Stakeholders Tell Action Group Visions for Downtown
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Leaders involved in the redevelopment and future of downtown agree that the best years are still ahead for the city's central business district.
"For as far as we’ve come in such a short amount of time, I don't think we're even close to what our potential or peak upside will be," said Dominic Gatta, whose company, the Gatta Company, owns the Federal and Gallagher buildings downtown.
Gatta joined other developers and stakeholders Tuesday at the Youngstown Business Incubator in delivering a series of presentations before the Economic Action Group, a grassroots initiative designed to bring attention to downtown development and map a vision for its future.
It was the group's 10th meeting, and more than 50 crowded the YBI conference room to hear how developers have leveraged public and private partnerships and helped change the landscape and purpose of downtown Youngstown.
Gatta, for example, explained how his company invested millions to convert the Federal Building into market-rate apartments, a draw the downtown lacked years ago. "It's something we never had down here. You see it inmost of the major cities -- those are the people that drive the grocery stores. With that increasing, we're going to see a big change and amenities that more people are asking for," he says.
Initially, Gatta recalled, he thought the Federal Building apartments would be perfectly suited for student housing. He’s since found that young professionals who enjoy the vibe and pulse of living downtown are driving demand. Just three of the Federal Building's apartments are rented to students, he told the group. The building was also successful in luring a commercial tenant, V2, now a popular restaurant and bar on its first floor.
More of the same is planned for the nearby Gallagher Building, Gatta reported. The developer purchased the now vacant building two years ago and was successful in listing it on the National Registry of Historic Places, which makes Gallagher eligible for historic tax credits that would apply to the cost of redeveloping the structure.
"We just applied for Round 13 of the Ohio Preservation Tax Credit program, so hopefully in December, I should hear an announcement and we can move forward," he said.
Dominic J. Marchionda, partner of NYO Property Group LLC and a major property owner downtown, says his intent is to deliver a product on an "as needed basis" to fulfill demand downtown. Additional housing and living space, he emphasizes, is very much in demand while Class A commercial space is another component that can add new restaurants, bars and retail tenants downtown.
Perhaps the biggest project NYO is engaged in is bringing a hotel to the Stambaugh Building, Marchionda said. "We've signed an operating agreement with an operator and with them we will decide what the flag will be," he said. "We're down to two, and it's just a matter of which flag we'll go forward with."
NYO Property Group also presented plans for the Wick and Legal Arts buildings downtown. The Wick Building, Marchionda said, will be a mixture of extended stay and student apartments, while the Legal Arts Building is perfect for a first-floor coffee shop and an upstairs restaurant and bar with a rooftop patio. "Everything in between would be prime office space," he said. Meanwhile, the developer said it's challenging to secure an anchor tenant for the PNC Bank building, where NYO's offices are located.
And the company is in discussions with the city regarding 20 Federal Place. NYO bid $1.973 million to buy the property to be paid over six years.
"It's our intent to move forward," he said. "Before we do, we'll sit down with every tenant to make sure that we're the right fit, and sit down with the city to make sure we're the right fit. In our hands, we want to take that building to profitability."
The building's largest tenant, the call center VXI Global Solutions, employs more than 1,000 people downtown and generates $930,000 in tax revenue for the city.
Marchionda's son, Dominic C. Marchionda, operations coordinator for NYO, launched the Economic Action Group last year and moderated the meeting Tuesday. Attendees also heard updates from representatives of major downtown entities such as Eastern Gateway Community College, the YBI, CityScape, Purple Cat owner James Sutman, and the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp.
Tom Humphries, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, which operates the CIC, told the audience that by Janauary 2016, all of the CIC properties downtown would be redeveloped, razed or in the process of being rehabilitated.
The CIC was formed in 1989 to take charge of abandoned or dilapidated buildings downtown and repurpose them, Humphries said. Some of those buildings over the years were demolished while others were renovated.
"When we are done, we will have seen $52 million invested in the downtown since 1998," Humphries said. "Our focus is to help the city create a tax base."
James Sutman, who owns The Purple Cat, an organization that provides services to adults with disabilities, says the downtown provides an opportunity for his clients to become part of the community and to be employed through different ventures the organization has started downtown.
Sutman renovated a building in the central business district and moved in, while a second structure he leases houses the Touch The Moon Candy Saloon, which employs adults with disabilities. Sutman has also purchased a building near the bottom of Fifth Avenue, which will serve as the future offices for his organization.
As for another property he owns downtown, the former Two Guys Clothing store on Federal Street, Sutman isn't sure what his plans are. "I've had a lot of inquiries, but I don't know," he says. "The main focus of my life is my adults with disabilities. Someday I'll surround myself with someone who knows a heck of a lot more about business to help me with these things," he laughs.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our twice-monthly print edition and to our free daily email headlines.