City to Consider Demo Agreement for Wean Property
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city’s Board of Control tomorrow will consider entering into an agreement with Gearmar Properties Inc. to proceed with a phased demolition of the former Wean United building on South Phelps Street downtown.
Work has already begun to demolish about 180,000 square feet of the 300,000-square-foot building, with the remainder to be demolished if a tenant isn’t found for the space. Features of that portion of the building include space for a 100-ton crane. If no tenant is found, that portion of the structure would be demolished as well and the site made available to the city for development.
In May 2012, the board voted to use $1.775 million in Clean Ohio funds, along with a $591,806 local match, for demolition and remediation activities at the site. A year earlier, the building’s most recent tenant, Youngstown Pipe and Supply, relocated the last of its operations there to the former Cold Metal products building on Wilson Avenue.
City officials have speculated that once cleared the site would not be limited to its historical industrial use. The success of the Covelli Centre and other downtown recreational venues and activities have opened opportunities for recreational development.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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