Uptown Mentor’s $10M apartments-and-retail project moves from plan to groundbreaking

The five-parcel stretch around 8677 Mentor Ave. in Old Village will host a Sept. 25 groundbreaking for a more-than-$10 million Uptown Mentor redevelopment, after Mentor City Council approved the final financing needed to move the apartments-and-retail project ahead.

The plan calls for a four-story building with 45 market-rate apartments across the upper three floors and about 14,052 square feet of retail and restaurant space at street level.

At the center of the public commitment is a 30-year tax-increment-financing agreement scheduled to begin in 2028.

What is approved

The 1.34-acre site covers 8693, 8683, 8671, 8677 and 8679 Mentor Ave. Geis Companies and Uptown Mentor LLC were the applicants.

Uptown Mentor received final approval for its project plan Nov. 13, 2025. In September 2026, Council approved Ordinance 26-O-081, establishing an Old Village commercial-corridor TIF framework and authorizing a service agreement for the project.

That means the project plan and financing are approved. Demolition, construction, tenant leasing and occupied apartments and storefronts are still ahead.

How the public financing works

Beginning in 2028, the 30-year TIF will capture the new assessed value created by the redevelopment for eligible project costs rather than treat it as ordinary property-tax growth. Under Ohio’s TIF system, service payments in lieu of taxes can be directed to redevelopment improvements. State law allows municipalities to establish a tax-increment-equivalent fund for those payments.

For Uptown Mentor, the proceeds can support demolition, site preparation, utilities, sidewalks, parking, landscaping and related redevelopment work.

The agreement schedules $680,000 for Mentor Schools during its first 20 years. The developer would provide $260,000 through scheduled payments, while $420,000 would come from city income and payroll taxes generated by commercial tenants.

During the final 10 years, the district is scheduled to receive half the property-tax revenue it otherwise would have collected.

What comes next

The Sept. 25 ceremony is the next dated milestone. After that, demolition and site preparation will offer the first visible signs of whether the development is moving beyond its approvals.

The longer measure will be clear along Mentor Avenue: whether those five parcels become 45 occupied apartments above active shops and restaurants.