The future of a declining shopping center is once again up in the air. The prospective buyer for the Midway Mall in Elyria has decided not to move forward with the sale of the property.
The Lorain County Port Authority announced Tuesday that Industrial Commercial Properties LLC [ICP] has terminated its purchase agreement.
The Port Authority said it received notice of the termination on Nov. 26, citing the buyer’s dissatisfaction with the results of its due diligence review.
A notice letter News 5 obtained via a public records request said the buyer was "not satisfied with the results of its due diligence."
Port Authority chair James Miller said ICP entered the process of purchasing the former mall in "good faith."
“We appreciate the professionalism that ICP demonstrated throughout these many months,” Miller said. “While this outcome is not what any of us hoped for, we respect their internal business decision and wish them well moving forward.”
ICP was chosen as the developer for the property in May of 2024, and a request for proposals and public input period.
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Neighbors celebrated the prospect of ICP's proposed $42 million investment that touted the creation of hundreds of new jobs.
“I wish they would have bought it,” Paul Engle told News 5 Wednesday.
The Amherst resident said he now frequents the mall to walk its empty halls in the winter.
Others lament the Midway Mall of their youth.
“I remember coming here with all our friends and hanging out, going to the arcade, looking for girlfriends and eating food. At Christmas time, you couldn’t even park out here,” Elyria resident Rich Bemiller said.
The mall has steadily declined in recent years.
In 2016, it was losing so much money each year that the city commissioned a study to pinpoint how to attract a developer to transform the shopping experience.
“It used to be booming and then all of a sudden, everything just kind of closed up and left,” Bemiller said.
In spring 2022, Elyria city leaders backed a plan to move away from retail. The city entertained a proposal from ICP to transform the 700,000-square-foot space into a health and light industrial park.
In 2023, the Port Authority took over the property with a $13.9 million loan from the Lorain County Board of Commissioners and issued a new request for proposals.
Ultimately, ICP was selected as the developer. As part of the purchase agreement, the company engaged in a standard period of due diligence.
The Port Authority said when that period was extended, and the agreement stalled, it was approached by "several qualified parties that did not participate in the original RFQ process" who expressed interest in the project. Now that ICP's purchase has been terminated, the Port Authority said it can evaluate future pathways for the site.
“Our residents in the city of Elyria are ready to see something happen over there. So to see it sit there, obviously again, is disappointing. But on the flip side, I’m optimistic that something better is going to come along," said Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker.
He said he's open to any proposal that would bring good-paying jobs to the city and thinks the site has potential.
“Elyria is a very affordable place for businesses. I believe this is the best opportunity in Northeast Ohio for someone to come in and develop,” Brubaker said.
The Port Authority said it respects ICP's business decision and remains fully committed to redeveloping the mall.
