McDONALD — The site of the former McDonald Steel plant will be sold later this year, according to an Ohio EPA document filed April 7.

An AP McDonald LLC representative confirmed the pending sale Monday, but did not disclose further details.

“That is true,” project manager Doug Soper said. “Any details surrounding that we simply don’t know. It’s a pretty sure (thing) that’s going to happen.”

The EPA disclosed the upcoming sale as part of a compliance evaluation inspection that occurred at Ohio Avenue property March 10.

“The facility has been shut down since July 2024, and all buildings, except for the office building, have been demolished in preparation for an anticipated sale of the property,” an EPA official wrote. “The facility is expected to be sold between July, 1, 2026, and October 1, 2026.”

Affiliated with New Jersey-based Applied Partners LLC, AP McDonald paid $3.25 million on July 23, 2024, for the 650,000-square-foot facility on 51.8 acres of land.

U.S. Steel Corporation constructed the mill in 1918 with its closure occurring in 1979. Two years later, entrepreneurs and local investors put fire back into the furnaces as a hot-rolled steel shapes manufacturer. Operations at the 14-inch rolling mill ended in 2024.

Village Mayor Ray Lewis said AP McDonald’s plan was never to keep the property long term.

“AP McDonald are not real estate developers,” Lewis said Monday. “They have no plan of doing business down there. They purchased that property to scrap the mill, collect the revenue from scrap and then sell it.”

Lewis said he does not know who the new buyers might be.

“No one’s come to the village to submit a site plan. … No one has come to the village and said, ‘This is what we want to do.'”

The mayor said the site has generated interest, but not commitment.

“Developers for data centers have looked at it,” Lewis said. “But again, you could have 30 people look at a house tomorrow, right?”

An attempt to reach AP McDonald President Mike Cenit for comment was unsuccessful.