For years, residents have lamented the steady decline of the West Park Shopping Center. In this two part series, we explore West Park’s potential for revitalization. Click here to read part II.
MANSFIELD — Cheryl Cox looks at the West Park Shopping Center and sees something most people don’t – potential.
For decades, the shopping center was part of Mansfield’s Miracle Mile – a strip along Park Avenue West buzzing with shopping, eateries and even a movie theater.
Cox remembers those days well.
“It was completely booked,” she said. “You couldn’t even get in here.”
Cox has operated Comfrey Corner Natural Foods at West Park since 1979. Over the years, she’s proposed creative initiatives to the owners, like putting an herb garden on the roof or a seasonal skating rink in the parking lot.
“They wouldn’t go along with that,” she said.
On Nov. 10, the City of Mansfield placed demolition orders on a large portion of the West Park shopping center. The smaller building on the east side of the property, where Comfrey Corner is located, is not under demolition orders.
It’s not the only action the city has taken recently to eradicate commercial blight on the “Miracle Mile.” The city issued a demolition order on May 3 for 1300 Park Ave. West, the former Kingsgate Cinema movie theater.
The city ordered the condemned portion of the West Park Shopping Center be vacated by Jan. 14. Namdar Realty Group, the parent company of West Mansfield Realty LLC, did not respond to a request for comment.
However, city codes, permits and zoning manager Marc Milliron said West Mansfield Realty is expected to seek a six-month extension from the city’s planning commission.
The demolition of the former Kingsgate Cinema has been delayed by similar requests. Skilken Gold appealed the original demolition order from the city in May and received an extension until Dec. 4, followed by another 90 day extension.
Despite the decline of the retail hub over the last few decades, Cox said the West Park’s well-connected location and almost six-acre parking lot make it a great place to do business.
“We have a lot of people that come from out of town, Columbus and Marion and Bucyrus and that really helps,” she said. “It’s not that far away from Route 30 and it’s easy to find.”
Cox wasn’t the only one who thinks 1157 West Park Ave. could be turned into something great. Minh Nguyen looked at the decrepit facade of empty storefronts and imagined something new.
“Take it down and build a sports facility – indoor soccer, indoor basketball, even volleyball,” said Nguyen, who works at the nail salon a few doors down from Comfrey Corner.
“This is the perfect parking lot, it’s big enough for everything.”
While efforts are already underway to put an indoor sports facility in southern Richland County, there are plenty of other possibilities for the 18-acre property.
Barrett Thomas, the chamber’s director of economic development, said he believes the right development could benefit from other nearby attractions like the Richland B&O bike trail, Kingwood Center Gardens and the Imagination District in downtown Mansfield.
“If you built some sort of family-centered asset that draws people in, then you’re pulling that whole section of the city together,” he said.
A new development could be themed around the strip’s history of cruising and automobiles. Added dining and retail options could be paired with improved access to and from the bike trail, which runs along the east side of the property.
Thomas said the demolition order may actually improve prospects for the property’s redevelopment. A developer wouldn’t have to contend with costly renovations, demolition and the potential need for remediation.
“I think when you have a blank slate, or at least a cleaner slate, it’s easier to envision what can be there,” he said.
“It shortens the timeline and reduces risk for what happens when you take that building down. Speed, risk and money are the three main factors in development projects and this helps in all three.”
With plenty of competing retail strips, Thomas said the best prospect for redevelopment may be diversifying the space.
“What I see happening in other places is more mixed use development rather than the single use development that we’ve done traditionally,” Thomas said.
A mixed-use development could include a combination of residential, retail, dining, office, entertainment or event spaces. The concept is already being explored in other parts of Richland County.
After purchasing the former Mansfield Commerce Center earlier this year, developer Joe Curry told Richland Source he hopes to make the building a space where Richland County residents can live, work and play.
In Ontario, Moment Development is requesting to rezone six parcels of land so it can embark on a project that could include a hotel, restaurants, office space, a park and residential dwellings. Members are set to vote on the rezone in January.
West Park is currently in a B-2 General Business zoning district. The designation allows a wide variety of uses including retail, hotels and restaurants.
It doesn’t allow for industrial, manufacturing or multifamily housing, but a property owner or developer with a plan could go to the city planning commission to seek a conditional use permit or even ask the city to create an overlay district, which adds multiple “layers” of zoning to a property.
“I think mixed use is probably the way it will develop,” said Tim Bowersock, Mansfield’s economic development director.
“I think the other businesses in that area would love to see it redevelop as retail and service. That area still has potential for retail if the space is good quality. But we’re also woefully short on new housing. I think that has some possibilities there.”
Jotika Shetty, executive director of the Richland County Regional Planning Commission, agreed that shopping centers present an opportunity to get creative with redevelopment.
“As we talk in the community about the lack of housing and the number of units required to keep all residents housed in the next decade, (old shopping malls and strip centers) present an opportunity for creative thinking and incentives to shape vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods that are friendlier to our aging population,” Shetty said in an email.
“It makes sense that we balance continued greenfield development requiring new infrastructure and redevelopment of these commercial brownfields.”
Shetty noted that old strip malls and shopping malls are great candidates for redevelopment because they typically have prime locations, available space and existing infrastructure. They’re also far less likely than former industrial sites to have environmental contaminants — which require costly mitigation.
Thomas expressed confidence that if there were a developer with a plan, the community could come together to make it a reality.
“We’ve got the organizations and people in place to activate all their specific parts of that and we can make that happen,” he said.
“I believe in us enough to say yes, we will be able to pull that off. It’s gonna take time and a lot of effort and money but I think I think it’s all possible.”
