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Design panel OKs proposal for YBI-owned warehouse
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Business Incubator is proceeding with expansion plans at a vacant downtown building even though the expected tenant isn’t relocating there.
The city’s Design Review Committee approved a proposal Tuesday for a sun-shade canopy, exterior lighting and signs at 234 W. Boardman St., an 8,600-square-foot facility owned by the incubator that was the Furnitureland warehouse.
The incubator negotiated late last year with Revere Data, a market analysis firm, to move from the 5,200 square feet of space it occupies at the incubator-owned Semple Building on West Federal Street to the former warehouse. But that deal fell through.
“It’s not the right fit for them; it’s not the right place,” said Barbara Ewing, the incubator’s chief operating officer. “But we need to move forward [on building improvements] even though we don’t have a signed lease at this time.”
Daniel McCafferty, Revere Data’s director of research, declined to comment Tuesday on the company’s plans or why it isn’t moving to the West Boardman Street building.
Though it doesn’t have a tenant, the incubator is working on improvements to the former warehouse that is connected to the incubator’s main building on West Federal Street by an enclosed tunnel over Dutton Alley.
The incubator has $450,000 in federal funds to renovate the building and $130,000 from the city for water and wastewater improvements, Ewing said.
The federal money will go toward a new roof, restrooms, floors, a heating system, and improvements to the dock area off the alley, she said, while the city money will be used for water and wastewater lines.
“There may need to be other improvements, but the project is pretty well-funded,” Ewing said.