Alternative location now being sought
Sunbelt Rental is moving, but not to the historic Coleman property as planned.
“We are still going to be moving,” said Jim Papamihail, manager for the local Sunbelt Rentals in Marysville. “We are trying to look into a spot now, but not sure exactly where that will be.”
Sunbelt Rentals is currently located at 1000 Delaware Avenue, on the northeast corner of the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Connolly Street in Marysville.
The company was in negotiations to relocate to the Coleman property, 1329 E. Fifth St., Marysville. That move would have made way for a proposed Thornton’s gas station and convenience store at the Delaware Avenue location.
At the time, property owner John Eufinger said that entire plan was based on the sale of his Fifth Street property. Thursday, Eufinger explained the sale had fallen through.
“We did have a contract, but that contract terminated under its own terms,” Eufinger said.
He said that “for various reasons, apparently, the developer didn’t feel they could do it the way they wanted.”
“Is it dead? I don’t know right now,” Eufinger said.
He said there is “no acrimony” about the contract termination.
Papamihail said Sunbelt has about two years remaining on the company’s lease of the Delaware Avenue site. He said he does not know when Sunbelt will make the move.
“As of now, I know we are moving, I am just not sure when,” he said. “It will depend on where we decide to go and how quickly they can get built on that location.”
City Planner Ashley Gaver said that while Sunbelt is looking for an alternate location, “Thornton’s is working through engineering plans.”
Kerri Arnold, with media relations for Thornton’s, said her company is, “planning to move forward with the development.”
She said she did not have a timeline for the process.
Bluestone Single Tennant Properties (BSTP) owns the Delaware Avenue location. In June of last year, BSTP released plans to construct a Thornton’s convenience store at 1000 Delaware Ave. According to the plan a 4,516-square foot convenience store building will be constructed and the current Sunbelt building will be taken down.
Months later, BSTP submitted a proposal to build a new Sunbelt Rental on the Fifth Street site.
At the time, Eufinger said that while it is a historic property that used to be in the middle of farm ground, the area has changed and now includes restaurants, a hotel, an auto body shop and other commercial businesses.
He explained that his property had been on the market, “for a couple of years.”
According to plans, the Coleman property would have been split into two lots. Bluestone Single Tennant Properties, which owns the lot where Sunbelt currently sits, was proposing to purchase the smaller lot to construct a building with 2,400 square feet of office space and 6,450 square feet of warehouse space.
“The long and the short of it is that right now there is no contract for anybody to buy or develop on that land,” Eufinger said.
BSTP was contacted for this story but had not responded as of press time.