Lakewood Moves Forward With Downtown Redevelopment Plans

LAKEWOOD, OH — There are a lot of exciting things happening in Lakewood, and City Planning Director Bryce Sylvester started Wednesday night's community discussion by reviewing some of these projects, such as the upcoming renovation of Lakewood Center North, the new Premier Physicians location at 15800 Detroit Ave., the $35 million renovation of the Westerly and other potential development sites, like the current Lakewood School Board building location.

However, the reason most of the almost 100 people in the audience came to Wednesday night's meeting was to learn about the future of the almost 6 acres of land currently occupied by the former Lakewood Hospital.

Sylvester noted that the nearly 6-acre Downtown Lakewood development area is surrounded by projects that are investing a significant amount of money around the site. He added, "It's important to know that because I think this 6-acre site builds on the progress and momentum that's already been established."

Getting to this meeting was a challenging two-year journey fraught with lawsuits and contentious battles at the ballot box. Now with those obstacles in the rear-view mirror, the city of Lakewood has made plans to move forward with development of the site.

The city publicly launched an RFQ on Feb. 6 in an effort to generate responses from qualified developers followed by a timeline ending with a recommendation to city council in the fall of 2017.

Below is a proposed project schedule intended to be used as a guideline to the process.

• February 6, 2017: Public Launch of RFQ
• February 28, 2017: Pre-submission meeting for development teams
• February 20 & March 6, 2017: Deadline for development teams to submit questions
• March 17, 2017: Round 1 responses due
• March 27, 2017: Invite development teams to interview
• April 18 & 19, 2017: Round 1 interview sessions A & B with panel
• May 1, 2017: Announce Round 2 short list & send selected teams proposal guidelines
• June 30, 2017: Round 2 responses due
• July 18 & 19, 2017: Round 2 interview sessions A & B with panel
• July 21, 2017: Recommendation from panel to the city
• July 24, 2017: City & developer due diligence
• Fall 2017: Recommendation to Lakewood City Council

The city has also set up a section of its website dedicated to keeping the public informed on the details and progress made with the RFQ and the redevelopment project. There is also a Community Discussion form on the website allowing citizens to ask questions and provide feedback about the project. The site is already populated with a lot of information and can be viewed at www.onelakewood.com/DowntownRFQ.

Sylvester said the the purpose of the RFQ is "to find and select the best partner to develop our nearly 6-acre site and will provide the maximum benefit to the community." A printed list of development objectives for the site was provided to meeting attendees; that list can be read below:

• A transformative mixed-use development that meets community housing, employment, shopping and service needs, including growth opportunities for existing Lakewood businesses.
• Creatively integrate visionary architecture engaging and complimentary of the character and quality of Lakewood's building stock, including design characteristics of the original hospital building.
• Relate to and activate the streetscape to generate street level activity and provide a safe, inviting pedestrian experience.
• Serve multiple modes of transportation on site, while meeting realistic vehicle parking needs.
• Design Lakewood's finest multi-functional outdoor community gathering space.
• Position the development to respond to shifting market conditions.
• Recognize and restate the historical significance of the site for the community in built form.
• Support environmentally sustainable development practices, including innovative storm water management techniques and energy efficient building practices that go beyond code requirements.
• Sensitivity to the directly adjacent single-family neighborhood.
• Promote joint-venture partnership structures to achieve a catalyst economic development project that builds upon the real estate development momentum in Downtown Lakewood.
• Attract diverse businesses that provide residents with a wide range of opportunities.
• Provide housing types that complement available community housing options.
• Business terms that deliver tangible returns on public investments, including job creation, tax revenue and property values.

Chris Ronayne of University Circle Inc. also spoke at Wednesday's meeting, describing some of the experiences he's had with redevelopment in the University Circle area.

The meeting wrapped up with a question-and-answer session; you can view that portion of the meeting in the video below:

Photo by Rick Uldricks/Patch