BARBERTON: In 1997, Barberton annexed more than 500 acres from Franklin Township with the hope of creating a vibrant and neo-traditional neighborhood.
It was a coup for an industrial city that was otherwise landlocked and filled with old housing stock.
Visionaries saw the former farm land straddling Fairland Road as a blank canvas waiting to be painted with 600 homes, apartments and condominiums in a pedestrian-friendly design.
Roads were laid. Water and sewer lines were installed. A small park was built. There was even talk of giving the neighborhood its own elementary school and perhaps a small business plaza.
Twenty years later, just 93 homes have been built in the neighborhood known as New Haven.
The project largely stalled in 2012 when developer Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland defaulted on its loan.
A three-way partnership among Forest City, Barberton and the Barberton Community Foundation had the effect of turning the project over to the foundation.
It was a security measure the BCF never expected to be triggered. After all, it had no real estate expertise.
But now the foundation has found a new champion for New Haven.
The BCF is selling what remains of the original tract to JLP Development, a local developer, for $550,000. The sale includes 68 acres of undeveloped land and 28 developed residential lots on the east side of Fairland Road.
Through the foundation, JLP has postponed making any comments until after the deal closes in the next few months.
Foundation President Jim Stonkus said he is excited that New Haven may finally get the future it deserves.
“When I came to the foundation [in 2014], I said, ‘Why do we own this? We’re not residential developers,’ ” he said. “We sold a few lots and a few years ago we sold 20 acres to a nursery. It’s a beautiful community, but it’s just not our wheelhouse. We could build a doctor’s office or a cancer center with the best of them, but not residential property.”
The foundation has gotten back most of the money it has invested, Stonkus said. It had purchased $3.8 million in housing revenue bonds in 2005 in a three-way deal that allowed the city to loan the money to Forest City.
Stonkus said all but about $230,000 was repaid or recovered through lot sales.
BCF’s board chairman, Tom Harnden, said he’s glad the foundation is getting out of the real estate business.
“We’ve been paying property taxes and trying to sell the lots, and it’s been an administrative headache,” he said. “It’s certainly not what we hired Jim Stonkus to do.”
Harnden, who has been involved with the foundation since its inception in 1996, said he recalls that the board was originally divided on whether to get involved with New Haven in the first place.
He recalled one real estate developer on the board saying a neo-traditional neighborhood in a cornfield on the outskirts of town would never work.
It’s time for someone who knows what they are doing to create a new dream, Stonkus said.
“For the life of me, I don’t know why it’s not filled up,” he said. “I think it’s just a matter of focus.”
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.