YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – City attorneys late Tuesday formally filed a motion to foreclose on the site of the proposed Chill Can factory.

On Tuesday at 3:56 p.m., attorneys Thomas F. Hull II and Joseph M. Houser filed a motion (called a praecipe) with the clerk of Judge John Durkin of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seeking to issue a warrant for sale to Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene.

The contract calls for Greene to appraise, offer and sell the approximately 22 acres currently owned by MJ Joseph Development Corp. of Irvine, California.

The request was filed a day after Joseph Development Corp., which began construction in November 2016 on a planned research and manufacturing campus for its self-cooling beverage can technology, missed a deadline to pay more than $1.8 million plus interest to the city and MS Consultants Inc., as well as back taxes to Mahoning County.

The developer and the city entered into a commercial zoning agreement in 2017 that provided property tax abatements to support the project. The city and the company also negotiated a separate agreement that same year that included a $1.5 million development grant for the project. The city also spent more than $733,000 on relocation and demolition costs to clear the neighborhood and make room for the campus.

The development agreement was conditioned on the project being completed by August 2021 and employing 237 people. However, the project was never completed and, according to city records, only a single employee was hired.

Durkin had ruled on behalf of the city and MS Consultants on a joint motion Thursday seeking foreclosure on the property at the site of the stalled project and the sale of the assets. The ruling granting summary judgment to the city, county and MS Consultants was entered the same day.

Judge Maureen Sweeney last year ordered Irvine, California-based Joseph Development to pay the city $1.5 million for breach of contract. The court then ruled that the company owes the city an additional $733,480.80 in penalties.

Last year, the same court awarded MS Consultants $322,907.54 in damages plus 18% interest against MJ Joseph Development for work on the project site that MS never paid for but performed.

The city’s claim in the foreclosure action includes the $1.5 million lien and an additional $394.35 million, not including the additional funds awarded through sanctions.

According to court documents, the city and MS Consultants claim they have valid liens on the property, which consists of approximately 22 acres and three vacant buildings on the site.

The judgment demanded the following payments:

• $2,150 to MS Consultants for the preliminary court report and $500 to the City for the final court report.

• Payments to the Mahoning County Treasurer for outstanding taxes, assessments, interest and penalties on the property.

• $1.5 million to the City plus 3% interest from November 21, 2022, plus $394.35 in court costs.

• $322,907.54 plus 18% annual interest to MS Consultants from October 5, 2018 and $278.47 in court costs.

The remaining proceeds of the sale, if any, shall be retained by the County Sheriff and shall be subject to any further court order for payment to any other lienholders or interested parties.

Pictured above: The empty Chill Can site in Youngstown.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.