Coldwater annexation is prime development land

COLDWATER - The Mercer County Commissioners have signed off on an annexation request that will open up about 31 acres of land in Coldwater for industrial and/or commercial development.

The Coldwater Village Council in May enacted legislation authorizing the annexation of property located southwest of the village, adjacent to the corporation and next to the Coldwater Nature Preserve off Burkettsville-St. Henry Road in Butler Township.

The village acquired the land in February from Mary Ann Diller at a cost of $1.02 million.

The annexation request recently went before the board of county commissioners. Since the territory is contiguous to and owned by the village, commissioners had no option but to grant the annexation in accordance with Ohio Revised Code.

"I actually just got the annexation packet from the county today, that it's officially annexed," Coldwater village administrator Jason Eyink told The Daily Standard on Wednesday afternoon. "Now that it's officially annexed, we'll be moving forward with that. We're 99% sure it's going to be zoned industrial, and we'll be marketing it here hopefully before too long."

Utilities will eventually be extended to the site to facilitate development.

"It just depends what kind of company we have that's interested in going out there," Eyink said. "Obviously if we get a bigger company that's interested, we'll get it out there right away as soon as we can."

Asked about the type of development potentially in store for the site, Eyink said village officials "don't have anything specific in mind at this time."

Mercer County community development director Jared Ebbing said his office will actively market the site.

"We get submissions and requests from like JobsOhio where somebody's looking for acreage or anything like that. We handle all that out of this office in Mercer County," Ebbing told the newspaper. "We'll work hand in glove with the village on not just promoting it, but trying to tie down and get funding to help with infrastructure development if and when a business (commits to the site)."

Ebbing agreed that the 31 acres of land holds great potential and could be suitable for manufacturing, warehousing or logistics.

"Maybe a smaller commercial-type business," Ebbing mused. "If you break it down into smaller chunks, commercial businesses."

Thanks to Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart, Burkettsville-St. Henry Road is wide with nice berms, accommodating truck traffic and allowing for easy access to the site, according to Ebbing.

"If you're a business looking for an easy in and out, you still get the benefits of being in the village - utilities, etc.," Ebbing said. "You don't have to fight through some side streets with big semi-trucks. So I think it's a really nice site.

"It has all the markings of potential, but like anything, potential is just that until we can really get everything pieced together and properly promote it and market it and see who … is interested."

Ebbing said he could see demand for land rise in 2026 once companies work through a bit of uncertainty about the economy and global affairs.

"We work closely together with all the villages and cities on those kind of site selections," he said. "It's not just for somebody outside the area looking at the acreage … but local companies. A lot of our villages don't have a lot of available land on the outskirts. It makes it kind of hard to grow a community, both businesses and residential. It's definitely a challenge."

Countywide, there's not a whole lot of land available at the moment for industrial/commercial development.

"We have a few spots here in Celina, a few spots out there on the highway," Ebbing said. "I think Rockford might have some land come available for business development along (U.S. Route) 33. That would be huge for both the county and the village up there, and I've worked with them … on trying to get that a little bit further along to have that be marketable."

And now Coldwater has 31 acres available.

"St. Henry has a little bit left, and we're working with them on trying to maybe figure out a way to get a little bit more there at the edge town, and Fort Recovery, kind of the same boat," Ebbing said. "(We're) working around the edges on all of our communities to try to make available some land, so if and when somebody calls - either locally or from outside - we have something to show them."