Jobs in jeopardy of coming to Warren for AutoParkit
"We thought that we'd be in by now," Christopher Alan said, founder and CEO of AutoParkit.
He says he's invested well over $1 million into bringing jobs back to Warren, but now the founder of Auto Parkit says he's close to pulling the plug on the project.
"We thought that we'd be in by now," Christopher Alan said, founder and CEO of AutoParkit.
The Warren native made headlines last fall announcing he'd eventually bring anywhere from 750 to 1,000 jobs to the former Packard Plant on Dana Street. After months of work and not enough progress, he says now he's not so sure about the Warren location.
"We're at a stopping point right now where these other things have to happen before I can put anymore into this property, or seriously consider closing on the purchase," Alan said.
Alan says piles of debris are still waiting to be moved by the property's owner. Alan leases the property with the option to purchase.
He says asbestos removal estimates are coming in at around $1.6 million. Alan says JobsOhio was originally going to handle the removal, but now he says he recently learned he will be on the hook for 25-percent of the cost.
It's more money he's not willing to spend.
"JobsOhio has promised to the asbestos abatement," he said. "We have a bunch of hurdles we have to jump through to make that happen, which we've been trying to do."
During private tour, Alan showed 21 News the progress on work that's already been done. New walls enclosing a portion of the building, a new office area and windows are a part of that progress.
"We're for real and we're going to come to the area, the question at this point is will it ultimately be this site or not," Alan said.
Alan says Warren city leaders are doing everything in their power to help move the process along. He points to a lack of county-wide organization for streamlining of the processes outside the city's control and support from the state to help in revitalizing former manufacturing sites.
"Realistically if you want to redevelop the area, these buildings should have already been cleaned-up," Alan said.
21 News reached out to JobsOhio Monday. A spokesperson for the non-profit corporation says it does not share whether it's in project discussions with companies.
Alan says his personal deadline is near and will consider moving the future site of his business to another location in Northeast Ohio, possibly in Mahoning County.
