MANSFIELD — The owner of Industrial Commercial Properties on Wednesday asked the Richland County Port Authority for lower fees on a $16 million development deal it approved just over a month ago.
The five-member board listened to Christopher Semarjian’s presentation — and then declined to act on the request, effectively denying it.
“I think (Semarjian) just wanted to clarify his position, which he did,” board member DeLee Powell said. “I think we can say, ‘Thank you for the information, but we’re going to stand at this right now and see how things proceed going forward.'”
In July, the Port Authority board approved revenue bonds totaling up to $16 million for ICP, which plans to build a 456,000-square foot industrial building on 25 acres at 2355 W. 4th St. in Ontario, the site of the former General Motors factory.
The site will be used as part of an expansion by Charter Next Generation at what’s been dubbed the Ontario Commerce Center.
Charter Next Generation currently has a 134,000 square-foot space at the Commerce Center, while ICP is still marketing the rest of the two million square feet of manufacturing and distribution space.
The deal is expected to net ICP $686,401 in sales tax savings on a total project estimated at $20,687,799. ICP Senior Vice President of Development Jeff Martin said Wednesday the company planned to break ground on the project next month.
The developer will pay the Port Authority $171,600 (25 percent of the savings) in one-time fees and also $5,000 annually as long as the lease bonds are outstanding as part of the deal.
During a presentation to the board, Semarjian pointed out the Blanchard Valley Port Authority offered a similar deal to IPC and would only charge 10 percent in fees ($68,640).
The problem with that possibility from the company’s standpoint is the Richland County Port Authority would have to approve the involvement of a port authority from outside of the county.
(Below is a PDF with a presentation offered Wednesday to the Richland County Port Authority board by ICP owner Christopher Semarjian.)
Semarjian told the board the building his company will build and lease to CNG is just the next step in what he said will be greater development of the entire former GM site, a 2.5-million square foot property.
In 2020, the Cleveland-based ICP entered into a development agreement with the City of Ontario for a portion of the site and began redevelopment efforts in 2021. Its first success came when Charter Next Generation opened a speciality bag production operation in 2021 on about 130,000 square feet of space.
ICP subsequently purchased the entire site from Ontario in 2024.
Port Authority board member John Olivieri said he didn’t blame Semarjian for trying to get a better deal.
“He’s a businessman trying to negotiate the best deal he could possibly get,” he said. “I don’t blame him for trying to negotiate a better rate.”
Semarjian said he hoped the local Port Authority will continue to work with ICP as the company works to attract new companies, including manufacturers, as well as needed infrastructure in terms of electrical supply and water.
One of the slides shown to board members indicated ICP may eventually invest more than $200 million in the site.
“We want to be team players. We want to do the right thing,” Semarjian said. “We want you to look (at the entire development) and not just a one-off, $20 million project.”
He said ICP, for example, has sufficient electrical capacity to handle the CNG expansion. Going forward, creating more power is a need, he said.
Semarjian, who said said he has spent his career in industrial real estate, said he is seeing much greater interest these days in manufacturing development, not just warehousing and distribution.
“All the stuff that people didn’t want for probably the last 25 years of my career … it’s coming back,” he said.
Semarjian said business is booming these days for ICP, which owns properties in seven states, in addition to Mexico.
“We (normally build) one building every four years and right now we are working on eight of them,” he said.
“We are asking for you guys to consider giving us a lower fee split on the sales tax exemption (savings),” Semarjian said.
Later in the meeting, the board approved a basic fee structure for future various transactions it may complete, including the 25 percent in sales tax savings fees. That structure can be changed, depending on the size of the deal and other factors, members said.
Also on Wednesday, the Port Authority board approved a resolution designating Park National Bank as the depository for its funds. The board had requested proposals from local banks and received three submissions — Park National, Mechanics Bank and Sutton Bank.
Board chair Mark Masters, president and CEO at Mechanics Bank, abstained from the vote.
The board also rescinded a previously approved policy that prohibited board members from working/serving in other public offices. Those questions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, members said.
