Council OKs Scaled Back Project on Lake Street

The City Council has approved construction of a scaled down retail complex around the Macy’s on South Lake after neighbors agreed to drop a lawsuit if a movie theater was deleted from the project.

The council’s 6-1 vote Monday night, with Councilman Paul Little dissenting, allows construction on the $32-million project to begin this summer, more than a year after the council first approved the shops on South Lake.

Part of the project calls for upgrades to the landmark Bullock’s store, which was built in 1947.

To settle a lawsuit by a coalition of neighborhood groups, Forest City, a Cleveland-based developer, abandoned plans for a seven-screen multiplex and agreed to move shops away from the South Lake Avenue frontage of Macy’s.

Several homeowner groups agreed to the settlement last month, but the South Lake Avenue Residents Assn. waited until Friday to sign off on the project after they won an agreement that no movie theater could be built for 21 years, city officials said.

Victor Grgas, director of planning for Forest City, said that under the financial agreement Federated Department Stores, owner of Macy’s, has agreed to keep a store there for at least a decade.