The development also will feature an outdoor dining area.
Middletown Planning Commission unanimously approved the project last Wednesday.
Lenny Robinson, president of Robinson Commercial Real Estate, which represented regional retailer and gas station/convenience store operator MNR Oil on the sale of the property and development of the station, said bids will be received in March and construction should get underway shortly thereafter, weather permitting.
The gas station and restaurant are expected to open by late summer, he said.
Various issues presented a challenge to the project, which city officials helped make a reality, Robinson said.
“(City Manager) Doug Adkins stepped in and said ‘We want to make this project happen. It’s important for the city,’” he said. “We worked very closely with Doug and his staff to get to this point.”
Of the nine interchanges between Interstate 675 and Interstate 275, Middletown was the only one with no gas station, Robinson said. Two gas stations that were previously at the site were removed as part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s work to upgrade the interchange in 2009, he said.
“Atrium Medical Center being the second largest employer and AK Steel’s new research center along with the hundreds of other employees on the east end as well as all of the residents who use this interchange everyday will appreciate having this station and restaurant here,” Robinson said.
Of the four acres that once was home to a gas station and miniature golf course, about 2.75 acres remain available for development.
MNR Oil’s plans for the site “can only help increase the demand for interchange sites here,” Robinson said.
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