DOWNTOWN Panel urges rules change to sell building

Youngstown isn't the only city to which Squire's company owes money.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- City council would need to change the city's small-business program rules to sell the Wick Building.
The board overseeing the Youngstown-U.S. Small Business Administration Revitalization Initiative recommends the move.
On Tuesday the board deferred a decision on city financial help for Percy Squire. The prominent Columbus lawyer and Youngstown native wants to buy the city-owned downtown office building.
The deferral lets council consider changing the rules, said city Finance Director David Bozanich, the initiative board chairman.
Squire is seeking three incentives from the program to help him buy the building:
UA $60,000 city loan, the program maximum, that doesn't have to be paid back if Squire complies for three years with the program's regulations.
UA real property tax abatement.
UA business assistance grant of up to $5,000.
The initiative program offers city incentives, private bank loans and SBA loan guarantees.
Few jobs
SBA, however, won't back a loan in this case because job creation is minimal, Bozanich said. Squire proposes creating up to eight jobs within three years by opening a branch office in the Wick of his law firm, Squire & amp; Pierre-Louis.
Nonetheless, the proposal would be good for downtown, Bozanich said.
The city always intended to put the building in private hands after it was donated in 1994, he said. A sale also would mean stability for renters and improvements to the building, he said.
Squire's $1.3 million proposal says he would pay $100,000 for the building, spend $280,000 on replacing the elevator and invest $150,000 in renovations. The rest of the proposal involves refinancing and working capital.
The proposal says he would use $400,000 in equity and borrow $900,000 to do the $1.3 million project.
Bozanich said the initiative board will ask council to give the group authority to do projects even if SBA won't back a loan. That would give the board flexibility to do projects that are good for the city but don't meet the existing rules, he said.
Private banks still would have to agree to any deal -- taking on the bulk of the risk -- before the city would dole out its incentives, he said.
"We're the small player in the deal," Bozanich said.
Must pay debts to city
Any city incentives for Squire will be conditional on his paying all his debts to the city, Bozanich said.
Squire said last month he has agreed to pay the city about $90,000 in the first week in June. The payment would cover what he owes for back rent and income taxes related to the Wick building.
Squire said he plans to pay what he owes to clear his debts so he can buy the building.
The city refused his $75,000 purchase offer several years ago for the building, where he operates radio stations, so he stopped paying rent. Squire contended he rented the space only because he expected to buy the building. There was no written agreement outlining the arrangement, however.
The city has gone to court a couple of times to recoup rent that's owed.
Youngstown isn't the only city to which Squire's company owes money, however.
Owes money to Columbus
In February, The Columbus Dispatch reported that Squire's company is working to pay about $150,000 in back income taxes, penalties and interest owed to that city.
Squire plans to move two of his Columbus radio stations into a historic movie theater that the city is revitalizing.
Squire told the newspaper that his company has been paying the city about $500 a month since last fall to repay a $22,293 judgment from 2002.
Squire also told the Dispatch that his company paid the IRS $2.9 million in February for federal income taxes it owed. He said the company still owed the federal government about $300,000.
rgsmith@vindy.com