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Belle Oaks Marketplace approved to help revitalize the old Richmond Town Square

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Posted at 8:00 AM, Oct 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-23 08:45:03-04

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The Richmond Heights Planning and Zoning Committee has approved the Belle Oaks at Richmond Road plan, which will bring mixed-use retail and multi-family development to the old Richmond Town Square location. You can click through all the information about the new project here.

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Renderings show space for retail below apartment in a series of buildings that are about three stories tall.

Demolition on the old Sears building and construction on the first part of the mixed-use development could start before the end of 2021, according to Belle Oaks Communications Manager Jeremy Kumin.

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The new development will turn an outdated style of shopping into a more modern, life/work/play experience.

The larger project will cost about $285 million and will bring 800 apartments and 375,000 square feet of retail space to Richmond Heights. Much of the old Richmond Town Square will be demolished and rebuilt as part of the project, said Kumin.

Renderings show room for new restaurants and other attractions around the already-redeveloped storage facility. The rest of the project has multiple designs that will be finalized when larger tenants are locked in based on their needs in the new space.

A Long Time Coming 

In 2018, News 5 Cleveland spoke with businesses near Richmond Town Square about how declining traffic across the street was resulting in falling business in the surrounding stores.

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Richmond Town Square signs still hang on the old shopping facility, much of which will be torn down to build a new development.

Early versions of the redevelopment plan predicted that the shopping space would follow other traditional malls in being reimagined into a different kind of live, work, play experience, better reflecting modern shopping trends.

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The former Sears store will be demolished to make space for brand new, mixed-use buildings.

While some traditional shopping locations have become abandoned, others, like Van Aken District, havepivoted to attract new business. In the heart of Cleveland, Tower City is going through its own revitalization with newly-announced tenants, public events, and a key role in the city’s grand plan to redevelop its riverfront.

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Van Aken Market Hall spacing out tables.

Have you ever noticed something interesting in Northeast Ohio and wondered, “Hey…what’s going on there?”

Us, too. We love learning more about what shapes the world around us -- the buildings, the spaces and the ways we move between them.

Next time you're wondering about some building, project or piece of land, send me an email at Kevin.Barry@wews.com and I'll look into it for a possible story.

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