Akron leaders have big goals for transforming Downtown in 2026.
This past year, community partners formed the Downtown Akron Development Corporation, an organization for revitalization and economic development of the Downtown area.
Its first executive director, Chris Hardesty, is tasked with making progress on Downtown redevelopment projects and supporting small businesses in the corridor.
Change needs to happen now, Hardesty said.
“Downtown is at a critical point, a pivotable point,” Hardesty said at a Dec. 9, 2025 Akron Press Club luncheon. “If we don’t work hard and figure out what we need to do, maybe I won’t be here, or maybe something else will be going on in a few years, and we don’t want that to happen.”
The area has experienced challenges in recent years, including an excess of vacant commercial space and low foot traffic on weekdays, Hardesty said.
Meanwhile, entertainment, arts and culture are thriving. Akron unveiled a major transformation of Lock 3 in late 2024, drawing in thousands of visitors already.
But businesses in the area can’t solely rely on weekend events and nightlife, Hardesty said, so increasing weekday foot traffic is one of his top priorities for 2026.
Another big focus is real estate development, he said.
“We really fill the role that hasn’t been seen here, and that’s living, breathing Downtown, chasing after real estate development, figuring out programming for real estate development, and trying to be a catalytic partner for catalytic projects,” Hardesty said.
One such project, he said, is the redevelopment of Quaker Square, the former site of Quaker Oats that later became a beloved, bustling hotel and retail complex. After sitting dormant for years, a Philadelphia-based planning and design firm is in the process of redeveloping the complex to become a new destination in the city.
A few blocks away is a project that Hardesty said needs major attention in 2026: Cascade Plaza. Several of the buildings, including a hotel, are vacant.
Hardesty will work to figure out which buildings should be redeveloped and which ones should be taken off the market.
Some of the vacant spaces will be redeveloped for housing to meet increasing demand, he said.
The hope is that more people living Downtown will increase the daily foot traffic for retail and small businesses, he added.
That's also the key to securing a grocery store for the Downtown area, he said. He also wants to treat retail as “amenities to development, as opposed to an outright money maker,” Hardesty said.
“If we work on that, and get people who are willing to take a risk on Akron, I think we’re going to be successful in getting that grocery store up and running,” Hardesty said.
Another priority in 2026 is the expansion of Lock 2, a small park near Lock 3 on the south side of Downtown.
“Make it more usable and friendly for people to come and enjoy it,” Hardesty said. “I feel like if we can activate Lock 2 really well and work on that, and create it to a more attraction standpoint, then we’re going to get more traffic.”
The park is located near the Akron RubberDucks stadium and Akron Children’s Hospital. It is right by the water, where boats transporting goods used to move along the Ohio & Erie Canal.
The city also needs to focus on its hotels to increase overnight visitors to Downtown – a major driver of economic development, Hardesty added.
