Twinsburg Regional Academic Center One Step Away From Digging In

Kent State University-Geauga is one step closer to moving dirt for its .

The city planning commission gave approval to the final site plan and recommended the dedication plat and final Business Area Plan (BAP) Monday night.

Spencer Pisczak, who represents the firm Premier Development Partners, said they are still working out some minor details, but want to begin soon.

“Many of the pieces and parts are being evaluated to make sure the project comes in on budget,” Pisczak said. “That’s critical in terms of timing right now because we’re at a fork in the road where they need to break ground, in a perfect world, sometime in May.”

The dedication plat, which extends Creekside Drive and allows the property next to the university to be served in the future, and the final BAP, will go to City Council for final consideration in the next few weeks.

KSU will abide by all the codes of the BAP, but was given an exception on parking restrictions because of the large number of spaces it would require.

Only two conditions need to be met for the final site plan, including a finalized landscape plan with plant species and an approved lighting plan. Both aspects will be completed soon, Pisczak said.

The $24 million, 45,000-square-foot project on Creekside Drive is still expected to be complete for the fall semester of 2012.

“I wish you the best of luck on the project,” Mayor Katherine Procop said. “We’re very excited about it and it’s a really great community project.”

Ward 5 representative Chris Feldman mirrored those thoughts, saying the university has done well at meeting all the requirements.

“It’s great to have them in that area,” Feldman said. That area has been idle for many years, so for them to place it there, right along a major thoroughfare, will be good for Kent State and us.”