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Local leaders have long said the site would be a prime location for reuse.
“It’s great to see the possibility of development in the corridor,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Chamber of Greater Springfield. “That’s a major gateway to our community and when you have a vacant property that has deteriorated over time, it’s good to hopefully see some activity there.”
James Peifer, a Springfield attorney representing the developer, couldn’t be reached for comment this week.
The property, which was recently annexed into Springfield, has long been an eyesore along East Main Street. Documents filed with the city show the proposal is to develop a roughly 1.6-acre parcel at the site. The Springfield Board of Zoning Appeals approved the request Wednesday night.
“The particular lot in question is part of an attempt to redevelop the area,” the request states.
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Roberds went out of business in 2000, and closed all of its Miami Valley locations, including the one on East Main Street. It then served as a flea market and a mattress store before become vacant for several years.
The building drew complaints from residents and Springfield News-Sun readers nominated the site as one of the county's top five eyesores for an investigative story in 2012. The former retail site was razed in 2014.
If it moves forward, the project layout could be similar to a recent Hobby Lobby development on Bechtle Avenue, with a an anchor and smaller stores out front. The variance request approved Wednesday covered the first of three smaller outlots to be developed at the property, said Stephen Thompson, planning, zoning and code administrator for the city.
The city of Springfield, along with Clark County and Harmony and Springfield Twps., adopted an Eastern Edge Corridor plan in 2010 to require new businesses to meet design standards from Spring Street in downtown Springfield to Harmony Twp., and improve the look of the corridor.
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But the request argues the design standards would be difficult to meet. Among the requested changes, the developer asked to eliminate landscaping requirements, build a frontage road from the intersection of Main Street and build a parking lot in front of the building, among other changes.
“The site itself is currently a vacant, blacktopped parking lot area abutting East Main Street on the south and a pad for a substantial building for a department store to the north,” the variance request states. “Redevelopment of the site presents a significant challenge.”
It’s been several years since the area has seen new retail development, Thompson said. The most recent project in that area was a Walmart shopping center several years ago. Thompson said the next step would likely include the developer submitting a building plan application.
“It will be a nice addition to the corridor to have a vacant property be redeveloped if in fact that’s what’s happening,” Hobbs said.
In-depth coverage
The Springfield News-Sun provides unmatched coverage of retail in Clark and Champaign counties, including recent stories on plans to redevelop the Upper Valley Mall and new developments on Bechtle Avenue.
By the numbers:
2014 — Year the former Roberds site was razed
1.6 — Acres proposed for variance
21.2 — Acres in total parcel
3 — Outlots projected in project
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