Architects hope to purchase building from CIC

The company wants to lease the first floor.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A downtown development company is interested in selling the vacant John R. Davis Building to a group of architects who plan to spend about 330,000 to renovate the West Federal Street structure.
The property committee of the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. recommended at its meeting Tuesday that the full board grant the Sweet Jenny Land Co. 90 days of exclusivity on the building to get its finances in place, primarily a loan of about 200,000 from Sky Bank. The full board meets next Tuesday.
The exclusivity time frame is a guarantee from the CIC that it won't entertain any other offers for the building during those 90 days. CIC officials say they haven't had any formal offers for the Davis building in quite some time.
The company consists of Ronald Cornell Faniro, owner of a Youngstown architectural firm, and two of his employees, Frank Rulli and Paul Hagman.
"I've been interested in [buying] the building for 15 years," Faniro said.
Was a department store
The three-story, 7,100-square-foot building, constructed in 1899, was last used about 20 years ago as a department store. It's located on West Federal Street, just east of the Downtown Draught House.
Faniro's architectural firm would occupy the second floor, and Hagman said the third floor would be an art studio and gallery. The company plans to lease the first floor for use as a restaurant or retail store.
The company would make improvements to the building's exterior to restore its look as well as remove the elevator, construct a lobby and improve the stairwells. The project should be completed by next summer, Faniro said.
Grants, other breaks
The city recently gave tentative approval to provide about 75,000 in grants to the company as well as a tax abatement and a waiver of permit fees if the project moves forward. The company plans to invest about 30,000 of its own money.
The company also is applying for federal and state grants to decrease some of the cost.
The CIC, which is the downtown redevelopment agency, needs to appraise the building to determine its worth, but agency officials say the structure is worth about 5,000.
The agency would sell the building to Sweet Jenny for the appraised amount if the company comes up with the money for the project.
Previous plans
Over the years, the CIC has heard numerous proposals for the building, but all have fallen through.
The company is named after the Jeannette -- spelled with one N by some -- blast furnace at the former Brier Hill Plant of the Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. Bruce Springsteen refers to the furnace as the "Sweet Jenny" in his 1995 song "Youngstown."
Technology center
Also Tuesday, Jan Seidler, CIC's president, said the agency will seek proposals from contractors to build the Youngstown Technology Center as soon as the U.S. Economic Development Administration approves the construction proposal language. That should be sometime early next month, he said.
The EDA provided 2 million toward the center project.
The demolition of five buildings at the YTC location on West Federal Street, just west of the Youngstown Business Incubator, is finished, Seidler said.
skolnick@vindy.com