A colorful beacon on West 25th Street, the facade of CentroVilla25 is painted in vibrant colors and appears like a collection of smaller storefronts. Inside is a world of flavors and Latin culture and makes CV25 a brand-new hub for economic growth for the Clark-Fulton community.
The smell of fresh tortillas and searing meats hits you from the parking lot. Upon entering mercado verde, the food-focused half of CV25, food stalls line a communal eating area. Each kiosk is unique to the business’s style and heritage. Flags of Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and more hang proudly above each vendor cubicle.
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The space is the result of a years-long planning and fundraising initiative from the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development, which became a focal point in the neighborhood’s redevelopment. Construction on the project broke ground in July 2023.
“There was a lot of conversation about the redevelopment of West 25th and planning processes happening,” says Jenice Contreras, President and CEO of NEOHCED and founder of CV25, “but there wasn’t any acknowledgement of that Clark-Fulton has the largest density of Latino residents living in Cleveland.”
Contreras says that she and other community leaders began to worry that the effects of gentrification would reach them in their corner of West Cleveland. CV25 was the product of a $14 million investment, created to give neighborhood residents the opportunity to plant businesses and, as a result, stay in the area. It soft-opened in January.
“As a business-serving organization, we started looking for commercial borders in the neighborhood and how we could provide opportunities for affordable retail businesses to be in the space,” says Contreras.
Contreras took inspiration from a similar concept in Minneapolis called Mercado Central. This marketplace of businesses was founded with a goal of fostering business opportunities for the city's Latino community.
“I started learning about how ethnic markets become hyperlocal drivers of local economies for communities that can’t necessarily participate actively in a capitalistic environment,” says Contreras.
After Mercado Central sparked inspiration in Contreras, she was set on opening a market for the Clark-Fulton community. Now, more than a decade later, her dream has been fully realized in the form of CV25 at 3140 W. 25th St.
Even before opening the brick-and-mortar marketplace, CV25’s first life was as an open-air market called La Placita, and then as a small business incubator in a bodega on the corner of Seymour and W. 25th.
“Some of the vendors we have here were part of that eight-year run of pop-ups that were literally in a parking lot,” Contreras says.
While Contreras knows that Cleveland has a vibrant and active Hispanic population, she feels that the community has been invisible in the past. She says that Cleveland deserves to have a Latino epicenter that is about economic development and creating jobs.
“It’s so much bigger than the businesses that are housed here,” says Contreras. “It has a bigger impact and creates a richness in our region to be able to have this amazing cultural hub that everybody can enjoy.”
The 32,000-square-foot marketplace is open weekly, Tuesdays through Sundays, and will host a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on May 30. Find more details at CV25's website.
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