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RIVERSIDE — Major changes are in the works for the Airway Shopping Center beginning next month with a traffic signal relocation that will create seven outlots designed to generate at least $8 million in new construction, city officials said.
Cost for the traffic signal relocation project is $300,000, with the majority of it being paid for by Mid-America Management, which owns the shopping center, Riverside City Manager Bryan Chodkowski said.
The city is providing about $10,000 in infrastructure material out of its inventory to help the project, which calls for the traffic signal to move 300 feet north, from 185 Woodman to 101 Woodman. The project will start in late May and take no more than 30 days to complete.
City council is also expected to vote May 3 on making the Airway-Woodman area a Tax Increment Financing business district, said Bob Murray, the city’s director of planning and economic development.
“What we hope is that new commercial space will drive additional improvements in the district, whether it’s rehabilitating existing structures or demolishing and building new,” Chodkowski said. “We want it to be a catalyst for something bigger and better in that area. A lot of the credit is to be given to Mid-America. They’re planning on this paying off for them long-term, and we can’t give them enough credit for taking the reins on this.”
Airway Shopping Center — built in 1959 — features about 250,000 square feet and has a 77 percent occupancy rate, according to Peggy Henthorn, who manages the property for the Cleveland-based corporation.
The largest tenants are Big Lots (30,000 square feet), Planet Fitness (22,500), Aldi’s (17,460) and AutoZone (16,987). Henthorn said her company is negotiating with a potential tenant to fill the space formerly held by Goodwill (26,000).
“We’ve had our peaks and valleys,” Henthorn said. “It’s now definitely made a comeback. It’s more of a community center. We get a lot of traffic with the Air Force museum, the base and the residents there in that area. It’s really a great location.”
The relocated signal will allow cars to turn in both directions from the shopping center parking lot onto Woodman. Currently, there’s only a right turn allowing cars to exit to the north onto Woodman from the lot.
“The purpose is to create another corner and attract more business,” Murray said. “It’s creating an easy in and out for the businesses that locate in the vast sea of parking. We’re trying to utilize the vacant ground by putting in taxable property.”
Chodkowski said the vintage-style McDonald’s located on the southwest corner of Airway and Woodman will close and be demolished, although he was uncertain when that would occur. A more traditional, double drive-thru McDonald’s will be built at the new traffic light on one of the outlots on the Airway shopping side of Woodman.
Phil Saken, communications manager for the Ohio region of McDonald’s, would not confirm plans for the restaurant.
The other six outlots will be made up of five more on the Airway shopping side and the one where the current McDonald’s sits. Potential businesses for those spots could be banks, pharmacies, restaurants and retail, Chodkowski said.
“The asphalt has not been maintained because we know we’re going to be developing on it,” Henthorn said.
One of the storefronts of the L-shaped main building is the Riverside Historical Society, which moved in about four years ago.
Judy Horn, president of the Historical Society, said the traffic signal relocation is the first step in what she sees as “big changes.”
“There’s a lot of traffic on Woodman Drive because it’s a main thoroughfare,” Horn said. “I’m anxious to see more growth, and I’m glad to hear that it will be starting.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2281 or smatthews@coxohio.com.
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