Toledo, OH OKs Plant Expansion

Panel greenlights Toledo Assembly expansion plans
BY DAVID PATCH
BLADE STAFF WRITER

The Toledo City Plan Commission has approved the tentative site plan for Chrysler Group LLC's proposed expansion of its Toledo Assembly complex on Stickney Avenue.

The 5-0 vote Thursday followed a brief presentation from Michael Serdiuk, vice president for architectural services at NSA Architects, Engineers, and Planners of Farmington Hills, Mich., and representing Chrysler. Mr. Serdiuk said Chrysler had no objections to any of 27 approval conditions recommended in a staff report that otherwise supported the site-plan application. The conditions applied to such areas as traffic management, on-site utilities, and fire protection.

The proposal includes a large addition to the assembly complex's body shop and smaller additions to its trim, chassis, and finish shops that totals 290,000 square feet, Mr. Serdiuk said.

Chrysler has not yet committed to the plant expansion, but decided to proceed with the plan commission application "to save time" and to identify any regulatory obstacles that might complicate the proposal.

"We're very pleased when anything gets approved by the plan commission," Mr. Serdiuk said after the vote. "Now we just have to have the business case move forward."

"I think it's very exciting," commission member Catherine Hoolahan said, summarizing the sentiments of several commission members who spoke before voting.

The plan commission's endorsement sends the site-plan proposal to Toledo City Council for final approval.

Chrysler is considering spending $365 million to expand and re-equip Toledo Assembly and add a second shift, with 1,105 new jobs, to the complex.

The Toledo Public Schools and Washington Local Schools both have approved tax-abatement plans to support the proposal, and last week the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a $10 million job-creation tax credit offer as part of a $16 million state package to support both the Toledo Assembly expansion proposal and improvements at Chrysler's Toledo Machining plant in Perrysburg Township.

Mr. Serdiuk told the plan commission that once Chrysler decides whether to expand the Toledo Assembly complex or go elsewhere, construction is expected to take about a year to complete.