AKRON, Ohio – Chapel Hill Mall is poised to undergo the biggest transformation since it opened in North Akron in 1967.  

What You Need To Know

  • Solon-based Industrial Commercial Properties finalized acquisition of 60 acres of the mall’s 72-acre site this week, along with most of the structures there

  • The company plans to invest about $20 million into the redevelopment of the North Akron property into a light industrial business campus

  • Storage America, which owns the former Macy’s parcel, and will continue operating at the site

  • ICP also redeveloped Randall Park Mall into an Amazon fulfillment center ad industrial complex, and Akron’s East End, which was designated Akron’s first entertainment district outside of downtown in 2019

Solon-based Industrial Commercial Properties (ICP) finalized purchase of 60 acres of the mall’s 72-acre site this week, along with most of the structures there. The company plans to redevelop the property into a light industrial business campus.

Chapel Hill is located at 2000 Brittain Road, bordering both Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge, and is close to Ohio Route 8. The mall's location was "extremely attractive to us,” said ICP COO Chris Salata. ​

“There's been a ton of recent upgrades to all of the infrastructure and the roadways that surround it, and just looking at the logistics and distribution patterns of manufacturers in northeast Ohio, this asset is in a really good spot for those types of users," he said. "The large amount of square footage and the parking is all there. Those are all terrific attributes of the asset that make it really attractive for redevelopment.”

A commercial real estate development company, ICP is growing at a “record pace,” with Chapel Hill the company’s seventh acquisition this year. ICP has 300 tenants in five states, the company said in the release. 

ICP Owner Chris Semarjian said the company has “extensive experience with retail conversions.”

"Our track record includes everything from repurposing freestanding big-box-retail stores to converting former indoor malls and retail power centers into business parks," he said in the release.

At Chapel Hill, ICP now owns 829,000-square-feet of the mall, which is everything, but the former Macy’s department store and its parking lot on the north end of the mall.

Storage America (SA) bought and moved into the former Macy’s parcel in 2018. In early February, SA spokesman Thomas Fitzpatrick told Akron City Council his company is happy about the mall’s redevelopment, but hadn’t been included in talks with potential buyers

“We do own a, you know, substantial part of the parking lot on the north side as well,” he told the council.

Under the deal, ICP said it plans to invest about $20 million in renovations to the interior and exterior, including about $6 million in landscaping and greenery.

The city has worked with ICP for the past few months to make purchase of the old mall a viable investment, rezoning the property from a retail business district to a “unified planned development district,” known as Class UPD-49, which allows some types of commercial, retail and residential operations.

The city also helped ICP secure tax-increment financing (TIF) on about $1.5 million of the costs, ICP said. Those efforts factored prominently in the acquisition, Salata said, referring to Akron’s economic development team as “visionary.”

“That’s really paved the way for what should be a very successful redevelopment project,” he said. “Kudos to the city that they had the foresight to do that.”

Earlier this year, the city issued a “Chapel Hill Mall Redevelopment Plan” for the site, which is surrounded by dense residential and several business areas. The plan spells out businesses not permitted to lease there, such as auto sales, car repair shops, trash hauling and kennels, or businesses that generate fumes or noise.

Already planned for the former Sears space is a cabinet-making business, which ICP is preparing the property for now, Salata said. A number of companies that can’t yet be disclosed are interested in leasing space as well.

With plenty of room at the site, redevelopment could involve new construction, Salata said. Although much depends on the companies leasing space, the business park should have a positive impact on the area, and is estimated to create a few hundred jobs.

“It's absolutely going to drive daytime population, which hopefully will spill over and create more business for the surrounding businesses as well,” Salata said.

Construction is planned to begin in the spring and be completed in 2026. 

Chapel Hill Mall was the original site chosen to host the state’s COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic. But because the mall changed ownership and construction is soon to begin, the Ohio Department of Health approved a recommendation by the Summit County Health Department to move the clinic to the Summit County fairgrounds in the neighboring city of Tallmadge.

To get an idea of the kind of the redevelopment Chapel Hill Mall is planned to undergo, residents can look northward to Randall Park Mall, which ICP acquired in 2014.

Once touted as the largest indoor mall in the world with 2 million square feet of space, Randall Park Mall began declining in the 2000s and was closed in 2009. 

ICP bought the main parcel adding anchor parcels incrementally until about 2016 when it began demolishing some structures and renovating others, readying the site for mixed-use redevelopment, the company said.

In 2018, an Amazon fulfillment center opened there creating about 2,000 jobs, while a separate structure houses industrial tenants, ICP said. 

Another declining business area ICP redeveloped is Akron’s East End, the former world headquarters of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Now, the corporate headquarters for Babcock & Wilcox and health insurer Summa Care, East End features the Goodyear Theatre, some restaurants, an ice cream shop, a coffee shop and a gym. In 2019, East End was designated the first entertainment district outside of downtown by the city.

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