Cleveland accounted for 91% of the building value added by qualifying transit-oriented development projects in Cuyahoga County from 2019 through 2025. Only five of 26 communities along designated transit corridors recorded major projects during those seven years, according to a county planning report.

Now, five regional agencies are working together to encourage more housing, businesses and other development near public transportation throughout Cuyahoga County.

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission’s May 2026 report identified 122 major transit-oriented developments that added approximately $1.52 billion in building value.

Those projects represented 36% of the added building value from major developments countywide during the seven years, including projects outside designated transit corridors. The study counted developments that added more than $1 million in building value within a year.

The figures reflect increases in building values from construction or renovation, not what developers actually spent on the projects.

Cleveland accounted for approximately $1.38 billion of the total. The remaining $136.7 million, or about 9%, came from projects in Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Lakewood and Rocky River.

The other 21 communities in the study recorded no developments that met the report’s requirements.

That doesn’t mean those communities had no construction. Projects had to meet specific location, design and value requirements to be counted.

Where development occurred

County planners examined development along 22 designated transit corridors served by frequent bus and rail service.

Projects had to be within one-quarter mile of a designated bus stop or one-half mile of a rail station. They also had to add more than $1 million in building value within a year.

To qualify, developments had to meet standards intended to make neighborhoods easier to walk through. Those included buildings close to the street, multiple stories, parking behind or beside buildings, pedestrian-friendly uses and entrances facing the street.

The report relied primarily on Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office property valuations. Changes in land value weren’t included. Some tax-exempt projects also may have been left out when significant portions of their value were abated or exempt.

Outside Cleveland, Shaker Heights led with approximately $63.4 million in qualifying added building value, followed by Cleveland Heights at $52.1 million, Lakewood at $15.4 million and Rocky River at $5.8 million.

The Raye Apartments in Shaker Heights’ Van Aken District accounted for $38.7 million in added building value during construction, according to the report.

Within Cleveland, downtown accounted for 34.4% of qualifying added building value. The planning commission divided the rest into three areas: the east side at 25.1%, the west side at 24.1% and University Circle at 16.4%.

Countywide, qualifying development added $324 million in building value in 2025, the highest annual amount during the seven-year period. That was $184 million more than in 2021, although the annual totals fluctuated.

Expanding development beyond Cleveland

The findings show how qualifying transit-oriented development was distributed across Cuyahoga County before the regional Cuyahoga TOD partnership launched Oct. 8.

As cleveland.com previously reported, the partnership includes the planning commission, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

Its new website brings together development opportunities, financing information, design guidelines and other resources. Communities and agencies can also use it to advertise available sites and seek development proposals.

The partnership grew out of a transit-oriented development study that began in 2021. That study identified zoning restrictions that can make it more difficult to build projects combining housing, businesses and pedestrian-friendly spaces.

Some communities have since begun addressing those restrictions.

The planning commission’s May report identifies completed and ongoing zoning work in South Euclid, Fairview Park, Shaker Heights, East Cleveland and North Olmsted. Maple Heights completed and accepted its Southgate redevelopment plan July 2, 2025, while Garfield Heights completed its Turney Road transit-oriented development study in September 2025 and adopted it Nov. 24, 2025.

Not all those zoning changes had been formally adopted when the report was published, and planning work doesn’t necessarily mean construction will follow.

The development figures also stop at 2025. They don’t include changes adopted afterward, and projects resulting from earlier reforms may take years to complete.

The report doesn’t establish that zoning restrictions caused development to concentrate in Cleveland. Available properties, financing, market conditions and other factors also influence where developers build.

The county’s next development reports could establish whether qualifying projects are reaching more communities along the designated transit corridors.

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