OREGON, Ohio — City leaders are hoping a town center would become somewhat of a downtown for Oregon. Talks have been ongoing since 2019 but picked up steam on Monday.
The plan is to create a new space for people to gather, shop and eat all in the same area.
"This project is timed perfectly right now for this development," Oregon city administrator Joel Mazur said.
City leaders are looking to get the ball rolling again
The Town Center's location right off Navarre is what they call the perfect location.
"Because of the traffic flow from Route 2, it's right off of the exit from I-280. It also has the buzz from St. Charles Hospital and some of the hotels that are in that vicinity," Mazur said.
Mazur says this downtown-like space has always been in the plans, but there were a handful of factors that pushed the timeline back.
Residents attending the meeting say it's time to have a gathering space and they are curious to see what kinds of shops would be there.
"You have small businesses in the city, but most of them are franchise businesses, like Olive Garden or Panera Bread. You don't have small businesses that are mom-and-pop, locally-owned," Oregon resident Glenn Reihing said.
The timeline for the project has the development and groundbreaking beginning this year.
Construction would happen in 2024 and the opening would be sometime in 2025.
The buildings would be a mix of retail, dining, offices and even a residential development that would be connected to the town center.
But potential apartments do have residents concerned.
"If you're going to develop lofts, you have to be able to price-point a figure so people who are making lower-end wages can actually live and have a roof over their head," Reihing said.
City leaders say the residential lot is separate from the town center lot, but they are working with a developer on that project as well. More information on that will come at a later date.
Fairmount Properties, the developers behind the town center project, say the group is excited to create something that fits in with the city. Plans are to make the architecture cohesive with what's already existing on the Navarre Corridor.