STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- The Giant Eagle Market District on Pearl Road is set to open in October after nearly two years of stops and starts. Here is a timeline of the store's evolution:
January 2012: Giant Eagle announces plans for a 110,000-square-foot Market District on the Pearl Road site of Honey Hut Ice Cream Shoppe and Strongsville Golf. The store is supposed to include specialty grocery sections, natural and organic products, restaurant areas with fresh pizzas, sushi and sandwiches, a Wi-Fi café, professional dry cleaning and pharmacy. A GetGo station is also part of the plan.
However, Giant Eagle needs two northern portions of the property – one zoned residential, the other restaurant-recreational – rezoned to general business. The southern portion is already a general business zone.
At a public hearing later in January, residents – especially those in the Hunting Meadows subdivision – express concern about how the new store would affect their property values. Strongsville businesses support the plan.
February 2012: Some residents start campaigning against the rezoning and the new Market District. They say it would increase traffic in the area.
March 2012: Voters rezone the northeast portion of the Strongsville Golf property from residential to general business. Under city code, residents must approve any changes to residential zoning.
April 2012: City Council votes to rezone the northwest portion of the Strongsville Golf property from restaurant-recreational to general business.
July 2012: The Strongsville Planning Commission approves Giant Eagle's plan for a 110,000-square-foot store.
October 2012: Honey Huts closes. Days later, Echo Realty, the real estate arm of Giant Eagle, buys 12 acres from Strongsville Golf for $3.8 million, according to the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office website.
November 2012: Crews start clearing trees and demolishing Honey Hut and Strongsville Golf.
December 2012: The planning commission approves a request by Giant Eagle and Echo Realty to increase the size of the new store to 125,000 square feet. Giant Eagle is not sure how it would use the additional space.
January 2013: Giant Eagle submits plans for a GetGo gas station on the site of a former Clark Marathon gas station at the corner of Pearl and Drake Road. The planning commission approves the plan in May.
July 2013: Giant Eagle abruptly stops construction. It submits a request to reduce the size of the Market District to 97,000 square feet. Dan Donvan, Giant Eagle spokesman, said the store "discovered opportunities to deliver a more efficient floor plan while delivering the same world-class shopping experience." The planning commission approves the change.
December 2013: City Council approves a tax-increment financing agreement for the Giant Eagle project. It means that a portion of new property taxes generated from the Pearl Road store will be used on city infrastructure improvements – including road and sewer projects – over 30 years. The improvements, most of which haven't been determined, might occur anywhere on Pearl or Royalton Road in Strongsville or on streets intersecting those roads. City officials said the TIF could raise about $4.5 million over 30 years. Meanwhile, Giant Eagle resumes construction of the store.