YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – City Council next week will consider legislation sponsored by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown to reinstate an enterprise zone agreement at the defunct Chill Can site on the East Side.
In December, City Council voted to terminate a 10-year, 75% tax abatement program on buildings and land on the 21-acre property. That termination would have been effective after this year.
However, the city has since acquired the land and buildings through foreclosure after a protracted legal battle with the developer, California-based M.J. Joseph Development Co.
Deputy Law Director Jason Small said now that the city has purchased the property, it makes sense to continue the tax incentives so it can better market the site to one or more end-users looking to develop a new project there.
“This would help any future purchaser avoid the tax liability,” Small said.
Under Ohio law, an enterprise zone agreement is tied to the property and not the owner. Once tax incentives related to a specific project expire, they cannot be reinstated for the same project. In this case, City Council voted to rescind the tax abatement in December 2024, but the abatement is still intact on the property.
“Once it expires, it’s done,” Small said. “Given that this has been granted by the city, revoked by the city, it could be re-granted by the city.”
Small said the city is in the process of obtaining the deed to the property. The city acquired the site through foreclosure and a sheriff’s sale Feb. 18 for $1.3 million, money it was owed by the developer per a court decision in 2023. The Mahoning County auditor’s site still lists M.J. Joseph Co. as the property owner.
Councilman Julius Oliver, 1st Ward, said he was unaware of any legislation to reinstate the tax breaks but acknowledges it places the city in a stronger position to attract another developer or business.
“There’s no shortage of people interested in the property,” Oliver said. “It’s just a matter of sitting down and sorting out what the best fit is for Youngstown. I’d be looking for someone to come in and supply jobs and boost up that part of the East Side.”
Oliver said he was not aware of any imminent development at the site.
The enterprise zone agreement was first terminated by City Council because the Chill Can project never materialized. In 2016, California-based M.J. Joseph Development Co. announced it intended to construct a campus dedicated to manufacturing the first self-chilling beverage can and develop accompanying technology.
According to the enterprise zone agreement signed with the developer and the city in 2017, the incentives were contingent upon the project being fully completed by August 2021 and employing at least 237 workers. The project never hired more than two people, according to records.
The city also awarded the project a $1.5 million wastewater development grant based on the same contingencies to the enterprise zone agreement.
M.J. Joseph constructed three buildings at the site, all of which are empty. A Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ruled in 2024 that the city was entitled to collect the $1.5 million and another $733,480.80 in sanctions.
In March 2023, the court also ordered that M.J. Joseph pay MS Consultants $322,907.80 in unpaid balances for work the company performed at the site.
The developer never paid, and the property went into foreclosure, triggering the sheriff’s sale in February.