Nestled on Cleveland’s West Side, the Clark-Fulton neighborhood plays host to a vibrant Hispanic community, making it the perfect home for CentroVilla25. A new Latino market and food hall, CentroVilla25 isn't just a place to shop and dine—it's a cultural hub designed to cultivate community, celebrate heritage and create new opportunities for the people who call this neighborhood home.
Before all of this, it was just an idea—one that law students in Case Western Reserve University School of Law’s Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic helped get off the ground. They came on board when Ezequiel “Zeke” Rodriguez (MGT, LAW ‘03), a board member for the project’s driving organization Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development (NEOHCED), reached out to Matthew Rossman, director of the law school’s Community Development Clinic (CDC).
“Zeke saw a news story about work that we did for a similar organization and reached out to the clinic for help,” said Rossman. “This was around two and half years ago, and we’re now on the third team of students working with CentroVilla25.”
Hands-on legal support
Clinic students work with a high level of autonomy, conducting client meetings, research, drafting paperwork and memos, and communicating with the CentroVilla25 representatives independently. According to Sophia Cromwell, one such student working with CentroVilla25 this academic year, preparation is key to this process.
“We have access to a ton of information that past teams in the clinic have worked on,” she explains. “We even did a run-through of the initial client meeting with Professor Rossman. We were really well-prepared for the work we would be doing, and it helped us feel very supported.”
This due diligence helped Cromwell and fellow intern Xavier Pei understand the project’s goals before making contact with their clients.
“We spent the fall semester working on the property tax exemption application,” Pei said. “Most of the work is looking historically at prior applications, or using statutes in case law to justify each section of the application. A lot of our work involved condensing research into shortened memos. The client is very busy and doesn't always have time to review 10 pages of legal research, so we had to work hard to cut that down to a three paragraph email, for instance. It was definitely a learning curve!”
A multitiered process
For the law students involved in CentroVilla25—which consists of 13 different parcels that were acquired and consolidated—there’s been no shortage of work to be done.
“The students had to trace how [the parcels] were deeded to the organization and why each qualified for a charitable use exception from local property taxes,” Rossman explained. “That process can be really complicated with a multipurpose space like this; at the same time, it is a tremendous opportunity to learn about the care lawyers devote in assembling a strong application to a government agency.”
“It’s a bit of a beast,” Cromwell added. “Every question on the application leads to subsequent questions, and each subsequent question requires more research.”
Despite the complicated nature of the application, Cromwell and Pei were able to submit it in late December, just a few weeks after CentroVilla25 held its soft opening. After their first visit to the construction site in September, the students were invited to visit the partially opened space in January.
“We’ve been able to actually see the project come to life in a very tangible way,” Cromwell said. “The space is gorgeous and the vendors are amazing. We were able to get coffee from Café Roig, try a street corn taco from Flying Pig and sample empanadas from Tumbao58.”
CentroVilla25 was designed to emulate the vibrant streets of Puerto Rico, bringing life and color to the streets of Clark-Fulton. Active vendors include jewelry stores, bakeries, estheticians, a perfumery and boutiques alongside a variety of cuisine offerings, with more to come. While they aim to completely open by summer, the space is already hosting events and courses for small business owners, and many of the vendors are open for business.
Cromwell and Pei are continuing their work with the space in the spring semester, with Pei now undertaking a commercial kitchen agreement and Cromwell helping them obtain licenses.
“I’ve made such great personal connections with the people involved in CentroVilla25,” Pei reflected. “I am proud to be representing them and I want others to see what a great space it is.”
“It’s really beautiful that this community in Cleveland now has a space where they can showcase their culture and heritage,” Cromwell said. “It’s going to be a pillar for the community as a whole.”