Tuesday, November 18, 2014YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Crews could be at work on the renovation of the Wells Building downtown as soon as Thursday, Gregg Strollo says.
Private financing is expected to close Thursday for the $5 million project to renovate the long-vacant building into a mixed-use structure, Strollo, partner with Strollo Architects, said this morning. A Strollo partnership, Wells Associated Renaissance partners LLC, plans to develop the building to serve as a new headquarters for the firm on its first floor and 12 apartments on the upper levels.
“If we close on the 20th, we’ll be under construction on the 21st, maybe even the afternoon of the 20th," he said. Friday is the deadline for the project to get under way to qualify for a $1 million state historic preservation tax credit awarded the project in 2011.
At a special meeting this morning, the city Board of Control – Mayor John McNally, Finance Director David Bozanich and Law Director Martin Hume – approved a development agreement including a $100,000 performance grant and a $520,000 water/wastewater grant to support the project.
The project shows “continued confidence” in downtown’s growth and rebirth and relieves concerns about another downtown building being demolished just to be replaced with a parking lot, McNally said.
“Gregg and his folks want to get moving on this project right away. That’s great news to folks who were concerned about what was going to happen to the Wells Building and were anxious to get this project moving,” he said.
“I can’t say enough about the support the city has given the project,” including the city economic development office, City Council, and McNally and his predecessor, Chuck Sammarone, Strollo said. “They’ve been terrific at every turn,” he remarked.
The project should take about eight months, Strollo projected. His firm, on the sixth floor of 20 Federal Place, will occupy the first floor of Wells, about 5,900 square feet, along with some ancillary space on the ground level.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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