Proposed retail center expected to attract national businesses

The center would be built on property that houses Englewood Truck, which plans to relocate that operation to Clay Twp.

National retailers could be moving onto property that houses Englewood Truck on South Main Street.

A Nashville developer has an agreement with the truck company to purchase the property and plans to build a retail center on the site, according to a commercial real estate company.

“The retailers are not ready to have their names announced yet, but I can tell you that two of them are national named retailers that we’re all likely to be familiar with,” said Andrew Feinblatt, principal for OnSite Retail Group in Cincinnati. OnSite is the commercial real estate agent responsible for leasing the South Main Street property.

On Tuesday, Englewood City Council approved an ordinance that would allow the property at 1128 S. Main St., which is at the southwest quadrant of Ohio 48 and Wenger Road, to be rezoned from the highway commercial district to special planned unit development.

The ordinance goes into effect 30 days from Tuesday’s approval.

BSM Englewood, LLC, which represents Baker Storey McDonald Properties in Nashville, requested the change, according to William Singer, the city’s community and economic director.

“We still have due diligence items that need to be completed and we anticipate completion of those items and closing on the property in the next 90 days,” Feinblatt said.

The proposed development plan calls for the construction of approximately 50,700 square feet of multi-tenant retail/restaurant space on approximately 7.3 acres at the South Main Street property.

The development area will include a building and an adjoining building, which will house multiple retail and restaurant concepts, according to Feinblatt.

“We will also have one small outlot pad available on Main Street, which would be a perfect fit for a smaller retail or restaurant use,” Feinblatt said.

Eric Smith, Englewood’s city manager, said the proposed redevelopment will dramatically enhance the south entrance way into the city.

“Englewood could not be more pleased to welcome this major improvement,” Smith said.

The late Frank Cecrle bought the South Main Street property and founded Englewood Truck in 1959, according to his son Anthony Cecrle, who is now the company’s owner.

Englewood Truck is a towing, recovery, transporting and truck repair company.

Anthony Cecrle said he expects the South Main Street operation to move to the company’s Clay Twp. location at 7510 Jacks Lane in late spring or early summer.

The 20 employees from the South Main Street operation will join 10 employees at the Jacks Lane site.

“We’re growing and doing very well,” Cecrle said.

The Jacks Lane property is located within a Joint Economic Development District that the township has with the city of Clayton.

“The Englewood Truck relocation is an example where one project benefits two communities, as this consolidation will strengthen their presence in the Clay Twp./Clayton JEDD,” said Robert Anderson, Clayton’s director of Development.

“Englewood Truck is a key player in the logistics and distribution cluster that has developed along the Interstate 70 and I-75 corridors and we are glad they chose to grow their presence in the JEDD area,” Anderson said.

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