CANFIELD Former DeBartolo home goes on auction block

New landscaping includes a swimming pool and ponds for exotic fish.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
CANFIELD -- The former home of Eddie DeBartolo Jr., just spruced up with $1 million in improvements, is for sale again.
The 16-room home at 3988 Fairway Drive will be auctioned at 10 a.m. Saturday by George Roman Auctioneers.
The highest bid wins because no reserve has been set.
The house has been sold twice since it was built in 1977 by DeBartolo, the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers who now owns a Florida-based real estate development company.
Michael Simon, owner of the former Magic Twanger nightclub in Boardman, bought the house in 1998 for just more than $1 million. Daniel Hoyng, a businessman who recently filed for bankruptcy protection, bought it last year for $830,000.
Officials at Cortland Bank, which issued a mortgage to Hoyng, decided the best way to sell the home was at auction, said Jim Floyd, a bank attorney. The auction was approved recently in bankruptcy court.
The improvements
Floyd said Hoyng's receipts show that he spent $1,074,000 on improvements, including adding a swimming pool and installing new flooring and landscaping.
Landscaping changes included the creation of outdoor ponds for exotic fish. One pond has a depth of 4 feet, enough for the fish to spend the winter in the pond, Floyd said.
The 16,600-square-foot home has five bedrooms, four full bathrooms, three half-bathrooms and large entertainment areas.
Andrew Suhar, Hoyng's attorney, said a marketing campaign has been conducted in this area, as well as in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The effort includes videos and DVDs of the home.
Hoyng was the former chairman and chief executive of Infotopia, which used infomercials to sell the Body by Jake Bun and Thigh Rocker and other workout products.
He brought the company to Canfield from the Boston area last year. Infotopia is no longer operating, said Marc Dann, who represents Ernest Zavoral, who replaced Hoyng as CEO but has since taken another job.
A New York company recently filed a petition that forced Infotopia into bankruptcy court involuntarily. That action is pending in bankruptcy court in Youngstown.
shilling@vindy.com