YOUNGSTOWN — With a judge ruling that a foreclosure occurred on the Chill-Can plant property after its owner defaulted on money it owes, the city of Youngstown is interested in obtaining the land for development.

“The county will get an appraisal, and the opening bid is at least two-thirds of that amount,” said Lou D’Apolito, a Youngstown deputy law director. “They’ll be careful, so it will probably take time.”

D’Apolito said: “The city is planning to bid on the property and then determine what to do with it. I don’t know if anyone would bid on it besides us because the property includes parcels owned by the city. If we obtain it, we can seek proposals for development of the property.”

The city and MS Consultants Inc., the two lead plaintiffs in the foreclosure case, asked Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on June 18 to rule in their favor to force the sale of the 21 acres of property on Youngstown’s lower East Side.

At one time, the proposed Chill-Can plant was expected to lead an economic revival of that area of the city, but the project never materialized.

The city and the architectural design firm both have valid judgments against M.J. Joseph Development Corp., the Chill-Can’s parent company.

M.J. Joseph has walked away from the undeveloped property with its owner, Mitchell Joseph, closing his business and ignoring numerous court cases.

Durkin ruled Thursday in favor of the city and MS and ordered M.J. Joseph to pay money by Monday owed to the two or the property will be foreclosed and a sheriff’s sale held.

“I never heard a word from them,” D’Apolito said.

M.J. owes $1.5 million to Youngstown plus 3% interest from Nov. 21, 2022, and $322,908 to MS plus 18% interest since Oct. 5, 2018 as well $2,150 to MS and $500 to the city in court costs.

M.J. also was ordered to pay the county treasurer for delinquent taxes, assessments, interest and penalties. M.J. owes $22,814 in delinquent taxes to the county, and hasn’t paid the $20,456 it owes this year, according to the county auditor’s website.

The city also won by default a $733,481 sanction — $414,948 the city spent on acquiring 15 properties bought for the failed project, which included relocation expenses, and $318,533 in demolition and abatement costs.

D’Apolito said that wasn’t included in the foreclosure because it “would complicate matters” and possibly change Youngstown as the main debtor.

“We wouldn’t be able to get that money so it didn’t matter,” he said.

The sheriff’s sale “will be months down the road,” said Luther L. Liggett Jr., MS’s attorney. “This is not done quickly. It will be several months. But this is great news. It protects all parties.”

There’s also a valid $2.58 million default judgment from Richard A. Briskey, a Sunbury businessman, against Mitchell Joseph, the head of M.J. Joseph, as well as that company and three other affiliated businesses in a breach-of-contract lawsuit.

Durkin wrote in his decision that “any interest of (Briskey’s) is behind that of the city of Youngstown and MS Consultants Inc.”

With the city’s $1.5 million default judgment and with M.J. properties mixed with those owned by Youngstown, the city is in the driver’s seat when the sheriff’s sale occurs, D’Apolito said.

“We have $1.5 million in our pocket,” he said. “If we bid up to $1.5 million, it costs us nothing. If it goes beyond that, the city has to determine a ceiling. It would be silly to me if I was a company to buy the property and create litigation because we own parcels.”

While the unpaid property taxes have to be paid from the sale of the property, if the city doesn’t exceed that and the $1.5 million it is owed, MS would get nothing.

“Youngstown has to find a developer, so hopefully one steps forward,” Liggett said.

The court docket initially showed Durkin made an Aug. 9 decision in favor of the city and MS. But the clerk of courts said that day the docket was in error. Even so, on that date, D’Apolito said the case was resolved.

Durkin left for a vacation before entering an official judgment entry and then made one upon his return.

The foreclosure decision and M.J. Joseph not responding aren’t surprising.

Since Brian Kopp and Justin Markota, the company’s former attorneys, filed requests Sept. 11 to withdraw from three M.J. lawsuits, likely over nonpayment of fees, the company never hired new legal counsel and ignored court deadlines and hearings. That resulted in the default judgments in favor of the city and MS Consultants on money owed by the company and the latest foreclosure decision.

The foreclosure case was initiated by MS Consultants Inc. on July 12, 2023, to seize M.J. Joseph’s property after winning a lower court case on a breach-of-contract lawsuit.

The 7th District Court of Appeals on Feb. 20 dismissed M.J. Joseph’s appeal of Judge Maureen Sweeney’s March 20, 2023, ruling that the company breached a contract for MS to do design work on the supposed project and owned $322,908.

M.J. Joseph ignored that appeal, leading to its dismissal.

Sweeney on May 8 also closed Youngstown’s case against M.J. Joseph after awarding the city $2.23 million in sanctions and damages. Of that amount, $1.5 million is water and wastewater grants given the company by the city and the rest is a $733,481 sanction.

Joseph claimed when the project broke ground in November 2016 that the facility would cost about $18.8 million and be in full operation by 2018 to produce the world’s only self-chilling beverage can.

M.J. Joseph was required under an agreement with the city to construct four buildings and create 237 jobs by Aug. 31. 2021.

There are three unfinished buildings at the undeveloped site.

Youngstown filed a $2.8 million lawsuit June 17, 2021, contending M.J. Joseph failed to live up to its promises to develop the site. In a March 29, 2021, certified letter, the city informed Joseph he had 60 days to construct a number of buildings and hire about 150 workers or it would file a lawsuit.

Knowing the city’s lawsuit was coming, M.J. Joseph and Joseph Manufacturing Co. Inc., a sister company, filed a May 24, 2021, lawsuit against Youngstown seeking to stop it from reclaiming the $1.5 million in grants and contested the city’s legal rights to money, property and buildings.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.