Thursday, December 20, 2018
and Justin Dennis
YOUNGSTOWN
The owners of the DoubleTree by Hilton owe $31,603 in delinquent property taxes on the parking lot next to the downtown hotel.
Dominic Marchionda – who co-owns the parking lot along with Pan Brothers Associates of New York City under the name Youngstown Stambaugh Parking Holdings LLC – said delays in the hotel project getting approved for about $9 million in state and federal historic tax credits caused a cash crunch. That, he said, resulted in an inability to pay the property taxes on the lot on North Champion Street.
“The delays put a significant adverse impact on the hotel for a while,” said Marchionda, one of downtown’s major landlords. “The delay was a debacle.”
The tax credits were approved in October, but the money still hasn’t arrived, Marchionda said. He expects the money to arrive shortly.
The delinquent taxes should be paid within 30 days, Marchionda said.
The delinquent taxes appeared in a required listing by the Mahoning County auditor’s office that appeared in Tuesday’s Vindicator.
Marchionda said the parking lot business “is performing well above expectations,” and acknowledged the parking “funding was used to pay for other obligations at the hotel.”
The parking lot is worth $929,440, according to the Mahoning County auditor’s website. Youngstown Acquisition Holdings LLC, a different company owned by Marchionda and Pan Brothers, purchased the lot July 2, 2012, for $900,000 from USA Parking Youngstown LLC, and transferred it at no cost May 7, 2013, to Youngstown Stambaugh Parking Holdings LLC, according to the auditor’s website.
On top of tax delinquencies, Youngstown Stambaugh Hotel LLC, the name of the Marchionda and Pan Brothers company that owns the hotel, owes more than $2.5 million in outstanding mechanics liens filed in the past seven months by eight contractors and subcontractors, according to county recorder filings:
Micon Inc. of Canfield, $47,950, filed May 22.
D&G Mechanical Inc. of West Middlesex, Pa., $189,472, filed July 24.
Brewer-Garrett Co. of Middleburg Heights, $1,019,032, filed Aug. 2.
Joe Dickey Electric Inc. of North Lima, $245,368.99, filed Aug. 6.
Western Reserve Mechanical Inc. of Niles, two claims totaling $116,206.70, filed Aug. 15.
Patriot Plumbing and Drain LLC of Youngstown, $575,842.50, filed Oct. 5.
GreenHeart Companies LLC of Boardman, $317,572.08, filed Oct. 19.
Berrola Group LLC of Youngstown, $56,205.25, filed Oct. 22.
The earliest unpaid work began Jan. 29, 2017, according to the filings. The most recent work was Oct. 16 by Berrola Group LLC.
Berrola was subcontracted by GreenHeart, which started billing Rubino Construction, a Marchionda-owned company, for work on exterior walls, windows, stairwells and an elevator machine room in February of this year, according to filings.
The filings also show several other liens related to the hotel have been paid and released since December 2017.
Marchionda said the tax-credits delay is the reason the money hasn’t been paid, and the contractors and subcontractors will get the money owed as soon as possible.
The $32 million, 125-room hotel opened in May in the historic Stambaugh Building.
The delay in getting the tax credits stems from the federal government disagreeing with changes to the historic building during construction of the hotel. But the matter was resolved in October with the government agreeing to the funding with the changes.
The tax-credit issue was the reason Youngstown City Council voted in late October to extend the time Youngstown Stambaugh Hotel LLC had to repay a $2,050,000 no-interest loan to the city.
The company has until December 2019, six months later than the original 30 months given by council, to repay the loan. As part of a condition of the loan, $750,000 of it is to be forgiven if paid by December 2019.
Marchionda and a dozen of his affiliated companies – none related to the hotel or parking lot – along with former Youngstown Mayor Charles Sammarone and ex-city Finance Director David Bozanich were indicted Aug. 30 on 101 charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, aggravated theft, tampering with records and money laundering.
Marchionda is accused of misusing at least $600,000 obtained from the city, state and federal governments for the Flats at Wick student housing complex and projects to turn Erie Terminal Place and Wick Towers into downtown apartments. Marchionda and his companies have pleaded not guilty to the charges.