The Plaza at SouthPark

One of the most recent entries into the growing retail stable of the City of Strongsville, Ohio is The Plaza at SouthPark, developed by the third-generation real estate development firm of Visconsi Companies, Ltd. of Pepper Pike, Ohio.

The Plaza at SouthPark derives its name from its location immediately opposite the large two-level regional shopping mall of Westfield SouthPark, on Royalton Road near its intersection with Interstate 71. At more than 300,000 square feet, The Plaza offers convenient ‘big-box’ retail facilities that supplement that mall’s offerings. Tenants of The Plaza at SouthPark include Costco, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Petco, Ulta Cosmetics and Jared Jewelers. Additional space will accommodate a proposed restaurant as well as other retailers.

Designed by the local architectural firm of DHPY, The Plaza at SouthPark incorporates earthy materials and colors — rock, stone, brick, timber, rust, ochre, sand, tan — into a rich contemporary composition with appealing building elements and design flourishes.

The Plaza, with its initial stores opening from November 2009 through January 2010, conforms to a site that is steeply sloped downward and northward from Royalton Road. Accommodating that slope are the center’s many distinctive sculpted-rock retaining walls, which also subdivide the project’s parking fields into convenient and easily navigable sections. A substantial portion of the development’s overall site is dedicated to transitional slopes, preserved green space and water management areas.

Marking the project’s entrance from Royalton Road is yet another of its sculpted-rock walls, this one bearing the center’s identifying sign along its inflected length. Designed by ZZ Design, the sign is a series of large individual stainless steel letters, pinned off the rough-hewn surface of the wall, and illuminated by concealed lighting.