased exponentially over the last year and a half to two years," said Eric Wobser, executive director of Ohio City Inc. "I feel like this is sort of the beginning of the beginning of the market beginning to recover."

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