Abandoned department stores are being used to house booming Gen Z population in this Rust Belt city

Real estate

Cleveland doesn’t need Silicon Valley money or Miami heat to fill its downtown. While coastal cities spent the post-pandemic years hand-wringing over empty office towers, this Lake Erie city in Ohio had already been quietly solving the puzzle for decades. The proof lives in its historic marble lobbies. Downtown Cleveland’s population has climbed 12% since 2019, hitting roughly 21,000 residents, according to Michael Deemer, president and CEO of Downtown Cleveland. The engine behind that growth