City moves to take building

The city soon expects to buy an old gas station property next to the arena site.
& lt;a href=mailto:rgsmith@vindy.com & gt;By ROGER SMITH & lt;/a & gt;
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city is starting the eminent domain process, to take a building on East Front Street for the downtown arena project.
Council will be asked Wednesday to declare the city's need and intent to take the former Goodyear building on East Front between Champion and Walnut streets.
Council will be asked to approve an ordinance to take the property for a public purpose once owner John Giannios formally is notified of the city's intent, said Law Director John McNally IV.
Last month, the city signed contracts with a developer to build a 5,500-seat, $41 million project along Front between the Market Street and South Avenue bridges. The arena is to sit between Walnut and South.
Eminent domain
The city will use eminent domain -- the government's right to take private property for public use -- to take the Goodyear building. The city needs the space to expand the road into the arena site, McNally said.
"We need a good chunk of the building to do that," he said.
Once council acts, the city will approach Mahoning County Common Pleas court and put up the money it considers fair market value, he said. The city should control the property within 60 days of the court action, he said.
State law lets the city take quick possession of private property for public use if the use is a road, McNally said. A financial settlement can be worked out later, he said.
Nonroad eminent domain cases can linger for months in court because a financial settlement has to be worked out before the government can take the property, he said.
The Goodyear building has a tenant, an electronics shop, which the city will have to arrange to relocate, he said.
Purchase attempt
The city unsuccessfully tried to purchase the building, McNally said. The city offered the owner $322,200 after doing an appraisal, he said. The owner made a counter offer of $694,000 (based on rental income) but declined to provide documentation supporting the higher price, he said.
The Mahoning County Auditor's office lists the property's value for tax purposes at $165,400. County records show the property was sold in 1993 for $175,000.
Owners of a few buildings closest to Front and Market streets protested last year when the city had them appraised for possible eminent domain use. The owners said they didn't want to sell and that the city could do the project without taking their buildings.
Putting the arena at Front and Walnut eliminated the need for those buildings.
The city expects to finish a deal as soon as today to buy an old gas station on Front, right next to where the arena is to sit. The price is expected to be about $150,000, close to the appraised value, McNally said. The city also expects to finish a sale soon of a piece of abandoned railroad property behind the gas station, he said. Both are needed to get construction started this summer, he said.
& lt;a href=mailto:rgsmith@vindy.com & gt;rgsmith@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;