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Home sales off for neighboring residents
(by Mike Klimko - October 09, 2008)
Home sales off for neighboring residents
By MIKE KLIMKO
There may be a silver lining to the decision by the Coral Co. to give up redevelopment of the SOM Centre shopping center in Solon, according to a West Sharondale Drive resident.
In announcing the decision to stop its efforts on the Central Park project, Peter Rubin, president and chief executive officer of the Coral Co., said it could be resubmitted to the city if the economy improves, resident Lisa Borovac said.
Coral signed purchase options as part of the project with about 70 property owners in the Sharondale neighborhood and on Bainbridge Road. Coral called the owners to an emergency meeting Sunday at the Solon Community Center.
"When the phone calls came, there was no explanation of the meeting," Mrs. Borovac said. "Everybody started calling, asking, 'What do you think it means?' Before then, Coral had been calling to have some things done for them," she said.
"A lot of people anticipated this might happen. They had their boxes packed. Some of them had their dreams. And now those dreams are gone," Mrs. Borovac said.
"The majority of the people liked the neighborhood. We talked to each other. This is a nice place to live. They may not like what happened, but it happened. It was heartbreaking, to no fault of Coral."
About nine years ago, Lisa and Jeffrey Borovac moved into the house in the neighborhood that had been her husband's boyhood home.
The offer to negotiate the purchase of their home came out of the blue, she said, and was a shock, compared to getting the word that the project would not move ahead as planned.
"I wasn't surprised, knowing how the market was acting. The Coral Co., Peter Rubin and their associates are amazing people to work with. They went beyond courteous with me and the rest of the residents," Mrs. Borovac said.
"They made sure to put us first by calling the meeting. And they didn't need to. The only thing I am angry about are the people who chose the opportunity to use this project as a political platform to promote themselves. They should be ashamed," she said.
"And now that this is done, it's time for the city to come in and take care of their own. They can say, 'You've been neglected. It's time to take care of your streets and sidewalks on Sharondale. In short, it's time to take care of you.'"
She would guess that most of the residents have looked into the real estate market, having anticipated a move, some more seriously than others, Mrs. Borovac said. Her family did not want to look around without knowing a move would be made, she said.
"We were still waiting to vote," she said of the upcoming rezoning issue to authorize the redevelopment project. "It was difficult at the meeting for Peter to talk. Someone said how wonderful Peter was to work with. It was very emotional for the residents and for Coral," Mrs. Borovac said.
"You could hear a pin drop. He said we wanted us to hear about it from him before we heard about it from somebody else. It was the most generous thing he could have done for us."
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