City to Study Crab Creek Industrial Corridor

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city will conduct a $100,000 study of the Crab Creek industrial corridor to determine best courses of action to get sites along the corridor back into productive use.

At its meeting Wednesday, City Council will consider legislation to accept an $80,000 redevelopment study grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The city would provide a $20,000 match.

The corridor, which has Andrews and Logan Avenues on one side and Albert Street on the other side, is one of Youngstown’s oldest industrial districts, according to city planning consultant Hunter Morrison.

“This evaluation is to try to look at the industrial district holistically,” he said. Despite assets such as a B&O rail line and “significant freeway accessibility,” the area has “underperformed” economically.  

“The question is how to unlock the potential for the district for the benefit of the city and neighborhoods,” Morrison said.

The objective of the study is to “provide a roadmap for blight remediation and antiquated infrastructure” for the approximately 1,200-acre corridor, which is “characterized by a complex mix of viable businesses and adjacent blighted and abandoned properties,” according to the scope of work for the study.

“To redevelop in a comprehensive and equitable manner, the study will address current and future assets, challenges and capabilities to lead to marketable industrial sites,” it continued. 

The study is expected to take 18 months after the awarding and signing of contracts, said Rachel McCartney, associate director of external affairs and strategic initiatives at Youngstown State University. The scope of work will include, documents state, but is not limited to:

• Site mapping (site morphology, land ownership/tax status, property condition assessment).
• Network analysis (infrastructure network analysis, freeway ramp access network analysis, arterial network improvements, transit network analysis, bicycle/pedestrian network analysis).
• Opportunity analysis (green industrial opportunity analysis, commercial opportunity analysis, collaborative community investment program).

“The model we have in our mind is what happened in Warren with the Golden Triangle,” Morrison said.

“That was a very similar situation, with a historic industrial district that held prospering businesses and vacant property and infrastructure that wasn’t really working to make the district really hum. So that plan done a number of years ago became the basis for further infrastructure investments and site assembly.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.