Cleveland City Hall is moving to grab one of the West Side’s most argued-over corners, proposing a $635,000 purchase of the long-vacant CVS at 10022 Madison Avenue as a possible site for a new fire station. The offer lands in the middle of a yearslong neighborhood fight over whether the property should become a gas station and retail plaza, even as its owner, Shaker Madison LLC, insists the building is not for sale and says no agreement has been reached.
According to Cleveland.com, the administration is introducing legislation that would authorize the $635,000 purchase. City records show the same parcel was the subject of a February 2025 letter of intent offering $1,025,000, a much higher figure. The new, lower proposal comes as officials try to nail down options for replacing aging Fire Station 23.
Shaker Madison bought the former CVS in late 2023 for roughly $575,000, and a company representative told Cleveland Scene the owner has spent more than $1 million acquiring the building and related assets. That purchase price, along with the owner’s claimed investment, has sat at the center of tense back-and-forth between the city and the developer.
Developer's gas-station plan and denial
Last year, the company floated a plan to carve up the site into a service station, a Papa John’s and a bank, a setup that immediately set off neighbors who warned it would clog traffic and plaster tobacco and alcohol ads near a school and the neighborhood rec center. The Board of Zoning Appeals denied the variance in mid‑2024, and Shaker Madison responded by challenging that decision in court, according to Signal Cleveland.
Design filings and alternate uses
Since then, the owner has submitted design and landmark filings to divide the vacant store into multiple tenant spaces and strip the gas-station component from the project. That sequence of applications could still move to design review and then on to the planning commission, keeping the corner in play while residents lobby for something different, Cleveland Scene reports.
Legal status
Shaker Madison’s legal challenge to the zoning board’s denial has been a key subplot, but the company ultimately lost its attempt to overturn the decision in court, leaving the variance blocked while the city explores purchase and reuse options, according to reporting by Signal Cleveland. That outcome gives the city firmer footing if it decides to push ahead with an acquisition.
Neighbors have been loudly opposed to a gas station from the beginning, flagging safety concerns and the constant presence of kids around the nearby rec center. News 5 Cleveland has chronicled residents calling instead for a firehouse, a grocery store or other community-focused uses.
Carleton Moore, who presented redevelopment concepts to city panels, told Cleveland.com that the gas-station idea is “off the table right now” and that the owner is concentrating on alternate retail configurations. Even so, the company maintains it has not entered into negotiations to sell.
What happens next
The administration’s measure now heads to City Council for debate and a vote, where members have to decide whether buying the property is the quickest way to keep the corner from sitting empty indefinitely. Past coverage has pointed out that council has tools to override planning decisions in especially heated land-use fights, a political reality that will shape what options are realistic, according to Axios.
Councilman Danny Kelly and nearby residents say the top priority is getting something into the building that improves safety, not leaving another empty lot or greenlighting a project that worsens traffic. For now, the Madison and West Boulevard corner remains in limbo, with city officials pushing a purchase proposal while the owner insists there is no deal, as News 5 Cleveland reported.
