City Of South Haven To Purchase Former Bohn Piston Site

The city of South Haven is purchasing a former Bohn Piston facility as the result of a legal settlement. The 17-acre site on Aylsworth Avenue will be bought for $1.33 million from South Haven Redevelopment, LLC. That company's owner, Steve Larsen, will drop his lawsuit against the city in which he was seeking over $100 million to recoup losses from trying to revamp the site for years. He had alleged in the lawsuit that the city blocked him from 1999 to 2011 from doing something new with the facility. Three buildings are still standing on the property, which has been idle for 16 years. In 2005, the city purchased another former Bohn Piston site on Kalamazoo Street. City officials say 500-thousand dollars of the purchase price will be coming out of the general fund. The Local Development Finance Authority will pay for the remainder of the purchase.