AUSTINTOWN Parma company buys most of Wedgewood Plaza

A portion of the longtime Austintown retail site sold for $2.8 million.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
AUSTINTOWN -- Most of the Wedgewood Plaza has been sold to a Parma company, which says it intends to improve the property and keep rents reasonable.
Mentor Square Management bought a large section of the plaza at New and Raccoon roads last week for $2.8 million, according to records filed at the Mahoning County Courthouse.
Changing hands was 114,000 square feet, including the row of businesses from Pizza Hut to Competitive Edge. The outparcels leased to McDonald's, KeyBank, Auto Service Express and News and Lotto also are part of the sale.
The sellers, Wedgewood Plaza Inc., retained ownership of 60,000 square feet of space, which includes a bowling alley, former dance club and some offices.
The owners of Wedgewood Plaza Inc. are ready to retire and looking to scale back on their commitments, said Thomas Shutrump, property manager.
His brothers, Charles, Fred, John and George, built the plaza 40 years ago. They have since died and ownership passed on to their families.
Thomas Shutrump said he will remain the manager under the new owners and doesn't expect any changes.
Will make improvements
Jim Frangias, Mentor Square general partner, said that his family-owned company will be looking to make improvements to the plaza but that it's too early to say what they would be.
Shutrump said more than $1 million was spent on the plaza in 1996 to pave the parking lot, subdivide the former Bargain Port into smaller units and make other improvements.
He said the vacancy rate is 8 percent. Frangias said Mentor Square likes to keep rents reasonable so tenants remain and it doesn't have to search for new ones.
Frangias said he learned from a real estate agent that the plaza was coming on the market and he liked it because the plaza has "a little bit of everything." The plaza has about 20 businesses, including Nationwide Insurance, Wedgewood Auto Parts, Dollar General and Gravity House skate park.
Frangias said having the McDonald's and Save-a-Lot grocery store are important because they draw people to a plaza.
About the buyer
Mentor Square owns five other plazas in the Cleveland area and has been in business since 1991. This is its first property in the Mahoning Valley.
Shutrump said Wedgewood Plaza Inc. will continue to manage the part of the plaza that it retained.
It is talking to two businesses that are interested in the space vacated by the closing of The Mill dance club a few months ago. One is talking about opening another dance club, and the other is interested in a sports bar, Shutrump said.
shilling@vindy.com