WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) — Construction is in full swing for the first building of the planned industrial park on Warren’s southwest side, marking a significant step toward economic growth in the area.

From the Reserve Avenue SW overpass, Wiley Runnestrand discussed the West Warren Development project, which will feature an industrial park capable of housing up to 1.2 million square feet across three to six buildings.

“So overall, this is an 86-acre site,” said Runnestrand.

The site, located between Nevada Avenue SW and Martin Luther King Boulevard, occupies the former grounds of Warren Western Reserve High School and the Westlawn neighborhood.

“Right now, we can support any tenant up to about 700,000 square feet, and then obviously our first building is only 100,000 square feet, so it really just kinda depends on tenant need of what types of buildings we’ll build in the future,” Runnestrand explained.

Crews are currently working on the roof of the industrial park’s first building, a $11 million, 100,000-square-foot facility designed for light industrial warehousing, with the potential to expand by an additional 45,000 square feet.

“So it could service a distribution company or it could service a company that’s doing some light manufacturing,” said project manager Blair Mulholland.

The project is a welcome development for city leaders in an area that has seen little investment for decades.

“This is an extraordinary investment on the city’s southwest side. What it means directly is more jobs, increased property taxes, and income taxes that’ll benefit both our school and the city of Warren,” said Mayor Doug Franklin.

Councilman Ron White echoed the sentiment, stating, “People say Warren is dying, but it’s not dying. Warren is getting reinvented.”

West Warren Development is actively seeking a tenant for Building 1, and Runnestrand noted there has already been interest.

“This building’s the first opportunity for us to prove that we’ve got the workforce and that we’ve got the space where we can have those new industries in town and really kind of redefine ourselves as a 21st-century city,” Runnestrand said.

The project represents a turning point for Warren, offering hope for job creation, increased revenue, and a renewed sense of community pride.