MILTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Investment has hit record pace around Lake Milton, as the valuation of new residential construction reaches heights never before witnessed in the area.
On top of this trend are plans for additional single-family housing, evidenced by recent real estate transactions near the lake that are intended to spur more development and high returns for investors.
“It’s a beautiful, high-end area,” said Duane Raber, owner of TRC Holdings LLC, a land company based in Strasburg, Ohio. According to the Mahoning County Auditor’s Office, TRC within the past two months closed on the purchase of approximately 100 vacant acres along Mahoning Avenue for $1.2 million. “We heard that there was a lot of demand for houses around the lake there and this parcel came up for sale, so we bought it.”
Raber said his company has already performed some excavating work on the mostly wooded property. The land’s frontage extends from the intersection of Mahoning and Milton avenues and angles southwest along Mahoning just several parcels short of the lakefront.
“We started doing work on it right away,” Raber said. “We’ve put in trails throughout so people can walk it and have access to get an idea of how it would look once it’s cleared.”
The company has studded the property’s tree line along Mahoning Avenue with road signs advertising 5-acre building lots for sale. However, Raber said there are several larger lots within the development site already under contract. The purchase price of the lots was not disclosed.
“We had a guy come up from Florida and buy 18 acres,” he said. “Another local guy purchased 12 1/2 acres. So it’s going pretty fast. These are people who want to build houses close to the lake.”
Raber said there are a handful of 5-acre lots available, as well as another 15-acre lot. And there is a larger 30-acre parcel to the rear of the property, he said. In all, he estimates there are approximately 65 acres left for sale.
“It’s very desired property,” he said. “People have summer homes and that kind of thing, and that seems to be the demand.”
Lake Milton has long been considered a destination spot for recreational pursuits such as boating, fishing, swimming and summer cottages.
In 1917, in an effort to control floodwaters, the city of Youngstown finished construction of a new dam along the Mahoning River that created Lake Milton. By the 1980s, however, the dam fell into disrepair and the city declined to pay the $5 million needed to fix its structural problems. Instead, a coalition of residents and business owners appealed to the state of Ohio for help.
The city, acknowledging that maintaining the dam would be cost prohibitive, requested that the state assume control of the lake. In 1988, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources declared Lake Milton Ohio’s 72nd state park.
State ownership proved critical to future development around the lake area, allowing for water and sewer improvements, especially to the northeastern portion of the lake during the early 1990s. Between 2005 and 2007, the state invested another $20 million in sewer and water infrastructure, enabling future development along the lakefront.
“It’s just amazing, the desire of people wanting to be on the waterfront,” said Michael Kurilla, Milton Township zoning inspector. During the past five years, construction valuation near the lake has taken off, he said.
In 2020, the township recorded new construction values at $6.5 million. The following year, that number jumped to $9.57 million as luxury homes sprang up along the lakeshore. In 2022, Lake Milton witnessed another year of $9 million in new construction values. In 2023 and 2024, new building values dropped to $6.6 million and $6.7 million, respectively.
Yet this year is especially extraordinary, Kurilla said.
Through the first half of October, new residential construction valuations have exceeded $10.2 million, easily outdistancing the boom year of 2021. “And we still have two months to go,” he said.
Indeed, Kurilla said since September, he’s issued permits for two residential starts each with values of more than $1 million. Another one was issued for approximately $850,000, he said.
Of the $1 million residential starts, one is along the lakefront, while the other is along Pricetown Road, a substantial distance from the lake, Kurilla said. “So there’s no rhyme or reason,” he noted.
New development hasn’t necessarily added year-round population to Lake Milton, Kurilla said, since many of these investments have come in the form of major renovations or improvements to existing lots. In some cases, lakeside residents have purchased small cottages and have either torn them down and rebuilt from scratch or have constructed major additions.
“A lot of people are just tearing down and building,” he said.
In one instance, an owner purchased a modest, 1,200-square-foot cottage with just 50 feet of lakefront, Kurilla said. “By the time he was done, the place was worth $700,000.”
Overall, Kurilla expressed a sense of surprise for the latest surge in building starts. “At the beginning of this year, I thought that we would have a better-than-average year,” he said. “But I’ve never seen anything like the resale values and lot values that we’ve experienced.”
For example, one vacant lot with just 0.27 acres along the lake was listed at $499,999. Other small lots in the past have sold for comparable prices.
New businesses, as well, have emerged over the past five years. Among those is the Lake Milton Brewery & Winery, located at 17762 Mahoning Ave. on the lake’s west side.
“We get a lot of people from outside of Lake Milton, as well as our locals,” owner Lori Loveless said. “Summers are busy. A lot of people are out on the water during the day, so it’s more of an evening crowd.”
Lake Milton Brewery opened five years ago during the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic but has since added a winery and a bourbon bar, Loveless said. “It’s been nice,” she added.
Other small commercial ventures have not done as well, Kurilla said. For example, construction on a new restaurant planned near the intersection of Mahoning and East River Road began but then abruptly stopped, leaving a foundation and steel pylons at the site.
“We have a population base of about 1,200 to 1,300 people,” Kurilla noted, a number that is generally too small to justify new commercial investment. The vast majority of Milton Township, he said, is still rural.
However, the latest trend of new home starts and demand has Kurilla hopeful for the future. “It’s been very encouraging to watch,” he said. “We’re excited.”
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