The long-vacant Sunoco station at 426 W. Liberty Street in Medina has cleared its final environmental hurdle, with the city submitting its completed brownfield report to the state on Monday. The move puts Medina one step closer to transforming the blighted corner property into an expanded downtown parking lot designed to serve a new boutique hotel just blocks away.
Medina Economic Development Director Kimberly Marshall told council that her department submitted the final report on the former Sunoco site to the state of Ohio, according to Cleveland.com. Marshall said the property can be transferred to the city once that report is approved, closing out a process that began when the site sat empty for years after operating as Yost Sunoco, a station once owned by local businessman Harry Yost, according to the Medina Gazette.
Tanks Drained, Soil Tested, State Signs Off
The city already received word in November 2025 that no further action was required to mitigate brownfield issues at the site, per the same Cleveland.com report. That determination followed months of hands-on testing that began in June 2025, when contractors pumped out underground fuel tanks and drilled concrete cores to check soil and groundwater for contamination, the Gazette reported. Soil samples were then sent to Columbus to determine whether further cleanup action was needed, per Cleveland.com.
Medina City Council authorized the work by passing Ordinance No. 83-25 in April 2025, allowing Mayor Dennis Hanwell to sign a professional services agreement with engineering firm T&M Associates to oversee soil borings and Phase 1 and Phase 2 environmental site assessments, according to City of Medina records. Council separately approved legislation to implement the Ohio Department of Development's Brownfield Remediation Assessment Program, per Cleveland.com.
State Grant Covered Most of the Cost
The Medina County Port Authority served as lead applicant in November 2024 to secure a $300,000 grant through the state's Brownfield Remediation Program, according to the Ohio Department of Development. Medina was required to commit $100,000 in matching funds, bringing the total assessment budget to roughly $400,000, per Cleveland.com. City officials had hedged their bets even earlier, submitting parallel applications to the Ohio EPA's Targeted Brownfield Assessment program in August 2024 to keep the project moving in case the state grant announcement was delayed, according to City of Medina meeting records.
Once the property transfers to the city, officials plan to turn it into a larger public parking lot. The proposed renovation would boost the number of spaces from 40 to 81 and add lighting, landscaping, and a retention basin to address drainage issues, per Cleveland.com. Medina has a tentative agreement with Legacy Hotel Group to split the cost of those parking improvements 50/50, though the two sides have agreed to delay finalizing that agreement until potential project bids are reviewed, the outlet reported.
A New Hotel Is Driving the Parking Push
The added spaces are meant to serve Legacy Hotel Group's planned five-story, 75-room boutique hotel on South Court Street near Medina Public Square — downtown Medina's first hotel since the 1950s, according to City Lifestyle. The project is expected to include a rooftop bar and restaurant aimed at drawing more visitors downtown, per that report.
Marshall also announced this week that Medina received an Ohio Department of Development grant to help fund an assessment of the South Elmwood Street parking lot, according to Cleveland.com. That effort builds on a separate $242,003.60 state brownfield assessment grant Medina City Council approved in July for the Elmwood lot project, according to CivicSearch. The Elmwood lot expansion is meant to serve both public visitors and hotel guests, per that report.
Marshall said the parking lot assessment will be delayed until project bids are available, since the assessment work would render the lot unusable while underway, according to Cleveland.com. Medina and Legacy Hotel Group have agreed to hold off on finalizing their cost-sharing agreement until those bids come in.
Part of a Bigger Statewide Push
Medina's project is one of hundreds tapping into Ohio's brownfield cleanup effort. Established in 2021 under the DeWine-Husted administration, the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program has awarded nearly $800 million to support 904 cleanup and assessment projects across 87 counties as of June, according to the Ohio Governor's Office. State leaders announced an additional $120 million in brownfield grant funding this month, drawn from a $200 million allocation in Ohio House Bill 96, according to the Ironton Tribune. That recurring funding stream could offer Medina another option if additional remediation work is ever needed on other vacant properties around the city.
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