Developer jumps to East Side from West Side for latest deal

James Sosan, who redeveloped three old buildings to housing in Ohio City and Tremont in the early 2000s, has completed his first historic restoration project on the East Side.

“This one beat the crap out of me,” Sosan reflected on a tour of the three-story Bristol Apartments, 2928 S. Moreland Blvd. in Cleveland.

Sosan undertook a challenge many investors might skip. But he admired the Georgian-style design of the 1928-vintage building, so he shelled out $130,000 to buy the empty walk-up apartment building in 2017.

Fast forward five years and through about $2.5 million in loans and assistance from Village Capital Corp. — part of the Cleveland Neighborhood Progress nonprofit focused on making loans and investments in catalytic economic development projects in the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County — and Sosan recently started renting suites in the property.

The most off-putting aspect of the project was not visible from the street, where Bristol stands among blocks of aging apartment buildings. Part of the roof caved in all the way to the first from the third floor in about 20% of the building. Another section was fire-damaged.

“We had to replace wooden floors on three levels in part of the building,” Sosan said, pointing out a difference between darker century-old wood and new wooden flooring. The windows on the sides and back of the building all had to be replaced. Windows facing the street had to be rebuilt to retain the charming exterior design of the property, which has red brick contrasting with stone ornamentation.

The project benefited from both state and federal tax credits for historic preservation, Sosan said, which were essential to funding the renovations and keeping down subsequent rent rates. Sosan said he didn’t try to get a bank loan for the project; he knew no conventional lender would fund such a risky project.

As a historic preservation project, there was no ripping out kitchen walls to foster open-space designs. Instead, white crown molding and plaster remained in place while the bathrooms got contemporary fixtures, and the kitchens received new appliances and granite counters.

The building has a total of 20 suites, all one-bedroom, and about half have been rented in the past 60 days. The suites rent for about $850 monthly, half what they’d go for on the West Side, some for less due to agreements to provide about eight suites for low-income residents to satisfy financing requirements.

“This means that we can offer senior citizens in the area good units that they can afford,” Sosan said. “I’m constantly hearing people (from the area) complaining about the conditions of their units.”

Conditions among blocks of apartments bubbled up earlier this month as Cleveland City Council OK’d a plan to provide funds to put control of the nearby Shaker Square complex in hands of a nonprofit to cure a pending foreclosure case and ensure the landmark’s safekeeping.

Councilwoman Deborah Gray, whose Ward 4 includes the area, said in a ward newsletter she backed the plan but that the city needs to stabilize Shaker Square’s multifamily neighborhood by holding owners of “broke-down buildings accountable.”

The importance of Bristol’s revival is greater than its scale, said Dione Alexander, president of Village Capital. She said small projects revitalize neighborhoods, aid local businesses and the city’s overall economy.

“People don’t want to live near a dilapidated building,” Alexander said, “even if it is not right next door to them. This was James Sosan’s first affordable project and drew on his market-rate experience. It’s in a lovely neighborhood that needs more James Sosans.”

Sosan said the Bristol project was the most difficult he has undertaken. Surprisingly, he considers his earlier projects easier. Those included turning two old commercial buildings in Tremont and Ohio City to, respectively, Metro Lofts and Detroit Lofts apartments (both since sold), and the former West Side YMCA on Franklin into condominiums.

“In those cases you started with an empty box and added infrastructure,” Sosan said. “Here you had to replace or update residential units so more was involved.”

Sosan’s real estate projects form a second career. The Nigerian immigrant came to the United States to earn an engineering degree at DeVry University in Chicago. He then came to Cleveland for a job at Ohio Bell, and worked at it and its successors for years. Now, the seasoned electrical engineer counts himself an expert in historic restoration, learned the hard way.

Despite the challenges, Sosan is excited about Bristol and hopes to land another project nearby.

“In some ways I feel there is more opportunity here than when I worked in Ohio City and Tremont,” Sosan said. “You have amenities such as the grocery store, restaurants and Shaker Square a block away. You also have the (rapid transit) train downtown and proximity to employment centers. I really think this area is a gem that is just starting to be discovered.”