Glendale: Erickson Retirement Community

(NOTE: I wrote this story yesterday. The Enquirer is going to have a story about this project in their Wednesday edition, which includes some quotes that this story lacks. Anyway, here's my version, which includes info on Erickson's other activity in Ohio.)

An informal presentation regarding the possible redevelopment of the Landmark Baptist Church property in Glendale will be held June 13.

Erickson Retirement Communities has expressed interest in building on the site, which is situated along Oak Road and straddles the villages of Glendale and Evendale.

Erickson, in the midst of an aggressive building program, currently has 19 lifestyle communities in the United States, including two in Michigan and two in Pennsylvania. The developments are generally gated, campus-styled, and upscale.

In 2006, they explored the possibility of opening their first Ohio location in Dublin, just outside of Columbus. Their plan for 1,500 units on 95 acres promised 1,000 jobs and $200 million in construction costs.

After Dublin rejected them for not fitting in with the planned Central Ohio Innovation Center development, they called on nearby Hilliard, promising 800 to 1,000 jobs from an 80 acre campus with an annual payroll of $30 million. Hilliard looks prepared to okay the development in the Ansmil district, which has been vacant since its rezoning in 1998.

In order for the development to work here, Glendale would have to increase the number of living units per acre allowed from its current number of ten.

Evendale would be required to rezone their part of the property to residential, meaning that it would require approval from both the Planning Commission and the Village Council. Officials with the village have already expressed doubts about whether the retirement community fits into the village's master plan.

An adjacent 40-acre chunk of the Landmark property had been proposed as the site of the Crossings of Glendale power center, to be built by Bear Creek Capital. Their plan contained several big box stores and outlots arranged parallel to I-75, with an ocean of parking in between.

Negotiations between Bear Creek and Landmark were going on as late as spring 2006, when things mysteriously broke off and Bear Creek removed the project from their website.

Erickson's interest in the land became widely known in March of this year.

The June 13 presentation, which is a joint session of the Council of the Village of Glendale and the Glendale Planning and Historic Preservation Commission, begins at 7 PM in the Glendale Town Hall Auditorium. It is open to the public.

Erickson Retirement Communities website

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