Movin’ way up

By Don Shilling

Downtown to get upscale housing

The mayor said he’s considering moving into the downtown apartment building.

YOUNGSTOWN — The phrases “penthouse apartments” and “downtown Youngstown” aren’t often found together, but developer Lou Frangos is about to change that.

He is starting massive renovations that will turn the vacant, dilapidated Realty Towers into an upscale apartment complex. On the 13th floor, the two largest and most deluxe units —the penthouse apartments — will have a bird’s eye view of the downtown square.

“It’s just fabulous,” said Bill Sperlazza, development project manager for Frangos, as he looked from the top floor windows at the traffic and pedestrians below. “Without overexaggerating, it’s almost breath-taking.”

Frangos, a Cleveland developer who owns several downtown properties, is staging a ceremony Wednesday to kick off the $8.3 million renovation of Realty Towers at Federal and Market streets.

Mayor Jay Williams is doing more than giving verbal support for the project. He has asked his wife, Sonja, about moving in.

“She was not adverse to it,” he said. “ We could potentially take up residence there. If I can persuade her, we’ll move. If not, I’ll be jealous of those living there.”

Renovations are expected to take close to a year. In the meantime, other restoration projects may get started, said Jeff Hamm, regional operations manager for USA Parking, a Frangos company.

Frangos has plans to turn the Wick Building at 35 W. Federal St. into condos or apartments and to renovate the Erie Terminal at 112 W. Commerce St. into housing. The Erie Terminal may be targeted for use by Youngstown State University students, Sperlazza said.

For now, however, attention is focused on 84-year-old Realty Towers. The once-stately building has been largely vacant for many years.

A restaurant called the Bean Counter and a small studio for WYTV had been on the first floor but are now closed. The last tenant on the building’s upper floors moved out four years ago.

Throughout the building, plaster from the walls and ceilings litter the floor. Ceiling tiles are largely missing.

Hamm said, however, that the first order of the renovation is demolition. Interior walls that split the floors into small offices will be ripped out. New walls, ceilings and floor coverings will be installed.

Plans call for 25 apartments with an open floor plan. Floors two through 13 will have two or three apartments each that range from 1,200 square feet to 2,000 square feet. Lease rates have not been announced.

Sperlazza, who had been director of housing and residence life at YSU until recently, said he thinks the apartments will be attractive to young professionals at downtown technology companies such as Turning Technologies as well employees at other downtown companies and St. Elizabeth Health Center.

The increasing cost of gasoline will make downtown living more attractive, he said.

Frangos plans to locate a restaurant on the first floor of the building.

Frangos, who bought the building for $540,000 in 2000, has been working for some time to arrange the financing for the renovation. He received $3.1 million from federal and state agencies that support the rehabilitation of historic buildings. He has said he also has financing from Key Bank and a no-interest loan from the city.

Realty Tower was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 along with several other downtown buildings. The application called it a rare combination of Sullivanesque and Beaux Arts designs.

The building was erected in 1924 as the home of Realty Guarantee and Trust Co. It was designed by local architects Morris Scheibel and Edgar Stanely.

shilling@vindy.com