WEST TOLEDO

Miracle Mile plans to raze building, add fitness center

Brixmor Miracle Mile LLC plans to raze part of the shopping center and replace it with a smaller structure.

The Toledo Plan Commission on Thursday approved plans to demolish a portion of Miracle Mile Shopping Center in West Toledo and construct a new building for a fitness center and retail stores.

Brixmor Miracle Mile LLC, the owner of the shopping complex at 4925 Jackman Rd., plans to raze the 64,950-square-foot building in the center of the shopping center and replace it with a smaller structure.

L.A. Fitness Gym will occupy most of the new 45,000-square-foot building, with about 8,000 square feet being devoted to retail space, said Anne F. McBride, who appeared before the plan commission on behalf of the company.

At one time the building that will be demolished housed a J.C. Penney furniture outlet.

Ms. McBride said other improvements will be made to the 314,500-square-foot shopping center, including enhancements to the facade on a rear building that houses a driver’s license agency.

According to the company’s site plans request, there are about 30 tenant spaces in the Miracle Mile. A Kroger opened in the shopping center in 1999, replacing an earlier Kroger store that had been there since 1955.

In other action, the plan commission recommended approval for zoning changes and special use permit that will allow Zepf Center to operate a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in a vacant nursing home.

Jennifer Moses, CEO of the Zepf Center, said the nonprofit group plans to buy the Liberty Nursing Center, 2005 Ashland Ave., and operate a treatment center.

Services will include behavioral health inpatient and outpatient treatment for people diagnosed with drugs and alcohol dependency and mental illness and prevention programs.

The nursing home, which is in the Uptown District, closed in January, 2013.