On the fifth floor of Cleveland City Hall, the Cleveland Citywide Development Corp. (CCDC) met Thursday to allocate public money to local businesses. The nonprofit, created in 1981 under former Mayor George Voinovich, functions as an independent arm of the city’s economic‑development strategy, reviewing applications and disbursing loans and grants ranging from a few thousand dollars up to $250,000.
Recent approvals
During the meeting, the board approved a $7,650 loan to a vintage video‑game store on Memphis Avenue and a $250,000 grant to help a real‑estate firm purchase a building on West 25th Street. A separate $100,000, split into two grants, went to Downtown Cleveland Inc. to expand food options and study the grocery‑store market after Heinen’s reduced its downtown footprint.
How the process works
Ohio law requires CCDC’s decision‑making meetings to be open to the public, but it also permits private executive sessions for discussion of “financial and proprietary information, including trade secrets.” At the Thursday meeting, visitors were asked to leave before the board considered 27 agenda items totaling more than $600,000. After the closed session, the board voted publicly on the items.
Board chair Dale Lenzer explained that the public vote follows the private discussion. Minutes from a 2021 meeting show the board also takes initial votes during the executive session before confirming them in public.
Board scrutiny of applicants
CCDC’s current chair, J. Stefan Holmes, said the board examines applicants’ financial stability, past project performance and any prior city funding. “They want to know if projects have failed before, if the entities have applied for city funds previously, and whether they are current on those obligations,” Holmes told Signal Cleveland. He added that such details are not for the public to see.
Community impact
The nonprofit’s work includes helping businesses that fall behind on economic‑development loan payments. Holmes praised the board’s effort to monitor repayment schedules and reduce defaults, noting that CCDC has “done a great job in cutting those down.”
Board members represent a mix of public officials, bankers and nonprofit leaders. Mayoral appointees and elected officials comprise about 40 % of the board, with the remainder selected through a nomination process. Members include Economic Development Director Joevrose B. Small and City Council Member Jasmin Santana.
Funding sources
CCDC draws money from several streams: dollars set aside by former Mayor Frank Jackson for the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, federal funds, tax‑increment financing tied to the Steelyard Commons project, philanthropic contributions and fees collected on loans and grants. In 2024, the nonprofit spent more than $387,000 on down‑payment assistance and home rehabilitation, and nearly $92,000 on the GlenVillage retail incubator.
Transparency concerns
Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration declined to comment on CCDC’s public‑notice practices, noting that the nonprofit is a separate legal entity. City Council member Tanmay Shah, who learned of the meeting only minutes before it began, expressed curiosity about the extent of private involvement in decisions that direct public money.
Because CCDC can approve grants up to $250,000 without City Council approval, some sizable projects—such as the $249,999 grant to Heinen’s downtown store in February 2025—receive limited public scrutiny. Cleveland’s community‑benefits law also gives CCDC a role in overseeing development agreements intended to benefit residents.
Other local development nonprofits
CCDC is one of several nonprofit entities that manage public resources for development, including Gateway Economic Development Corp. (owner of Progressive Field and Rocket Arena), the Cuyahoga Land Bank (vacant‑home demolition and housing development) and the North Coast Waterfront Development Corp. (lakefront planning).
While the nonprofit’s schedule and agenda listings are outdated on its website, the organization continues to play a central role in Cleveland’s neighborhood‑revitalization efforts, channeling public funds to keep local businesses viable and to support housing and food‑access projects across the city.
Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.
