Plans to build up-scale town homes on lot

A group of investors led by French Paper Company President Jerry French has expressed strong interest in purchasing the old YMCA property owned by the City of Niles and turning it into a site for up-scale medium-to-high-density housing.

French, a lifetime Niles resident, pitched the idea to the Niles City Council Monday evening.

French said he and several other interested parties would like to see market rate and above town homes built on the property, which is located at 315 W. Main St.

“Niles is at a tipping point. I really feel like we are either going to move forward or we are going to slide backwards fast,” French said. “I really want to see us go forward and I hope this can help us move forward.”

The scope of the project, French said, is based on how much interest people have in what is being developed. Initially, the plan is to build in stages, about five units at a time.

City Administrator Ric Huff said the initial investment might be in the $3 million range.

“If we do our job right I think it could be there,” French said. “A lot depends on the commitment of the investors.

“We hope this could be an anchor that banks might look at in the future and say, ‘Niles has some things going.’”

Huff said the plan is to create a memorandum of understanding with French and bring it before the city council at the Jan. 26 meeting. The council would have to approve the sale of the land and the project itself.

“It is what the city has envisioned the property to be for a long time,” Huff said. “The (city’s) master plan showed medium-to-high-density housing for that location. His proposal for this project is exactly what the city council has desired the use of that property to be.”

If the council approves the memorandum, it would clear the way for French to begin making financial commitments for the project, including the hiring of architects and engineers.

Huff said the project could be the developmental spark the city needs to turn around three decades without substantial growth.

“In our research, there hasn’t been a medium-to-high-density market rate housing unit built in Niles for 37 years,” he said.

“We needed to have the right combination for it to happen — someone with a tremendous amount of passion for our community who is willing to make a personal commitment and investment.

“Mr. French stepped up and is willing to make that personal commitment and take the risk to prove that it is possible to spark some kind of growth in the community.”

Under the current framework of the deal, the city would sell the property for its appraised value of $24,765.

The property has been for sale for more than a decade. The old YMCA building, which was once located there, was torn down earlier this year. The city acquired the property from the YMCA in exchange for the old Kawneer Property, which located next to the new YMCA.

Huff said French’s proposal is the first viable project submitted to the city for the old YMCA property.

Other potential developers, he said, did not have the resources to make  it happen.

“The only reason the city is going to sell some of these properties (the old YMCA property, the old public safety property and the water street property) is to facilitate economic growth in the community, not just to sell a piece of property,” he said.