YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Finding tenants for commercial spaces vacated by national and regional chains might not be as difficult as some feared, say local real estate professionals.

Two of the Mahoning Valley’s former Rite Aid pharmacies are being repurposed by a company that provides services for seniors, and a former Trumbull County bank branch is slated to become a stock brokerage. Demand continues to be strong as well for warehouse and flex space, including existing space and newly constructed buildings.

Don Thomas of Platz Realty, based in Canfield, says the economy “has never been this good” in Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties.

Youngstown State University and Youngstown Business Incubator are driving opportunities, as is the logistics and supply chain sector. YSU graduates are staying in the area and people are moving back because of the comparatively low cost of living, Thomas says.

“The economic engines that used to be pie-in-the-sky are actually coming to fruition,” he says.

Thomas points to the yet-to-be-announced plans for the property Kimberly-Clark Corp. purchased in Trumbull County in late 2023 and the sale of the former McDonald Steel mill.

“There’s an awful lot of interest from companies outside of the area because of the water and power that are here for data centers,” Thomas says.

Jim Grantz, broker associate with Edward J. Lewis Inc. in Youngstown, agrees. Sales of commercial properties, leasing and the auction division all are performing well.

“We’re clicking on all cylinders,” Grantz says. “Deal flow is good.”

Recent commercial transactions include the sale of the former Austintown InfoCision building to the Western Reserve Port Authority, which subsequently sold it to Mahoning County.

More recent sales include the former National City Bank building in Hubbard, where an Edward Jones office is locating, and the former Doc’s TV & Radio in Boardman, which was purchased as an investment by three brothers who already have a tenant lined up.

“There’s no sector that’s outperforming another as far as I can tell right now,” nor is there any one factor in particular that’s driving activity, Grantz says. “It’s just people doing business as usual.”

Seeing Opportunity

Platz’s Thomas says there is demand for existing commercial structures and new space being developed in Warren and North Jackson.

Additionally, he points to the purchase of the former Goldstein’s furniture store on Boardman-Poland Road by another furniture retailer as a sign that people outside the market see market demand and opportunity here.

Bob Collins, commercial real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services The Preferred Realty in Hermitage, Pa., reports office space is tightening up after the Covid-19 pandemic left much space available. Physical fitness and rehabilitation providers are assuming much of the space.

“It seems like there’s not nearly as much availability,” he says. “It just seems like I’ve got people looking for office space.”

Collins doesn’t believe interest rates affect the commercial real estate market as much as they do residential sales. If someone wants to open a business, they are going to open regardless of the interest rate, he says.

Retail space is scarce along State Street in Hermitage and Sharon, Pa., much of which is occupied by skills games establishments, he reports. The nature of that sector is changing as well, as Pennsylvania now requires skills games centers to also have another business, such as food service or retail, inside.

“They took up a lot of that retail space,” he says. “You can’t believe how much money they bring in.”

Mark Black, another commercial agent in the Hermitage Berkshire Hathaway office, reports increased activity since the November election, although not in any particular sector.

“Warehouse space is pretty sought after,” he says. Any space between 8,000 and 10,000 square feet is at a premium today.

Platz’s Thomas is optimistic about the redevelopment of the former Shenango Valley Mall property in Hermitage. He praises the city’s efforts to drive interest in the community, noting the progress there is driving Platz to establish a presence in Pennsylvania.

“Look at the FedEx building,” he says. “Five or six years ago, that would have been something that got announced and then it wouldn’t have happened.” He sees the whole corridor from Chippewa Township to Erie as an opportunity.

Rite Aid, Big Lots, Sparkle Market

In recent months, several commercial spaces have come on the market or are about to be vacant, including area Rite Aid, Big Lots and Sparkle Market locations.

Grantz was unsure what the eventual end users of the Sparkle and Big Lots stores might be. “There’s generally a user for everything. It’s kind of difficult to forecast who those users will be,” he says.

Some of the former Rite Aid stores that closed because of bankruptcy already have found new owners. Grantz had reached out to the owner of the Mahoning Avenue store and learned that it was off the market, along with two others.

Platz sold three Rite Aids and is working on a letter of intent on a fourth, Thomas says.

Buckeye Pace, a senior care provider, purchased Rite Aid stores on Market Street in Youngstown, Elm Road in Warren and Lake Avenue in Ashtabula, he says. Two other stores also have been purchased but the owners don’t want information released yet.

“They’re quality construction,” Thomas says. “They’re open in the center and they can be repurposed.”

Big Lots, which also is closing some local stores, is a similar case, he says. The same is true for the Niles Sparkle that recently closed and the Salem Sparkle that is closing soon.

The Niles store, which Platz is marketing, is near the former Masonic Temple building that is being renovated, and not far from where the city is doing a riverfront recreation project. Thomas was unsure whether that property could tie into either of those initiatives.

“The listing is new,” he says. “Ask me that question 60 days down the road and I may have a better answer,” he remarks. “It’s too new to speculate but it’s certainly an opportunity.”

Thomas hopes the city of Youngstown moves forward with activity at the property where Joseph Company International planned to develop its Chill-Can campus. The city recently acquired the 21-acre site at sheriff’s sale.

“It should be the hope of the region that they turn that loose to either the incubator or to private investment and allow that corridor to continue to expand,” Thomas says. “I hope that they don’t let [the property] just sit and become another storage facility for the school system or police or fire departments.”

Southern Park Mall

Real estate professionals are taking a wait-and-see approach to Southern Park Mall. The Boardman property was acquired last year by an affiliate of Kohan Retail Investment Group, a Long Neck, N.Y., firm with a checkered history.

The mall remains “a story to be continued,” Grantz says. He recently met with the mall’s new general manager at a local service club meeting.

“It’s probably the single best piece of commercial real estate in the region,” Thomas says.

It was unfortunate the new owners’ have a reputation that “hit the papers,” Grantz says, but he supports giving them a chance. “Transitions like the ones they’ve undertaken are never smooth,” he says.

“Long term, that property is going to be repurposed. Short term, there’s going to be some pain there,” Thomas says.

“Is it a concern? Of course, it’s a huge concern. We represent an awful lot of ownership in Boardman Township. You don’t want to see anything that has the ability to diminish property values or anything like that,” he says.

Pictured at top: Senior care provider Buckeye Pace now occupies the former Rite Aid at 2701 Market St. in Youngstown.