Two new capital improvement projects proposed by the city of Toledo will help a local steel manufacturing company expand its business and redirect trucks away from residential streets.
Universal Metals, a facility on Chicago Street in Toledo’s North River neighborhood, needs to reconfigure a primary entrance to its campus because of an expansion project at the facility.
The newly proposed 75,000-square-foot addition will affect the current entryway off of Champlain Street, which is also a residential street.
To assist with the new reconfiguration effort, the city of Toledo has proposed a $1.73 million project that calls for adding a 300-foot extension to Greenbelt Parkway and resurfacing Gelana Street to accommodate the new entryway.
The plan will better facilitate the increased truck traffic while also redirecting it away from the neighboring residential streets. The new construction will also better handle the heavy loads, which can run in excess of 80,000 pounds, said Brandon Sehlhorst, Toledo’s commissioner of economic development.
Business leaders from Universal Metals first approached the city last year seeking assistance with the project, he said.
“The city is primarily funded through income tax, so the importance of attracting and retaining high-paying jobs in the city is critical for our ability to provide basic services to our residents,” Mr. Sehlhorst said.
In a written statement, Universal Metals chief executive officer David Feniger called the project a “first step” in future growth plans.
“There is no better place to do this than our home base of Toledo and to continue to provide quality jobs to the people of our communities,” he said.
Two grants will help to offset Toledo’s costs for the projects and include $500,000 from the Ohio Department of Development and $245,000 from the Ohio Department of Transportation Jobs and Commerce Program.
The city’s share of $992,500 supports a commitment to local business, Mr. Sehlhorst said.
“It also solidifies a good, historic company in a low to moderate income census tract, which is also important and the focus of this administration to provide high-paying jobs in neighborhoods that could use a boost in terms of job opportunities,” he said.
Construction will likely begin next March, with completion expected in the fall, he said.
In addition to the Universal Metals project, the city of Toledo has also received grant funds to reconstruct a section of 13th Street in front of the Jefferson Center in downtown Toledo. That project is taking place in conjunction with the redevelopment of Bitwise, a $38 million project currently underway that will include over 400 jobs. It will cost $418,000 to reconstruct the street, and the city received $218,000 from the Ohio Department of Transportation to offset those costs.
“Any time we have a major investment like this, we try to partner up with other funding sources that might be able to assist with the funding structure,” Mr. Sehlhorst said.
Other economic development projects in Toledo also include fresh upgrades to building facades thanks to new grant dollars from the city.
Sandy Spang, deputy director of economic development, has requested council authorize the expenditure of $210,000 from the General Fund for the Facade Improvement Grant Program to fund six pending facade improvement grant applications. The names of the applicants were not immediately available.
Such grants were previously funded through community development block grants and were limited to supporting businesses in low to moderate income census tracts, Ms. Spang said. The new facade grants provide greater flexibility in targeted areas where disinvestment has occurred but do not fall into low to moderate income census tracts, in such places in Point Place and Five Points, she said.
“What’s exciting is that they are in more diverse neighborhoods,” she said. “The goal is to be able to use these programs to revitalize neighborhood commercial corridors as well as our downtown, and we’re starting to see that happen.”
While the grants are structured as a 50/50 match, many businesses invest much more than 50 percent of the grant into the upgrades. According to Ms. Spang, an additional $2.4 million in private business investments could accompany these grants.
“It’s a motivating factor for building owners to improve their properties,” she said “The success story is that we are making this available to every neighborhood.”
City funding for the capital improvement projects, which includes accepting grant money for work proposed near Universal Metals and Bitwise, as well as funding for the facade grants, were discussed at last week’s agenda review for the Sept. 27 meeting. A vote on the proposals is expected at Tuesday’s meeting.
First Published September 26, 2022, 8:37 p.m.
