Court Gives Go-ahead to Sell Chill Can Site
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge John Durkin has approved a joint motion that allows the Mahoning County sheriff to advertise and sell the ill-fated Chill Can property on the East Side.
According to documents filed last week, the judge approved a joint motion filed earlier by the city and MS Consultants Inc. to base the sale price on the appraised value set by the Mahoning County Auditor’s office, which is $2,069,370.
A sale date is yet to be determined.
An earlier effort to place the 21-acre site and its three buildings up for sheriff’s sale did not go forward because independent appraisers were unable to assess a value on the property.
Proceeds from any sale of the site would be used to repay lienholders – namely the city, MS Consultants and the Mahoning County Treasurer for tax delinquencies on the property.
The matter stems from 2016, when Irvine, Calif.-based M.J. Joseph Development and Joseph Co. International announced they would invest nearly $20 million to build a campus dedicated to research, development and manufacturing of self-chilling beverage cans and related technologies.
M.J. Joseph and the city signed agreements that awarded the developer $1.5 million in wastewater grants for the project, as well as tax breaks. In return, the developer was to create 237 jobs.
Although three buildings were constructed at the site, not a single “chill can” was ever produced, and the company reported just two jobs created. That triggered in 2021 a lengthy legal battle between the city and M.J. Joseph.
Anticipating court action, M.J. Joseph filed a complaint in June 2021 against the city, alleging the city did not have the authority to collect monetary damages or was entitled to the land. The city countersued for $2.8 million, demanding a refund of its development grant, relocation and acquisition expenses and computed lost income tax revenue.
MS Consultants filed a complaint in January 2023 seeking $322,907.80 from M.J. Joseph, arguing it was not paid for work it completed at the project site.
A court ruled in favor of both the city and MS Consultants in the matter. After the rulings, MS Consultants filed a separate foreclosure action, which the city ultimately joined.
In the meantime, M.J. Joseph’s attorneys withdrew their representation. In May, the court closed out the city’s litigation against the developer, as the city deemed it unlikely it would ever collect its money. MS Consultants had earlier voluntarily dismissed its case against the company.
M.J. Joseph and its CEO have essentially walked away from all litigation and the entire project. The company’s website is no longer active, nor are its phone lines.
In a related matter, a man indicted three years ago for allegedly defrauding investors related to the Chill Can project pleaded guilty last week to 23 criminal counts.
Garry Savage Sr. of Huron pleaded guilty Nov. 26 to seven counts of securities fraud, eight counts of sales of unregistered securities, six counts of fraudulent or deceptive conduct by an investment advisor representative and two counts of theft, according to a press release distributed by the Ohio Department of Commerce.
He is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 30, according to the release.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
