SPRINGDALE, Ohio — Springdale City Council is expected to vote Wednesday night on a redevelopment plan for Tri-County Mall that could dramatically change the 75-acre site that has struggled financially for years.
If all phases of the plan are completed, there would be up to 2,600 residential units, office buildings, restaurants, entertainment venues and park spaces, according to the plan submitted to the City of Springdale by Houston-based developers Market Space Capital and Park Harbor Capital.
Springdale's planning commission has recommended that the city council approve the redevelopment plan.
"I think it's a real game-changer," Springdale Mayor Doyle Webster said.
Springdale City Councilman Lawrence Hawkins III says some people have compared it to Liberty Center in Liberty Township.
"It has been stated by some of the developers that this is like Liberty Township on steroids, and so it's going to be a shot in the arm for the city and the region," Hawkins said.
The first phase of the redevelopment plan includes hundreds of apartments, green spaces with a sound stage, restaurants, a 30,000-square-foot library, and a 90,000-square-foot recreation center.
It could take 15 years to finish all five phases of the project, according to Springdale city officials.
If the city council approves the Tri-County Mall redevelopment plan Wednesday, Mayor Webster said, construction is still months away because the final plan needs to be approved by the planning commission next spring.
Many businesses have left the mall in recent years and fewer people shop there, according to business owners of shops in the mall.
"It's been tough," Donald Harrington said.
Harrington, part-owner of Exclusive, a clothing store on the mall's mostly vacant second level, said his steady business has disappeared.
"We're looking to leave any day," Harrington said. "If I can find a spot tomorrow, we'd be gone tomorrow. If they don't do anything to get businesses back in here, the best thing they can do is get people to live here."
Mayor Webster said the city will provide tax breaks for the development.
You can learn more about the redevelopment plan on Springdale's website.
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