Since planting roots in Geauga County in 1965, Ohman Family Living has continued expanding. After purchasing the former Jordak Elementary Building for approximately $2.2 million, the family-owned retirement community village plans to transform the Building into a hybrid community rec center and residential independent living facility for the elderly.
“It is exciting. It is full spectrum of services,” Anderson Ohman Jr. told The Weekly Villager on June 19. “We pretty much have become a continued care residential community, so we have independent living, assisted living, long-term nursing care and rehab services. We are in a village which is nice because we are really the only community that is in a village with sidewalks and things like that.”
As The Weekly Villager previously reported, the Jordak Elementary Building was put up for sale due to declining student enrollment in Middlefield. Ohman Family Living outbid several interested businesses to purchase the property.
According to Ohman Jr., the recent purchase of the building coincides perfectly with Ohman Family Living’s latest project, which is the construction of 24 rental cottages that are suitable for independent living at the Briar site. In fact, the former Jordak Elementary Building is less than 1/8 of a mile from the cottages.
“We opened up 12 units to the marketplace as the first phase that we would be opening in June and we already have preleased 10 of those units,” noted Vice President of Growth Strategies Joshua Wallace. “We are now moving into the next phase of the next 12 where there are going to be 24 units in there and we are seeing tremendous excitement.
Wallace said that the recent availability of the Building lined up perfectly with Ohman Family Living’s strategic vision for their Middlefield location.
Ohman Jr. said that any plans for renovations for the former Jordak Elementary Building are on hold until the remaining cottages are completed and rented. The facility will not be granted access to the building until at least August because of all of the paperwork that is required to formally approve the transaction
Although Ohman Family Living will have to wait a few months before actually occupying the building, Ohman Jr. said that he has already spoken with an architect about some immediate plans.
Wallace said that Ohman was drawn to the building not just because of its proximity to the cottages but also some existing features including the basketball gym and cafeteria on the lower floor.
“The gym that is in there, we are going to be able to turn that into a recreational space where we will have access for our residents to go over there and play games like pickleball and to be able to engage in a fun program,” he said.
Wallace added that Ohman Family Living also has designs to renovate the cafeteria or even lease the space to another business that could operate a restaurant to offer good affordable food not only for Ohman Family Living residents but to others in the community.
Although the pickleball court and restaurant will be located on the bottom floor of the building, Ohman Jr. noted that there have been discussions about adding to the top floor to enhance the vision of independent living.
“We like the idea that it comes with 5½ acres and a significant amount of parking,” Ohman Jr. said “It really lines up to our property so it just makes sense. There would be an addition to the school building for independent living apartments.”
Further benefiting Ohman is that it is has created a corporate partnership with the Cardinal School system for the last year, which has included the business offering work experience for high school students who seek immediate jobs after graduating. The expansion into the former Jordak Elementary Building will allow Ohman to provide more employment opportunities to the Cardinal students for work opportunities.
Having been a local staple in Geauga County since 1965 when founder George Ohman built a ranch on State route 608 to provide housing for his brother who was suffering from multiple sclerosis, Wallace acknowledged that Middlefield has been one of Ohman’s favorite sites.
Although Middlefield is small in population, the vision for Middlefield is very clear to Ohman Family Living.
“I will say that one of the things that is really neat is the community aspect of Middlefield,” Wallace remarked. “It still has the small-town American charm to it. It still has a place where people know each other, people like each other and people wave to and greet each other and it is turning into quite a nice destination.”
