The Western Reserve Port Authority entered property redevelopment in 2018, essentially taking on properties that the agency’s executive director describes as “only a government could love.” Last year, the agency expanded its reach and purchased two largely full office buildings in downtown Youngstown, a buying decision driven by a desire to provide stability to a community reeling from the Realty Tower explosion that devastated the Mahoning Valley’s largest downtown.
In September, the port authority board of directors voted to acquire City Centre One, where its offices are located, and the nearby Commerce Building for $6 million – an acquisition that in any other year likely would have been the most significant downtown Youngstown news story. Port authority officials see their purchase of the office buildings from Ohio One Corp. less as deviating from previous practices than capitalizing on opportunities. “This one’s a unique approach to what we do. Because what we do is all about productivity and development and what’s good for the economics of the community,” says Anthony Trevena, port authority executive director. “We’re big fans of the fact that if you don’t have a strong core downtown in your urban communities, you know that you can’t grow on the outside as well,” he continues. “We do things on the outskirts. But we really want to commit to our urban centers and make sure that they’re redeveloped and they make a comeback. And we believe that’s going on right now.”
Downtown Youngstown has had to navigate the impact of the pandemic, the multiyear disruptions associated with the Smart2 Network road reconstruction project and, in late May, the natural gas explosion that led to the demolition of the Realty Tower and left adjacent downtown buildings vacant for several weeks. “Our board thought it was appropriate for us to look at this from a different perspective, on how we can help stabilize this part of the community,” Trevena says. The board of directors believed acquiring the properties “was an opportunity that we felt we couldn’t pass up,” says Marty Loney, chairman since 2017. “Opportunities are opportunities. And economic development is economic development. You had two buildings that are well occupied with a lot of businesses that are helpful for the folks in the area,” Loney says.
Economic Development Hub
Youngstown officials were pleased to see the buildings in the hands of one of the city’s redevelopment partners, according to Stephanie Gilchrist, city economic development director. “The port authority has shown its faith in this community and its people and the business community. It sends that signal of hope and that there is nothing but great things to come if we all come together and do our part as community leaders and organizations,” she says. With its current tenant mix, City Centre One is a hub for regional economic development. In addition to the port authority, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, Mahoning County Land Bank, Lake to River Economic Development, the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments and the Youngstown Foundation all have offices in the downtown building. “When Lake to River brings in site selectors, they’re going to bring them to this building and they’re going to be able to meet with chamber executives and Eastgate executives and port executives and anybody on the team that can help get a deal done,” Trevena says. “This is kind of like a one-stop shop for economic development within this building. And almost all of us are regional in the sense that we serve both Mahoning and Trumbull counties.”
Property Development
The port authority has partnered with local governments to acquire properties, stabilize them as needed and get them into the hands of developers since 2018. According to Trevena, the agency is always looking at opportunities to keep or put a building back into productive use. If there is a building that isn’t in productive use or needs to be repurposed and the private sector isn’t taking that on, WRPA will step in to help to turn the property around. That includes looking at what might happen with the downtown Youngstown buildings owned by Eastern Gateway Community. “Everything you look at for us is a project-by-project basis. Who would have thought we’d be buying an old grocery store on Belmont Avenue that hadn’t been productive for many years to turn it into a veterans’ center?” Trevena asks. “It’s about economic development,” Loney adds. “Each individual case is a little bit different.” Recent projects in Mahoning County include working with county officials to redevelop the former A&P grocery store near the Carl Nunziato Veterans Administration building for the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission and last month acquiring the former InfoCision call center building in Austintown and selling it to the county. WRPA also acquired the former McGuffey Plaza property on the east side of Youngstown and is managing its environmental remediation. The port authority also is having discussions with the owners of 16 Wick, 20 Federal Place and other downtown Youngstown properties about ways it can assist with redevelopment through a synthetic lease or issuance of bonds. “Whether it’s mixed use or potential commercial or residential, we want to help any way we can,” Trevena says. Other downtown projects include a potential second hotel and development of the former Vindicator building as a defense and aerospace innovation hub. City officials also are hoping to get a “great developer” for 20 Federal, according to Gilchrist. “If you ride downtown, there are so many great projects that are happening,” she continues. In Trumbull County, WRPA worked with Sapientia Ventures to help develop a 98,200-square-foot “spec” building designed to fit the needs of modern manufacturers and distributors in the new West Warren Industrial Park. And the agency is assisting the city of Warren with redevelopment of the “peninsula” property near downtown Warren. At the end of 2023, the port authority sold 560 acres of the former BDM Steel property in Trumbull County to global consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark Corp. Dynamic compaction work in preparation for building construction has been completed and perimeter fencing installed. “That’s an exciting project,” he says. “We have confidence that it won’t be a lot longer before the company will let us know more of what their plans are.”
Residential Development
Trevena also expects the port authority to play a role in a sector it hasn’t been involved with previously – residential development. There is “no question” Ohio is experiencing a housing shortage, he says. How the Mahoning Valley is affected will be revealed in January with the release of a study by the Regional Chamber and Eastgate. Meantime, WRPA is looking at how other port authorities are approaching the housing shortage. When Fortune 200 companies like Kimberly-Clark, Foxconn, and Ultium Cells are approached about coming to the Valley, they want to know whether there is an adequate workforce, transportation and housing to meet their needs, Trevena says. “The answer to our housing situation is we can do better,” he says. “We definitely need to work with our local real estate agents. And, there will be lots of groups getting together to figure out this comprehensive solution.” Among the roles he envisions WRPA playing are working with entities such as Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership. Of the 20 house starts in Youngstown over the past 15 years, more than half were YNDC projects. The organization recently broke ground on another six units.
To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.
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