Recent additions include pizza and coffee shops and two insurance offices.

Recent additions include pizza and coffee shops and two insurance offices.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Quietly, there's been an unusual spurt of activity downtown the past four months or so.
The emergence of several new businesses and projects, however, soon could turn into a roar of redevelopment.
Last week, word emerged that $25 million in federal dollars likely will be spent on a face-lift for downtown -- especially Federal Street -- instead of a proposed arena.
The news bodes well for downtown and its newest small businesses, said Jason Whitehead, executive director of the city's redevelopment agency, the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp.
Downtown has long needed nearly 20 blighted buildings eliminated, he said. Such major changes also ultimately should provide what small businesses need, he said: Customers.
"It should complement them pretty well," Whitehead said of the new, big plans for downtown.
Federal money
A bill before Congress drops the requirement that the city use roughly $25 million remaining of the $26.8 million grant secured three years ago to build only an arena downtown. Instead, the bill lets the funds be spent on economic development or revitalization projects in the downtown and gives the city up to three more years to spend it.
The House is expected to pass the bill Monday. Senate passage is expected Dec. 9.
Mayor George M. McKelvey said last week that the money would allow a dramatic transformation of downtown to start soon and be achieved within two years.
Start of something big?
Perhaps downtown felt the first ripples of such change earlier this year.
Since August, two insurance offices, a pizza shop and a coffee shop have opened on Federal Street.
A lease is close on a wine and cigar bar in the old First Federal building on Federal Street, said Jeff Kurz, one of the project's partners. Also, a downtown group has filed an application with the state for an entertainment district designation, said Kurz, who is helping organize the effort.
A lease also is close for an upscale nightclub in the city-owned Wick building, said Jeffrey L. Chagnot, the city's development director.
Meanwhile, the city and county finally struck a deal in September to build a four-story expansion of the state office building.
Those happenings, coupled with recent items such as the cleanup and lighting of Federal Plaza and the unveiling of the old McCrory building as modern office space, constitute a trend, Whitehead said.
"It's definitely created a small level of optimism," he said. "It means a whole lot. They're little successes, but for us right now, that's important."
Such small steps create a "buzz" about downtown that CIC can sell to others considering locating there, Whitehead said.
"I can't really court you without interest," he said. "The interest creates the ability for us to talk."
They love it downtown
The Bean Counter Cafe would be downtown no matter what, said Jason Logero, an owner of the new coffee shop at 47 Federal Plaza.
Logero, born and reared in the area, dreamed of a downtown setting when he opened his own place. The proposed arena project gave him hope that he was getting in on the start of a renaissance.
But he is just as happy if the city spends the $25 million instead on redeveloping downtown properties.
"I think it's great. It might even be better for me," he said Monday. "It's an exciting time."
The same feelings -- the sense of place -- are what lured Lisa Kohler and John Thompson downtown, too.
In August, Thompson and his parents opened Tomasino's Pizza at 103 W. Federal St.
Thompson has worked in the pizza business nearly 20 years and knew he wanted to be downtown when he opened his own spot.
"I love to be in the city," he said.
Thompson is convinced that there is enough activity downtown and that there will be a growing market for services, from restaurants to small retail.
"I have a ton of hope for the future," he said.
Kohler, president of Kohler and Associates insurance in Austintown, opened an office next door to Tomasino's at 105 W. Federal, also in August.
At the same time, another company, The Insurance Center, opened down the street at 265 W. Federal St.
Kohler expected obstacles when she opened her office, from parking problems to slow business. Like the other new operations, Kohler said she has been pleasantly surprised by the pedestrian traffic in her downtown location.
What she didn't expect was how much she and her employees would enjoy working downtown. Kohler now splits her time between her main and satellite offices.
"Walking outside and seeing a tall building is fun," she said. "There's an upbeat feeling on the street that I missed just cruising down the street [in the car] a year or two ago."
rgsmith@vindy.com