ONTARIO — Securing tenants for the Industrial Commercial Properties buildings at the former General Motors site has been difficult for the site owners.
Jeff Martin, senior vice president of development for ICP, said the developers have shown the 2525 W 4th St. property to about 12 prospects in the past four months, some of which they are still looking to close a deal on.
“I think it’s a matter of time before we find the right end-user for the site,” Martin said. “We’re open to anything that brings jobs.”
Charter Next Generation has a 134,000 square-foot space at the Commerce Center, while ICP is still marketing the rest of the 2 million square-feet of manufacturing and distribution space at full build-out.
Increased construction costs and site readiness were some of the largest obstacles that developers are facing, Martin told Ontario City Council. A $1 million grant from the Ohio Site Inventory Program has helped finance a spec building, but Martin said the entire site still needs more public and private investment.
He said ICP needs to revive the electrical substation at the Ontario Commerce Center property to ensure the property can support other businesses next to CNG.
“I think there’s still great opportunity for us to get this building off the ground throughout this calendar year,” Martin said. “The hope is that we can feel confident with an end user occupying some of the space before we completely commit to moving forward.”
Martin said he hopes to have construction started for multiple tenants by next year. While there are other nearby sites with vacant buildings ready for businesses, Martin said ICP’s strength is being able to cater space to tenants’ needs.
At-large Councilman Dave Rehfeldt thanked Martin for his work, but he lamented the time it’s taken to secure more tenants on the largely vacant lot.
“We’re two and a half years into this and we have one tenant,” Rehfeldt said. “We’re trying to grow a city and we want your help and are looking forward to your help, it’s just slower than we expected.”
Budget Talks
In a budget review for 2023 permanent appropriations, Rehfeldt applauded the City of Ontario for increased revenue in 2022.
“The bad news is inflation has taken a bite out of that,” he said. “Costs are going up, wages are going up. Even though our revenue stream is higher, it’s not keeping pace with inflation.
“We want to make sure we fine-tune this budget to position ourselves for the future and not lose in a year what it took two years to gain.”
Mayor Randy Hutchinson said he wants to invest in street and utility improvement projects this year.
“When we start talking money, we’ll have to look at the list of streets that we really need to pave,” Hutchinson said. “If we cut back on some of the streets or whatever you need to do, that’s OK, but the problem is, then we’d put other projects off for another year.”
Hutchinson said the city will hire a streets inspector this fall to make a list of which streets need improvements.
“I think that will be worth the investment,” he said. “They look at everything after we finish our paving and make a list of what we need to focus on next.”
The finance committee will discuss the 2023 budget appropriations at 5 p.m. March 15 before Council votes.
Service Safety Director Kris Knapp closed Wednesday’s council meeting announcing the city opened its parks Wednesday.
“At Marshall Park, we saw a couple baseball and softball teams on our fields and the tennis nets are up,” Knapp said. “Kids were running through the park and the playgrounds were full, which was great to see.”
Knapp said pickleball courts and any restrooms that aren’t currently open will be running in the next few weeks.
The City of Ontario will offer brush pickup for residents between March 20-24.
