A big step forward today for plans to build a residential housing village on the Northeast Ohio Medical University campus in Rootstown.

Signet Development has been hired to develop plans to build the housing village as the largest components of a $130-million expansion of the NEOMED campus. The project is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs.

Groundbreaking for the residential housing village is slated for June with an estimated completion date of August 2013 in time for the start of the new academic year. Three, four-story buildings will make up the 270,000-square-foot village, and will feature nearly 350 single and double, fully furnished rooms, which will be available to the University community.

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News Release from the Northeast Ohio Medical University

The Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) Board of Trustees today announced the selection and approval of Signet Development as the developer for the residential housing village to be constructed on the NEOMED campus. The residential housing village serves as a lead component of the nearly $130 million campus expansion project to transform the University footprint over the next two years and make a significant economic impact to Portage County.

The project is projected to bring hundreds of construction jobs to the area. “We are proud to announce Signet Development as the developer for this component of our campus expansion project,” said John Wray, vice president of administration and finance at NEOMED. “The tremendous expertise, innovative ideas and collaborative nature they bring to this project is necessary to the successful development of our University’s first residential housing offering, and we are excited to watch the next steps of this project unfold.”

Groundbreaking for the residential housing village is slated for June with an estimated completion date of August 2013 in time for the start of the new academic year. Three, four-story buildings will make up the 270,000-square-foot village, and will feature nearly 350 single and double, fully furnished rooms, which will be available to the University community. This aspect of the University’s expansion plan alone increases the existing 450,000-square-foot campus by 60 percent, significantly transforming the University’s footprint.

In assembling this public-private partnership team, the University looked for a developer who could introduce a creative approach to the construction and work closely with the University to provide the expertise to finalize the design, assemble the necessary financial resources, and engage the contractors needed to build the facility. “Signet Development has a wide range of development experience with specializations in health care, higher education, and public-private partnerships, which we feel is perfectly aligned with Northeast Ohio Medical University’s needs,” said Anthony S. Manna, chairman of Signet Development. “We are very pleased to be named a partner of this initiative and look forward to working with the NEOMED team on this project.” Signet will provide NEOMED with comprehensive, turnkey development and finance services for the project, including all design, construction and management activities. Signet will be working closely with NEOMED and all project stakeholders in the coming weeks to finalize all elements of the project to break ground next month.

The village will be constructed on the northwest corner of the current NEOMED campus with private parking and paved walkways leading to the existing campus facilities. It serves as the second of several major construction projects designed to transform the growing medical university, following the 2011 groundbreaking of the four-story, 80,000-square-foot Research and Graduate Education Building designed to enhance the University’s research enterprise and foster public-private partnerships with the local business community.