New Commerce Park Sets Course for North Jackson’s Future

NORTH JACKSON, Ohio – A 45-acre industrial park along Mahoning Avenue could be the development this area needs to attract new business, officials say.

“There’s not a lot of Class A spec building space in the Mahoning Valley,” said Greg Toporcer, whose company, Top Property Holdings, is developing the park. “We’re trying to attract regional, national companies to move in this area and bring jobs and additional tax revenue.”

The plan is to build out the park – now named North Jackson Commerce Park – in three phases, Toporcer told reporters following a groundbreaking at the site Thursday. The first phase consists of a $7.5 million investment that calls for the construction of an 80,000-square-foot building that is designed to meet the demands of modern manufacturers and distributors, he said. 

These attributes include a 32-foot-high free-and-clear ceiling, eight docks and four drive-in bays, Toporcer said. Space would be leased in increments of 20,000 square feet, he said.

The initial phase includes the construction of roadways leading into the development, he added.

Tree and brush removal has started at the site – just west of the Mahoning Avenue and North Bailey Road intersection and the Macy’s distribution center. That work should be completed by the end of the year, Toporcer said. Construction on the first building is expected to start in spring 2024.

“Hopefully, that will be move-in ready by the end of 2024,” he said.

The second phase constitutes the construction of two more buildings between 80,000 and 100,000 square feet, and is estimated to begin sometime in 2025, Toporcer said. Construction on a third phase – consisting of two similar-size and designed buildings – would begin depending on leasing activity in the park. The entire buildout is projected to cost approximately $30 million.

He said the idea for the park was born approximately two years ago, when he was looking to find a building to invest in. The company closed on the land in September 2022.

“It’s the ideal location,” Toporcer said. “It’s 2 miles from I-76 and 3 miles from I-80.”

Toporcer said the overall plan is to have the entire development completed within the next five years. Toporcer owns Discover Global LLC, DuraTerrain LLC and Rust Buster Frame Repair LLC in North Lima, and said there is the potential of relocating those companies to the park in the long-term.

He thanked development groups such as the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, the Ohio Department of Development, JobsOhio, Team NEO and the Western Reserve Port Authority for their help in putting this project together.

“The Department of Development and JobsOhio have really helped us out in getting this off the ground,” he said. In July Top Property Holdings was awarded $2 million from the Ohio Department of Development’s Rural Industrial Park Loan program to help finance the project. 

Toporcer also thanked Jackson Township trustees and the Board of Mahoning County Commissioners for their support.

“We always look at ourselves in Mahoning County as having the greatest distribution site in the U.S.,” Commissioner David Ditzler said, referencing the proximity to major metropolitan markets. “But the key is always to get people here, to let them understand the easy access to get to us.”

He emphasized cooperation as a major factor in getting projects such as North Jackson Commerce Park started, and praised the entrepreneurial spirit and vision of Toporcer and his wife, Lori.

State Rep. Al Cutrona, R-58, also emphasized the importance of collaboration on such initiatives. “We want to have the same common goals. We want to bring business here,” he said.  “We’re doing that; we’re seeing that. This is an exciting time right now. We’re all rooting for continuous growth in this community.”

Efforts are underway elsewhere in the Mahoning Valley to address the deficit in Class A industrial space. In Warren, Sapientia Ventures is in the early stages of developing a new commerce park on the west side of the city that is expected to add 1 million square feet of modern building space to suit light industrial and distribution tenants.

Toporcer said he’s confident that plenty of demand exists, noting he’s already received request for information, or RFI, proposals.

 “And we haven’t really advertised yet,” he said.

Pictured at top: Greg Toporcer, owner of Top Property Holdings.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sapientia Ventures owns The Business Journal.

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