YOUNGSTOWN Erie Terminal's future unclear

The building's lingering financial issues are substantial.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The future of a major downtown office building is uncertain, even to a half owner.
The Erie Terminal building on Commerce Street recently lost its main tenant, and a "for sale" sign hangs on the side of the building.
The Mahoning County Child Support Enforcement Division moved to the McGuffey Plaza on the East Side as of Jan. 1. Only the Daily Legal News remains in a corner office of the six-story building, which dates to 1923.
The building owner is an entity called Erie Terminal Development Corp. and is made up of two partners.
One is downtown's redevelopment agency, the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp., or CIC. The other -- the managing partner -- is Strouss Building Associates, or SBA.
Decisions on the building's future are up to the managing partner, said Edwin Romero, CIC's lawyer.
"It's their call," he said.
John Ficarro, a representative for SBA, could not be reached to comment.
Background
SBA once was made up of a few local businessmen including Mickey Monus, the jailed former head of Phar-Mor, the defunct drugstore chain.
Eventually, Phar-Mor executives including Ficarro, senior vice president, took over from the local businessmen. That arrangement remains despite Phar-Mor's demise.
The asking price for Erie Terminal is $1.3 million, said Joey Stefko of Metro Group Inc. Realtor, which is listing the building for sale. There has been some interest from a few potential buyers from out of town, he said.
Romero expects talks soon between CIC and SBA about the building's future and lingering financial issues, which are substantial.
SBA owes hundreds of thousands of dollars on a state loan from the early 1990s for a renovation of the building, Romero said.
SBA also owes CIC about $500,000, he said. Under the joint ownership deal in the early 1990s, SBA was to pay CIC $50,000 a year. SBA made just one payment, in the deal's first year, however.
About three years ago, word surfaced that Erie Terminal might be for sale and CIC wondered about getting the money owed. Ficarro suggested at the time that such a move might not be a good idea.
A CIC lien to get the money likely would scare away a private buyer, he said, and no buyer would assume the huge debt. CIC could end up owning the empty building and get no cash because SBA is in debt and Erie Terminal is the only available asset, he said then.
rgsmith@vindy.com