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Residential renaissance takes root
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
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One of the newest additions to downtown Youngstown is the Downtown Circle Convenience & Deli store, 116 W. Federal St., owned by Al Adi and his wife, Fidaa Adi. At far right is Art Herzallah, a manager. The increase in people living downtown has benefited the business, Al Adi says.
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Phil Kidd enjoys his downtown Youngstown apartment in the Federal Building at Phelps and West Federal streets. Kidd, who works on neighborhood engagement and organizing issues for the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, is one of Youngstown’s most vocal and visible boosters. Kidd was the last tenant at the Federal Building, moving in last month.
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Dominic L. Gatta III, a co-owner of the Federal Building, said downtown living is now catching on in Youngstown. His company invested $2.5 million in the building on West Federal Street. Above, he sits in the V2 Wine Bar Trattoria restaurant on the building’s first floor. It is expected to open this month. Apartments occupy the upper floors.
YOUNGSTOWN
You won’t find vacancy signs outside two renovated upper-scale downtown apartment buildings.
All 23 units at the Realty Tower Apartments, 47 Central Federal St., and the 14 apartments at the Federal Building, at Phelps and Federal streets, are rented. There are waiting lists for both buildings in case anything opens.
Also, the V2 Wine Bar Trattoria, a restaurant to be operated by the owner of Vernon’s Caf in Niles, will open in about a week on the first floor of the Federal Building. In about six weeks, Joe Maxx Coffee will fill the space that used to house the Bean Counter on the ground floor of Realty.
On top of that, a Poland company is converting the Erie Terminal building at 112 W. Commerce St. into a 65-bed apartment complex with Friends Roastery, a caf and coffee-roasting shop, on its ground floor. The project should be done by the second quarter of next year.
And there is talk of the Stambaugh Building at 44 E. Federal St. being converted into a combination of retail stores, a hotel and apartments, but there is no time frame for that.
“It’s great to see people living downtown,” said Jacob Harver, who rents an apartment at Realty and owns the Lemon Grove Caf at 122 W. Federal St. “It means a lot to me to see how far Youngstown has come. A strong community is being shaped that attracts people to downtown. As part of that, people want to live downtown, and we’re seeing that. It’s cool to see downtown Youngstown grow as a residential community.”
Another downtown resident, Phil Kidd, lives in a second-floor apartment at the Federal Building.
Kidd, who works on neighborhood engagement and organizing issues for the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, is one of Youngstown’s most vocal and visible boosters.
Kidd was the last tenant at the Federal Building, moving in last month.
Sitting in his living room, with a great view of downtown, Kidd said, “The whole atmosphere of seeing people go by or sitting and talking is great. You have that urban feel of being in the middle of everything. I’m glad to see investments like this in downtown. It makes me proud to live here.”
Dominic L. Gatta III, a co-owner of the Federal Building, said downtown living isn’t a new concept nationwide and is now catching on in Youngstown.
Gatta’s company invested $2.5 million in the building with tenants first moving in June.
“A lot of people would look at a building like this and run away,” he said. “But we understand that it had great promise and are very pleased with the results.”
The first upper-scale downtown apartment complex, the $8.4 million Realty Tower Apartments, opened in September 2009. It took close to two years, but all 23 units are rented.
There were 11 units filled at a monthly rent of about $1,800 to about $2,100 in late 2010. But at the beginning of the year, rents were cut to about $1,100 to $1,500 a month, and reductions were given to the existing tenants, and the building filled up.
Even so, the co-owners of the building are in litigation.
Pan Brothers Associates of New York City filed a lawsuit against Louis Frangos of Cleveland, questioning the latter’s business dealings regarding Realty as well as five other buildings and a parking lot in downtown Youngstown. Frangos disputes that claim.
While still in litigation, Frangos agreed to let Pan’s Youngstown subsidiary, Park South Development Co. LLC, manage Realty.
“Not only are all 23 units rented, but we have a waiting list of five serious people who want to move here,” said Anita Atheneos, Park South’s property manager. “We don’t anticipate an opening until at least May. It’s a wonderful building.”
Frangos, who owns 50 percent of the building, said he’s pleased all of the apartments are occupied, but declined to comment further because of the lawsuit.
Joe Maxx will take up about 1,200 square feet of space on Realty’s ground floor, selling “Starbucks-quality” coffee, muffins, bagels and sandwiches, Atheneos said. The owners of Joe Maxx also plan to open coffee shops on West Federal Street and near Youngstown State University, she said.
There is also about 2,000 square feet that used to be a bank location on the first floor. Sometime over the next six months, Atheneos said she anticipates a bank or financial business to sign a lease for that space.
Among the five other buildings with Pan Brothers and Frangos as partners is the Stambaugh Building. The only tenant there for the past few years has been Buffalo Wild Wings.
“Depending on how the litigation goes,” Pan is interested in renovating Stambaugh with first-floor retail space, a “boutique hotel on the bottom floors and luxury apartments on top,” Atheneos said.
There is no time frame on the project, she said.
But there is one for the Erie Terminal project to renovate the vacant building into a 65-bed apartment complex.
Erie Terminal Place, a Poland company owned by Dominic Marchionda, who also owns U.S. Campus Suites, said the $9 million project will be done in the second quarter of 2012.
The first floor will include Friends Roastery as well as a couple of other food/beverage businesses.
U.S. Ca mpus Suites built the $8 million, 114-bed Flats at Wick student-hosing complex near YSU in 2009. The complex quickly filled to its capacity.
“I’m glad to hear about the success of downtown living,” said Mayor Charles Sammarone. “People want to be downtown with the restaurants and businesses and low crime rate. We have a nice downtown and people want to live here. It shows that downtown is thriving with entertainment, restaurants, the Covelli Centre and apartments.”
The downtown apartments are also good business for the Downtown Circle Convenience & Deli store at 116 W. Federal St., said co-owner Al Adi. The store opened last month.
“It’s great; I hope they put more apartment buildings downtown,” he said. “I can’t wait. Business has been good.”