Centerpointe park plan stalls

The county is trying to work out its concerns with the developer.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- It's in the middle of EVERYWHERE, its Web site boasts. But in the real world, it's getting nowhere.
Check Centerpointe Business Park in Austintown on your Internet search engine, and you'll find a glowing description of high hopes for the 180-acre site north of Rutland Avenue between state routes 46 and 11.
It's strategically located near Interstates 80 and 76 as well as the state routes.
It's 60 miles from Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and directly between New York and Chicago.
It is a light-industrial and commercial park that is the result of a "successful public/private partnership between state and local governments and private development interests," the Web site says.
Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams has even mentioned the park as a possible site for a joint economic development district, in which workers there would pay income tax to the city in exchange for benefits that could include a reduced water surcharge for Austintown.
The partnership
The Centerpointe "public/private partnership" is composed of Mahoning County and Route 46 Land Partners, an entity that is a joint venture between Redstone Investments, a real estate development acquisition, construction and leasing company, and Simco Management Corp., an apartment development and management company.
Redstone Investments was founded in Youngstown in 1991 by cousins Jonathan Levy and Lee Burdman, the Web site explains.
Simco, its site says, is one of the largest companies of its kind in this area.
Waterlines, sewers, roads and utilities for the park are supposed to be paid for by the county, which is using tax increment financing or TIF to obtain the funds.
Under the TIF, the county was to borrow 4 million in a bond sale, which it did in 2003, according to Vindicator files. That money is to be paid back after the development is generating property taxes. Fifty percent of the taxes would go toward paying down the debt, and 50 percent would be disbursed normally until the debt is repaid, explained Austintown zoning inspector Michael Kurilla. It is supposed to be repaid over 20 years.
The county also was supposed to apply for a 500,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Development and a 990,000 loan from the Ohio Water Development Authority, at a better interest rate, to help pay back the debt from the bond sale, Vindicator files indicate.
The county has not done so, but still could, said Julie Michael Smith of the department of development's regional office in Youngstown.
Residents fought project
Not everyone welcomed the idea of the park. Residents worried that it could cause drainage, traffic and noise problems, destroy the natural setting of the area and decrease area home values, Vindicator files say.
Residents tried to stop a zoning change for the land, which was considered Phase One of 379 acres, by getting the issue to voters in 2002. But the county election board ruled their petitions invalid because of incorrect language on the documents.
Township trustees were enthusiastic about the project, however, the Vindicator said.
But though the zone change and the bond sale went forward, the infrastructure was never put in. The county has done some clearing at the site, but for the most part, the project is stalled.
County officials don't appear eager to discuss why.
Kurilla, who says he doesn't know why, referred the question to the county engineer's office. Marilyn Kenner of that office referred it to county Administrator George Tablack, who did not return weeks' worth of calls for comment.
From his Florida office, Jonathan Levy of Route 46 Land Partners would say only that he is working with the county and hopes to move forward with the project soon.
An explanation
Finally, county Commissioner Anthony Traficanti offered an explanation for the delay.
He said that since the previous board of commissioners got involved with the project, the scope of it has changed. He said there are increased costs.
He said the county has to make sure the developer can live up to the commitment because Mahoning County's money is at risk.
He said that once the park is occupied, it should be worth an estimated 36 million.
"But how long will that take?" he said.
He said the county is taking on the risk that the park won't attract tenants.
He said Route 46 Land Partners was supposed to build a "spec" building in the park, and was supposed to have an anchor tenant, neither of which has materialized.
"If the county puts this money up, what's the guarantee that we'll get money back for our bonds?" he said. "It's a lot of money."
"We don't mind putting in infrastructure to help economic development. We've done it," he said. "But you have to be careful on the amount."
The county and the developer are still talking, Traficanti added.