Development continues to flourish both on S.R. 14 and near the city's historic
town green, which itself is noted for the busy intersection of S.R. 14 and
S.R.43.
Attorneys George and Edward Cochran are renovating an old Cape Cod style
home next to the city fire station into office space. The old Heritage Feed
building is gone, a major step in the city's effort to make the municipal
building lawn a viable gathering place. And a new office complex across
the street reflects a new trend in today's business climate.
City Engineer Bill Rudlosky called the office buildings a worthy addition
to Streetsboro's town center.
The Cochrans' former law office, as well as the former home of the Gateway
News and two other buildings on the northwest quadrant of the town green,
remain vacant as owner Tom Neff searches for a package-deal buyer. The Gateway
has found new space in Streetsboro Plaza at S.R. 303 and 14.
"I think something will happen with the Neff property before too long
whether it be renovating them or building something in their place,"
Rudlosky said.
A graduate of Case Western Reserve University Law School and Ashland Theological
Seminary, attorney George Cochran was set to direct a Christian ministry
in Russia in 1993 when project funding fell through. Then he saw an article
about Streetsboro Mayor Sally Henzel and the city's progress in Crain's
Business Review.
It was time to come home.
"I never thought I'd practice law again and I never thought I'd come
back to Streetsboro," Cochran said.
But feeling called to doing both, in 1993 Cochran and his brother Edward,
who is also a lawyer, set up shop in a rented home-turned-office on the
northwest quadrant of the city's town green. When landlord Tom Neff decided
to sell the building, the Cochrans bought the Cape Cod style home across
S.R. 43.
"One of the reasons I chose this is I'm city prosecutor so I can
just literally walk over to city hall and do my thing. I plan to have all
my lunches at the new gazebo," Cochran said with a laugh.<
The gazebo, although not yet built, is slated for the vicinity of the recently
razed Heritage Feed building. The building was in front of city hall.
Cochran asked the home's former owner, Bill Poston of Streetsboro, to transform
it into office suites while maintaining as much historical integrity as
possible.
Poston added a dormer to the roof line and "it tended to transform
the whole building," Cochran said. "From that dormer I got the
idea to put up a town clock because we deserve one, and we're so centrally
located that I think it is a nice location for a town clock. We wanted to
kick it up a notch and make everything nice and presentable."
Poston also restored the home's original entryway columns, stripping away
layers of paint and neglect. Additional exterior touches include a 20-foot
flag pole, night spot lights and a spacious parking pad.
"He was the one instrumental in transforming the looks of it. He
did a wonderful job, he and his crew," Cochran said.
Across the street, a new professional complex is under construction.
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