STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Two buildings that will contain an upscale restaurant and coffee shop, plus an outdoor seating area for both businesses, have been approved for
Camden Woods
at Royalton and Prospect roads.
Approval came July 10 from the Strongsville Planning Commission.
On April 23, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved three zoning variances for the project
Camden Woods developer Mike Catanzarite told cleveland.com last week that, although he is negotiating with a particular restaurant and a particular coffee shop, he can’t name them until contracts are signed.
“We are close on both,” Catanzarite told cleveland.com in an email. “Both are independent and family-owned. We should hopefully announce soon.”
The building with the coffee shop is expected to contain a second retail tenant, the identity of which is still unknown.
The restaurant, coffee shop and third retail tenant will occupy a 1½ -acre parcel fronting Camden Woods at the southeast corner of Royalton and Prospect.
A walking path will lead from the buildings to the townhomes that make up most of Camden Woods.
The outdoor seating area or courtyard will include a fireplace in the center. A decorative fence and landscaping will surround the courtyard.
Camden Woods, which covers a total of about 32 acres, consists of 83 rental townhomes, of which 80 are occupied, Catanzarite said.
The subdivision — built by Cameron-Allie Development Group LLC, led by Catanzarite and his son Nick Catanzarite — also includes a clubhouse, gym, pool and fire pit.
The planning commission approved the $32 million Camden Woods plan in 2023. It’s a less dense version of one rejected by voters in November 2021.
The earlier plan, which
would have consisted of between 120 and 140 housing units on 32 acres
, would have needed voters to rezone the 32 acres from a single-family-home district to a townhome-cluster district.
In April 2022, Cameron-Allie returned to the city with a new plan for more than 80 rental townhomes on the 32 acres.
They would range from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet. Rents would range from $1,800 to $2,600 a month.
Cameron-Allie was allowed to build attached townhomes on land zoned as single-family because under Strongsville city code, up to 35 percent of a single-family development can include attached townhomes.
A rezoning isn’t required for townhomes in that situation.
However, Cameron-Allie requested a zoning variance that would change that ratio from 35 percent to 100 percent so that it could build all townhomes.
The developer constructed no more townhomes than the number of single-family homes that would have fit on the site.
The BZA approved the variance in April 2022, along with a consolidation of 12 lots making up the 32 acres.
Read more from the
Sun Star Courier
.
