The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Starbucks approved for Toys R Us lot
Retail center with eatery OK’d for property nearby
Two projects anticipated to jazz up the Route 20 and Plaza Boulevard intersection in Mentor are moving forward.
The city Planning Commission recently gave final site plan and architectural approval of a 2,200-square-foot Starbucks restaurant and drive-through with patio at 7715 Mentor Ave.
The property is on an outparcel in front of the former Toys R Us/ Petco building. The preliminary site plan and conditional-use permits for the outside dining and drive-through were approved in September.
The design is a new prototype for the coffeehouse chain, said
James R. Sabatine Jr., representing 7721 Mentor Avenue, LLC.
“The plan is to probably be the nicest Starbucks in the Cleveland area when it’s done,” he said.
The proposed hours of operation are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
One of the conditions of approval was adding internal signage to better direct traffic circulation.
This will be the chain’s third new location in the city within the last couple of years. Two other such stores with drivethroughs opened in 2019, on Route 306 at Tyler Boulevard and on the east end of Mentor Avenue at Heisley Road.
An attempt to reach project representatives about the construction timeline and the fate of an existing store at 7681 Mentor Ave. was unsuccessful.
In other action, the commission approved a preliminary site plan and conditional-use permit for a 7,200-square-foot multitenant retail building with restaurant
patio at 7720 Mentor Ave. and Plaza Boulevard.
The site is currently occupied by a vacant Huntington Bank branch. Thomas English Real Estate and Mentor BNK Investors LLC seek to demolish the structure for the project.
The new building would include a Sleep Number mattress store in the largest tenant space, and the applicant anticipates an eatery on the western end, where the outdoor dining area is proposed.
Developers are in the process of leasing the balance of the space. The restaurant prospects were described as “fast-casual,” similar to Chipotle and BIBIBOP.