The Cedar Center North project, envisioned as a bold, mixed-use development featuring a midrise condo building above new shops and restaurants, is a far cry from what the original developer and community backers had hoped for originally. Gone are the high-end condos, replaced by an upscale strip retail center filled with familiar national chains.
The Coral Company and DeVille Developments broke ground on the project, which has been in the works since 2001 but stymied by the recession that began in 2007, this spring. So far, they've secured leases from Piada, PetSmart, Menchies, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Jimmy Johns, Five Guys, Sprint, Sport Clips, Little Caesar's Pizza and Huntington Learning Centers, among other tenants.
When Piada Italian Street Food opens this fall, it will be the first location for the Columbus-based restaurant chain. For the most part, the other new tenants that have leased space at Cedar Center North already have locations in Northeast Ohio.
Despite the downscaled nature of the project, Patrick Sirpilla of co-developer DeVille Developments says that many members of the community are simply happy that the project has broken ground and is well on its way to completion.
"We're getting a great response from the community and people are excited about the types of tenants going in," he says. "We've gotten a lot of great comments on the design, which has nice architectural features and lots of brick and stone."
Sirpilla says that three of the tenants he is currently negotiating with are retail operators, and that he hopes to ultimately see more stores within the project.
Two new retailers, Gordon Food Service and Bob Evans, opened locations here last year. Although it is scaled back, Cedar Center North is much more pedestrian-friendly than its predecessor, a maligned strip mall dominated by parking lots. It features outdoor dining, bike racks, community areas and varying architecture.
A mile away, First Interstate Development recently broke ground on Oakwood Commons, a large new retail center off of Warrensville Center Road that will feature a SuperWalmart and other tenants that have not been announced.
Source: Patrick Sirpilla
Writer: Lee Chilcote