MEDINA, Ohio — There could be a new hotel moving into downtown Medina. It would be located just blocks from the historic Medina Square. There is a proposal to bring a nearly 100-room, five-story hotel to South Court Street.
The first discussion of the possible project was at the last Historic Preservation Board meeting. The project is in the very early stages, according to the city’s Community Development Director.
“It’s a good first step, it gets it out in the open, it gets the public aware of it, it gets the boards familiar with it. So I think it was a good place to start," said Andrew Dutton, Medina Community Development Director.
The prospective developer has not filed a formal application yet; this is in the discussion phase, according to Dutton.
The proposed location is at 253 and 257 South Court Street.
Two buildings would need to be demolished to make way for the project.
Jim Gerspacher is the prospective developer. He said the area is already drawing tourists. A hotel would keep them in the area longer and bring millions of dollars a year to the shops and restaurants on the square.
“Ohio Tourism says they'll spend $379 a day for every day they stay, so that's a lot of additional cash flow — close to $16 million a year generated for our local restaurants and shops,” said Gerspacher.
This is just at the proposal stage, there are several hurdles the developer must clear before the proposal becomes a project.
“The next step is for the developer to make a formal application. They'll actually have to go through three of our planning boards – the Historic Preservation Board, the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals,” said Dutton.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
