Ten acres of land and a few new buildings on Youngstown’s East Side that have been the subject of a contentious and protracted legal battle are now the property of the City of Youngstown.

The city made the winning bid of $1,379,580 for the land and three buildings during the Sheriff's auction on Tuesday.

The city's bid was the minimum required under terms of a magistrate's order that it be sold for not less than two-thirds of its $2,069,370 appraised value. According to Councilman Julius Oliver, the city was the largest debt holder on the property, obtaining the property for the amount of debt already held. "Which means no money needs to be exchanged," he explained to 21 News on Tuesday.

The legal saga began in 2016 with the groundbreaking of a project touted as an economic revitalization catalyst for Youngstown's East Side.  The M.J. Joseph Development Corporation of California spearheaded the project to produce innovative self-chilling beverage cans, promising hundreds of jobs.

Despite three buildings being built on the site, the project stalled, and production never started.  The City of Youngstown sued M.J. Joseph for $1.5 million plus interest, and MS Consultants filed a separate suit for $322,907 plus interest. 

"This sale means bringing those jobs back into the City of Youngstown and back over to the east side," explained Councilman Oliver. "And bringing in another industry would be like a full circle. Making things happen for the City of Youngstown."

“We are glad to put this issue behind us and turn our focus towards building something that will benefit both our residents and economy for the long term," said Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown. "There is excitement about the possibilities of what the site can become, and while that is still being determined one thing is clear – now that the city has control over the site, our goal is to ensure the result is something Youngstown can be proud of.”

It's not yet known what plans the city has for the property.

"We'll start putting some pieces in place and putting our partnerships together to see what we can do there," Mayor Brown added. "I wanted to make sure it's a place for commerce, for economic growth, for a business not here to expand and bring their business here or a business that's already here to expand their footprint. So, we want to make sure the opportunities there."

Councilman Oliver listed potential concepts that involve the expansion of local industries, an indoor BMX tournament space, grocery stores, or a space for youth activities.

"We can start serious discussions now because the property is ours. The possibilities are endless for that property," Oliver added. "But we want to do the best thing possible for the citizens of Youngstown in that space."

"We are going to work on infrastructure," Mayor Brown added. "It will not look like it did over the summer. The city took our responsibility to be a good property owner and neighbor to the east side."

The city plans to continue discussions in the coming months.