THE VISION ISSUE - City of Shaker Heights

tial areas. “The commercial areas of the
City were built in the 1940s and ’50s,”
explains Braverman. “Because most of
the City’s homes were developed in
the 1910s and 20s, Shaker Town Center
didn’t have the same character.”
All told, it was not a locale that
businesses were eager to embrace. But
that was about to change. “It helps
when the City makes the first investment,”
says Braverman. “So we did.”
In 2001, the City purchased six
buildings on the south side of Chagrin
and sold them to Blue Water Capital
for a redevelopment to be called
Shaker Commons. In 2004, the City
remade Chagrin into three lanes, adding
pull-in parking, wider sidewalks,
plantings, benches, signage, and public
art. In 2005, the City’s
new firehouse opened. In
2006, Shaker unveiled
Winslow Court, the new
road that starts at Avalon
Lofts on Van Aken Boulevard,
cuts through Shaker
Town Center, and ends at
the Kenyon Walkway, a
pedestrian throughway to
Kenyon Road.
And just last year, the
City added two new parks
at Shaker Town Center: a “pocket
park” on Chagrin – where “you can
sit and enjoy your lunch,” says Braverman
– and greenspace (and public art)
on either side of the Kenyon Walkway.
A New Vibrancy
These days, strolling down Chagrin
through the heart of Shaker Town
Center, it’s easy to see how the City’s
investments are paying off. For starters,
Shaker Town Center feels a lot
like, well, Shaker.
That’s because the City has required
new development to meet a higher
standards and design quality than in
days past. The new fire station, for example,
while more contemporary than
the Van Sweringen’s architecture, uses
Shaker-quality materials, says Braverman.
“And, for example, the window
“ We actually buy a product from a Launch-
House company, Good Greens. It’s been
great for Heinen’s and it’s been great for
Good Greens too.” – Jeff Heinen
patterns match the window pattern on
the older buildings,” she adds.
New buildings, like Huntington
Bank and CVS, are close to the street,
with parking in back, which is what
commercial districts looked like back
in the Van Sweringen era. Think Shaker
Square, for example.
Business owners have taken notice.
New arrivals include New Millennium,
as well as Amy Joy Donuts,
Huntington Bank, and, most recently,
the brand-new CVS, and Simply Delicious
Pies.
“I knew immediately that this was
the right location,” says Britanny
Reeves, owner of Simply Delicious
Pies, which is around the corner on
Lee Road. “I’m surrounded by everything.”
The shop, which opened
last fall, has been a smash hit. In fact,
Reeves has already had to purchase an
extra oven, a Vulcan no less, to keep
up with demand.
“I love it here. I feel like it’s home,”
says Reeves.
Meanwhile, long-time City stalwarts,
like Al Nola Shoe Repair, Chagrin
Wine & Beverage, Sherwin Williams,
and Touch of Italy, are now in
new or improved retail space too. And
coming next year will be Enlight Advisors,
a strategic business consulting
firm owned by residents Amy Fulford
and Troy Meinhard, which will
move its staff from Commerce Park
in Beachwood to the second floor of
Shaker Commons.
Meanwhile the main shopping center
has also sprung back to life.
“In 2005, the shopping center did
façade improvements along Winslow
Court, but then they also upgraded
the entire façade,” says Braverman.
The center, which got a new owner
a few years back, is now almost fully
leased; Dollar Tree will take the spot
vacated by CVS and there is a significant
interest in the former Blockbuster
space.
What’s more, Heinen’s, which has
been in Shaker for more than 80 years,
has made more than a million dollars
worth of renovations inside its store.
That was something that residents
who participated in the public meetings
for the Strategic Investment Plan
also said they wanted.
“You have to keep evolving to compete,
so we made changes,” says Jeff
Heinen, the grandson
of company founder Joe
Heinen. Heinen’s made
extensive physical improvements
to the store,
while also expanding the
product mix to include
things like locally grown
fruits and vegetables and
high-quality private label
products.
Joe Heinen started
his business in Shaker
in 1929, at the very location Heinen’s
stands today. “He opened a little
butcher store there,” says Heinen.
Four years later, Heinen’s was on
the south side of Chagrin (then called
Kinsman). “Then he moved next to
where Shaker Hardware is today. And
when Shaker redid Shaker Town Center
in the early 1990s, we moved back,
full circle, to where we started,” says
Heinen.
He credits the City with working
hard to keep Shaker Town Center vibrant,
and is particularly impressed
with Shaker LaunchHouse, the business
accelerator that opened just down
Lee Road in 2010.
“We actually buy a product from
a LaunchHouse company, Good
Greens,” says Heinen. “It’s been great
for Heinen’s and it’s been great for
Good Greens too. It’s a win-win.”
SHAKER LIFE DECEMBER | JANUARY 2013 55