BEACHWOOD, Ohio — A multi-million-dollar redevelopment project has been given the green light in Beachwood and it marks a huge milestone for the city.
The project has been a complete collaboration between the developer and city officials, with the final plans calling to tear down the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel on Park East Drive and build a complex of four new buildings of mixed-use development.
“This is an opportunity where we feel that we're going to be able to bring the urban, walkable lifestyle into the middle of Beachwood into the heart of one of the most familiar business districts in Cleveland,” said developer Chad Kertesz.
Kertesz’s company, My Place Group, is spearheading the $200 million dollar redevelopment. The original blueprints planned to convert the former hotel into a luxury apartment building, but the existing structure had low ceilings and parking challenges among other shortcomings.
“There are certain things that are with the building that are not ideal for the future and mechanical systems. Those are things that need to be updated,” Kertesz said.
Beachwood Mayor Justin Berns also had his reservations about the project and actually voted against it as a member of the city’s planning commission.
Kertesz and the city met to discuss their concerns and went back to the drawing board to come up with a new plan that includes razing the hotel, and building four new structures including an apartment building, an office building and a boutique hotel.
“The opportunity to redevelop something and make something transformational, which I believe this project is, doesn’t happen very often in Beachwood,” Berns said. “He (Kertesz) came in with his architect and they came back to us within two weeks with new renderings with what they proposed and how they would change it.”
The site sits on a ten-acre parcel adjacent to I-271 and is in close proximity to University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center. Its sheer size alone makes it an attractive space for redevelopment as the city of Beachwood itself doesn’t boast many undeveloped sites.
“We have very little undeveloped land, except in the Chagrin-Highland area,” Berns said. “This will spur new growth, not only on Park East Drive, but hopefully in the commerce park mercantile area, and along Chagrin Boulevard as well.”
The transformation project marks the first mixed-use redevelopment in the city of Beachwood. Across the highway, the city redeveloped similar property that will become a new high-end Porsche dealership. Berns and Kertesz are hopeful that this new, sprawling complex will replace a vacant hotel and be an asset to the city.
“There aren’t too many communities who can say they have a $200 million project coming to them,” Berns said. “This project is going to bring a $20 million plus payroll to the city of Beachwood. 400 new apartments, that’s new residents. That’s great for the city of Beachwood.”
Kertesz has said his company has already started lining up tenants for the project. They hope to get construction plans drawn up and a bid out to begin work by the end of 2023. The whole project will take 18-24 months to complete once the ground is broken.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
