As members of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, the Cleveland Browns, elected officials, community partners and friends gathered on the outdoor patio at Doc's on Harvard, they celebrated an investment made to support one of the only sit-down restaurants in the Lee-Harvard Neighborhood.
"The whole day was culminated in an event around (Kolnita Riggins-Walker) and what she's doing and how that is helping breathe new life into a great, historic Cleveland neighborhood," Senior Vice President of Advocacy & External Relations for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Edward Stockhausen said.
Through the Browns' efforts to support and elevate black and minority-owned businesses in Northeast Ohio, they partnered with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress to support their work in investing in Cleveland.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress was founded in 1988 by philanthropic, civic and corporate leaders and serves as the only local intermediary in the region. They invest in community revitalization work in Greater Cleveland by providing financial support and technical assistance to community development corporations (CDCs), improving residential, commercial and greenspace properties for placemaking and delivering economic opportunity programming to help city residents thrive.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress's positive impact on the community touches several areas by providing financial support, training and capacity building efforts to community development corporations (CDCs), supporting and performing placemaking activities to improve residential commercial and greenspace properties, and delivering economic opportunity programming to ensure city residents can thrive where they live.
"We are investing in people who invest in places," Stockhausen said. "In the day to day of the work, you don't always see the impact; but you do see it start to appear over the course of months, quarters and years, because so many Cleveland neighborhoods need a lot of investment. But you start to see it percolate in the way that homes are taken care of, in new development projects – whether that's mixed use, commercial or new residential development that pop up on side streets and along main streets. And we see this work when people are opening businesses in the city of Cleveland, when people choose to live in the city of Cleveland – not just downtown, but downtown and all of the other neighborhoods."
One of their initiatives comes in the Middle Neighborhoods Initiative, which aims to stabilize and advance housing markets and commercial districts in Cleveland. Middle Neighborhoods do not get the attention of "hot" real estate markets, where the housing market is healthy, nor do they get large public investments like disinvested neighborhoods that need massive intervention to change unhealthy market conditions. "Middle" neighborhoods sit between investment and disinvestment – but their position is uncomfortable and tenuous because they are in slow decline.
Stockhausen said there has been a nationwide movement to provide strategic investments to keep these neighborhoods that classify as "Middle Neighborhoods" moving forward. The goal of those strategic investments is to keep the residents and the businesses in the neighborhood strong. Through their work efforts with the Cleveland City Council, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress put together over $10 million in funds to invest in the middle neighborhoods.
They developed a two-prong strategy, one focused on residential housing development, and the other is main street economic development. Those investments for main streets, which serve as the backbone of communities and are places where entrepreneurs and small businesses can thrive, and for side streets, where residents live and invest in their homes.
"So, we developed this main street program that helps local landlords who own these properties invest in their properties, both on the insides of the building and then the exterior, with storefront renovations and other improvements to the sidewalk space out in front of the store," Stockhausen said. "So, that the entire main street feels better, feels stronger and more alive for the purposes of making sure that local residents and others come to those main streets and spend money and support those local businesses."
On of those neighborhoods included in the Middle Neighborhood Initiative is the historic Lee-Harvard neighborhood. There, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress has been working on renovations for four commercial properties. Two of those businesses are Kaba's African and Caribbean Market and Doc's on Harvard Restaurant & Lounge.
Stockhausen said Cleveland Neighborhood Progress worked closely with the city of Cleveland and the local community development corporation called the Harvard Community Services Center to select the businesses in the neighborhood.
Kaba's African and Caribbean Market first opened its doors in 2006 on Lee Road before moving to another retail space across the street. They were in that space for over a decade before they expanded once again. Then, in 2023 they moved to another location just up the street in their efforts to expand. Aicha Kaba, daughter of Mohamed Kaba and owner of Kaba's African and Caribbean Market, said her father always envisioned staying in the Lee Harvard Neighborhood.
Kaba said when they first opened the market they started off with African products. But as they received support from the local Caribbean, Indian and Asian communities, they expanded their product.
They expanded from just food to supplying skincare and wellness brands as well from Africa and other areas of the world to serve the needs of the local community.
"Our store is for the people," Aicha Kaba said. "We've just kind of listen, and that's what's been able to help us grow."
Aicha Kaba first became acquainted with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress through the Harvard Community Services Center. As they looked for businesses that wanted to support in their efforts to improve the neighborhood, a representative from Harvard Community Services Center visited the store. Through those conversations, they had the chance to work with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress.
"It's everything that my dad has always wanted the area to be," Aicha Kaba said. "Like the way that the Lee Harvard area is changing from when we first started to now, and knowing it's a Cleveland Neighborhood project that's making it happen, we definitely hopped on board."
As they look to open a new restaurant located in the retail space of their original store, Aicha Kaba said they have been working closely with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress through the white box project – focusing on the elements behind the walls of the building for the new restaurant. They are also working on the exterior of both storefronts.
"They've been helping us now with opportunities and helping us to complete our project at our current market, and also our new project, which will open in the spring, which will be a restaurant at our previous location," Aicha Kaba said.
Doc's on Harvard Restaurant and Lounge has a storied history in the neighborhood. First opened as a dentistry by 1975 by Dr. William Walker, the building has been in the Walker family for over 50 years.
Kolnita Riggins-Walker and her husband William Walker – who own and run the parent-company of Doc's on Harvard called Classic Cuisine Catering since 1998 – moved back from Chicago to the Cleveland area in 2020 to be closer to take care of his father. As she went to check the mail at the dentistry practice one day and stepped into the building, Riggins-Walker had a vision of the future Doc's on Harvard Restaurant and Lounge.
When she shared this vision with her father-in-law, Dr. Williams Walker expressed his awe.
"He said, 'Oh, I always wanted to own a restaurant,'" Riggins-Walker recalled. "We didn't decide to go forward with it right away. I wanted to give dad time to think about it, to process it. So, I went to him one day, and I said, 'What do you think about the name Doc's on Harvard?' And he said, 'Oh, I like it.'"
She handed him a notebook and had him write "Doc's" on the notebook – which later inspired the design for the sign on the building.
Riggins-Walker said they began to plan in Dec. 2020 for the opening of the restaurant in the summer of 2021. However, the process was extended, and they officially held their grand opening of Doc's on Harvard on June 14, 2024 – serving those in the community for just over six months.
As Riggins-Walker said they pursued the opening of Doc's on Harvard, they were informed it had been over 30 years since the Lee-Harvard neighborhood had a full-service, sit-down, restaurant such as theirs. Their restaurant, which serves upscale American cuisine that's internationally infused by a professionally trained chef in Riggins-Walker, is a first of its kind in the neighborhood.
They worked through the challenges of having their liquor licenses voted for approval on the ballot by the ward, as well as changing the infrastructure over to a commercial build. They were about three-quarters of the way through their build of Doc's on Harvard when they were connected with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress.
"Cleveland Neighborhood Progress has been so intricate and involved," Riggins-Walker said. "What they saw was, here's this project where we had invested almost upwards of a million dollars. What we have brought to the table – our legacy, dad's legacy – and we invested it in Doc's on Harvard. So here comes Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, and we were a project that needed some assistance, not only to get the build finished, but also to support us."
Funding they received from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress went towards the beautification of their project, including their patio, fencing, handrails and grating, as well as the landscaping for the restaurant.
The Browns also provided funds to help support Doc's on Harvard, which Riggins-Walker said went towards the awnings for their outdoor patio, railings and a mural wrap for their outdoor cooler. Yet, not only did the Browns support through monetary efforts, when Cleveland Neighborhood Progress hosted an event in Oct. 2024 for Doc's on Harvard, the Browns were present to support the Lee-Harvard neighborhood community.
"We were so grateful for the funding that we received and the support from the Cleveland Browns," Riggins-Walker said. "It's people in the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Neighborhood Progress that has shown such great support for us, and that we're able to keep doing what we were doing and giving us time to go through our growing season."
The Browns first began their partnership with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress in 2024. Through their partnership, the Browns support the Middle Neighborhood Initiative as CNP has led the revitalization of Cleveland's neighborhoods.
"The fact that we're able to help the Browns connect into the Cleveland neighborhoods – and not just in the neighborhoods, but into the people who really bring those neighborhoods to life – like that is the greatest thing I could be doing in this job," Stockhausen said. "And it gives me a lot of peace and satisfaction to help make those connections."
Yet, the work of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress extends beyond the Lee Harvard neighborhood. They support every CDC in the city of Cleveland and are working simultaneously with all the CDCs with funding support and technical assistance to help them serve their respective neighborhoods around the city. Their work in the revitalization of the Lee Harvard neighborhood provides just a snapshot of their goals for the other neighborhoods in Cleveland.
They also have a significant investment in Shaker Square, which they are one of the co-owners of the square and tasked by the city and other funders to save and stabilize Shaker Square. They are working to implement a community-based vision, which includes what the mix of retail tenants should look like, and how the square feels as patrons walk around.
"We're thrilled to partner with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress to invest in the people and projects that make this region special," Chief Communications Officer for the Cleveland Browns and Haslam Sports Group Peter John-Baptiste said. "CNP is making a real impact in Cleveland's Middle Neighborhoods with their smart strategic approach to providing much-needed funding whether to housing or retail projects that enable growth in communities that are too often overlooked. Being able to help provide opportunities for people in our region is one of our core priorities and this partnership with CNP has allowed us to do so in a unique and intentional manner."
