Developer and planners discuss 4-story mixed-use concept at Warrensville Center and Hillbrook amid zoning draft concerns

An architect and a developer presented preliminary concept drawings for a four-story, mixed-use building at the corner of Warrensville Center Road and Hillbrook Road and received detailed feedback from the University Heights Planning Commission and residents who raised concerns about building height, parking and stormwater.

Michael Augustidis, project director and architect for Vocon, said the project concept consolidates four parcels under the developer's control and would produce a roughly 36,000-square-foot, four-story building with 36 apartment units and a small ground-floor retail space. He said the team proposes 57 parking spaces on the site, including ADA parking; he also noted the required number of parking spaces under the draft zoning was 44 for residential and 6 for retail.

Commission discussion focused on the project's fit with a draft zoning code that divides the site between a Warrensville Center mixed-use subarea and a Warrensville Center residential subarea. Commissioner Rod, who chairs the city's economic development committee and is overseeing the zoning update, said the concept generally matches the committee's intent for mixed use along the corridor but raised three main issues: the…