Thursday, November 20, 2014YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The hotel that will occupy the Stambaugh Building downtown will have the Doubletree by Hilton brand, the NYO Property Group announced Wednesday.
Conversion of the landmark building to a 125-room hotel is scheduled to begin in June and take about 16 months with the opening in late 2016, NYO Property Group LLC principal Dominic J. Marchionda said.
Since the Wick-Pollock Inn closed in 1998, no hotel has operated within Youngstown city limits.
NYO said it March 2013 that it would develop the downtown property as a hotel. This June the Ohio Development Services Agency awarded $5 million in Historic Preservation Tax Credits to support NYO’s $25 million project.
“It's a key component [to downtown]. You're not going to have that part of the day where anyone who's here to do business has to pack their bags and head back to the suburbs,” Marchionda said. “It's going to move business forward. It's a real positive.”
A rendering of the Stambaugh Building presented at the announcement showed a hotel with multi-story glass panes, balconies and a large sign, “Hotel Youngstown,” atop the structure and facing Central Square. In June, the estimated $25 million project received a $5 million historic preservation tax credit from the state.
The hotel will be managed by Marshall Hotels and Resorts Inc., a Maryland company that operates 55 hotels, including “a number of historic restorations such as the Stambaugh Building,” said Scott McMahon, executive vice president of business development. The company’s hotels are concentrated in New Jersey, Maryland and New York. It operates only one other hotel in Ohio.
“We get presented with 20 to 25 opportunities like this a year. We only go with one or two and those are the ones that we feel strongly about,” McMahon said. “Right from the get-go, when our president, CEO and I got introduced to the project, we loved the potential of a hotel in downtown Youngstown.”
The recent changes to downtown -- the addition of restaurants, new businesses and residential space -- played a role in convincing the group to expand into Youngstown.
“What made us come to downtown Youngstown was the fact that everything's changing. Even from five or six years ago when a lot of these buildings were boarded up, you can see the change taking place here with the new businesses and new restaurants and new shops,” McMahon said.
The hotel will be rated 3.5 stars, he added, and feature a fitness center, business center, coffee shop and upscale restaurant and banquet facility. Room rates are expected to range from $125 to $130.
“We looked at making it a four-star property, but the rates won't support the type of renovation that a four-star hotel would require,” he continued. “The Hilton brand is the strongest hotel chain in the world along with Marriott. We feel that the 3.5-star, upscale feel will really appeal to the Youngstown traveler.”
James Pantelidis, principal with Pan-Brothers Associates, said bringing a hotel downtown is a large step forward in its revitalization. Pantelidis and his brother, George, operate Pan-Brothers, a real estate services company based in New York. Pan Brothers and NYO Property Group are partners in the real estate end of the hotel venture as well as residential projects downtown.
The hotel project “brings us closer to what our vision has been all along,” Pantelidis said. “This is a city that had such great growth and commerce that, like so many cities, has gone through a difficult period. This particular city has had the ability to continue. It may be on life support, but this is a turning point.”
Many at the announcement pronounced themselves pleased to see the return of a hotel to Youngstown.
“It's absolutely huge to have this for downtown,” said Paul Hagman, who works and lives in the downtown. Hagman is president of RBF Colab Architecture and Design.
“It builds on all of the great things that have happened thus far, but it paves the way for bigger and better things downtown,” Hagman elaborated. “There is a demand for a higher-level clientele downtown. From entertainers at the Covelli Centre to people coming for the weekend to guest lecturers for the university, that's who I think will be using it. They'll be people looking for the nice amenities but don't want to break the bank.”
Pictured are the principals of NYO Property Group, Pan-Brothers Associates and Marshall Hotels and Resorts Inc. From left: Dominic J. Marchionda, Jonathan Geanakos, James Pantelidis, Dominic C. Marchionda, George Pantelidis, David Rizzuto, Chris Aiello, Scott McMahon.
Copyright 2014 by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our twice-monthly print edition and to our free daily email headlines.