Cornerstone to get residential boost with new apartments

The Cornerstone of Centerville is in line to see a major increase in residential properties as several developments with plans to bring more housing to Sugarcreek Twp. and Centerville are underway.

Currently in the works are three large, multi-family apartment complexes — zoned in Sugarcreek and within a mile of Cornerstone — with the possibility of more in Centerville.

With many new businesses coming to the Cornerstone area — including a Kroger scheduled to open next spring — developers are taking advantage of the increase in traffic to ramp up shopping and living experiences.

Sugarcreek Twp. Director of Planning and Zoning Cara Tilford attributes the explosion in development to shifts in the area’s population.

“I think the developers are responding to changes they see in the market,” Tilford said. “We have an aging population and we have a change in demand with millennials.

“I think you see a lot more multi-family development occurring in this area because developers are being responsive to what they see as future trends.”

Just north of the Cornerstone development, Schottenstein Real Estate Group is in the planning stages of turning the Rollandia golf course into a site for multi-family and assisted living communities. Its preliminary plans for development were approved by Sugarcreek Twp.

Magic Castle, a longtime fixture in Sugarcreek and a part of Rollandia, is not expected to close.

Construction on a 231-unit development named Waterford at Sugarcreek, located on the south side of Feedwire Road, will begin soon. The development will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom room apartments, most with attached garages.

White Oaks Landing, located near the Sugarcreek Walmart, is also scheduled to begin construction work soon. The 203-unit development will offer single-story, two-bedroom, two-bath apartment homes with two-car attached garages.

While nothing has been submitted to council, as plans are still under development, there is anticipation from Centerville that another apartment complex could arise in the Cornerstone area, in addition to what could happen with the proposed Allure apartment complex a few miles away at Cross Pointe Shopping Center.

Developers Miller-Valentine, Schottenstein Real Estate and Redwood could not be reached for comment.

“If you look in the Centerville area, most of the housing development sites are several decades old, if not older,” Centerville economic development director Nathan Cahall said. “I think this shows there’s demand in this market at the moment for newer, multi-family residential options that provide different amenities to some of the existing facilities in the region.”

According to city manager Greg Horn, Centerville has had discussions with a developer that would bring an apartment complex to the south side of Brown Road on the Cornerstone property.

“We’ve seen concepts and council has made visits to some communities that this developer has done, but it hasn’t been formally submitted yet,” Horn said.

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