Bringing new life to Cleveland neighborhoods

Andreoli Restoration, a 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award winner, is revitalizing lives, homes, neighborhoods, and the arts of its city.

By Gina Gallagher | Citizens Contributor

Situated on a convenient corner lot on Fleet Avenue in Cleveland’s Slavic Village community, the massive 1890s-built property looked like something you’d see on home improvement television — in the “before” scenes.

Inside, it was even worse.

What once was a 8,000-plus square foot building with eight apartments and two store fronts had become a dangerous, dilapidated, and vacant place. Windows were shattered, rainwater had caused structural damage, and the floors were knee-deep in trash.

Anthony and Tiffany Andreoli couldn’t get enough of it.

“It was like a dream come true!” exclaims Tiffany. “We’d been waiting years for a property like it!”

The neighbors may have wanted the property torn down, but not the Andreolis. They saw a rare opportunity to build it up — and lift the Slavic Village community in the process.

That’s par for the course, since the Andreolis don’t see things the way most people do.

As the owners of Andreoli Restoration in Cleveland, the married couple in their 30s have built a thriving business by transforming the unused, unwanted, and undervalued into quality art, furniture, homes, and neighborhoods.

Not only would the rundown Fleet Avenue property give Anthony workspace for their growing business; it would also serve as a space to host community events for the entire neighborhood. To support that community work, the Andreolis received $20,000 from Citizens for taking first place in the 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award contest for the greater Cleveland market.

The “before” scene of the 8,000-plus square foot building the Andreolis are turning into a commercial and community space.

A life-changing journey

In 2008 — before the couple purchased the Fleet Avenue building, founded their business, or even met — Anthony was working on his most important restoration project: himself.

A third-generation handyman, Anthony came to Slavic Village in his early 20s to attend a treatment center for alcohol addiction.

“I was living a very destructive life,” Anthony admits. “I wanted a chance to start over.”

Fortunately, he would get that chance.

Anthony and Tiffany grew up near each other in Lorain County, a county in Northeast Ohio. But the two didn't cross paths until they met at the same church in Slavic Village. They quickly discovered that in addition to sharing their faith, they shared another mutual interest.

“We both had a passion for the restoration of the neighborhood and people,” Anthony says.

Tiffany was quite familiar with the Slavic Village neighborhood and others in Cleveland through her community development job. It was a career she’d never considered until she had a civic internship while attending Cleveland State University.

“In the process of getting to know the city,” Tiffany says, “I started to find my passion.”

While Tiffany found purpose in her work, Anthony was struggling to find his as a union carpenter, where he worked on projects like parking garages. Though he loved building and construction, the work felt impersonal, making him miserable.

He did, however, love renovating homes.

“Every time I worked on a house, I felt like I had the opportunity to come in and breathe fresh life into it,” he shares. “It’s like a spark that changes the whole atmosphere.”

Eventually, that spark would ignite a mutual business — and purpose — for Anthony and Tiffany.

Building a community together

When the couple met, it was a challenging time in Cleveland — and in America. The country was in the midst of the devastating financial and real estate crisis. The hardest hit region in America was zip code 44105: Slavic Village, a neighborhood once home to Czech and Polish immigrants.

In her job, Tiffany was learning a lot about the devastating impact foreclosures and vacancies were having on neighborhoods. She and Anthony, along with other members of their church, wanted to do something about it.

“When we saw the work being done in restoring neighborhoods, we both came alive,” explains Tiffany.

Fueled by their mutual passion for the community, the couple began dating. In 2009, they sought to put down their own roots in the community by buying and renovating a home in Slavic Village.

It wasn’t long before a door opened for them — a vacant, foreclosed home located on a block with just five homes. Only one home on the block was occupied. They purchased the home and Anthony began doing renovations on weekends and in between work. For her part, Tiffany handled the financial and legal entanglements that came with purchasing a foreclosed property.

Despite the hard work involved, the couple was even more inspired.

“We were doing something for the community,” Anthony recalls. “And we were making our home.”

After they finished the renovations, they bought and restored another house on the street, which they sold to a friend. Over the next few years, they would do the same for two more vacant houses. They knew they were doing more than just improving homes; they were building relationships — and a community.

“We absolutely fell in love with what we were doing!” exclaims Anthony. “We were able to sell the homes and then say, ‘We’re your neighbors and we’re here for you.’”

Cementing their love for each other, the couple married in 2010. In 2012, they established a family business, Andreoli Restoration, whose mission was to restore homes.

Little did they know their mission, business, and family were about to become a lot bigger.

Room to grow

While busy bringing life into other homes, Anthony wanted to do the same to the décor of his own. So he started turning his handiwork into art using new, salvaged, and repurposed materials to create wood, metal, and concrete tables, chandeliers, and other furniture and décor.

In 2014, Anthony and Tiffany coordinated a pop-up shop to showcase his work. Shortly thereafter, Andreoli Restoration began selling furnishings and art. Anthony also created sculptures that were displayed in front of businesses in Slavic Village.

As Anthony’s upcycle furniture business grew, he needed more space to work and store the materials and salvaged items he used in his designs. So the couple began looking for a commercial space, one they could renovate and give Anthony the workshop he needed.

In 2018, their search brought them to the dilapidated property on Fleet Avenue.

It had exactly what they were looking for: accessibility, workshop space, tall ceilings, room for community events, and vacant adjacent lots, where the couple wanted to start a community garden. It also had a safe outside area to accommodate the other growth the couple experienced — their three children.

Anthony and Tiffany with their three children.

It would be an enormous undertaking, one that other developers might not have even considered given the cost of renovations. But Anthony and Tiffany were willing to finance it using their greatest asset — sweat equity. First, they stabilized and gutted the inside, filling dumpster after dumpster with unwanted trash and debris.

“It was the most work we’ve ever done on any building,” recalls Anthony.

And though they wanted the place to bring the neighborhood together, the neighborhood was already coming together to help them.

“There’s a great collaborative spirit in the neighborhood,” Tiffany says. “Everyone offered to help us clean out the place. It was a huge help!”

By the spring of 2019, Anthony was able to open his workshop. They’ve also made the space available for musical jam nights, open houses for local artists, and other community events.

Their work, however, is not done.

The couple recently met with an architect about restoring the building’s exterior. Once that’s complete, they’ll develop the vacant lots for the community garden and space to accommodate more community events.

The cost of completing the exterior work is significant, which is why the $20,000 prize money from the 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award was so valuable.

“This changed everything,” Tiffany says. “The equity isn’t there and it’s so difficult to get the funds we need.”

Anthony believes the recognition from Citizens has helped in another way.

“The work is exhausting,” he admits, “so it’s affirmation of how important what we’re doing is. It gives us the fuel to keep pressing forward.”

With the restoration of the Fleet Avenue property, their busy furniture business, and three children under the age of six, the Andreolis have a lot on their plate.

But they don’t see it that way.

“It’s important and beautiful work,” Anthony says. “And, we’re doing it together.”

We're made ready to help small businesses

Andreoli Restoration is one of eight winners of the 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award contest. First- and second-place winners in the Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland markets received $20,000 and $10,000 prizes, respectively, to support their community initiatives.

Check out all the ways Citizens is supporting local businesses and our communities during the pandemic.