Realty Towers work to start this month

The downtown property owner is seeking funding for two other projects.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — With about $3.1 million in state and federal grants, the redevelopment of Realty Towers, one of the largest buildings in the city’s downtown, is to begin this month.

The Ohio Department of Development awarded $1.9 million to the $8.3 million project through the state’s historical preservation program.

The Realty project was among 11 to be selected Friday by the state to receive money through the program.

The money means the 12-story building, mostly vacant for several years, will finally undergo improvements, said Louis A. Frangos, who owns the 47 Central Federal St. building. Frangos purchased the building with three nearby parking lots for $540,000 on Dec. 14, 2000.

The project should take about 10 months to finish, Frangos said.

“It’s a significant investment in the central business district,” said city Finance Director David Bozanich. “It will improve the quality of life there, and it helps a building in need of significant repair.”

The plan is to convert the upper 11 floors into about 25 condominiums or apartments for young professionals who want to live downtown. It could also include a community room or health club, Frangos said.

Frangos said he’s finalizing a deal to open Cafe Maria, a restaurant, in the location of the former Bean Counter on the building’s ground floor.

Improvement work at Realty, which was slow going, came to a stop in the summer as Frangos, with the help of the city, applied for the state and federal grants.

A requirement to obtain the money was that no work could be done on the historic structures while the state and federal governments decided to provide funding, Frangos and Bozanich said.

Frangos said he’s borrowing $3.2 million from Key Bank for the Realty project. The city provided a $4 million interest-free loan to him last year split evenly between the Realty project and to turn the Wick Building at 34 W. Federal St. into about 35 condos or apartments.

Frangos has borrowed the money for Realty but not for Wick. The loan repayment deadline is in March, but the city could give Frangos an extension.

The federal government will provide about $1.5 million to Frangos for the Wick project, estimated to cost $8.6 million.

He is awaiting word from the state if he’ll receive money for Wick and the renovation of the Erie Terminal at 112 W. Commerce St. Frangos wants to turn that building into housing. That project’s estimated cost is $7.7 million.

The approval to provide $1.9 million for Realty came in the second round of funding through the Ohio Department of Development program to renovate and rehabilitate historic buildings for commercial or residential use.

The projects receiving funding from the third round should be announced early this year, said Melissa Ament, a Department of Development spokeswoman.

The General Assembly authorized the DOD to award up to $120 million through this program to as many as 200 qualified applicants, up to 100 for the July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008, fiscal year and up to 100 for the July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009, fiscal year.

Of the 11 projects on the second-round list, six were from Cleveland. Cleveland received approval for five of the 11 projects during the first round, announced Nov. 15.

skolnick@vindy.com