Business & Tech

Tree-Clearing on Chester Gets Attention

Jacobs Group says there are no plans for the land ... yet.

Drive along Interstate 90 or Chester Road just east of Center Road, and your attention is grabbed by a huge swath of former woods now almost completely cleared of trees.

The almost 90 acres of land belongs to the Richard E. Jacobs Group, which developed Avon Crossing on Center Road, home to  and .

That clearing has gotten people talking. Is something going in there?

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Not right now, said Jacobs Group spokesman William Fullington.

"There's nothing yet," he said.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The company, he said, is taking this step to prepare the site for future development, and enhance its appeal to prospective tenants.

Clearing the trees shows the land's advantages. Anything built there would be visible from Interstate 90, drawing in people at either the Route 83 or the future Nagel Road interchanges. With the land cleared, prospective investors can better visualize their businesses there.

What could go in there? Fullington said nothing has been decided.

"We work from multiple master development plans," he said. "We float trial balloons to the business community and gauge their interest."

The Jacobs Group, a privately held company, is taking a conservative approach at this stage.

"We don't discuss anything unless we know for sure," Fullington said. "And we'd rather sit on the land until we find a proper use for it rather than rush in."

coordinator Jim Piazza said the Jacobs Group has not submitted any plans to the city and hasn't said anything about possible development.

The Jacobs Group is going to be a major player in commercial development in Avon in the coming years. In addition to the Chester Road land, it also owns several hundred acres elsewhere in town that it has acquired over the years, including prime real estate near the under-construction Cleveland Clinic site and the coming Nagel Road interchange.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Avon-Avon Lake