SOLON, Ohio -- After being stalled for several years, the Hawthorne Golf Estates housing development finally appears to be moving forward.
On Monday (April 15), City Council reapproved 43 variances and the site plan for the project.
Council originally had approved the variances and site plan last June. But due to construction delays, no real progress has been made on the project.
Those variance approvals were due to expire June 5. So TransCon Builders -- the Bedford Heights-based real estate developer that is overseeing the project -- applied for an extension to ensure that the development can continue without delays.
The variances and site plan are now approved through June 5, 2025, with the same contingencies from the city’s engineering, planning and law departments that were approved last June.
The city’s Planning Commission had recommended reapproval of all of the variances and site plan.
In a March 6 memo to Nick Parks, the city’s senior planner, project manager Larry Apple said final construction plans were being completed and would be submitted shortly for review by the city.
“We have just received comments from the City of Cleveland Division of Water, resulting in a delay in completing the construction plans,” Apple, who represents TransCon Builders, told Parks in the memo.
The plan for the development is to build 102 single-family homes for people 50 and older. The units will typically be about 1,500 square feet, with attached two-car garages.
Located in Ward 5, it’s to be developed on about 33 acres next to the former Hawthorne Valley Golf Club at 27840 Aurora Road.
“The Hawthorne development has been a long time coming,” city Law Director Thomas Lobe said. “It was very difficult, and we’re not finished yet.
“But (there has been) a lot of good work from this council and the administration.”
Lobe said the city has not had a housing development of this magnitude for the 50-and-older population since he was appointed law director in 2010.
“And on top of that, you’re getting 150 acres, like Acacia (Reservation in Lyndhurst), to be transformed for the benefit of all the people,” he said.
“It’s a humongous land mass that’s going to be preserved.
“So kudos to everybody around the table who put some help into this thing. We are literally in the red zone.”
Last year, the Cleveland Metroparks purchased the former golf course, which closed in 2018, with plans to convert the 150 acres into a public park.
Vice Mayor and Ward 5 Councilwoman Nancy Meany expressed her appreciation to Fred Rzepka, president of TransCon Builders and former owner of Hawthorne Valley Golf Club, for working out the agreement with the Metroparks to preserve the former golf course as green space.
“What a great gift to our residents to be able to enjoy and walk in that absolutely beautiful area,” she said.
“So I’m thrilled that we’re coming to the end (for the housing development), and for so many residents of Solon who’ve been looking to downsize.
“They’re hoping to maybe break ground (this year), so hopefully that process will be able to start and we’ll able to provide another housing outlet for our residents to be able to stay here in Solon.”
Meany noted that it’s the culmination of many years of discussions and meetings regarding the property “and the potential of what we could do.”
The project was made possible in November 2020, when voters decisively approved a new chapter of the planning and zoning code, creating an R-2-A zoning classification for one- and two-family residential zoning.
The classification was specifically designed to permit developments for those 50 and older.
“It’s been a real long haul for a number of reasons,” Meany said. “But hopefully they’re ready to roll here.”
Library expansion plan OK’d
In other action, council approved three variances and a site plan for the expansion of the Solon branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, at 34125 Portz Parkway.
The 4,000-foot expansion will include the new Solon Innovation Center.
The Planning Commission had approved recommendation of all of the variances and the site plan, contingent upon compliance with the requirements of the engineering department and council’s Safety and Public Properties Committee.
“I’m happy the Innovation Center at the library is moving along and am really excited to see that happen,” Meany said.
One of the variances approved is to allow the color green to be used as an indoor/outdoor material for the Innovation Center office space.
“As the proposal would cross into the external portion of the building, and earth-tone browns and grays are required by code, a color variance to allow the shade of green displayed is required,” Parks told the Planning Commission in a memo.
Angee Shaker, the city’s director of economic development, has said the Innovation Center will serve entrepreneurs, students and the public.
The City of Solon has committed to investing $1 million toward the $7 million project.
The library’s goal is to open the Innovation Center by the end of this year.
Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.