City Approves Lease/Sale Agreement for Call Center Building

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Work is expected to begin as early as next week on converting the former AT&T call center building, 2933 Salt Springs Road, into an auto body shop.

The city’s Board of Control approved entering into a lease/purchase agreement with Kempthorn Collision Center during a special meeting Friday morning.

“They want to start working on the building as early as next Monday,” Kyle Miasek, city finance director said, following the meeting. The company has an “aggressive timetable” to transform the building, he said.

Eric Kempthorn, president of Canton-based Kempthorn Motors, said Monday that plans are to open the body shop by Jan. 1. It will have 20 to 25 employees once it is up and running, he said.

The agreement approved Friday calls for Kempthorn to lease the building for up to three years with a guarantee to purchase the property for $550,000.

“Youngstown was an area that we wanted to be in,” Kempthorn said. The dealership had searched the local market for a building for about a year when the Salt Springs Road property caught the company’s eye. It has a similar operation in Akron.

Pictured: The former AT&T call center at 2933 Salt Springs Road.

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