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Wean Demolition Opens 10 Acres for Development
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Demolition and remediation work is proceeding at the former Wean United property in downtown Youngstown, a project that could mean as much as 10 acres of developable property for the city.
Work began about six to eight weeks ago on the first phase of demolition, which will take down about 145,000 square feet of the 210,000 square feet of structure on the site, says T. Sharon Woodberry, city economic development director.
The owner of the property, William Marsteller, who is undertaking the demolition, has until June to find a tenant for the remainder of the structure, Woodberry says. “If there is no end user, then the remaining part of the building -- the northern-most structure, which fronts along West Front Street -- will be demolished and then the city will move forward with the cleanup of the site,” she adds. The city will use $1.2 million in funds secured through the state’s Clean Ohio program to remediate the contamination in the soil identified at the site.
“The city will have control over the property and own the site at the end of the demolition,” Woodberry says. “We have an agreement in place where we will either sublease that structure back to the owner or transfer ownership to the owner. We’re keeping that open based on what the proposed project is, if there is one, to look at the end of the timeframe.”
Demolition of some parts of the property is on track, while others are taking longer than had been projected, Woodberry reports. “But we’re OK with that as long as the end result is that at least the portion that [Marsteller is demolishing is] down by June,” she says.
Demolishing all the structures on the site would give the city about 10 acres of developable land to market, Woodberry says. How much would be available if Marsteller is able to find a tenant for the remaining structure is unknown, as a tenant might require a portion of the demolished portion of the site.
Potential uses mentioned for the site, once remediated, include something that would tie into the nearby Covelli Centre on East Front Street, on the opposite side of the Market Street Bridge. The city recently approved spending funds to explore constructing an amphitheater to capitalize on the market for outdoor shows during the summer concert season.
Eric Ryan, executive director of the Covelli Centre, says using the Wean property for the proposed amphitheater hasn’t been discussed but “could certainly be an option” if city officials determine that is how they want to utilize the property.
“We’d like the amphitheater on or near the Covelli Centre as much as possible so we could utilize our parking and some of the other things that we have here,” Ryan says. “We want to utilize our kitchen and some of the backstage areas that we have here at the center so [the Wean site] would be kind of far. I’m not saying that’s out of the question but it probably wouldn’t be my first choice.”
“We’re keeping our options open with what the future use of the site will be,” Woodberry says. “We have had lots of interest in different things, at least generated from the community, but it takes an investor who wants to invest in the site and we’ll keep that open. There are a lot of opportunities with it being downtown. It’s a prime location.”
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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