Eastlake: Taft Pointe homes are available for sale at former school

Marah Morrison, The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio
·2 min read

Nov. 6—Homes are now up for sale at the former Taft Elementary School site in Eastlake.

Ryan Homes, the builder, will be offering five different floor plans including colonial and ranch style homes, according to the city. Between three- to five-bedroom options are available with all appliances, and a landscaping package will be included.

Back in April, ground broke at the Taft site, and eventually there will be a total of 29 homes and the price will start in the $270,000s.

Ryan Homes plans to do both a two-story home and a ranch model. The ranch will start at 1,400 square feet and the two-story homes will be between 1,800 to 2,200 square feet.

"This is good for the city, especially in the areas where other schools are — Longfellow and North," Eastlake Mayor Dennis Morley previously told The News-Herald. "It'll be an opportunity for kids who move into the neighborhood."

When they were auctioned off in 2020, Frontier Land Group was the winning bidder for the sites of the Willoughby-Eastlake Schools' former Taft and Washington school buildings. The first of 33 Washington Grove homes was built earlier this year. At that time, there were 61 appointments booked for the 32 lots available.

The builder is projecting the subdivisions to be sold out within a year. The draw to the new developments is a combination of Eastlake not having development as such since 1994 and the sense of pride from the residents, said Mark Holz, president of Frontier Land Group, Washington Grove's and Taft's developer.

"We have found people in Eastlake to have an incredible amount of pride and to be proud of living in Eastlake," he said. "If you are a proud person from Eastlake and want to stay, and there hasn't been any new development here, that's what created buzz. New construction creates that sense of urgency to come purchase a house."