A Super Wal-Mart will be the anchor in The Cascades, a 113-acre retail and residential complex located at Tallmadge Road and I-76 West in Brimfield township. LESLEY KATZENMEYER | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: John Proppe

Portage County is getting a gift too big to fit under the tree this holiday season.

Super Wal-Mart is coming to town.

The retail store will be the primary anchor in The Cascades, a 113-acre retail and residential complex located at Tallmadge Road and I-76 West in Brimfield Township.

Planned stores for The Cascades include a Super Wal-Mart, which has a grocery store, Murphy’s Oil, Lowe’s Home Improvement and a Home Savings Bank.

Already completed within The Cascades is an Applebee’s restaurant, set to open on Oct. 9, and a one-acre park planned to be used for concerts and entertainment.

“The entire complex should be completed in two or three years,” Brimfield Zoning Inspector Dick Messner said.

Other plans for The Cascades include an apartment complex.

“The residential area within the complex will have approximately 216 suites, a clubhouse and a swimming pool,” Messner said.

Also in the future, plans for a strip of stores called The Village will be constructed.

“The Village is a strip mall center that brings more opportunity for retailers,” said Paul DiGiorgio, president of 3D Real Estate, who is working on The Cascades. “The Village will also incorporate the same unique architecture and design that The Cascades has.”

The design is to give The Cascades a “homey feel,” Messner said. It follows a red brick and earth tone theme.

“We worked with Wal-Mart and Lowe’s to incorporate our design with theirs,” Messner said. “Everything has worked out well so far.”

The Cascades provides the opportunity to catch up with Brimfield’s growing population, he said.

“Brimfield is the fastest growing township in the county,” Messner said. “The Cascades provides jobs and convenience for nearby customers. In the next six months, 550 jobs will be available due to the openings of these businesses.”

Messner also said the Cascades is expected to produce $4 to $6 million in sales tax for the county.

“This will take some of the burden off of Brimfield residents,” Messner said.

Brimfield resident Dana Nelson agreed with Messner’s rationale.

“People are traveling to Ravenna and Cuyahoga Falls right now to go to Wal-Mart and Lowe’s anyway,” Nelson said. “So why not keep all that business right here in Brimfield Township?”

DiGiorgio even said he thinks the new development will also attract new residents.

“The Cascades provides for both the community and surrounding communities,” DiGiorgio said. “Its primary function is to provide service, but it also furthers the community. It makes Brimfield a more desirable place to live and provides niceties that augment that.”

Along with the new complex also come new concerns.

“My big concern is our infrastructure isn’t going to be adequate to handle the additional traffic,” Nelson said. “The streets are old and not very wide. If business takes off and is as successful as we hope it will be, I’m afraid the additional traffic will cause problems for our roads.”

Messner already predicted the concerns of Brimfield residents. He said traffic counts will soon take place to develop solutions for the entranceways and surrounding roads.

“We also hope to widen Tallmadge Road and add turning lanes,” Messner said. “But because of the location of the Cascades being right off the interstate, we hope interference with local traffic will be minimal.”

Contact public affairs reporter Jennifer Zemanek at [email protected].

THE CASCADES The Cascades, a new shopping and residential complex opening in nearby Brimfield Township, is slowly beginning to show signs of life. On Oct. 9, Applebee’s restaurant will open its doors to customers. The following stores will open soon after: • Super Wal-Mart will open in time for the holiday season. • Murphy’s Oil and Home Savings Bank will open in mid-to-late winter. • Lowe’s Home Improvement will open in Spring or Summer 2007.