About 10 acres of vacant land bounded by busy Akron streets — near where a new highway interchange is being built — is on the market, with a price tag of $4.25 million.
The land, just south of the city’s downtown core, once included the former Church of the Good Shepherd.
It initially was slated to be home to a McDonald’s and an office building. The plan morphed, and for a time Family Dollar was set to team with McDonald’s to develop much of the site.
Now, the entire parcel — bordered by Broadway and Main, Thornton and Voris streets — is listed for sale. The listing is on commercial real estate website LoopNet.
Once the new interchange project is complete, “it should be a beautiful piece of land with a welcoming view” of downtown “and a welcoming opportunity” for development, said Akron spokeswoman Christine Curry.
John Blickle, owner/operator of Rubber City McDonald’s, with 20 stores in the Akron area, said McDonald’s corporate office might still approve putting a McDonald’s on the northernmost third of the site. But he doesn’t envision that happening until after the completion of a new interchange with South Broadway/South Main Street and Interstate 76/77.
The state previously has estimated the interstate project would take two to three years.
In the meantime, he said, he’s willing to sell the land he owns if a buyer with a suitable development plan comes along.
“It’s a prime spot,” he said, noting it’s right next to the interchange. “They don’t build [entirely new] interchanges anymore.”
Blickle has a complicated history with the parcel.
His Rubber City McDonald’s began acquiring land there — before the state revealed plans for the new interchange — in 2011. That was the year Rubber City McDonald’s bought the former church building.
The church fronted Main Street and was adjacent to the former home of ACS (Advanced Computer Services), which fronted Broadway and would have been landlocked by the project. The ACS building was torn down last year.
In 2012, Rubber City McDonald’s had the church leveled, in anticipation of building a McDonald’s and an office building. Later, the plan was for a Family Dollar and a McDonald’s. Family Dollar scrapped its plan in 2013.
Blickle noted that when he began acquiring land there, he envisioned the parcel being accessible from Broadway, as well as Thornton and Main streets.
Now the state proposes having no access from Broadway.
In 2013, the city brokered a deal to allow Blickle’s Rubber City to eventually buy the remaining acreage on the block that Rubber City does not own. That is roughly two-thirds of the acreage, including the former ACS property. The state sold the land to the city, and the city in turn would sell it to Blickle.
Under the agreement with the city, Blickle could sell all or a portion of the parcel to a developer or developers.
Blickle has said he wouldn’t do anything with the property that the city doesn’t want.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com.