Design Review Board OK’s Meijer store plans

Store to open spring 2020

The new Meijer Stores LP retail center can’t get to Lorain soon enough for members of the city’s Design Review Board.

On July 10, Design Review Board members Gary Fischer, Andrea Neal, Joyce Ferlic-Arredondo and John Keaton approved the look of the new Meijer planned at 5350 Leavitt Road.

The store is due to open in spring 2020, said Crisman Jones, real estate manager for Meijer, and Ley “Lanie” Wess, senior associate of consultant Woolpert, which is working with Meijer.

When the board members heard that, they jokingly suggested rescinding the approval to add the condition that Meijer stop working on its Avon store, which is under construction now, and start building in Lorain.

“Hurry up — are you done yet?” Fischer quipped.

On a serious note, the board members heard Jones and Wess describe the 159,000-square-foot store planned on the “sea of asphalt” that formerly held the Super K store on the west side of Leavitt Road.

They said they were impressed with the look of the store.

“I’m actually pleased about the landscaping,” Fischer said.

The store will be a nice addition to the city and nicer than what was there before, he said.

“I have to agree,” Neal said. “I really don’t have an issue with what you’re proposing; it’s very thorough, very professional.

“I do not have a problem with what you’re submitting and proposing. It’s aesthetically pleasing.”

Lorain tried to lure Meijer years ago, Ferlic-Arredondo said.

“I’m glad to see that you’re finally coming,” she said. “We welcome you. Very happy with what you’ve proposed here.”

“We look forward to being here,” Jones said.

The main building will be precast imprinted brick in shades of brown and beige in hues called macadamia, tan bark and almond, accented with blue metal.

Its front will vary in height from 22 feet to 35 feet, with the vestibules being the highest points.

Along with the main store, there will be a 3,735-squarefoot convenience store and gasoline station outside it and four outlots for future development.

Meijer will have a loyalty program for customers to earn discounts on gas prices.

The company has pictures of the convenience store, but Meijer also continually tries to reinvent the spaces to offer more prepared foods for takeout, Jones said.

Its new complex will reuse the existing drainage retention pond and the existing sign pylons for its new signs, which will be about the same size as the former signs.

The entrance and exit roads and the loading dock will be screened with trees.

The parking lot will be reduced in size from about 1,000 spaces to more than 500.

Lights will be shielded LED units atop 30-foot white poles set on 2 ½-foot tall bases.

As planning continues this summer and fall, construction should start in spring 2019 and take about a year.

Once the walls are up, work continues inside to add cabinetry and food preparation areas, Jones said.

The store will have about 230 to 250 employees, generally running three shifts with about 75 staffers each, he said.

In the fall, the company will begin marketing the Lorain site for outlot tenants, Jones said.

As for the Avon store, crews are building it at 1810 Nagel Road and is scheduled to open in spring 2019.

“I do not have a problem with what you’re submitting and proposing. It’s aesthetically pleasing.”

— Design Review Board members Andrea Neal