New project emerges for Center Street land

Townhomes project requires rezoning the property north of school again

Yet another plan to develop vacant land behind the old Center Street School in Mentor is being proposed.

Mentor Planning Commission on May 3 will provide feedback on an informal rezoning request for 1.1 acres between the school and the Erie Bank center.

Clevelander Jeff Caimi, who owns the Salon Lofts portion of the former school building, seeks to change the zoning from Old Village District-Residential/Commercial to Old Village District-Residential. He proposes Center Street Townhomes, consisting of 16 residential units in three, three-story buildings around a courtyard.

“I like Mentor,” Caimi said. “I think that there’s a lot of growth potential there.”

A previously approved proposal for the site included

commercial uses as well. To request a change in the development requires rezoning the property.

“We have talked about different options there, both commercial and residential,” said Andrew L. Meinhold, senior vice president of ErieBank, which would sell the developer

the property if all goes as planned. “(Caimi) is the one that thought residential was the way to go.”

The project will require several steps, including a formal review by the commission and a City Council vote to place it on the ballot. The deadline for issues for the Nov. 6 ballot is Aug. 8.

Development plans for the property date back at least a dozen years, when Phase 1 of a mixed-use development proposed by Rick Osborne Jr. was rezoned to Old Village District by the electorate. However, rezoning for Phase 2 — involving 40 townhomes on about 5 acres — was denied by voters in 2008. The economic downturn that year caused Osborne to pursue a more modest project.

Six years later, developer Bo Knez succeeded at rezoning the land for Center Street Square — another mixed-use plan — but he bowed out when the property went through foreclosure.

Lake National Bank (acquired by ErieBank last year) purchased the property at sheriff’s sale in 2015, and ProBuilt Homes emerged to develop the single-family home portion on Presley Avenue.

“I’m definitely hopeful,” Meinhold said. “We’ve made really good progress on Presley (Avenue). We’ve only got two lots left there to sell at this point. That was our first priority. I think what Jeff’s got planned for this parcel next to us is a good fit.”

Bank representatives opposed the Knez plan because of concerns about increased traffic and limited parking.

“We like this one better,” Meinhold said. “It’s got two entrances — the driveway that’s by the bank now and a driveway on the south part of that lot, so it takes out the traffic and parking concerns we had before.”

For now, the land remains under the zoning specific to the Center Street Square project. As part of the Old Village Community Reinvestment Area, a 10year, 50 percent tax abatement is available on new development.

Center Street Townhomes units would include a two-car garage on the ground floor, a storage area and a bedroom/den. The second floor would be the main living area, consisting of a living room, kitchen, dining room and bathroom. The third floor would have two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“We’re still at the very beginning stages, but we’re hopeful it’ll work out,” Caimi said.