The administration of Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro has received recognition at both national and state levels for its success in transforming ugly, idle and potentially hazardous vacant lands into high-tech industrial parks that house sleek, modern facilities. And the brownfields redevelopment that is changing the face of Youngstown is not limited to industrial parks. Just last year a large private prison was built on a brownfield tract, and a steel mini-mill has been operating on a tract for more than 10 years.
These projects, along with companies anchoring the city-owned industrial parks, have been given incentives by the city which include tax abatements, virtually free land, low-interest loans, and even city-backed grants. All companies receiving incentive packages must conform to affirmative action criteria.
Ungaro, whose final term as Mayor ends this year, takes pride in the fact that 2,500 direct jobs, as well as 1,000 spin-off jobs, have been created through this comprehensive redevelopment effort. Perhaps most impressive, the Mayor believes, is that an overall investment of $750 million has taken firm root in formerly derelict steel production property. The seven-mile stretch along the Mahoning River -- running through Youngstown and bordering nearby communities of Girard, Struthers and Campbell -- contains about 1,500 acres of brownfield land which once appeared too ruined to be recovered for industrial development. Some 240 acres of this land have been redeveloped since Ungaro took office in 1984, however.
According to the Mayor, Youngstown's history is devoted almost exclusively to the integrated steel-making process. "About 80 percent of our industrial-zoned land is former steel land," Ungaro says. "If we weren't aggressive, this land would have lain vacant. We cleaned land and offered incentives, like tax abatements and selling the land for $1.00. We also add the environmental-hold-harmless clause' to contracts so companies cannot be sued or be held liable for clean-up costs if any contaminants are later found.''
About 29,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the Youngstown-Warren area between 1977 and 1983, when big steel companies began closing plants, says David Bozanich, the city finance director. "Brownfield redevelopment has served to stabilize the local economy. Unemployment is down from 18 percent in the mid-1980s to 9.7 percent in July."
The Ungaro administration's crown jewel is the Salt Spring Road Industrial Park which is home to Brentwood Industries (Bomaine Corp.), Graybar Electric, Toys "R" Us, Tri State Labs, Federal Express, Ameritech, Airborne Express, Commercial Intertech, Taylor Winfield, Northern States Metals, Ohio Foam Corp., B&B Contractors and Developers, and D&L Energy -- 13 companies in all.
At Performance Place, a former LTV steel mill site that is now a smaller city-owned industrial park, Exal Corp. and Cantar-Polyair are operating side-by-side on a once-abandoned brownfield. These two companies employ approximately 260 persons at their facilities. While about 12 acres are still available for redevelopment at Performance Place, Ungaro says that the city soon may be announcing another big project there.
Based on the city's success in redeveloping the Salt Springs Road and Performance Place parks, it is now working on another 230-acre site, the former U. S. Steel Ohio Works.Clearing and environmental remediation also are ongoing at the former Aeroquip site, with the derelict 250,000 square foot hose plant being razed, said Jeffrey L. Chagnot, Youngstown's economic development director.
Privately-held Corrections Corporation of America has redeveloped a 134-acre brownfield site which the city sold to them for $1.00. This property was for many years the home of the now-defunct GF Furniture, Inc., a local manufacturing company. The light- and medium-security prison can accommodate up to 1,500 prisoners, Bozanich says. Over 400 new prison-related jobs have been created as a result of this project.
The city is also working with private developers at the former GF Furniture site on the far north side, and at the Ross Industrial Park, which is in the same area as Aeroquip. A number of industries are operating in large buildings at these two sites, including a plastic injection molding company.
Perhaps the greatest brownfield success is the North Star Steel Ohio facility on the northwest side of Youngstown. Jerry Goodwald, general manager of the mill, says North Star employs 440 workers and has an annual payroll of $22 million. Goodwald says the payroll has grown steadily from $3.5 million in 1987. North Star is the only Ohio mini-mill producing seamless casings for the United States gas and gas exploration industries and is one of only two such manufacturing facilities nationwide.
On December 13 of last year, North Star presented the city its first post-abatement property tax payment of $1.6 million. "The general feeling is that when companies receive a 10-year abatement, after the 10 years is over, the company leaves. There's a lot of controversy surrounding tax abatements, but they're important to economic development," Ungaro said during the check presentation.
Additional information on the Youngstown brownfield effort is available from the Office of the Mayor, (216) 742-8701. (Information included in this report provided by The Business Journal, Youngstown.)
The United States Conference of Mayors
J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director
1620 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone (202) 293-7330, FAX (202) 293-2352