Housing project Phase 1 gets OK

Brookview Reserve plat glides through Council, 71 homes to begin in spring

Phase 1 of the Brookview Reserve housing development passed its final board review with Mentor City Council’s recent vote.

Council unanimously approved the plat on Feb. 2 after the developer fielded some more questions on landscaping along Route 84/ Johnnycake Ridge Road.

“What is the depth of the buffering on Johnnycake?” asked Councilman at large Ray Kirchner.

Pulte Homes Planning Director Jim O’Connor indicated that the depth ranges from 50 feet to about 125 feet, with extensive mounding and plantings planned all across the front of the community.

“It’s landscaped from the eastern edge to the western edge,” he said.

Medina-based Pulte received a positive recommendation on the plat from the city Planning Commission last month after agreeing to complete the front landscaping prior to homes being built. The traffic signal serving the site will be improved as well.

The 73-acre development on former horse pasture south of

Great Lakes Mall and west of Deepwood apartments is more than two years in the making, partly because of the pandemic.

Phase 1 involves 71 dwellings, and another 103 homes are planned in the two subsequent phases.

Eight housing styles are envisioned, with the average price in the $330,000 range and sizes ranging from 1,800 to 2,600 square feet.

About 34 percent of the community will be open space with active recreation as well as passive opportunities.

The development will target first-time buyers, such as young professionals relocating for a job.

“The investment in Brookview Reserve provides yet another example of the possibilities of integrating new residential (development) with the existing commercial vibrancy of the area surrounding Great Lakes Mall,” Mentor Economic Development Director Kevin Malecek said.

The project required rezoning the vacant parcel from R-4 Single-family Residential to RVG Residential Village Green. An informal rezoning request was reviewed by the Commission in April 2019.

The zoning change and concept was approved by Council in March, the night Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued a stay-at-home order in response to the coronavirus.

Development is expected to begin in May with construction of a model home completed in September.

January 2022 is the target for a grand opening.

Phase 2 would start the following spring, if all goes as planned, Pulte said.