STAMBAUGH BUILDING Renovation work will go on during bankruptcy case

A judge approved a new business plan for the downtown office building.
THE VINDICATOR
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- The business that operates the Stambaugh Building will continue renovations there as it attempts to emerge from bankruptcy court with ownership of the downtown building.
A court order gives Stambaugh Associates, which is controlled by Jeffrey Moffie of Streetsboro, eight months to buy the 12-story building from Pacific Coast Investment Co. of Seattle. The purchase price is up to $2 million, with the exact amount to be negotiated.
In the meantime, Stambaugh Associates will lease the building from Pacific Coast and continue renovations, said Andrew Suhar, a lawyer for Moffie's companies.
Vacant floors
Moffie has been renovating vacant floors in the middle of the building, he said. The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber occupies the top floor, and Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant and Key Bank are tenants on the ground floor.
The building's fate has been up in the air since several Moffie-controlled companies filed for bankruptcy protection last year. The companies listed $6.5 million in debts and less than $1 million in assets.
Judge William Bodoh of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Youngstown last week issued an order that confirmed a plan of reorganization that Moffie's businesses negotiated with their lenders.
Stambaugh Associates bought the 96-year-old former Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. headquarters in 1997 for $950,000, but it has a $1.8 million mortgage with Pacific Coast.
Suhar said money will be available to pay Pacific Coast for the building but he wasn't sure of the source.
Moffie declined to comment.
Rest of ruling
Judge Bodoh's order also allows a company controlled by Moffie to continue operating the YLS Parking Garage, 23 W. Boardman St.
Moffie's company owes National City Bank $495,000 for debts related to the garage. The order calls for Moffie's company to pay $3,100 a month for 30 years to eliminate the debt.
In addition, another company controlled by Moffie has four months to pay $4.2 million for ownership of an apartment complex in Mansfield. The money would be paid to satisfy a debt owed to Old West Annuity & amp; Life Insurance Co. of Spokane, Wash.
Court documents say Moffie's company intends to pay the debt with financing approved before the bankruptcy. If the money isn't paid, Old West will receive ownership of the complex.
The plan calls for $120,000 to be distributed to unsecured creditors over 10 years. Those claims are expected to be as much as $2.8 million, so creditors will receive a fraction of what they are owed.
The plan provides for Moffie's companies to pay $750 a month for six years to satisfy $52,900 for taxes owed to federal, state and local governments.
Personal bankruptcy
Moffie also has a personal bankruptcy case pending. Suhar said the outcome of the personal case should not affect the court order on the corporate case.
Lenore Kleinman, a lawyer for the U.S. Trustee's Office, said she is evaluating the order in the corporate case. She has a motion pending that asks for the personal case to be dismissed or converted from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows Moffie to reorganize his finances, to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which calls for liquidation.
The filing for the personal case listed assets of $570,000 and liabilities of $8.3 million, most of which were personal guarantees on mortgages.
shilling@vindy.com