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Landscaper to Grow Business in Old Burkland Building
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A city resident will get the chance to realize her longtime dream of starting her own landscaping business.
Lisa Robinson plans to start securing the necessary permits next week to begin rehabilitating the building at 3514 Market St., formerly occupied by Burkland Flowers. The city Board of Control voted Thursday to approve a lease agreement with an option for Robinson’s company, Show Stopper Landscaping LLC, to purchase the vacant property.
Robinson will pay the city $1 per month rent for the building, which is part of the city’s Land Reutilization Program. Under the agreement, she is also required to spend $70,000 to upgrade the site.
The agreement is similar to one approved earlier this year to rehabilitate the adjacent former Masters Tuxedo building, in which the owner is required to make an investment equal to the value of the building, said Bill D’Avignon, community development director. In February, the city approved an agreement with Corey Kemp, a registered nurse who plans to open Allied Health Training in the building at 3600 Market St.
The former Burkland building is valued at $66,890, according to the Mahoning County Auditor’s website.
Robinson says she has done landscaping work for 24 years. She began by landscaping her own property.Then neighbors who liked the results of her efforts enlisted her to work on their properties and her business launched from there.
“I’ve never had a building to operate out of,” she said. With today's graduation today of her son, the youngest of her four children, from East High School, "I will have more time to work on my business."
Robinson expressed interest in the property before but city officials had discouraged her from the site. “They told me it needed a lot of work. I just kept seeing the potential for it,” she said.
Robinson also plans to sell gardening supplies such as plants and mulch, giving Youngstown residents a place to purchase such supplies without having to drive to the suburbs, she said.
Initially hoping for a July 4 opening, Robinson said with having to get the required paperwork, in place she is now aiming for a September opening. “It’s a dream that I’ve been after for years and the city finally let it come true,” she said. “I know I will do well. I just needed that chance.”
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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