City Gives Solar Center Developers $140,000 Grant

Echo Solon will receive a grant from the city worth up to $140,000 for redeveloping the aging Solar Shopping Center and building a new Giant Eagle.

The growth and revitalization grant for the project was approved Monday by Solon City Council. Money for the grant will come from the city budget.

The city council is expected to approve a number of zoning variances for the long-awaited shopping center redevelopment on April 2. The shopping center is located at the corner of SOM Center and Aurora roads.

According to city documents, Echo Solon expects to spen nearly $16.9 million on the project, which includes demolishing about 70 percent of the existing plaza, construction of a new 92,000-square-foot Giant Eagle with a GetGo gas station along SOM Center Road. An additional 11,000-square-foot retail building will aso be built.

The project is expected to begin in May and be complete in December 2013. The Giant Eagle is expected to open next summer, and the old Giant Eagle will remain open until the new supermarket is built.

The city plans to pay the grant in three installments of $50,000, $50,000 an $40,000.

Echo Solon will receive the full $140,000 unless the project costs less than anticipated.

The redevelopment of Solar Center has been an off-and-on affair over the last few years, with a recent attempt mired in lawsuits. Echo Solon's bid to redevelop it arose from that legal quagmire.

City officials favor the plans, viewing a new and up-to-date shopping plaza in the center of town as a key piece of the city's future vision.

Final approval is expected April 2.

"We do intend to take a vote two weeks from tonight," said Vice Mayor Ed Kraus.