One of the biggest eyesores in the city of Lorain is for sale, and it can be had for $49,900, according to a real estate listing.
The former American Crucible bearing plant, 1305 Oberlin Ave., burned to the ground March 10.
The Lorain Fire Department ruled the cause as undetermined and forwarded that report to the Lorain Police Department for further investigation.
Lorain police did not return a call for comment on their investigation.
Officials said that because the property recently was listed as for sale, no criminal charges are forthcoming.
“I would be a fair assumption,” Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley said.
The former American Crucible property is owned by Synergy Investment Group Ohio Inc., which purchased it for $150,000 in October 2016 from Johnson Metall Group Ohio Inc., according to the Lorain County Auditor’s website.
The building was vacant when it caught fire and Synergy did not have it insured, according to city officials.
The site is filled with bricks, rusted hulks of metal and charred debris when looking from Oberlin Avenue.
Potential buyers of the property will have to pay to clean up the mess if they chose to buy it, said Nabal Ali, a real estate agent with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, which is listing the property.
The listing states the property’s main building was destroyed in a fire, but hints it’s still a good deal.
“Land needs cleaned up. Value is in the land and back building. Property on 4.88 plus acres. Property includes 31 parcels altogether. Motivated seller!!,” according to the listing.
City officials have no idea what that cost might be because they have not had access to the site as it’s considered private property.
Unhappy residents
Neighbors who lived by the site are not happy, according to Lorain Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski.
During the July 5 Council meeting, Springowski talked about her interaction with angry residents who voiced their complaints to her about the mess.
They call the property “an eyesore” and say it looks like a “war zone” and that children and others constantly are going on the property, she told fellow Council members.
“They are asking if this can be addressed,” Springowski said.
Residents wonder why Synergy isn’t being ordered to clean the property up, she said.
“Why aren’t property owners … being held responsible and being made to maintain their properties,” Springowski said residents asked her.
She said one resident expressed feeling shame that family members coming to visit over the July 4 holiday had to drive past the property.
“It was an absolute embarrassment that they had to drive by that,” Springowski said the resident told her.
Bradley said he wished that he could order the city’s Public Property Department to go to the site and clean it up.
But the site is private property and thus guaranteed certain protections under the law.
“You can’t just go on private property and start cleaning it up,” Bradley said.
Doing so would in fact violate the United States Constitution, he said.
Bradley said the city has tried to track down the property owners to gain permission to get on the property, but without success.
City officials also have spoken with the realtor in hopes she might help the city get on the property, but those discussions also also led nowhere.
Bradley said the city could seek a court order to get on the property.
If someone does purchase the property, Bradley noted, they’ll have to be careful when cleaning up the land.
At some point in the past, hazardous materials found on the site were “capped” and whoever buys the property will have to make sure that cap is not compromised in any fashion, he said.
“I would hope that if someone does buy it, they would clean it up and put something there that is going to benefit the community,” Bradley said.
