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Developer strides toward walkable plaza on Portage

January 23, 2011 - Steve Wiandt, recordpub.com

Cuyahoga Falls -- Work in signing tenants and establishing Portage Crossing, an intimate retail plaza at Portage Trail and State Road, is right on schedule, said developer Robert Stark.

"We're getting very close and we're very excited about our prospects," Stark told the Falls News-Press, "but these things take a long time to finish." Despite the extensive efforts involved in inking enough contracts to build and fill approximately 25 stores, construction is not expected to be delayed.

The developer said construction is slated to begin in Fall 2011 or Spring 2012, as originally planned, and last approximately 18 months. "We're still very optimistic about achieving that goal," said Stark, who is president and CEO of Stark Enterprises, based in Cleveland. Portage Crossing will be built where State Road Shopping Center was located.

Portage Crossing will be anchored by a "brand-new, state-of-the-art supermarket," he said. Other businesses will include places to eat. Stark said it's too early to name any of the businesses that will be located in Portage Crossing. However, he said he hopes to announce store names in April.

The State Road Shopping Center was built in 1953 and was the home of Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, W.T. Grant, Northgate Lanes, Firestone, and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

After Montgomery Ward closed in 2001, the plaza continued to decline reaching a point where it was approximately 70 percent vacant. The city filed for eminent domain in 2007 and purchased the land in 2008 from State Road Associates for $10.2 million. Demolition began in 2009 and was completed the following year.

"This project will give a whole new meaning to that section of town," said Susan Truby, the city's community development director. "It's going to be fantastic, and I can't wait."

Portage Crossing is "the most important project" going on in Cuyahoga Falls, Truby said. "It's a whole different model. It's not just new for us -- it's new for the region. The buildings will be built near the sidewalk, she said, and not behind a "sea of asphalt. It's not a strip center."

Truby said she has received numerous calls from local business owners interested in relocating to Portage Crossing. "That is a positive sign to the community -- an initial investment," she said. "It's a good thing to have a local person wanting to upgrade and move into new space." Truby said she thinks "some" of the shops in the development will be relocations, but the majority of the stores will be new.

Stark, the man behind the Promenade at Crocker Park in Westlake, said he is not straying from the path he's charted in Cuyahoga Falls. "The basic plan to create a walkable, Crocker Park-type 'Main Street' on Portage [Trail] that's very engaging and very social and very interactive is still what we're going to do."

Other Stark retail developments include Rosemont Commons in Fairlawn, Canal Zone in Valley View and The Strip in North Canton. Although construction of Portage Crossing is broken down into two phases, Stark said he hopes to build all in one phase.