Richland Newhope, Mental Health Board seek to buy former CenturyLink site

MANSFIELD — Two county agencies hope to cooperatively purchase the vacant former CenturyLink property at 655 Lexington Ave. in Mansfield.

Michele Giess, superintendent of Richland Newhope, and Joe Trolian, executive director of Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services, met with Richland County commissioners on Tuesday in executive session to discuss the proposed joint purchase.

After the closed-door session, commissioners and the two agency leaders answered questions about the plan that would allow Newhope to consolidate its current three locations into one and also allow for expanded mental health services.

The building, constructed in 1969, is currently owned by Brightspeed, an internet service provider that took over CenturyLink’s DSL customers in 2022.

The building has largely sat idle since the pandemic began in 2020, though commissioners and the agency leaders said it’s been well maintained.

“They’ve had a few occupants that have been there. It’s in great shape,” Trolian said.

“It kind of looks like in the apocalypse because all the calendars are set to the last day that anybody was there. But they’ve had a maintenance man who has continued to keep the building in good working order and made sure that the grounds are being taken care of,” Trolian said.

Under state law, Newhope, the county’s developmental disabilities board, needs approval from commissioners before purchasing property, a decision commissioners may make as soon as mid September.

“They’ve had a few occupants that have been there. It’s in great shape.”

Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services Executive Director Joe Trolian

The purchase would be made using money from the two agencies, both of which operate outside of the county’s general fund.

“I would say without releasing what was discussed in executive session, obviously, this would be a very public sale, should we approve it,” Commissioner Tony Vero said.

“I think it’s a safe bet or a safe thought that the commissioners require some additional documentation for our review before we decide to approve, and the public may have time to review.

“Certainly, if there is a sale, it would be taxpayer dollars. I think we need to be clear. We wouldn’t be considering it if this wasn’t a good opportunity,” Vero said.

Trolian said his board approved the idea of the combined purchase in April 2022.

“We are looking at purchasing property together,” Trolian said. “It’s a fairly large building. Part of it will be used as treatment space. We are looking to do some expansions for youth crisis stabilization and possibly some day treatment.

“We’re needing fairly large space to make that happen. And so we would be going in 50/50 on the building,” he said.

Giess said her organization and board members have been considering relocation/consolidation of its current sites on Home Avenue, Cleveland Avenue and Hedges Street for about three years.

“We’re currently operating out of three different locations, all of which have safety concerns (in connection with) the current neighborhood. Our buildings are in dire need of some pretty costly repairs. So we’re researching this as an opportunity to relocate those offices to a better building under one roof in a safer neighborhood,” Giess said.

“This building kind of came to light a couple years ago,” Giess said. “We had some very preliminary conversations with what our needs were.

“We learned (Trolian) had some needs for some space as well, which kind of sparked some conversations between the two of us to see if it was something that maybe we could collaborate together on,” she said.

No purchase price was discussed in open session on Tuesday. But the Newhope board in March approved a motion allowing the agency to increase its offer for the shared purchase to $1 million, according to meeting minutes.

The 10.42-acre property’s appraised value was $2,856,310 in 2022, according to the county auditor’s website. It’s located near facilities such as the YMCA of North Central Ohio, Catalyst Life Services, Raintree and Richland County Children Services.

Vero said there is a “strong likelihood” grants will be used to help make the purchase, reducing costs to local taxpayers.

“That is (information) that we’ve asked for, as well. It’s just gathering all the necessary documentation. This would be a very costly (purchase). And as we all know, there’s (costs) in addition to the sale, which would be moving costs (and) remodeling costs.

“So there were documents that were discussed during executive session that the commissioners requested and certainly the taxpayers would like to review, as well,” Vero said.

The commissioner questioned the the future of the building if it’s not purchased locally, comparing it to former Westinghouse properties on the city’s east side that sat vacant and deteriorating for three decades.

“That is a high-profile building on one of our most traveled roadways in the county. And while it’s in good shape now — kudos for the upkeep of the building — but it’s an out-of-state owner and we had a Westinghouse building that sat vacant for 32 years,” he said.