A 209-unit apartment complex on Cleveland’s lakefront just cleared a major hurdle at City Hall, moving the Annex Group’s Union at Cleveland Harbor a step closer to reality in the St. Clair–Superior neighborhood. On Feb. 19, city planning commissioners signed off on the final architecture and parking for the five-story building at 5475 North Marginal Road, which is planned with 209 parking spaces plus on-site perks like a playground, community garden and outdoor gathering areas. Commissioners applauded the push for new housing near fresh lakefront amenities but pressed the developer to carve out more play space and strengthen accessibility.
Planning commission sign-off and conditions
According to Crain's Cleveland Business, the commission’s vote approved the building’s final design and parking plan while attaching several conditions. Members asked the Annex Group to enlarge the playground and look at adding outdoor exercise equipment. They also raised concerns about site circulation and grades, with commissioner August Fluker warning that the current layout could be tough for people with mobility challenges. The decision advances the design past a key local review stage but does not authorize construction to begin.
Project size, layout and amenities
The Union at Cleveland Harbor is planned as a five-story structure with 209 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and roughly 198,500 square feet of interior space, served by elevators and a mix of parking options that together total 209 spaces. Early plans outline amenities that include a fitness center, business and computer room, community room, an on-site playground, a community garden and outdoor communal areas. These unit counts and design elements were detailed in earlier reporting by Cleveland Magazine.
Funding and city filings
City records show an August 2025 communication from Joy Skidmore of the Annex Group notifying City Council that the developer intends to apply to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for multifamily funding programs. The notice, listed as Item 1049-2025 in council documents, is the type of filing developers submit when they plan to pursue Low Income Housing Tax Credits or other support from OHFA. Cleveland City Council records confirm the communication.
Where this fits on the lakefront
The project site sits at East 55th Street and North Marginal Road, next to the Shoreline Apartments and just west of the East 55th Marina. That puts the building close to the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Boathouse, the Patrick S. Parker Community Sailing Center and Burke Lakefront Airport. Together with the Mandel Community Trail and the long-range Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Strategy, those nearby investments are shaping big expectations for how this stretch of shoreline will evolve. Cleveland Magazine noted that timing makes the Union at Cleveland Harbor one of the first new-construction multifamily proposals directly on the water in years.
Next steps
With planning commission approval secured, the Annex Group is expected to move into the city’s permitting process and continue chasing financing, including applications to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, according to Crain's Cleveland Business. Even if OHFA awards tax credits and city permits are finalized, the development would still need additional approvals and financing before any shovels hit the ground. For now, the commission’s decision clears a major design review and spells out more clearly the conditions the developer will have to meet.
If it is built, Union at Cleveland Harbor would rank among the few new large multifamily projects on Cleveland’s lakefront in recent years, a shift that planners say could help better connect the St. Clair–Superior neighborhood to downtown-facing amenities. The commission’s push for stronger outdoor play areas and accessibility also underscores that a waterfront address brings both opportunity and an extra layer of design responsibility.
