Warehouse to rise at I-71, I-76 junction in Medina County

A big land deal is clearing the way for a huge speculative warehouse in Medina County’s Westfield Township.

A 39-acre site on the east side of the eight ramps forming the I-71 interchange with I-76 sold April 12 for $3.42 million to an affiliate of Stonemont Financial Group, an Atlanta-based integrated real estate company that raises capital for new projects, operates them and holds them for substantial periods.

Stonemont plans to have design-builder contractor Geis Cos. of Streetsboro start constructing a 451,000-square-foot building by early May on the parcel, according to Brian Danahy, a Stonemont development manager.

The project is going in on a speculative basis, but Danahy said in a phone interview that the developer has several prospective tenants who might like the entire property. He would not identify them until a deal is signed. He expects the building to be ready for tenants next year.

The project is in the vanguard of bringing another feature to the bustling industrial market from out-of-town. It will be a 40-foot-tall building that will have 36 feet of clear space under its roof to allow e-commerce tenants to stack racks higher than in the 32-foot buildings common among even newer buildings in the market.

The structure will have a prominent glass-enclosed entry on the side facing the property’s entrance at 8989 Lake Ave. It also will have docks lining both sides of the building. That configuration helps companies move goods quickly between arriving and departing trucks.

David Stecker, a JLL Inc. executive vice president representing the developer, said Stonemont focused on the site as a regional development play, in large part due to its ability to attract potential workers from suburbs south of Cleveland and its proximity to Akron.

“This is not a property to serve a 15-mile area, but (to) provide highway access to the east and south and the rest of the country,” Stecker said.

Moreover, he and Danahy said, the project landed one of the region’s high-profile highway locations and is likely to be followed by more large industrial projects as the industrial market expands into increasingly rural areas in the quest for available sites.

The Westfield project is among a total of 15 million square feet of industrial projects Stonemont is developing across the country.

Stonemont has developed other projects in Northeast Ohio, Danahy said. The company has a significant connection to the region, he added, because Zak Markwell, its CEO, divides his time between Atlanta and a home in Hudson.

The push to build added industrial space to respond to distribution needs of e-commerce and other companies is not sagging under the weight of new projects.

About 2.2 million square feet of industrial space was under construction the first quarter of 2022, the Newmark real estate brokerage’s Cleveland office recently reported. Moreover, vacancy fell to 4.4% as of March 31 from 4.8% at the end of 2022, as the market had a vigorous appetite for added warehouse and industrial space.