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Midwestern Market Report
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of Dave's Market |
Middlebury MarketPlace Integrates Cleanup with Economic
Development
By Mark E. Albrecht
Middlebury MarketPlace is the first new retail shopping center to open in center-city
Akron, Ohio in the past 40 years, and marks the return of a full-service grocery
store to the East Akron community after 12 years.
The City of Akron and East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation (EANDC),
a private not-for-profit community-based organization, spent ten years attempting
to open a grocery in this community. With over 35,000 residents within a two-mile
radius and no full-service grocery within four miles, this service became an
important city and community objective.
The only available site was a 7.5-acre parcel located in the heart of the community.
This was the site of the previous retail center, which had vacated the premises
in 1993. The city and EANDC created a partnership through which the city would
assemble the site and prepare it for development, and EANDC would act as the
developer. The city proceeded to secure an option on the property, while EANDC
pursued obtaining a grocery-store commitment.