Meijer purchases 39 acres for Boardman store

By JESSICA HARDIN

jhardin@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

Amid a contentious debate about causes of area flooding, Meijer Stores Ltd. purchased 39 acres at the intersection of Lockwood Boulevard and U.S. Route 224 to erect a 157,000-square-foot store.

The $4 million purchase was facilitated through Carnegie Management and Development Corp., said Alan Friedkin, a broker with Friedkin Realty LLC who worked on the deal.

“They jumped through the hoops to get it done,” said Friedkin.

In the sale finalized Friday, Carnegie retained one acre that Friedkin will assist in developing.

After site preparation, it will take Meijer between 12 to 14 months to build a store, so the Boardman location could open in summer 2021 at the very earliest.

The company plans to invest between $20 million and $25 million in site development and construction of the incoming store, which will create up to 275 full- and part-time jobs.

“Having a large national grocer with a good reputation will be good for the community,” said Krista Beniston, township director of zoning and development. She added that the site could have been broken into smaller pieces and developed differently.

“What’s going to happen at that section of Boardman is that the store will establish it as more of a retail center. It will draw more attention to the area,” said Friedkin.

The 39-acre property consists of a 22-acre conservation easement that cannot be developed. The size of the easement increased from 17 acres in exchange for adding three acres to the portion that is zoned commercial.

Boardman Township also made demands of the company when it came to lighting and landscaping.

“We were very conscious of the neighbors along Lockwood [Boulevard] and east of the property,” said Beniston. “We looked at how to minimize the impacts to adjacent residential properties.”

News of the purchase is sure to rile those residents who identify development as a cause of the township’s flooding issues.

Following the May 28 rain event that damaged homes in the area, affected Boardman residents have called for a moratorium on development in township.

Township officials, however, assure residents that development of the site will not add to flooding woes.

Meijer will have “to hold water back so that it comes off at the same rate as it would if it was not developed,” said Beniston. “So it has a neutral impact.”