Built in 1917, the five-story Stuyvesant Motor Co. Building stands in downtown Cleveland’s growing Campus District. At the turn of the 20th Century, this area was an American automobile manufacturing hub. Developer Woda Cooper Companies partnered with Perspectus to convert the vacant property into affordable housing apartments while retaining its historically-integral materials and structural features.
Perspectus prepared nominations to both the National Register of Historic Places and Cleveland Landmarks Commission for eligibility of Federal and State Historic Tax Credits. Transformation of the property followed, creating 42 loft-style apartments with attractive amenities not often found in affordable housing units.
The building features a restored car lift elevator, exposed interior concrete columns and original joist-and-slab ceilings. Giant steel sash windows frame views of the Cleveland skyline and flood apartment units with natural light. On the exterior, structural masonry and concrete repairs were completed and a new EPDM roof installed. Its high ceilings, durable construction, expansive views of the city and open-footprint warehouse space lent itself to the adaptation.
