Mayor highlights Bell Tower Center, JCU Gateway North and stalled zoning code as keys to redevelopment

Mayor (name not specified) used the 2025 State of the City address to spotlight a multi-site push for commercial and residential redevelopment, saying the Bell Tower Center and John Carroll University's Gateway North project will boost retail and housing in University Heights.

The mayor said Bell Tower Center will be "a mixed use development with over 200 apartments over new retail space" while retaining long-standing anchors such as Target and Macy's, and that Urban Air Adventure Zone, Qdoba and Smoothie King are among businesses under contract or in talks. He announced that Gateway North, a five-story building with retail on the ground floor and student housing above, is scheduled to begin construction in May 2025 and aims for completion by the fall semester of 2026. "Construction is set to begin in May 2025, with completion expected by fall semester 2026," the mayor said.

Why it matters: the projects are presented as central to growing the city's tax base, drawing shoppers and students, and creating jobs. The mayor tied those efforts to the administration's creation of an economic development department and to actions taken to attract grocers, including an announced Aldi site the mayor said will break ground "after January 2026 or sooner if current tenants at the site relocate."

The mayor also criticized the pace of the University Heights City Council's review of a draft zoning code, saying the council has held only a single committee meeting on the zoning review in the last nine months and that the delay is stalling redevelopment. He said the proposed zoning would have let John Carroll University build Gateway North as a single-zone, no-variance project; under the current code the project required variances because it spanned multiple districts. "If we don't modernize, we stagnate," the mayor said, urging more timely deliberation by council.

Details and context: the mayor described Bell Tower Center as keeping legacy retail while adding "over 200 apartments" and new retail and entertainment options. He said Aldi will proceed after tenant relocations, Whole Foods' position at Cedar Center is secured after approving more parking and green space, and that another specialty grocer is planned for the JCU Gateway North development (the mayor said the grocer's name was not yet ready to announce). The mayor framed the zoning-code update, launched in March 2023, as essential to making the city more attractive to reinvestment and said the administration paid a consultant $110,000 for work on the code.

What was not decided: these descriptions are statements of the administration's plans and schedules; the speech did not record final permit decisions, rezoning votes, or firm construction contracts beyond the administration's statements. The mayor said some projects remain dependent on council action or tenant relocations.