Eyesores Coming Down Along Downtown Gateway
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Demolition underway or to begin in the coming months will leave two sites along the city’s key Market Street corridor -- the former General Electric and Wean United buildings -- prime for redevelopment and remove two eyesores at downtown's gateway.
Deconstruction continues on the former General Electric plant at Market Street and Hughes Street. Constructed in 1909, the 172,000-square-foot plant building has been idled since the 1980s and used for storage by GE in recent years.
“Deconstruction of the Youngstown plant is well underway,” reported Alicia Gauer, manager -- global internal & supply chain communications for GE Lighting in Cleveland. Additionally, deconstruction of GE’s Trumbull main plant in Warren is nearly complete and general cleanup and grading is underway, and the Niles plant has been deconstructed and building materials are being transported for disposal, she said.
“Additional site activities may be warranted based on needs identified as part of the deconstruction process,” she continued.
Among those pleased to see the Youngstown plant come down is the city’s finance director, David Bozanich, who for years has contacted GE regarding demolishing the property and/or turning it over to the city for development.
“It’s a gateway property into the downtown and we have spent significant money over the years cleaning up the whole Market Street corridor,” Bozanich said. The city has spent in excess of $6 million on Market Street alone to demolish nuisance properties and worked with Community Corrections Association to landscaped lots. With construction of the Covelli Centre nearly a decade ago, “our concern was even greater that we’d like to see that corridor improved,” he added.
The city is in touch with GE regarding possibly donating the former plant site to the city, and the company is waiting on receiving some additional information, Bozanich said.
“GE is currently looking to market the property for other business use, ensuring the property doesn’t continue to stand vacant and is put to good use,” Gauer said.
Potential uses for the site, near Interstate 680 access ramps, include a “higher-end” gas station or convenience store. “It’s an access point on the freeway that may even lend itself to some distribution and light industrial use,” he added. The city would make use of its incentive programs to work with “anybody who would ultimately desire to do something at that site,” Bozanich said.
The city recently reached an agreement with the owner of the Wean United property on West Front Street, adjacent to the Market Street Bridge, to tear down the remaining structures. About 145,000 square feet of the 210,000 square feet building was taken down earlier this year.
“We were dealing with some large industrial users about the idea of using the 100-ton crane in that building," Bozanich said. "We’ve come to a meeting of the minds that it’s in the best interest of the parties to clean up the site and let the city take over the site for future use.”
Potential uses for the property include tying into an amphitheater to be built at the Covelli Centre or redevelopment of the City Hall Annex building.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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