YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city’s Board of Control on Thursday morning voted to approve a purchase agreement for two parcels at the site of the former Chill Can development on the East Side.
The BOC – composed of Mayor Derrick McDowell, Finance Director Kyle Miasek and Law Director Adam Buente – approved a measure to acquire two contiguous lots at the site for $10,000 from Scott Berger.
Berger is a former vice president of M.J. Joseph Development Co., the developer that was spearheading construction of an estimated $18 million campus that planned to manufacture self-chilling beverage cans and conduct research and development for other products.
The two small parcels, located on the northern end of the 21-acre property, total just shy of a quarter of an acre but intrude into one of three unfinished buildings at the site.
The acquisition nearly completes the city’s ownership of all parcels at the location. In February 2025, the city submitted the sole bid of $1.37 million to acquire 86 parcels through a sheriff’s sale after a court approved foreclosing on the property.
Mitchell Joseph, the former CEO of M.J. Joseph Development, still owns two small parcels on the southern end of the site totaling approximately one-quarter of an acre.
The city won a judgment of $1.5 million and another $733,000 in sanctions in 2024 after a long legal quarrel with the developer. The company had promised to invest $18 million and create 237 jobs at the site.
However, just three metal warehouses were constructed and no more than two employees were ever reported hired for the project.