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Strouss Building Associates Gets Management Contract
By George NelsonYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- As the city moves toward completing its purchase of the land where the former Phar-Mor Centre sits, the Board of Control this morning approved a management agreement with Strouss Building Associates. The agreement -- which calls for Strouss Associates to maintain utilities and the property, now known as 20 Federal Place -- keeps the staff in place. In 1987, Strouss redeveloped the building to serve as the corporate headquarters of Phar-Mor Inc. The city will pay Strouss $10,000 a month during the six-month contract. Finance Director David Bozanich said the agreement has a 30-day pull-out clause should the city become unsatisfied with Strouss' performance. "The purpose of the contract now is to maintain a smooth transition," said Mayor George McKelvey. In late 2004 the city approved a deal to acquire the land beneath the former Strouss Hirshberg department store and earlier this year moved to acquire the building itself. "We're only now finalizing the transaction with SBA in order to take over the building itself. We still have not closed on the land underneath the building," Bozanich said. "It's close. We've got an agreement signed and there's money in escrow," but issues in the way of a clear title must be resolved. The Wick estate owns the land.While Strouss is responsible for maintenance, the city's departments of finance and economic development are responsible for leasing the building. Because the city did not own the building until yesterday, officials had to reach agreements with Strouss, the Wick estate and InfoCision Management Corp. to allow the call center to move in by its Feb. 1 deadline so it could begin operations.At the Board of Control meeting scheduled next week, the mayor, finance director and law director expect to approve a contract with SA Communale, which submitted a $468,000 bid to provide a fire protection system for the Youngstown Convocation Center. Earlier this week, the city opened bids on seven scopes of work for the multipurpose arena, and the city's construction manager on the project, Hunt Construction, is reviewing the proposals. The bid reviews will probably take another week or two, said project manager Mike Perry, before the recommendations are forwarded.All three bids for landscaping came in under the engineer's estimate of $194,800: $169,780, submitted by Landscape by Design; $178,650, submitted by Executive Landscaping; and the lowest bid, $110,761.22, submitted by People's Choice Landscaping, which included a letter of credit rather than the required proposal guaranty.Two companies submitted bids for windows and glass, both coming in under the $527,000 projected cost: Warren Glass & Paint, $475,970, and Cherokee Glass, $462,000. Eugenio Painting Co. submitted the lowest of three proposals on the painting contract at $333,000. The other two bidders for the work, projected at $375,000, were Joseph Painting Contractors, $346,934, and Masterpiece Painting Co., $403,620.Four other packages had only one bid submitted.Youngstown Tile & Terrazzo Co. bid $176,742 on the interior flooring contract, just under the $180,000 projection. Trimark Raygal Inc.'s bid of $1,036,800 for the kitchen equipment package exceeded the $900,000 projection.Custom Fabricators' bid of $153,000 for casework and finishing carpentry services was comfortably under the $200,000 projection given the city, as was Irwin Seating Co.'s $914,567.68 proposal to supply the arena's 5,800 seats, work estimated at $1 million.Contact George Nelson at [email protected]"