Council approves forgivable loan to Famicos Foundation to rehab 1355 E. 105th, add storefront and four apartments

Cleveland — The council committee approved ordinance 819-2025 authorizing the director of economic development to enter a loan agreement with Famicos Foundation to partially finance the rehabilitation of 1355 East 105th Street.

Economic development staff said the total project cost is about $1,550,000. The city would extend a $500,000 forgivable loan from Neighborhood Transformation Initiative funds to support rehabilitation of roughly 2,700 square feet of ground‑floor commercial space and four apartments above. Famicos officials said the ground floor will be rehabi­litated as a white box commercial space and the upper floors will contain four sizable apartments (roughly 1,200–1,300 square feet each). Famicos also committed to creating four jobs tied to the project.

Khalid Hawthorne and Famicos representative Mr. Analifo described the site’s neighborhood importance: it is one of the last occupied storefronts on that block of E. 105th, a corridor they described as having experienced long decline and now undergoing reinvestment, including the Glen Village project nearby. Famicos staff recalled the site’s difficult history — the 1984 murder of Gloria Pointer occurred in the building — and said the family and community preferred rehabilitation plus a commemorative marker, not demolition.

Council members praised the project as catalytic for the corridor and welcomed use of funds set aside for neighborhood transformation. The ordinance passed in committee without reported objection.

Ending: The Famicos loan aims to return an underused storefront to active commercial and residential use, supporting corridor stabilization and local job creation; implementation details and timeline were not specified in the committee transcript.