From left, Joey Sabatine, luxury real estate agent for Berkshire Hathaway; Joe Russo, co-founder of FJA Developers Inc, and Millennial Moments project supervisor; and Chuck Joseph, FJA sales manager, stand in the kitchen of a villa home at 6120 Century Boulevard, at the Millennial Moments Joint Economic Development District in Canfield. The home is one of three on the market, while six other completed homes in the development are occupied.

CANFIELD — The second Joint Economic Development District in Mahoning County also happens to be the second JEDD in Canfield, and it is well underway.

The Millennial Moments JEDD, along U.S. Route 224 and Palmyra Road, has one commercial tenant and several residents in newly constructed buildings and homes. Plans are progressing to fill the rest of the 113-acre development.

“The city and township have worked well together to make this a success for the entire community,” said Canfield Township Trustee Brian Governor. “Not to say there aren’t challenges here and there, but overall it’s good.”

Township Zoning Inspector Traci DeCapua said the JEDD fits in well with the township’s 2022 Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

“I am 100% in support of mixed-use development, like Westford Commons,” she said. “I love that. That’s being proactive and using land wisely, and it can work here in this area. We’ve seen that.”

With everything from large to medium retail businesses, restaurants and a golf course, villas, single-family homes and two gated neighborhoods, Westford has a little bit of everything, DeCapua said. She expects Millennial Moments to be similar.

“I think that is the goal. Maybe not on that scale, but definitely that type of use,” she said.

The project is under the direction of FJA Developers Inc., based in Miami. Owner Frank Amedia has built similar developments in that state and elsewhere. Co-founder and Millennial Moments lead Joe Russo said he is satisfied with how the JEDD is developing and believes it is going to live up to the vision.

“The whole name was created by my father-in-law, who meant it more in terms of generational living,” Russo said. “He envisioned a place where kids could live down the street from their parents. He wanted a whole family to be able to live in the same development. The professionals we have there, we have baby boomers, Gen X and a couple millennials. It ranges all over, and that was the intent.”

The lone open business is a primary care office, operated by Salem Regional Medical Center. Russo said it has a 25-year lease.

Off of Palmyra Road, a residential neighborhood has sprung with five villa-style homes already built and occupied. Three roads run through the development: Century Boulevard runs off South Palmyra, and Millenary Way and Millennial Lane run off of it, with Millennial connecting to 224. Along the residential development sits a 7-acre lake that will be outfitted with fountains and benches and a walking path.

PLANNING AND COOPERATING

The project dates at least to 2018 when Canfield Township and Canfield city began discussions about a JEDD to accommodate it. The other JEDD in the township is much smaller and was implemented solely to allow the Windsor House senior community to be built along state Route 446.

Both JEDDS were implemented with one concern in mind: utilities.

“As you cross over there at Palmyra, you lose the utility piece, so there’s no sanitary sewers and no water. Townships are not allowed to own utilities,” DeCapua said. “The city has the utilities, but also has an ordinance that if they provide the utilities they will annex that property.”

The JEDD was the solution to that problem.

FJA Developers runs the utilities and the city maintains them. Residents and employees at JEDD homes and businesses will pay a 1% income tax to the city, and the city gets the utility tap-in fees. The developer gets its money back by adding the tap-in fees onto the price of the lots. The township oversees zoning, snow removal and policing and still gets the property taxes from the land.

DeCapua said the township wants to continue to develop land in that area even beyond Millennial Moments.

“We do see growth and development and business out that way, but more rural businesses,” she said. “But utilities are and always will be an issue, and until the laws change to allow the township to run its own lines, we’re really stymied in growth and development.”

She said the township also has been working with the ABC Water District to run water lines from Gibson Road down Turner Road to Palmyra.

“That’s the area where we really need to bring water to, because that’s where we see potential growth,” she said.

For now, Millennial Moments is where that growth begins.

TIME AND MONEY

Officials say they are a bit concerned that the project has moved somewhat slowly, because that utility money does not come back to the city and the township cannot begin earning meaningful property tax revenue until the development is built and occupied.

“That’s a concern that I have,” Bruce Neff, city councilman and JEDD board member, said. “The city has invested money into that infrastructure. If it takes an inordinate amount of time for that project to be completed and the city to be reimbursed with the cost of the tap-in fees, then it’s a considerable financial burden on the city.”

Neff said he is generally pleased with the quality of the structures, but he worries a little bit that the economy may hamper sales.

“I think it’s a very nicely designed project, and I think the developer set high standards, so the houses that are being built are all first class in price that way,” he said. “It’s not going to help first-time buyers because they’re not in that bracket to get into what a premium home is bringing in Canfield.”

The six villa homes that have sold went for at least $500,000 and already are valued at more than $600,000, Russo said.

“It seems they have great plans for that community. I know he said interest rates are impeding sales, because those have been high, but they’ve had at least moderate success,” Neff said.

Governor expressed similar concerns but said he remains optimistic.

“They’re on schedule because they’re on their schedule,” he said. “They’re happy with it, and the township is too. We’ve come through COVID and high interest rates, and yes, people may be slow to buy a high-priced house like they have out there. But we have the township working together with the city, and I’m pleased with the progress that’s been made.”

SLOW BUT STEADY

DeCapua said FJA already has 34 lots platted, not counting the Salem Regional building.

And despite a long few years since the project was conceived, Russo said their plans for those lots are progressing.

“There’s three phases and we’re on Phase 1 right now,” he said. “It took a long time to get where we are as far as permitting and infrastructure. But we are right on time with Phase 1. We have six homes already built and owned.”

The first home was completed in early spring 2023, and Russo said they are finishing homes in about six months. Nine total are completed, with three for sale right now.

The commercial frontage along 224 will run from Palmyra to Pheasant Run, and Russo said FJA is working with Platz Realty to fill the space. Russo said renderings for the rest of the plaza are in progress and he hopes to have those by early spring.

Russo’s plans call for a Class-A gas station such as Sheetz or GetGo as a potential part of the plaza..

“Then we would like to bring in retail, a restaurant, and possibly also a fast-food establishment along that frontage,” he said.

But the vision is grander than that.

“The plaza will be more of a destination shopping center than an in-line plaza like in Boardman,” he said. “We plan on having fountains and individual parking at those businesses, similar to Firestone Farms or even Legacy Village in Cleveland. We will build out some vanilla box style for retail and fill them, but the larger commercial developments will not be built until we have a tenant.”

The commercial space will be a short trip for those living in the luxury townhomes to be built right behind it.

Russo said they are not exactly certain about the number and are still finalizing plans with their architect, Joseph Kiraly of Boardman. Dave Schneider in Howland is handling the commercial architecture.

“They will probably be in sets of two and four with their own garages,” Russo said. “The first iteration the architect has drawn up is for two-story townhomes.”

Russo said the commercial spaces and townhomes mark the start of Phase 2, and he hopes for groundbreaking on it in the spring.

“The first plan was a 10-year timeline,” he said. “We’re not sure right now what Phase 3 will be. It was going to be residential, but now I think we are edging toward something medical now that we have Salem Regional there to partner with.”

As for cost, Russo said the project could not be going any better.

“We have no debt. We’re within budget, and we’ve not had any issues with making payments,” he said.

Russo said the Millennial Moments project as a whole was estimated at $120 million to $150 million.

“That was seven years ago, though, and things have gotten progressively more expensive.”