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Growth in Austintown surpasses $5 million
AUSTINTOWN
More than $5 million in new commercial and medical expansions are in the works this year in the township.
Darren Crivelli, zoning inspector, said contractors for township chiropractor Chris Raymond are preparing to break ground soon on a new $2.4 million medical building at 1440 S. Canfield-Niles Road after completion of a soil erosion study. The two-story building contains 14,000 square feet of usable space. The property was re-zoned last spring, he said.
“It’s really a great project. We wish them the best,” Crivelli said.
Austinwoods Nursing Center, 4780 Kirk Road, is “progressing” on a $2.2 million, 13,300-square-foot addition, which will have 24 new rehabilitation rooms. The current rehab space will be converted to assisted-living spaces, Crivelli said.
Crivelli said South Raccoon Road “is getting a nice face-lift” with the newly opened Sam’s Wedge Inn, 1685 S. Raccoon Road, and Hot Dog Allies, 1412 S. Raccoon Road, as well as an incoming $1.1 million, 6,600-square-foot banquet hall addition to Barry Dyngles restaurant, which was recently approved for a parking variance. There’s no construction completion date on the pub’s addition, he said.
The McDonald’s restaurant across from Sam’s Wedge Inn on South Raccoon Road also is preparing for exterior and interior remodeling. Remodeling is also underway at the Mahoning Avenue location, he said.
Along Mahoning Avenue, a Dunkin Donuts is slated to open in March at the former Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen, 6073 Mahoning Ave.
The Panera Bread at 5503 Mahoning Ave. was recently approved to build a $200,000 drive-thru.
The former McQuaid’s gas station, 5192 Mahoning, bought in August for $210,000, will eventually reopen as a Mobil gas station.
But, as trustees told The Vindicator last month, the big question on residents’ minds is when the Meijer’s superstore will open in the former Austintown high-school and middle-school location, 5800 Mahoning Ave.
“Everyone’s questioning whether they’re coming in there,” Trustee Ken Carano said.
The Austintown school board sold the $2.4 million, 15-acre property to the grocery chain in January 2017, county auditor records show, though the sale price is not listed. Crivelli said the company spent the next several months on a costly asbestos abatement endeavor.
The proposed Meijer’s Supercenter is expected to be about 192,000 square feet, Crivelli said, a fair bit larger than other planned area locations .
According to a time line delivered to the township in late 2016, final architecture designs and permitting are expected to be completed by the end of this quarter, with construction starting in spring 2020. The opening is slated for spring 2021.
“We’re hoping to see [stormwater and lighting] plans at the end of the year,” Crivelli said. “We don’t want the lights going beyond the property lines.”