Officials mull options for building

Shutting it down is a possibility, the city finance director says.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Step one -- the city's deciding to buy the building -- was the easy part.
The tougher decision is deciding what to do with the Phar-Mor Centre, once the focus of a bustling downtown, now a nearly empty reminder of the economic traumas that have raked the area since the mid-1970s.
The city was forced to step in and buy the six-floor building two weeks ago because it was the guarantor of a plan for Strouss Building Associates to market the building to new tenants. But Strouss walked away from its obligations in 2003, leaving the city liable for $100,000-a-year rent to the owners of land beneath the building, the Wick family heirs.
By buying the building outright for $825,000, the city has more control of its future.
Current tenants
David Bozanich, Youngstown finance director, said the building has 325,000 square feet, but only 7 percent of it is occupied. The tenants include Jerry Lee's Jewelry, Give the Children a Chance Inc., a newsstand and a couple of food vendors on the first floor, and the law offices of Michael Gallo and the law firm of Nadler, Nadler & amp; Burdman on the sixth floor.
Bozanich added the building is losing about $30,000 a month. The city's first problem is figuring out what's involved in maintaining the building, or whether it should be closed and mothballed as soon as possible.
For the longer term, Bozanich said, there are two options: The city could provide money to keep the building operational for a while it finds tenants.
Or the city and the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp., the downtown's redevelopment agency, could form a joint venture to find a buyer.
Meetings
Bozanich said there have been at least three meetings with city, Mahoning County and Youngstown State University officials about the building and its potential.
Whitehead still wants the CIC to continue brainstorming with those officials to see what can be done with it.
Bozanich said the city is awaiting budget estimates for operating the building. Once those figures are ready, he expects the city to move quickly to see what can be done.
At a recent meeting of the CIC, executive director Jason Whitehead said the building is expected to close in a few months.
County commissioners had talked for months earlier this year about relocating the Job and Family Services operation to the building. The JFS is made up of the county child support enforcement agency and department of human services, with a total of about 400 employees.
But that option fell through recently when Bank One, which had a $2 million first mortgage on the building, stopped negotiating with the city, which was trying to broker a deal on behalf of the county.
History
The building, the former Strouss and Kaufmann's department stores, had served as corporate headquarters of Phar-Mor under the leadership of Mickey Monus.
Monus fell from grace, however, in 1995, when he was convicted of embezzlement and fraud charges. He is serving an eight-year sentence in the federal prison in Elkton in Columbiana County.
Phar-Mor was liquidated in 2002.