Lorain County Port Authority to consider 4 proposals to redevelop Midway Mall

The Lorain County Port Authority has received four proposals after putting out requests on how to redevelop the Midway Mall property in Elyria. The proposals came from Industrial Commercial Partners of Cleveland, which already has a land lease on the former Best Buy property at Midway Mall; The Center for Food Innovation; and developers Scannell Properties and DiGeronimo Development. No purchase prices were mentioned, and much of the negotiating of a lease or deal probably will be done behind closed doors as permitted by Ohio sunshine law. Port Authority Director Jim Miller said his board has questions for the interested developers and will be meeting with each of them, probably after the first of the year, to narrow the field to two proposals. He said the two chosen proposals will then be presented at public forums. Miller said he also wants to involve Elyria and mayor-elect Kevin Brubaker in the discussions of what will become of Midway Mall. "I don't know what it's going to take to narrow it to two, but my marching orders were to do just that," he said. The county Port Authority purchased the nearly-58 acre mall property on Elyria's north side for $13.9 million in January, with the Lorain County Board of Commissioners providing the money. Requests for proposals, known as RFPs, were sent out to real estate developers nationwide in July. The deadline for the proposals was Oct. 25. The four proposals — or really five, as ICP provided the port authority with two options in its proposal — describe different plans for the mall property. Industrial Commercial Partners The company wants to partner with with the port authority on the entire 57.86-acre site, using ICP's "extensive experience with the property and institutional knowledge about buildings/site/market," and the "decisive advantage with the institutional knowledge it has assembled over the past few years owning the former Sears and Dillard's properties," it wrote. ICP said its lengthy study of the site and regional market gives it the best chance to redevelop the mall site in the "fastest possible time frame," according to its proposal. Its Option 1A is a multitenant business park redevelopment within the existing mall building. This is "perhaps ICP's greatest strength as we're uniquely positioned with development/construction/leasing professionals in-house that have completed eight regional mall repositions — with two other retail to business park conversions underway," the company wrote. "Our successful approach elsewhere can be replicated at Midway Mall to take advantage of the structural assets of the current building, and the expansive parking fields around the perimeter of the site," ICP wrote. ICP would preserve "any viable retail/restaurant spaces that might be a continued asset to the community" while gutting the interior of the mall to its structural framework to provide flexibility when leasing to light industrial tenants or manufacturers, it wrote. Outside, ICP "would introduce new building materials, tenant entrances and more window openings to transform the appearance from a retail mall into a mixed-use business park," and add additional landscaping for aesthetic purposes, it wrote. By overhauling the building before it gets new tenants or any signed leases "we can change the narrative of this dead mall and completely change the marketability of the building and surrounding properties," ICP wrote. "This is by far the most sustainable and productive reuse of the property — as it will preserve the majority of the infrastructure, keeping the lion's share of building materials out of landfills — and introducing energy efficient technologies," ICP wrote. The total investment of approximately $30 million "would generate significant jobs and payroll for the community" — estimated at 400 to 500 jobs with a payroll of $18 million to $22 million among a diverse group of companies, ICP wrote. The "economic ripple" of the redevelopment "would be immense on the surrounding properties" and spur new uses and opportunities. The company said it was confident this approach would succeed in Elyria. "The geographical location and highway positioning is clearly a strength that can be sold to end-users to attract them with the right incentives for long-term occupancy," ICP wrote. Option 1B is a ground-up new development involving the demolition of the existing mall and the building of up to 1.4 million square feet of new usable space. ICP already has a potential client for the site "that would transform the property into a brand new, state-of-the-art industrial building that would be built to specific-tenant standards to maximize productivity and efficiency," it wrote. That investment would be more than $100 million and use economic incentives or assistance as part of a private/public partnership with the city, county, port authority and the state. The entire mall, associated utilities and parking areas would be demolished, with main water, electric and sewer feeds probably requiring relocation. An estimated 400 to 500 jobs would be created as with Option 1A, contingent on a lease with ICP's potential client. ICP noted that it has acquired abandoned or distressed malls in Northeast Ohio in the past and worked with Amazon to build fulfillment centers for product delivery in the region. The Center for Food Innovation The nonprofit expressed interest in buying the mall buildings and land to redevelop into a mixed-use facility for indoor "Controlled Environment Agriculture" farms — both indoor vertical farms and outdoor greenhouse farms, cold storage, food processing and distribution businesses, according to its proposal. The Food Innovation Institute, a collaboration of Northeast Ohio higher education institutions, will develop an agricultural workforce and research center there, next door to retail and residential space. "The Center for Food Innovation is NOT redeveloping the Midway Mall. We are converting the Northeast Ohio Region into one of the largest year-round agriculture centers in the country — and the Midway Mall is being transformed into the business, demonstration and education headquarters for this regional transformation," the Center wrote in its proposal. "The Garden," as it will be known, "is a signature destination that highlights and leverages the county's strength in agriculture and manufacturing and positions it as a national leader in the rapidly expanding controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and biotech industry attracting new-age farmers, visitors, students, researchers and reporters by showcasing the various CEA farm methodologies; informing them about the circular building system employed to make it energy independent and waste neutral; and educating them in nutrition and healthy living." The focus of the for-profit farms will be specialty crops, or all those found in the produce section at a local grocery store. Cold storage and food processing companies, research, workforce development and commercial food startup incubators, a local food market and restaurants, mixed-income residential property for workers, senior citizens, veterans and students will co-exist alongside one another, with surrounding asphalt parking lots and urban spaces being "transformed into lush, walkable green space thoughtfully connecting the adjacent residential neighborhoods and Metro Parks," according to the proposal. The former Sears and JC Penney buildings are "ideal for vertical farm production," while the former Dillard's will be torn down and replaced with two five-story towers. Power will be provided by solar panels, a geothermic energy system and an anaerobic digester, with water capture for reuse in the CEA farms, according to the proposal. Financial backing would come from The Gateway Group, developers of Cleveland's Gateway District, Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. It is led by Tom Chema, former chairman of the Ohio Lottery Commission and Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and former president of Hiram College. In the proposal, Panzica Construction estimated that 800 to 1,000 workers will be needed, providing $1.5 million to $2.5 million in income tax for the construction portion of the project alone to the city of Elyria. An estimated $5 million in sales tax annually from the restaurant, retail and food market spaces is expected. Eventual property taxes were not estimated, but will be paid by any for-profit businesses that become tenants. Scannell Properties Scannell, based in Wayzata, Minnesota, and Indianapolis, offered $10,000 per acre of usable area. Multiplied by the mall's 57.86 acres, that would be $578,600. Its proposed vision for Midway Mall is a mixed-use industrial development of 783,000 total square feet for manufacturing, logistics, data centers and distribution to "attract a diverse range of companies, fostering a thriving business ecosystem that not only adds to the tax base but generates a significant number of jobs." Scannell calls it "Midway Center," a "state-of-the-art industrial park" with "aesthetically pleasing" multitenant buildings. One building of 221,000 square feet, two of 208,000 square feet and a fourth of 156,000 square feet would be built on the mall site following demolition of the existing buildings. Scannell has developed light industrial, manufacturing or warehouse space in North Ridgeville, Brook Park, Strongsville, Valley View, Bedford Heights, Walton Hills, Twinsburg and Aurora, according to its proposal. It redeveloped a 167-acre former Chrysler plant in Twinsburg into more than 1.7 million square feet of office and industrial space on a 10-year schedule as part of a $300 million project. Tenants in that project include Amazon, FedEx Ground, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Watco Companies, Avantor, Frito Lay and others. It also is redeveloping the former Ford site in Brook Park into the Forward Innovation Center, according to its proposal. DiGeronimo Development The least specific of the proposals was DiGeronimo's. Though it contained fewer details such as a purchase price or artistic/engineering renderings of what the property might look like when redeveloped, it proposed to buy the property and existing 950,000 square feet of building space at a price to be determined later. DiGeronimo would then do all the demolition after closing the deal, "with all environmental remediation costs remaining the obligation" of the port authority, according to its proposal. The port authority would secure industrial zoning for the entire site; get approvals of neighboring tenants like Johnny K's Powersports, ICP and Namdar for demolition and redevelopment of the site for industrial use; establish a 30-year, 75/25 percent school tax increment financing or TIF plan where the developer would pay 25 percent of incremental taxes to the school district in lieu of property taxes; and build a deceleration lane and curb cut-out off state Route 57 on the western edge of the property. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on X, formerly Twitter.