Empty Norwood Inn site remains a conundrum after battle to block Sheetz in Boston Heights
At the end of 2023, the former Norwood Inn property in Boston Heights still sits vacant.
In the summer of 2022, Sheetz had proposed constructing a gas station on the site at 6625 Dean Memorial Parkway. The village's planning commission, however, voted against the conditional use permit the company would have needed to start building that fall. Soon after, Sheetz filed a challenge in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. However, Sheetz officials withdrew the case this past March.
Residents had packed the planning commission meetings in summer 2022 to protest the gas station, particularly the company's plans to provide 30 parking spaces and a separate fueling station for larger trucks. Some residents even called the gas station a truck stop, which Sheetz representatives denied. Concerns about pollution, noise and potential crime were the main fears raised, particularly with the site being close to an Akron Children's Hospital facility and a law firm.
The Norwood Inn and its history
An initial hotel was constructed in that spot in 1967, and a swimming pool added in 1972. At various times, the property was a Holiday Inn and a Clarion Inn. Property records from the Summit County Fiscal Office show Maplewood Lodging purchased the two-story motel from SAI Living Hudson, Inc. for $4.2 million in February 2018.
The Norwood Inn included more than 200 hotel rooms and a restaurant within a 359,004 square foot building on a little more than 8 acres, according to Summit County Fiscal Office records. Its appraised value as of 2023 was listed at $982,100, a drastic reduction from its listed value of just under $4.2 million in 2022.
Mayor-elect Ron Antal said in an earlier interview that representatives from Norwood Inn told village officials on Oct. 3, 2019, the facility would close temporarily for six months. However, the hotel never reopened.
At the end of 2019, Crown Property Holdings LLC (dba Tapestry Companies) and Bevan Properties Inc. had jointly proposed a project called Boston Landings, which would have consisted of apartment units and town homes on the site, along with two office buildings on a neighboring property.
Crown Property Holdings (dba Tapestry Companies) had set up a purchase agreement with Maplewood Lodging LLC to buy the former motel property. Crown Property Holdings/Tapestry Companies wants to build 70-78 apartment units and 12-14 townhomes on the site through a combination of both renovation and new construction.
This was the most formal proposal made to the village before Sheetz, Antal said. Tapestry Companies, in Minnesota, had wanted to renovate much of the hotel building, turning the rooms into apartment units. However, no one had been brought in to evaluate the building to see if the hotel structure was in good enough shape for renovations and ultimately the proposal to renovate the hotel never moved forward.
A second, similar proposal, from a separate Minnesota company, also was brought before the village but never got beyond an initial proposal, Antal said. He added that a third Minnesota company called to inquire about the property but never submitted a formal proposal.
What could the future hold?
Mike Downing, a Boston Heights resident and the owner of Downing Construction and Michael Downing Realty, said in an Oct. 20 letter to the zoning committee and the Village Council that he would be interested in constructing an ice skating and multi-sport complex, along with a Winking Lizard restaurant. Downing added in the letter than he had inquired about the property through a real estate broker but that the price, which he said was more than $2 million, plus the $1 million to remove the asbestos, was too costly.
In a recent interview, Downing said that he would still be interested in developing the property, but the ice rink was out.
"i was looking to put a two-sheet ice rink there," Downing said. "But then Kent State, which had talked about closing their rinks, decided to leave one of their ice rinks open. So there's no market for this."
If the village could acquire the land through the Summit County Land Bank and work with him, Downing said he would be willing to take care of demolishing the hotel, develop the property and get tenants in place.
"I'm a Boston Heights resident," Downing said. "I would like to see it developed for the benefit of the neighborhood, even if I'm not part of it. I drive by it several times a day and it's an eyesore. It's falling apart, I can tell people have broken into it.
Antal said efforts continue toward attracting a potential buyer.
"There is something in the works related to a possible sale of the hotel property," Antal said. "The company who owns the property said they have been working with a company called Flicore. Flicore works with companies to bring them in."
However, a purchase agreement has not been signed and Flicore, which is in Pepper Pike, will not disclose to the village who the potential purchaser is or what they intend to do with the property, Antal said.
Antal added that he hoped the village will have a better idea about the purchaser and what they intend to do with the property in the near future. In addition, he added that he hoped to secure state funds to help demolish the structure, which Antal said was the big barrier in getting the land redeveloped.
Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Norwood Inn future still murky after Sheetz fight in Boston Heights
