Valor Acres hotel plans call for elimination of rooftop bar

by Melissa Martin

The proposed hotel for the Valor Acres development has been reduced to five stories instead of six according to revised plans approved by the Brecksville Planning Commission.

City officials said the sixth floor of the AC Hotel Marriott was initially expected to include a rooftop bar, along with an adjoining restaurant, featuring both indoor and outdoor seating. Marriott, however, changed the project plans since it was first proposed in 2024, eliminating the top floor of the building altogether.

According to Josh Decker, project executive for DiGeronimo Development, the development company overseeing the construction of the Valor Acres complex, a restaurant and bar will still be located on the hotel’s first floor. The facility also will contain 136 guest rooms – the same number of guest rooms called for in the original plans for the building.

Marriott’s AC hotel brand is a service hotel designed for business and solo travelers. The hotels include lounges or bars and conference rooms. There are more than 150 locations throughout the world. 

“In general, the feedback that we’ve gotten from them is – based on the mixed-use and what we have going on and what we see here – we feel that we want to focus more and bring our real discussion down to that first floor,” Decker said during the Oct. 9 planning commission meeting.

Two additional restaurants have already opened in Valor Acres, including Flour, an Italian restaurant, and Masu, a sushi establishment. The sixth-floor bar/restaurant in the AC Hotel Marriott would have competed with these eateries, as well as the restaurant and bar planned for the hotel’s first floor.

In July, a trio of projects — including the Brecksville Mariott AC hotel — received a total of $92 million in financing approved by the Port of Cleveland to help get them closer to construction. Following the Port’s $32 million in taxable lease revenue bonds, construction of the $42.9 million hotel was expected to be completed in early 2027.

The hotel is being planned by DiGeronimo Development LLC, Crawford Hoying LLC and Shaner Hotel Group. 

Another tenant secured

DiGeronimo Development also announced that Hylant, one of the nation’s largest privately held insurance brokerage firms, will be relocating its Northeast Ohio offices to Valor Acres. 

Hylant, which offers insurance, employee benefits and risk management consulting services for businesses and individuals, has signed a lease for approximately 24,000 square feet of class-A office space. The company has an anticipated move-in scheduled for early 2027. 

The move to Valor Acres underscores the company’s dedication to its people and its future, according to a press release. “As we continue to grow, it’s critical that our workspace reflects our values,” Nick Hylant, market president of Hylant-Cleveland, said in the release. “At Hylant, team comes first. Valor Acres offers the perfect environment to support collaboration, innovation and connection, not just for our colleagues but also for our clients and community.”