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Cafaro Co. will move its corporate HQ out of Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN
The Cafaro Co. said it has made the decision to move its corporate headquarters at 2445 Belmont Ave. in Youngstown to an undetermined location sometime in the next two years.
The Vindicator reported nearly a decade ago, in 2004, that the company was considering such a move.
Built in 1965, the real-estate-development company’s headquarters are failing to meet its growing needs.
Joe Bell, company spokesman, said Wednesday the building is “showing its age,” and it’s far from a modern office space. It is not energy-efficient, and it would cost too much to renovate, he said.
In 2004, the company was said to be considering a move to Niles, which is still in the cards.
Cafaro operates the sprawling Eastwood Mall Complex there, and it has filed demolition plans with the Niles Building Department for an empty space at the northeast corner of the mall near Dillard’s.
What it will do with that space, Bell said, has not yet been determined.
One option could include a one-story addition to the mall that would house professional office space for tenants and a planned banquet center that will accompany the Residence Inn by Marriott currently under construction.
The hotel is expected to open sometime during the first three months of 2014, Bell said.
An operator for the banquet center has not yet been found, and that part of the project will be completed after the hotel opens.
Another option would be for the Cafaro Co. to move its corporate headquarters, and the nearly 200 employees who work there, to a new addition at the Eastwood Mall Complex.
But Bell said the company is considering a number of options. It has 50 real-estate projects underway across the country, and it has looked at relocating its offices in Ohio and out of state.
Bell added the company would likely stay in the Mahoning Valley, however.
A decision about the location of the company’s new headquarters is expected in the next month or so, Bell said.