INTRO Cleveland’s Mass Timber Apartment Brings Greener and More Sustainable Living to Ohio

Steel and concrete are critical building blocks for commercial and residential properties, but there is another material to add to that list: mass timber. Produced by using nails or glue to combine several pieces of wood into beams, roofs, floors, walls and more, mass timber has become a popular green and sustainable material.  

Those who attend the 2025 International Code Council Annual Conference, Expo and Committee Action Hearings (October 19-30) will have the chance to see and learn more about mass timber during the building tour to INTRO Cleveland. 

Developed by Harbor Bay Ventures, INTRO Cleveland is a nine-story apartment building and the first LEED Gold Certified high rise mass timber complex in Ohio. By using mass timber, Harbor Bay Ventures was able to a construct a building with lower carbon emissions (40 percent reduction), nitrous oxide (39 percent reduction) and sulfur dioxide (39 percent reduction) than conventional materials. 

“INTRO Cleveland is super cool because mass timber brings this biophilic feel to everyday life,” said Evan Williams, Project Manager of Technical Solutions at Harbor Bay Ventures. “You have to imagine yourself living in this space, where you’re kind of surrounded by trees, and until you see it [in person], you don’t understand it. For that reason, I feel like it’s really important for people to visit INTRO.” 

With 287 apartments and 10 penthouses, INTRO Cleveland offers a variety of living spaces. Amenities include a zero-edge rooftop pool and hot tub, three rooftop grilling stations, an on-site gym, a fenced-in dog park, an outdoor fire pit lounge and more.

Code Council Guidance Made INTRO Cleveland Possible

INTRO Cleveland is footsteps from West Side Market, the oldest market of its kind in Cleveland, as well as the 200-year-old Market Square Park. The complex was built using a mix of glue-laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT) from Binderholz. The latter was approved for use in the American market per the technical approval of ICC-ES ESR-4081. 

The 2021 International Building Code® (IBC) had not yet been published when the project was first conceived, but the code still played an important role in its construction. To ensure that all standards were met or exceeded, INTRO Cleveland was ultimately developed with guidance from the Code Council’s draft recommendation to the pending 2021 IBC code update. It was one of the first residential complexes to adopt the provisions for Tall Wood Buildings and was the tallest mass timber building in the United States at the time of construction.

Visitors and residents alike will be amazed by the natural beauty that mass timber provides. Exposed beams and ceilings immediately highlight the impressive use of wood, creating a unique aesthetic that is easy to appreciate. This visual carries over to Edda Coffee Roasters, one of many tenants populating INTRO Cleveland’s first-floor retail space.  

INTRO Cleveland is also home to the Truss Event Venue. Located on the ninth floor, this rooftop venue boasts 10,000+ square feet of usable space and is available for private events year-round. Up to 300 guests can be served by an in-house catering team and a restaurant-quality bar in a location that includes lavish décor and extraordinary views of Cleveland and Lake Erie. 

Mass Timber Continues to Grow 

INTRO Cleveland showcases mass timber and its potential in both residential and commercial properties, but it is far from the only project of its kind. Work on Harbor Bay Ventures’ next mass timber building, currently referred to as INTRO Columbus, is slated to begin this fall. 

“The project is going to break ground this year at Ohio State University,” said Williams. “It’s going to be a 13-story, 493 bed, 186-unit mass timber student high rise development. It will be the tallest mass timber off-campus student housing complex in the country.” 

Harbor Bay Ventures plans to complete INTRO Columbus in time for the 2027-2028 academic year. 

The 2025 Code Council Annual Conference, Expo and Committee Action Hearings kick off on October 19 and run through October 30. Learn more by heading over to our conference page and don’t miss your chance to sign up for the INTRO Cleveland building tour.