Mayor Frank Whitfield tells Lorain County commissioners he's willing to partner on Midway Mall

Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield extended to the Lorain County Board of Commissioners "a formal invitation for us to work together to try to come up with a solution for" Midway Mall at their meeting Wednesday. Calling the mall on the city's north side "the most important property in the city, arguably the county, with its access to various highways," Whitfield said he wants to work with the commissioners to turn the mall from a blight to a success story. "It's a strong passion of mine to see this thing get turned around," Whitfield said. Industrial Commercial Properties owns the former Dillard's and Sears parcels at the mall, and Whitfield said he is excited to work with them "because they have such an amazing track record around Ohio of converting malls into industrial sites (with) good-paying jobs." Based in Solon, ICP owns about half the mall. Namdar Realty Group owns another stake, and ICP tried but failed to buy them out, Whitfield said and ICP CEO Chris Semarjian told Elyria City Council in March. "I'm really excited about working with (ICP), but the challenge for them was getting site control over the rest of the mall," he said. ICP and Namdar have since decided to become partners in the future of the mall property. In February, Whitfield revealed a plan to transition the mall as part of the Hawaii Park Project — "HAWAII" standing for "Health and Wellness and Industrial Innovation." The first and anchor tenant would be the Cleveland Clinic in a 50,000-square-foot medical office building. An additional 10 or so tenants would be housed in 700,000 additional square feet of space. When Namdar learned of the Cleveland Clinic's involvement, they came on board, Whitfield said. "Seven or eight light industrial factories" could also possibly be tenants so the Cleveland Clinic doesn't end up "an island out there at the mall," Whitfield said. Such manufacturing might end up benefiting Ford Motor Co.'s planned $1.5 billion expansion and investment in its Ohio Assembly Plant in Lorain County. The plan was to finance the project with a 30-year, $4.5 million tax increment financing agreement through Elyria City Council and the Elyria Board of Education, with ICP committing more than $20 million over five years and the city providing its portion with a bond issue. That was Elyria's plan, but the county was carving its own path at the same time. Commissioners and the Convention Facilities Authority they created earlier this year backed Issue 7, a 3 percent hotel bed tax on the May 3 primary ballot. It would have raised $600,000 to $700,000 to plan and build the convention center on the site of several former stores at Midway Mall. The month before the vote, the Convention Facilities Authority announced it had passed a resolution in support of purchasing the mall and putting the planned convention center in the Sears building. The plan put forward was for the Lorain County Port Authority to buy the mall — excluding Johnny K's Powersports and the former Best Buy — for $15 million and do $8 million in renovations. Despite the concrete plan, voters defeated Issue 7 by 57 percent to 43 percent in the May 3 election. Whitfield said while the city believes in its vision, it's not against sharing with the county. "We still believe in that vision, we think there is space for a convention center or something up there, we're not ... antagonistic toward that, we think there's an opportunity for that. But we do think we need to take advantage of this opportunity to bring high-paying industrial jobs" to the city as part of the Hawaii Park Project, Whitfield said. The tentative plan as of Wednesday was to hold further meetings in some fashion. Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord said he would contact Whitfield's legal counsel to work out how that could happen. Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, told Whitfield he was encouraged that a partnership could happen between the city and the county. "I think we're all passionate about wanting to see the mall be successful," he said. "It's a great location. It's an awesome location. How many locations have a Turnpike exit that dumps right at their front door?" "I know you're very passionate about it, and we'd love to see it developed, too. We want to partner and work with you going forward," Lundy told Whitfield. Commissioner Michelle Hung, a Republican, said she was "open to discussing these types of partnerships with leaders from the townships, villages and cities in Lorain County and looking to the future for our residents." "Mayor Whitfield unexpectedly attended the Board of Commissioners meeting this morning and shared his thoughts on issues he would like addressed," she wrote in a text message. "I have advised Assistant County Prosecutor Dan Petticord that I am open to discussing matters Mayor Whitfield brought up, as legally permitted." "I will wait on attorney Petticord to advise the president of the board, Commissioner Matt Lundy, on what the next steps are," she wrote. "I am committed to moving the county forward for our residents." Commissioner David Moore, also a Republican, had less to say. "I feel the mayor's intention is to improve his community and I applaud his efforts," Moore wrote to The Chronicle-Telegram in a text message. "There are so many different parties involved that it is difficult to make any comments at this time." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com or on Twitter @daveobrienCT.