Friday, December 7, 2012
Down the line, partnerships and an entrepreneurial center could be established as part of the city's economic development incentive framework
In discussing Beachwood's desire to incentivize companies into doing business in the city, Economic Development Director Jim Doutt revealed some long-term goals this week to compliment the city's immediate hopes. While Doutt and other officials believe tools like a job creation incentive program should be developed quickly, an entrepreneurial center would be advantageous but take some time to create. "We need to do this in small steps and phases," Doutt said. "We can't go in and try to fill a space of 100,000 square feet, but I can think of a couple spots down in Commerce Park ... smaller spaces that could be re-purposed and used as an entrepreneurial center for startups, could modeled as an accelerator for companies that are ready to go …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
New 355-unit building developers will seek final approval at Planning & Zoning meeting tonight.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
New 355-unit building developers will seek final approval at Planning & Zoning meeting tonight.
Developers behind a proposed 355-unit luxury apartment complex will seek final approval from the Beachwood Planning & Zoning Commission Thursday, Sept. 27. The building at Green Road and Chagrin Boulevard will house 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units marketed toward young professionals. The building will be built where Commerce Park Buildings I, II and III stand at the southeast corner of the intersection. Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook The property sold for $4.1 million in September to The NRP Group, LLC and Munsell Realty Advisors, LLC. City Planner George Smerigan said the buildings will be torn down to make room for the new apartments. Tenants from those offices will move to Buildings IV and V. Look for more on this proposal as it …
Friday, April 27, 2012
Months of consideration by city officials ends with approval Thursday night for Beachwood Pet Lodge USA
"I feel like I just gave birth," laughed Dan Kryzanowski, owner of Pet Lodge USA, after Thursday's Planning & Zoning approval of his preliminary site plans. It was a long road, and it was not easy convincing the Commission and City Council that his unusual business proposal was one that would fit in Commerce Park. We first told you about Pet Lodge USA in February, after Kryzanowski attended a P&Z meeting to request permission to renovate a former fur storage vault. You read that right — Kryzanowski is putting dogs and pets in units inside a building that used to house the furs of their deceased cousins. “We’re still in the fur business,” said building owner Ken Sacks. “It’s just a different kind of fur.” But more restricting was that …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tell us what you think would work well as the city works to revitalize office park
Commerce Park has been a hot topic of debate with city leaders recently. The office park - built in the 1960s - was designed for manufacturing and warehouses. A study conducted in March 2011 indicated that the business park faces several problems, including a low occupancy rate, aging buildings, and parking and traffic concerns. The study suggests that the area, which has housed warehouse, manufacturing and wholesaling businesses since its inception, be redeveloped to accommodate residential, retail and service or governmental and institutional office space. Another study — this time focused on the whole city — also named Commerce Park as a focal point of the city's economic development strategy. City officials seem to have different ideas…
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The 340-unit upscale apartment building is to be built at Chagrin and Green
City Council has cleared the way for an upscale apartment complex on Chagrin Road, creating a new zoning district and rezoning the property where three Commerce Park office buildings stand. City officials hope the four-story, 340-unit building to be built at Green Road and Chagrin Boulevard will attract young professionals to the city. A concept plan presented at an earlier City Council meeting calls for an apartment building with a two-story parking garage where Commerce Park Buildings I, II and III stand at the southeast corner of the intersection. City Planner George Smerigan said that the plans are consistent with the Commerce Park report his company conducted for the city earlier this year. The property sold for $4.1 million in …
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Vote adds overnight pet care facilities to conditional uses in zoning code; clears path for Pet Lodge USA to set up shop
City Council cleared the way for Pet Lodge USA to set up shop in a former fur vault at last night’s meeting. The overnight pet care facility’s owner asked Council to allow him to set up shop in a Commerce Park zoning district that did not allow pet care facilities. Dan Kryzanowski, owner of Pet Lodge USA, told the Planning & Zoning Commission that the building is perfect for his headquarters and training facility, and he wants to sign a 10-year lease. Council was already considering changing the zoning classification that covers most of Commerce Park to allow more kinds of businesses, including salons, dry cleaning, tailoring, and business services like consulting, property and equipment maintenance and financial services. Monday Council …
Monday, March 19, 2012
Check our simple breakdown of the biggest items on tonight's agenda
With four public hearings and more regular business, tonight’s City Council agenda is dense. Council will consider the Pet Lodge USA proposal – allowing a kennel to open in a former fur vault in Commerce Park – and host four public hearings: about farmers markets, a potential new apartment building and Commerce Park zoning. Read on for a simple breakdown of the big items to be discussed. City Council meets at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. The first public hearing will begin at 7:15 p.m. and the others will immediately follow. Click on th PDF to see the full agenda. Ordinance: Pet Lodge USA One piece of legislation would allow a Pet Lodge USA to move into a former fur vault in Commerce Park. The ordinance would rule the business…
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
City Council to hear public comment on two ordinances at upcoming meetings
City Council scheduled public hearings for two ordinances at Monday’s meeting. The public hearing on the ordinance to allow goats and sheep at Beachwood homes will be May 7. Council can vote on the ordinance, which would allow residents to keep two goats or one sheep at homes on at least 1.1 acres of property, that night. Council set an April 17 public hearing for an ordinance to change the zoning code for electronic signs, a change spurred after Dollar Bank erected an electronic billboard on Interstate 271 and Chagrin Boulevard. March 19's City Council meeting agenda already includes four public hearings: two hearing about a proposed apartment building at Chagrin Boulevard and Green Road, one about changing Beachwood’s limited …
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Beachwood's City Council will revisit ordinance to allow kennel next meeting
City Council did not vote on an ordinance to allow a Pet Lodge USA in a former fur vault in Commerce Park at Monday’s meeting. Members questioned whether the Pet Lodge met a "similar and harmonious" standard that would allow the business in the zoning district that does not explicitly allow kennels. Dan Kryzanowski, owner of Pet Lodge USA, told the Planning and Zoning Commission at their last meeting that the building is perfect for his headquarters and training facility, and he wants to sign a 10-year lease. Kryzanowski's lawyer Sheldon Berns said that there are not the same opportunities for the building as there were in better economic times. "Maybe you could afford to convert that building, put a loading dock windows," said Berns, "but…
Dan Kryzanowski
1:55 am on Saturday, April 28, 2012
There ARE windows in the building. Anyone who drives by it can clearly see that. more ›