‘Health-Care’ Firm Eyes Former Grocery Store

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – City officials are in discussions with a health-care company for the former Bottom Dollar Food building on Glenwood Avenue, the city’s economic development director said.

The city received the title last year to the 18,000-square-foot former grocery store, which opened in February 2012 and closed in late 2014. The city solicited proposals for repurposing the property and received two proposals in March.

The request for proposals subsequently generated interest from a third party that the city is in “ongoing conversations” and is working on finalizing terms, said T. Sharon Woodberry, director of community planning and economic development.

“We have who we believe is a very solid group that would invest into that facility or provide a service that would be needed for the neighborhood,” she said.

Woodberry identified the prospective user as a “health-care provider” but did not provide further details and said discussions were in the preliminary stages.

The city’s intent had been to convince a grocery store to open at the site.

At a special meeting today, the city’s Board of Control will vote on a license agreement with Big Dipper Food Co. to allow the company to use the building for warehousing and distribution through August. The Youngstown confection company was one of the two interested parties that submitted proposals for the site earlier this year. The other was from an area church.

Big Dipper Food officials remain interested in using that facility for the expansion of its operations, Woodberry said.

“They are aware that their proposal was not the one we selected but expressed interest if this doesn’t work out that they’re still interested,” she said.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.