CANTON, Ohio — The City of Canton is getting a six-story downtown office building valued at $6.25 million — for a single dollar, according to the Canton Repository.
This bargain sale comes as AEP continues to raise consumer electric rates and will be a tax write off for the utility company.
AEP Ohio residential customers began pay more for electricity beginning April 1 after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio unanimously approved a rate adjustment in March.
Canton City Council voted April 6 to accept nine parcels from American Electric Power, including the building at 301 Cleveland Ave. SW and associated parking lots. AEP will lease back one floor of the building from the city.
Negotiations began about 10 months ago, with AEP initially seeking $3 million to $4 million for the property. Mayor William V. Sherer II decided the city couldn’t afford that price — and made a counteroffer: donate it.
“We thought they would be further ahead just to give us the building, and they can write it off in their taxes,” Sherer said to the Canton Repository.
AEP agreed to sell for $1. Stark County property and appraisal records value the building and land at $6.25 million.
“We have a responsibility to the communities where we live and work that extends beyond delivering reliable electricity,” an AEP spokesperson said, describing the deal as a close partnership with the city.
A study to determine operating costs and next steps is underway and expected to wrap up in six to nine months, with renovations to follow. The full project could take seven to eight years.
Planning Director Donn Angus called the acquisition a major win, saying, “…we just struck gold.”
AEP currently employs 50 people at its Canton office. AEP will lease one floor of the donated building for staff. Once renovations to its leased floor are complete — paid for by AEP — the company anticipates adding another 50 employees downtown, bringing its total to 100.
The city’s top priority for the building is a first-floor public safety center where administrative offices, the investigative division, employee training and the county crime lab operate under one roof — with room to invite county and state agencies as partners.
