YOUNGSTOWN Lawyer: Oakhill needs buyer by August

A $100,000 loan was taken to keep the building open until Aug. 8.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Oakhill Renaissance Place is living on borrowed time and money.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kay Woods gave final approval Wednesday to bankruptcy trustee Andrew W. Suhar to borrow up to $100,000 to keep the building open. The structure formerly housed Forum Health Southside Medical Center.
The nonprofit Southside Community Development Corp., which owns the building at 345 Oak Hill Ave., filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy on May 3. Among the tenants at Oakhill are the Youngstown Health Department, the Mahoning County Coroner's Office and the Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership.
The judge had approved an interim order authorizing the borrowing on May 25, and the trustee has made one draw on the loan, said Melissa Macejko, Suhar's lawyer, but she declined to say how much has been borrowed so far.
The interim order was to have expired at the close of business Wednesday, so, if the judge hadn't made the order final that day, the building would have been forced to close soon, Macejko said.
The loan from Chase Bank is for 75 days beginning May 25, meaning that it expires Aug. 8. "Our window of opportunity is between now and August to get this property sold," Macejko said. "We're not going to request more borrowing," she added.
In asking for Wednesday's final borrowing authorization, Macejko told the judge nine tenants wish to remain as long as possible in the five-story Oakhill complex, which was built between 1938 and 1962 and occupies a 101/2-acre campus.
Macejko said Suhar would like to keep the complex open until it can be sold, but the $40,000 in monthly rental income it generates is insufficient to pay for its operating costs, and Suhar can't afford to operate the building without the line of credit.
Macejko said Oakhill's utility costs are about $60,000 a month, and that $20,000 to $30,000 a month needs to be borrowed to cover building operations.
Interest
So far, Mahoning County is the only bidder to buy Oakhill, but terms of the bid the county submitted have not been disclosed, and Suhar is still evaluating that bid, Macejko said. Three other parties have expressed interest in the 353,184-square-foot building.
County Commissioner David N. Ludt has said Oakhill could become "a one-stop shop for county government offices."
Anthony M. Cafaro, president of the Cafaro Co., said his company intends to analyze costs associated with Oakhill, and, if it can be a profitable operation, make a bid to buy it.
The Cafaro Co. owns Garland Plaza, 709 N. Garland Ave., where the county has been leasing space for its Department of Job and Family Services since 1988.
Macejko said her goal is to repay the loan from proceeds from the sale of Oakhill. Because of the significant risk assumed by the bank, the annual interest on the loan is at 3 percent over the prime rate, making it 11 percent, Majecko explained. The prime rate, which fluctuates, is now 8 percent.
The county auditor values the Oakhill building at $3,788,800. The Ohio Department of Development has a $430,000 mortgage on the building, and $417,328 in current and back taxes are owed on the building. Innerscope Technical Services has an $8,000 lien on the property. County Commissioners have voted to take responsibility for the ODOD loan.
When a reporter asked after court whether Mahoning County could rescind its bid, Macejko said the county's bid is "not irrevocable."