Boardman eyesore transformed into 12-plex with a new outlook

By Denise Dick

The owner has secure tenants for seven of the building’s 11 units.

BOARDMAN — From cockroaches, piles of garbage and boarded-up windows to new carpet, fresh paint and outside greenery, a one-time eyesore at the entrance of the township’s historic district has a new look.

The face-lift for the 12-plex at 4250 Hillman Way started when LTD Investments LLC, owned by Sherry DeMar, bought it last February.

“In my whole career — I’ve been doing this for 32 years — never have I seen anything like this,” DeMar said.

The building was in bad shape, prompting residents of the nearby historic district to complain about the building’s condition at township trustee meetings.

“There was garbage piled up to here,” DeMar said, indicating about 2 feet. “And the cockroaches — they were everywhere.”

But she could see the potential. DeMar hired Eagle Restoration of North Jackson to revamp the building.

The Hillman project was a little different from what Eagle’s Steve Peshek usually sees in his work.

“It was a little bigger project and a little nastier in the beginning,” he said.

DeMar had 11 of the two-bedroom units redone with new carpet, cabinets, heating and air conditioning and paint and turned the 12th unit into a laundry room. A storage closet for each unit is part of the laundry room.

She estimates she’s spent at least $100,000.

Peshek said it’s nice to see a building change from something in bad condition to good through his work.

“It’s rewarding,” he said. “I guess that’s why I chose this profession.”

The building awaits some final inspections to secure a certificate of occupancy, and DeMar hopes people can move in by early next month.

“Seven of the units are spoken for,” she said.

Most are couples or single mothers with children.

DeMar says she’s conducted home inspections at those tenants’ current residences to ensure they’re well-maintained.

The building has a long history.

It was formerly owned by William A. Busch, a regular attendee at political functions throughout Mahoning County, who had lived in the building before moving into a nursing home. He died in July 2006, leaving no surviving relatives.

DeMar’s property management company had been hired by Butler Wick, the administrator for Busch’s estate, to make repairs to the building before Busch’s death. After spending about $70,000 from the estate to complete six units and securing tenants for those units, the probate court stopped the work on the building in 2005, telling the trust company to stop spending Busch’s money.

Former Probate Judge Timothy P. Maloney had referred in his order to a 2004 deed that indicated Busch had transferred the property to a Youngstown man. That deed was later ordered void.

Once the work stopped, the building’s deterioration continued and all of the initial work fell into disrepair, DeMar said. It was boarded up last summer to keep vandals out.

Late last year, the probate court authorized the estate to sell the building, and last January, Judge Timothy E. Franken of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who presided over a separate case involving Busch’s estate, approved a motion to sell the building for $172,000, the appraised value.

DeMar bought it from the estate.

The boards are gone from the windows, and white shutters hang alongside each window. Landscaping in front of the building added new shrubbery. Five new carports will be constructed behind the apartment.

“We’re happy that the boards are down and they’re rehabbing it, investing in the building and hopefully, there won’t be any further problems with it,” said Darren Crivelli, township zoning inspector.