WARREN, Ohio – During a meeting of its board of directors Wednesday, the Western Reserve Port Authority approved an amendment and extension of its existing cooperative agreement with the city of Youngstown to market city properties to potential developers.

The amended agreement, which Youngstown City Council will consider at its meeting Wednesday evening, identifies eight properties around the city, including the former Chill Can site, the 20 Federal Place building downtown and the former South High Fieldhouse.

“We have had a cooperative agreement in place with the city of Youngstown for a few years now. One of the things we did not have within that agreement, though, was specific properties,” said Nick Chretien, regional planning and development manager for the port authority. “This is just a renewal of the process, but also adding properties within the agreement.”

Others include the Salt Springs South property, the former AT&T site, the former Republic Rubber property and land on Glenwood Avenue near Mill Creek Park and at Oak Street Extension.  

The agreement gives the port authority the ability to pursue developers and for properties to be transferred to WRPA and subsequently to the developer or end user, said Anthony Trevena, WRPA executive director.

The port authority does not own the properties and is not responsible for their maintenance, Chretien said. WRPA also would work through issues related to four parcels at the Chill Can site that are individually owned by Mitchell Joseph, chairman and CEO of Joseph Co. International, and Scott Berger, a former executive of one of Joseph’s companies. The properties were not among the 86 parcels purchased by the city in a sheriff’s sale in February.

“This isn’t uncommon,” Trevena said. WRPA is still working through issues related to a piece of land at the West Warren Industrial Park, he acknowledged.

Clawback Provision Removed

In other business, the port authority removed a clawback provision in its agreement with West Warren Development LLC and West Warren Acquisition LLC, which acquired land from the port authority in February 2023 to build a 100,000-square-foot spec building, representing the first phase of the industrial park.

The West Warren limited liability companies are owned by Sapientia Ventures, which also owns The Business Journal. 

The clawback provision gave the port authority the right to reclaim the property if West Warren had not made a minimum investment of $9 million in improvements to the site within 60 months, a milestone that already has been reached.

“This is actually moving a lot quicker than we thought it was going to move,” said Mike Keys, the city of Warren’s community development director. “We have a lot of interest in the remaining acreage. We’re going to see hundreds of jobs moving onto that site.”

The building represents the first of a potential eight phases for the industrial park, Trevena said.

“There are a couple tenants in line,” Keys confirmed. “The only thing that we’re waiting on right now is to finish the pump station that we’re building next to it.”

Grant Application

The port authority board also approved authorizing Trevena to submit an application to the Ohio Department of Transportation for a fiscal year 2026 Ohio Airport Improvement Program Supplemental Grant for $750,000 to construct a third T-hangar at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna Township, which WRPA operates.

Construction of a new hangar would cost about $1 million, but $750,000 is the maximum that could be applied for under the program, said Randy Partika, director of engineering and construction for the port authority. There is $4 million total available in the competitive grant fund. 

The airport’s existing T-hangars are at full capacity, Trevena told board members.

“As we build out our flight school, we’re starting to see people in clubs acquire airplanes that we hadn’t seen in a long time,” he said.

Partika also joined Josh Prest, executive director of the Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission, to announce that EOMAC had secured a $2 million state earmark for the airport. Of that, $1 million will go toward matching funds for airport improvement projects, while the remaining funds will provide operational support to EOMAC and support military construction projects at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna and Camp Garfield in Ravenna.  

“We typically have gotten $600,000,” Prest said.

Also during the meeting, the board recognized state Rep. Nick Santucci of Niles, R-64th, who recently was named the Ohio Aviation Association’s Advocate of the Year, and departing board member Heidi Brown, who was elected Vienna fiscal officer in November.