Staff photo / Ron Selak Jr. Greg Toporcer talks about the North Jackson Commerce Park, a new multimillion-dollar industrial park his company, Top Property Holdings LLC, plans to build on Mahoning Avenue near Bailey Road in North Jackson. A groundbreaking ceremony was Thursday.

NORTH JACKSON — Demand for space at the North Jackson Commerce Park, the new multimillion-dollar industrial park planned for Mahoning Avenue, already is showing, even though construction isn’t expected to begin until spring, the project’s developer said.

“We’re already getting RFIs (requests for information) for the leasing … and really, we haven’t advertised yet,” Greg Toporcer of Top Property Holdings LLC, said. “Working with the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber has been a big help in getting this project off the ground. They are constantly getting proposals; there is not a lot of Class A spec building space in the Mahoning Valley.”

In fact, the lack of Class A space — considered top of the line; a high-quality structure — is why, Toporcer said, he struck out about two years ago to create a park that he envisions will “attract regional and national companies to the area.”

On Thursday, Toporcer and others marked the ceremonial start of the project with a groundbreaking.

“It’s a wonderful day in North Jackson today,” township Trustee Alan Hemphill said.

The first building at the 45-acre site adjacent to the Macy’s distribution center is planned to be 80,000 square feet with 32-foot clear height ceilings, eight loading docks and four drive-in bays. It can be leased in 20,000-square-foot options or as a structure.

It’s “an ideal” location within a few short miles of Interstates 76 and 80.

“With the ceiling heights we are doing, it’s perfect for light manufacturing and distribution space,” Toporcer said.

The commerce park, which has the capacity for 500,000 square feet of building space, will be developed into five lots, each with the capacity for an 80,000- to 100,000-square-foot building. The first phase, which includes building No. 1 and some infrastructure work, is a $7.5 million investment.

It’s hoped the first building will be move-in ready by October or November 2024. Phase two will start in 2025, and the plan is have the park fully developed in the next five years, Toporcer said.

“The property then will allow us to build four more additional buildings, anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 square feet,” Toporcer said. “The design of the buildings is similar.”

The company has been working closely with Jackson Township, Mahoning County, the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber, Western Reserve Port Authority, JobsOhio, Team NEO and the Ohio Department of Development, among others.

Toporcer’s Top Property Holdings was awarded a $2 million loan from the state to help finance a warehouse and light manufacturing building. The money also will be used to support building roads and utility infrastructure.

The funding is through the state’s Rural Industrial Park Loan Program, which provides low-interest, direct loans to finance development and improvement of industrial parks and related infrastructure.

“Without that program, we wouldn’t being moving forward today,” Toporcer said.

State Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, said, “It’s exciting to see opportunities like this happen. Greg took the plunge and really invested in our community and we’re seeing the benefits of that and there should be more to come. It’s all about solidarity, working together … because at the end, we want to have the same common goal, we want to bring business here, we want to continue to propel the (Mahoning) Valley forward, and we’re doing that and we’re seeing that.”

Toporcer also owns Discover Global LLC, a North Lima-based supply chain solutions for metals, plastics and assembling for various industries, as well as DuraTerrain LLC, an aftermarket offroad Jeep and truck accessory company, and RustBuster, another aftermarket company for repair parts of Jeeps and trucks.

He said the long-term plan is to relocate his other businesses to the park.

LIKE THINKING

In Warren, West Warren Development LLC, formed by Canfield businessman Chuck George, Wiley Runnestrand of Bazetta and Mike Martof of Kent, broke ground in August on a multimillion-dollar development on Warren’s west side suitable for mid-sized modern manufacturing, warehouse / distribution and research and development.

Construction at the site, the former Westlawn neighborhood, is expected to begin in spring 2024. The project at the moment is in the review process with Warren.

“You’ll probably start seeing a lot of site work and prep for laying the foundation and seeing the walls in early spring of next year,” Runnestrand said, putting the project on track to be completed in early 2025.

The first speculative building is planned to be a 100,000-square-foot with 32-foot ceilings. The investment is more than $10 million. The site is large enough to accommodate five to seven buildings, depending on size.

The company is working with the port authority, which will own the project for a period of time, typically five years, and lease it back West Warren Development. Doing it this way, the company will gain an exemption on sales tax for construction related materials. Called a capital lease, it’s a type of economic development tool available to port authorities in Ohio.

rselak@tribtoday.com