SEE IT: New development at former Geauga Lake site

BAINBRIDGE TOWNSHIP , Ohio (WJW) — There are no more roller coasters or killer whales.

Instead, fresh wood, concrete and a lot of dust are the stars of this show, as the first new apartments go up on the old Geauga Lake amusement park site.

“What you’re seeing is the phase one of the vision of market-rate apartments,” Bainbridge Township trustee Jeffery Markley said.

The construction on the site has been fun to watch as things begin to shift into high gear, Markley said.

Geauga Lake and SeaWorld were great to have in the community, but now things are changing, he said. He said this development will bring something that’s relatively new not only to the site but to the township.

“This mixed-use development will have a different form of living which is not typical in Bainbridge or in Geauga County , which is apartments. Folks are always concerned about the word ‘apartments’ and the nature of what apartments might bring, but at the end of the day, it adds a completely different living lifestyle to our community,” Markley said.

A new Menards and Meijer store are expected to go up on the north side of the property and open in late 2025 or early 2026. A new 55-and-older community is planned to be right on the lake.

Over on the Aurora side of the development, plans are for a very large public park with a beach, trails and just a great community space.

Markley said the mixed-use space will offer even more potential for even more development, especially after people start calling the new apartments and other spaces home.

“It does provide for something different, and it does take away a property — 300 acres in Bainbridge — that has been sitting blighted for so many years, and that part is transformative. We now have a productive use of the property,” Markley said.

Markley said if things stay on schedule, you could see some of the first tenants starting to move in by the end of this year or early next year.

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