MAHONING COUNTY Oakhill, Phar-Mor sites compete for Job, Family Services agency

The county agency is seen as a solid anchor tenant.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In the mid-1980s, some business and political leaders said the presence of Mahoning County's welfare department downtown was a hindrance to the future downtown development, so it had to go.
After three years of often-heated debate, the agency was ushered away from downtown in 1988 to its site in the McGuffey Plaza on Youngstown's East Side, largely so its clientele would be less visible to downtown business patrons.
Now, 16 years later, the agency is being touted as a linchpin for growth and development, and it is being wooed by landlords eager to house its 400 employees and thousands of clients. The leading contenders are in or near the downtown district.
The contenders
Southside Community Development Corporation was the first to enter the fray, submitting an unsolicited offer to county commissioners of a 15-year lease for up to 100,000 square feet in Oakhill Renaissance Place, formerly Forum Health Southside Medical Center.
City officials also are pitching the dormant Phar-Mor Centre on West Federal Street as the ideal place to house the Department of Job and Family Services. The Cafaro Corp., which owns McGuffey Plaza, is pushing to keep the department where it is.
Commissioner Ed Reese said he's been approached by operators of the former Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital, now known as Broadway Professional Center, which has been vacant since March 2000. That facility has not submitted a proposal, though.
James Fortunato, county purchasing director, said commissioners can't act on any of the "informal" proposals because they haven't formally sought bids for office space, as required by law.
If commissioners decide to make a move, they'll have to advertise for bids and the proposals will have to be formally submitted, Fortunato added.
Commissioners David Ludt and Vicki Allen Sherlock have said they favor the Phar-Mor option because it fits with the city's plan to revitalize the struggling downtown district. With few businesses locating downtown, it's up to government to pick up the slack, Ludt said.
"The bottom line is that any one of us would like to have that anchor tenant," said Adrian R. Byrne, executive director of SCDC.
"We're a good tenant," said Dee Crawford, JFS executive director. "We pay our rent, and wherever we go we are going to be there long term."
Job and Family Services includes the welfare department and the child support enforcement agency. Until earlier this year, they were housed in separate buildings. To save money, CSEA was moved out of the Erie Terminal building downtown into the McGuffey facility, putting the entire department under one roof.
Crawford has long expressed a desire to move away from McGuffey, and commissioners have twice sought bids for new space but have taken no action.
Upgrades
The McGuffey building is run-down and in need of expensive repairs, Crawford said. But under terms of the lease agreement, the county, not the owner, is on the hook to pay for any upgrades. Last year, the county paid more than $11,700 to repair the roof at the facility.
"If the Erie Terminal building had been big enough, we probably would have migrated down there," Crawford said.
She said it cost $1.45 million last year to operate both JFS buildings. That will be cut to about $875,630 this year because of cost-savings achieved through the consolidation.
That includes about $450,000 for the year's rent, about $169,000 for gas, electric and water, $132,600 for janitorial services and about $3,000 for trash removal.
The lease proposed by SCDC is $1 per square foot the first year and $2 per square foot the second year, plus a fixed rate of $1.50 per square foot each year to cover utility costs for 100,000-square-foot occupancy. Housekeeping services and daily trash removal are included in the price.
The rental rate increases to $5 per square foot for years three through 10, with an additional $2 per square foot for utility costs; and $6.50 per square foot for the final five years, with an additional $2.50 per square foot for utilities.
"We've offered an extremely positive, discounted [rental] rate for the county," Byrne said. "We've admittedly low-balled it on the front end, but we should make it up on the back end of the lease."
Byrne said if the county moves to Oakhill, it would save about $1.2 million in rent and occupancy costs over the first two years and close to $4 million over the 15-year lease term compared with what it pays now.
"This is serious money that could be put to good use for the county," Byrne said.
Advantages
Other advantages, he said, would be paying below-market rental throughout the term and the ability to budget annual occupancy costs for 15 years based on the fixed costs in the proposed lease agreement.
"It's an all-inclusive price," Byrne said. "There are no surprises."
He said Oakhill also offers free parking for 900 cars, including a 400-car covered parking deck. There is 24-hour security at the facility, an on-site pharmacy and health clinic, and day care for children of employees.
The facility already has some municipal tenants, like the county coroner's office and the Youngstown District Board of Health. Byrne said they need a large, anchor tenant to provide long-term financial stability, however. It also would help market the facility to smaller tenants.
Byrne said if the county doesn't choose Oakhill to house JFS, the facility will survive financially.
"We would not be an imminent risk of closing, but it would make our job that much harder," he said. "We would keep looking for new tenants. But if we do get that large tenant, then it just makes life a lot less stressful."
Crawford said the final word on locating the JFS is up to commissioners, and she would not say whether she has a preference for a new location. She does want to be in a professional atmosphere, which she doesn't believe exists at the current site.
"I think the department of job and family services should be housed where it can best serve the public in a quality working environment for my staff," Crawford said. "I'm looking for a quality environment that projects to these employees that they are of value."
bjackson@vindy.com