![The former Walmart at Severance Town Center [Courtesy Nicholas Eckhart]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/77e9bfe/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2047x612+0+0/resize/840x252!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F6%2F24%2FOld%20Walmart%20_Nicholas%20Eckhart.jpg)
Cleveland Heights is seeking help deciding the future of Severance Town Center, the city鈥檚 largest business district.
The city has a (RFP) out to create a redevelopment plan for the 57-acre site. Released last Friday, the RFP seeks an urban planning firm to help rebrand and redesign the property at the intersection of Mayfield and Taylor roads. The ultimate goal is 鈥渢o redevelop Severance Town Center as a mixed-use and walkable area consistent with the character of Cleveland Heights,鈥� which is a driving force in the city鈥檚 2017 master plan.
Cleveland Heights Economic Development Timothy Boland says the site will turn Severance into more of a neighborhood.
鈥淪everance can evolve to be its own business district, its own neighborhood, but certainly looking at it just as a retail mall, I think we鈥檝e progressed beyond that,鈥� he says.
The city will use the redevelopment plan to attract the developer residents and council members hope will help once again transform a property that originally shined as a retail jewel.
For more than 50 years, shopping in Cleveland Heights meant a trip to Severance. It opened in 1963 as the and home to high-end, locally owned stores like Higbee鈥檚 and Halle鈥檚.
By the 1990s, though, enclosed malls had fallen out of vogue nationally. The property was redesigned and renamed, becoming Severance Town Center, where shoppers could park and run into big-box stores like Home Depot and Walmart. But that didn鈥檛 halt the center鈥檚 decline. Borders Books closed in 2011, Walmart pulled out in 2013. Both spaces remain vacant. In fact, almost half the mall currently consists of empty stores, according to the RFP.
Any plan will take account Cleveland Heights鈥� population shifts. Residents are getting older and more prosperous, according to demographic projections. By 2021, officials expect growth among residents aged 65 and older, as well as among residents making at least $75,000 annually. Officials want to cater to those segments by offering a park-like atmosphere where shoppers can walk and gather for events, as well as 鈥渆xperience-oriented retail,鈥� the proposal says. And the plan will have to include current anchors like Home Depot, Dave鈥檚 Market and MetroHealth.
Cleveland Heights is accepting proposals until July 31 and expects to choose a firm in September.