When is Menards coming to Granger Township near Montrose? What we know

It's becoming increasingly unlikely that Menard Inc. will begin a planned retail complex in Granger Township this year, the company said this week via email.

The privately owned company, the third largest home improvement retailer in the U.S., has had a two-phase project in the works for about five years, with the first phase of the project approved by Medina County and Granger Township authorities.

The project has stoked both interest and opposition and was the target of a lawsuit at one point. The lawsuit ended in January 2023 when the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on a civil lawsuit brought by a citizens group in Medina County Common Pleas Court in 2021.

'Economic and political situation' affecting Menards project in Granger Township

The Menard sproject would bring a 126-acre commercial development just west of the Summit County line and the heavily-developed Montrose area of Fairlawn and Copley Township.

In November, the company purchased about 300 acres for the project, but there's been no construction activity since then.

At the time, Menard Inc. projected that work would begin in the spring and the company received an extension from the county for the first phase of the Market at Medina Line project. But conditions have changed since then, the company said this week.

"The present economic and political situation in Washington is making us less enthusiastic about spending money on new developments at this time," Menard Inc. spokesman Jeff Abbott. "We still hope to build a store on the property some day when things are more settled.”

Cuyahoga Falls, Kent Menards performing well, says company

The company said other Menards stores in the Akron area have performed well. The company has 34 stores in Ohio and 349 locations in the U.S.

“We opened the Cuyahoga Falls store in 2018 and (the) Kent store in 2020," Abbott said. "Both stores are doing quite well despite the challenges we’ve faced with COVID and the economy."

Some Menards projects proceed more slowly than others

Menard Inc. has a history of proceeding cautiously with new stores.

In Cuyahoga Falls, the prospect of a Menards location first appeared in 2014. Four years later, the store opened on Graham Road. Giant Eagle, which moved to the Portage Crossing development, had operated a store at the location.

In Bridgeport, West Virginia, a Menards project took seven years from plans to opening.

In Urbana, Illinois, Menard Inc.purchased 357 acres 16 years ago for a large retail project that included 11 outlots for other stores. A year ago, the company hadn't moved forward.

Urbana mayor Diane Marlin called the situation "disappointing" in the The News-Gazette in June 2023.

'No final decision' on whether extension will be necessary

The Granger Township project involves other retail and commercial outlets, which can complicate the planning and development of a large project. The plans in the township include drawings for a 157,000-square-foot Menards store with a 22,000-square-foot garden center.

Denise Testa, director of planning services and fair housing for the Medina County commissioners, said Menard Inc. can apply for one more preliminary plan extension. The extensions last one year.

Crystal Neelon, ODOT's District 3 public information officer, said in a June 26 email that the department issued a permit to allow two access points to state Route 18.

One would include a traffic signal; the other would be a right-turn only.

The permits are usually issued for six months, she said, and Menard Inc. would need to reapply if the current permit expires.

Abbott said that the company hasn't decided if it will need to seek another extension on its preliminary plan.

“Although no final decision has been made, it is becoming more likely with each passing day that we may have to request an extension,” he said.

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj or Facebook at www.facebook.com/alan.newsman.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What we know about Menards project in Granger Township near Montrose