WARREN, Ohio – The partners behind the long-awaited redevelopment of the former YMCA building downtown expect to begin construction on the project in 2027, with apartments potentially ready for people to move into by the end of next year.
Principals with 210 High Street Partners LLC report they have approximately half of the projected $20 million cost in place following last week’s award of a $635,520 brownfield cleanup/remediation grant from the Ohio Department of Development. Last year, the project was awarded $3.5 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits.
The brownfield funds will be used to remediate asbestos and lead-based paint hazards at the former YMCA building, which most recently operated as Trumbull Family Fitness. With the grant in place, the abatement work is set to get underway later this year, said Patrick Campbell, a 210 High Street partner.
The project will involve developing 43 residential units in the former YMCA, said Christopher Smythe, managing partner of 210 High Street. Yet to be determined is whether the 30,000 square feet of fitness center space will be retained or converted into other commercial space.
“We need to get that figured out before, obviously, we go in for our financing,” he said.
In addition, seven townhomes will be constructed on vacant land on a site just north of the historic building.
Trumbull County Land Reutilization Corp., better known as the Trumbull County Land Bank, secured the brownfield grant on behalf of 210 High Street. Supporting the project was “a no-brainer,” said Matt Martin, executive director of Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership, which manages the land bank.
TNP has spent the past 16 years working to reclaim space, by any means necessary, he continued. The YMCA property, which his organization has no interest in demolishing, has “a bright future” but will require “significant work” before renovation takes place.
“There’s places loaded with lead and asbestos paint, like a lot of properties from that era that haven’t been updated through the years, and the project that they have is viable. It’s very promising,” he said.
With the tax credit funds and the brownfield grant, plus private equity, 210 High Street now is positioned to secure permanent financing for the project, Campbell said. As the partners work to line up financing, the project architect will create the construction documents for the project.
“Interest rates have not behaved in the way that we were projecting,” Smythe said.
“Our hope has always been that interest rates would go down, and I’m not sure that’s going to happen this year,” Campbell said. “That’s a wild card because if interest rates don’t drop or they go up, you know, it’s going to be very hard to proceed, but we’re very optimistic that we’re going to be able to make the numbers work. We’ll be able to go. We’ll be ready for construction in 2027.”
Nor is the downtown Warren project the only one that has been affected by the rate environment. Every historic project in the region Smythe is aware of also is “going through the same sort of reassessment, waiting for rates to come down.”
Redevelopment of the historic building will be “roughly a 12-month project,” so units could be available for occupancy as early as late 2027 or, more likely, during the first half of 2028, Campbell estimated.
“Actual redevelopment can happen in 2027, assuming we have a pro forma that makes sense,” he said.
Construction could get underway during the fourth quarter of this year, “if everything falls into place,” Smythe affirmed.
Smythe, Campbell and Martin all expressed optimism about market prospects for the new downtown housing. They point to local developments including the Ultium Cells plant, Foxconn’s activities at the former General Motors Lordstown Complex and the new Kimberly-Clark Corp. plant under construction just outside downtown Warren.
“There is certainly a lot happening around the new Ultium battery plant, which will create a market for young professionals, and it’s certainly the case in other large metro areas that that cohort of young professionals is interested in urban living,” Campbell said. He also predicted a “substantial amount” of the new hires at Kimberly-Clark could be attracted to those units, as well as employees of tenants at the Warren Depot, which Valley Properties – with which partners in 210 High are affiliated – is working to redevelop.
“There’s significant happenings near downtown and even in the Peninsula project that’s coming online, hopefully, in the next couple years,” Martin said.
“You have some really favorable economic winds blowing in the Warren-Trumbull County area,” Smythe remarked.