Shelving of housing plan demands full explanation

When two officials in the same government administration publicly disagree over the reason for the demise of a $17 million housing project, an answer to this question is demanded: What’s going on in Youngstown City Hall?

The 109-unit facility was to have been built by Place Properties of Atlanta, Ga., on a site on Fifth Avenue just south of Stambaugh Auditorium. Place Properties, a national developer of student housing, wasn’t seeking any grants of public dollars; the company had sought a 75 percent, 10-year real property tax abatement from the city of Youngstown.

But last week, The Vindicator reported that the company had let an option on the property, which is owned by Select Medical Corp., expire several weeks ago. Thus, the project has died.

In commenting on the demise, William D’Avignon, the city’s director of planning, said the economic development officer failed to move fast enough on getting state approval for the tax abatement. That’s why Place Properties walked away, D’Avignon contended.

However, Mayor Jay Williams disputed the planning director’s take on what went wrong, saying the economic development office was instructed to do all it could as quickly as possible to secure approval from the state for the abatement. The mayor even pointed tohis Aug. 12 letter to Place Properties in which he said state approval would be secured in early October.

‘Wrong message’

Nonetheless, D’Avignon is of the opinion that losing the 374-bed project “sends the wrong message to developers.”

“It’s rare to have these national development corporations come in and make those type of investments,” he said, adding that the tax abatement request was very reasonable.

Given this public disagreement between Williams and D’Avignon, a timeline of what took place from the first day the project was brought to the city must be created and made public.

If somebody in city government dropped the ball, taxpayers have a right to know who it is. Any and all correspondence between the city and Place Properties should also be available for public review.

What makes this issue all the more intriguing is the announcement by a local developer, Dominic Marchionda, of a $24 million housing project on Elm Street near the YSU campus. On Friday, city council gave the administration the green light to apply for a $750,000 state grant for the clean-up of the property at 751 Elm St.

Marchionda also said he may request a tax abatement and a low-interest loan from the city for the four student-housing buildings that would have more than 450 beds.

The developer owns a portion of the six-acre site, has a purchase agreement for another portion and is interested in a land swap with YSU for a third piece.

Given that YSU President David Sweet had expressed his misgivings about the Place Properties project because of student safety issues, and given the possibility of YSU’s being involved in the Marchionda development, full disclosure of the details relating to both projects is demanded.