JACKSON TWP. – Stark County’s first Meijer Supercenter likely will open next spring if the company follows its usual practices for store openings.
Crews began 10 days ago erecting walls for the main building, which will sit on a 14-acre track along Fulton Drive NW east of Everhard Road NW. A building for a service station also is under construction.
Early designs indicated a 160,000-square-foot building for the supercenter. The Michigan-based retailer generally includes a grocery, general merchandise department and pharmacy in its stores.
The Meijer project is part of a 62-acre tract called the Greens at Belden, which used to be the northern portion of Tam O’Shanter golf course. About 200 acres south of the development are being used by Stark Parks, while 40 acres are being developed by Jackson Township for athletic fields.
Meijer has more than 250 stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin, along with more than 200 gasoline convenience stores. In recent years, the company has been opening new stores in mid-May, although the coronavirus pandemic delayed 2020 store openings to July.
The company has been expanding in Northeast Ohio. Over the past three years, Meijer has opened supercenters in Stow, Mentor and Brimfield Township, and this past May in Boardman and Seven Hills.
Meijer didn’t respond to requests for details about the project in Jackson Township.
Medina-based ABC Development is developing the former golf course property.
The company expected the first phase of a 124-unit senior house development will be finished by the end of this year, said Bob Acciarri, a partner in the firm. Units are under construction on a 20-acre tract east of the Meijer store.
An nine-acre tract will be developed by Gables Senior Living based in Fairlawn. There are plans for Splash Car Wash to be built at the southeast corner of Fulton Drive and Belden Green Circle NW, a street that will access the 62-acre development.
Acciarri said ABC Development is working with Hannah Commercial to market remaining tracts in the development.
The leasing processed slowed during the pandemic, Acciarri said. But that allowed the developer to move forward with $9 million of infrastructure work that included street construction, installing sewers, waterlines and gas lines, and preparing the property for construction.
Hall of Fame Resort nets award, names league boss
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The Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Co. last week received some more recognition.
The company’s work converting the former McKinley Grand hotel in downtown Canton to meet the DoubleTree by Hilton brand was recognized with a 2020 Hilton Legacy Award.
Hilton’s Legacy Awards program recognizes work done by company partners to develop projects that meet or exceed brand standards and have a positive impact on communities.
Mike Levy, Hall of Fame Resort’s president of operations, said the company “had a clear vision” for the hotel to pay homage to Canton’s history as the NFL’s birthplace and provide guests with the experience anticipated at a Hilton property. Levy said that based on the hotel’s consistent strong occupancy since opening in October, “it’s clear that our design resonated with the sports community in Canton and beyond.”
Last Friday, the company also announced that Terrell Davis, a Hall of Fame running back and Denver Broncos legend, will serve as the first commissioner for the Hall of Fantasy League.
Plans are for Davis to promote fair play and support the integrity of the league, and serve as its media spokesperson. Davis will “leverage his years of professional football experience to bring an exciting and unique perspective to the game of fantasy football and participants of the HOFL, while helping to advance the mainstream appeal and credibility of the HOFL brand,” the company said in a press release.
The HOFL has 10 teams and fans can purchase a stake in a favorite team. Fans who own a stake in a team could win money if their team finishes among the top three in the league.
Accounting firm relocating office to Belden Village
Hall, Kistler & Co. is moving to Jackson Township in August.
The company, which has been in Stark County since 1941, will relocate to offices at 4505 Stephen Circle NW. It currently is in space at the Huntington Bank building at 220 Market Ave. S.
The new office allows for a hybrid model of in-office and remote staffing that the accounting industry is moving toward, said John Skakun, a partner in the 80-year-old firm.
“It was a difficult decision after our many years in downtown Canton, and we will continue to advocate for a strong, regional business community through our organizational involvement and sponsorships,” Skakun said in a press release announcing the change.
Whitacre changes name
After 101 years as Whitacre Engineering, the company has changed its name to one it believes better reflects its business.
The new name is Whitacre Rebar. It was chosen because of the company’s growth in areas of furnishing and placing fabricated reinforcing steel.
The company, with offices in Canton and Syracuse, New York, started as a structural engineering business, but now provides materials and installs the systems it has designed.
“Our business has evolved over the years,” CEO Scott Clymire said in a press release. “As the years went by and construction technology changed, we found our niche in supplying and installing fabricated rebar.”
