“We’re tabling this because we’re still in negotiations with the developer,” said Forest Park Mayor Aharon Brown at the July 15 meeting. “There’s still a lot of negotiation that needs to be done by the city administration before the city (council) makes an official judgment on that.”
The next Forest Park City Council meeting is on Aug. 5.
However, a $7.9 million state demolition grant secured by the Butler County Land Reutilization Corp., commonly referenced as the county land bank, may be redirected from the project. The grant was initially awarded in 2022 when former property developer Hillwood Construction Services pitched a similar plan. The Dallas-based developer has since moved on from the project and Vandercar has now a purchase option on the property, which is logistically challenging as it is in two counties, two cities and three school districts.
Nearly 70.7 acres of the 90-plus-acre property is in Forest Park in Hamilton County, and the developer wants to rezone most of that to accommodate industrial buildings. The Vandercar plans call for a mixed-use component on the Fairfield side, but nothing at this point has been discussed or pitched to Fairfield. The city’s Development Services director, Greg Kathman, declined to offer any comment on the possible project.
Vandercar is seeking to rezone 46.5 acres from Planned Business to Industrial Park, and company CEO Rob Smyjunas intends to have that part of the development pay for the Fairfield phase, according to the Journal-News media partners WCPO.
He wants to use the state demolition grant awarded to Butler County on the Hamilton County portion of the project, but that doesn’t sit well with the Butler County Land Reutilization Corp., the holder of the grant.
“If something that comes up to where we can make the project better, we’re all ears and that’s what we want. But right now, we need to have the zoning and a plan that needs to pay off the bonds,” Smyjunas said.
The bonds must be paid off before the nearly 3,000-vehicle garage could be demolished, but Smyjunas said he may want to redevelop the closed garage. If it were to be demolished, the balance of the 2004 Cincinnati Port Authority-issued bonds, which exceeds $10 million, must be paid off by Vandercar if the developer follows through on the option to purchase.
“There are so many things that need to come together at the same time,” Smyjunas told WCPO. “It’s a matter of timing … getting it all done in time.”
Butler County Treasurer Mike McNamara, who is the chair of the Butler County Land Bank, said if the plan is to no longer use the demolition grant on the Butler County side of the property, “then I have concerns about using any of the money on this project at all.”
“I think it creates some concerns with our board which needs to be answered,” he said. “As far as the future of the project is concerned, our priority is to make sure Butler County has a benefit on this site and that we’re not doing work for another county. To have some resources be mutually beneficial to us is fine, but to expend all of our energy and all of our money for work that’s only being done in another county would not make sense.”
Butler County Land Bank received the demolition grant funds from the state of Ohio, and the deadline to use the funds has already been extended. They must be spent by the end of 2025.
“The program has certain parameters, so for a project to fit into a certain program guidelines, we need to look at what’s available to where we could spend the money,” McNamara said.
The money will find a home, he said. Entities have reached out to the land bank for the funding if it becomes available.
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