Whitney-Pearl Corner Going to Sheriff's Sale

Four parcels at the corner of Pearl and Whitney roads that have been tied up in legal action for years will be auctioned May 29, according to the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department.

The sheriff's sale could clear the way for developers to start moving on retail development there.

Minimum bid on the property, which is appraised at $5 million, is about $3.3 million.

"Hopefully, after it's sold, we'll get a lot more information about the property," Strongsville Economic Development Director Brent Painter said. "Then I think we'll start to see activity there."

In January, representatives of to build on Pearl Road near Whitney.  

The Nashville, TN-based restaurant chain is seeking to construct a 6,400-square-foot eatery that would seat about 200 on the other side of the access road from .

Sheetz, which last year sought to build a gas station on the west side of Pearl Road, has returned with plans for the other side of the street, in front of . 

It's expected that WXZ Development Inc., which took over the long-in-coming development at Pearl and Whitney roads, will be the buyer of the land May 29.

But until the sale is final, no groundwork can start.

"We can't rezone the land until they own it," Painter said. 

WXZ said last year it was picking up where the Toledo-based Timberstone development group left off when it ran into financial obstacles and bowed out in 2009.

Timberstone was the second developer to plan and then abandon a project there.