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Central Park West apartments, townhouses undergo $5.5M renovation
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Instead of selling, B&I Management decided to re-invest in its 650-unit Central Park West housing complex.
Three years’ worth of renovations have totaled about $5.5 million for the assortment of apartments and townhouses that sit on 26.5 acres near the Austintown schools campus.
Martin Solomon, his son Jeff and Jeff’s son Andrew are all involved with the housing that Martin’s father, Howard, developed.
“We’ve always taken pride” in our properties beginning with my grandfather, said Jeff Solomon, vice president of B&I, which is based in Mineral Ridge. “It’s carried down through the generations because the passion is there and it hasn’t died. We still believe in this community to this day, through the changes over the years, and we believe very strongly this is a viable community.”
The renovations included new roofs, new windows, new doors, new ceilings, new pipes and a new swimming pool in the main area. The work also included new sidewalks and landscaping work.
“We said whatever is going to be needed to be done” will be done, said Cookie Bell, vice president of apartment operations at Central Park West who has worked with all four generations of the Solomon family.
Martin Solomon and B&I also operate and run the Austintown Plaza, 6000 Mahoning Ave. A plasma-donation center is now in the plaza, and a Pat Catan’s craft store will open there in the coming weeks.
The opening of Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course and talk of a possible development to be built across the street from the racino, also has led to a business reinvestment in the township.
“Austintown is probably the most-centrally located community in the Youngstown-Warren area with access to the freeways and where it’s located,” said Jeff Solomon.
He continued, “It’s showing [with] the [state Route] 46 corridor being developed more and the Mahoning Avenue corridor being developed.”
“We’re all feeling pretty good with how things are with Austintown. Unfortunately, we keep getting cuts from the federal and state” government funds, said Ken Carano, township trustee.
“The fact is that the interest in coming to Austintown. Because Walmart is so successful, businesses are looking at Austintown as a good place to make money, which is perfect for us because they come in and pay taxes.”
Central Park West officials said, in the past, tenants would come from larger Valley employers such as General Motors and area hospitals. But now their tenants range from Youngstown State University students to families of jockeys staying at the apartments during the live thoroughbred-racing season at Hollywood Gaming.
Central Park is having a grand-reopening celebration from 3 to 8 p.m. today at its main rental office at 4661 New Hampshire Court off Idaho Road, just south of the Austintown school campus.
Live music will accompany tours, rent discounts and bounce houses, among other amenities.
Rents range from $430 a month for a studio apartment with tenants paying electric costs up to $575 a month for a two-bedroom apartment.
Townhouse offerings begin at $535 a month with tenants paying all utility costs.