YOUNGSTOWN — The city of Youngstown and MS Consultants Inc., the two lead plaintiffs in the foreclosure case against the idled Chill-Can plant, have asked a judge to force the sale of the property.

Because of prior court rulings, the city and the architectural design firm both have valid judgment liens against M.J. Joseph Development Corp., the Chill-Can’s parent company that owns the 21 acres of property on Youngstown’s lower East Side.

M.J. Joseph has walked away from the project.

Also, since M.J. Joseph’s former attorneys, Brian Kopp and Justin Markota, requested Sept. 11 in three different lawsuits that they be permitted to withdraw from the cases, likely over nonpayment of fees, the company hasn’t hired new legal counsel and has ignored court deadlines and hearings. That resulted in the default judgments in favor of the city and MS Consultants.

In a joint motion for summary judgment, Luther L. Liggett Jr., MS’s attorney, and Thomas F. Hull II, the city’s attorney, wrote, “The city and MS Consultants are entitled to foreclosure on their judgment liens and to the sale of the real property encumbered by the judgment liens with the proceeds of said sale being paid to the city and MS Consultants according to their priority to satisfy the balance due under the judgment lien and for such other relief as supported by Ohio law.”

Dominic J. DeLaurentis Jr., magistrate for Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, scheduled an Aug. 5 hearing to consider the motion for summary judgment. It is a “non-oral hearing,” meaning the magistrate will review legal briefs on the request before making a decision.

The Youngstown-MS joint motion states three other parties in the default case were served and failed to file timely answers so they’re in default.

The Mahoning County Treasurer’s Office has “the first lien against the property for real estate taxes,” the joint motion reads. “The interest of the other parties in this matter, if any, are junior in priority to the city’s and MS Consultants’ judgment liens.”

The motion states Youngstown holds the first lien and MS the second lien that “are subject only to the lien of the Mahoning County treasurer.”

The city and MS asked the court to order the foreclosure of the Chill-Can property “and all the equity of redemption for M.J. Joseph Development be cut off and that any other liens against the real property, which are the subject of this action, be marshaled; and that the real property, which is the subject of this action be sold according to law and that the city’s and MS Consultants’ judgment liens and costs be paid from the proceeds of the sale and accorded to their proper priority.”

The city is interested in getting the property back for development.

Richard A. Briskey, a Sunbury businessman, won a $2.58 million default judgment Nov. 29 in Franklin County against Mitchell Joseph, the head of M.J. Joseph, as well as that company and three other affiliated businesses in a breach-of-contract lawsuit when Joseph and the companies failed to respond to Briskey’s complaint.

Liggett and Hull wrote in their joint motion about Briskey: “Any interest of his is behind that of the city of Youngstown and MS Consultants Inc.”

The foreclosure case was initiated by MS Consultants Inc. on July 12, 2023, to seize M.J. Joseph’s property after winning a lower court case on a breach-of-contract lawsuit.

The 7th District Court of Appeals on Feb. 20 dismissed M.J. Joseph’s appeal of Judge Maureen Sweeney’s March 20, 2023, ruling that the company breached a contract for MS to do design work on the supposed project and owed $322,908.

M.J. Joseph ignored that appeal, leading to its dismissal.

Sweeney on May 8 also closed Youngstown’s case against M.J. Joseph after awarding the city $2.23 million in sanctions and damages. Of that amount, $1.5 million is water and wastewater grants given to the company by the city and the rest is a $733,481 sanction — $414,948 the city spent on acquiring 15 properties bought for the failed project, which included relocation expenses, and $318,533 in demolition and abatement costs.

The city doesn’t believe it can collect the money owed by M.J. Joseph, Deputy Law Director Lou D’Apolito said.

The city is focusing on a foreclosure case seeking to obtain the property owned by the company, D’Apolito said.

Mitchell Joseph claimed when the project broke ground in November 2016 that the facility would cost about $18.8 million and be in full operation by 2018 to produce the world’s only self-chilling beverage can.

M.J. Joseph was required under an agreement with the city to construct four buildings and create 237 jobs by Aug. 31. 2021.

There are three unfinished buildings at the undeveloped site.

Youngstown filed a $2.8 million lawsuit June 17, 2021, contending M.J. Joseph failed to live up to its promises to develop the site. In a March 29, 2021, certified letter, the city informed Joseph he had 60 days to construct a number of buildings and hire about 150 workers or it would file a lawsuit.

Knowing the city’s lawsuit was coming, M.J. Joseph and Joseph Manufacturing Co. Inc., a sister company, filed a May 24, 2021, lawsuit against Youngstown seeking to stop it from reclaiming the $1.5 million in grants and contested the city’s legal rights to money, property and buildings.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.