For those wishing to see more apartments/condo's downtown, when City Council meets Wednesday, it will consider a loan of $4 million (no interest) to the owners of the Wick Building.
Also things are moving forward in turning the Realty Building into condos. The first floor of this building will be occupied by WYTV and The Bean Counter.
The apartments/condos in these two buildings will be high end and not Section 8, and from what I've read, quite expensive, so this should spur interest in future retail commercial development, the one thing that is lacking in the growth of downtown Youngstown.
The owners of the Wick Building say that the apartmrnts should be ready within a year.
That's great news. Hopefully, they aren't so expensive that no one wants to buy them.
But, I think it's a step in the right direction.
Here's a link to Park South Developement's website.
http://www.parksouthdevelopment.com/loftoverview.html (http://www.parksouthdevelopment.com/loftoverview.html)
They have plans for both buildings there, but there is no pricing information. When I called, I was told that they thought rents would be about $1200/mo. and I'm not sure if this is for the 2 or 3 bedroom units. They are very nicely laid out units! But, apparently, out of my price range.
Fantastic. At rents that price, it will certainly encourage businesses to rethink about locating downtown. One of the big drawbacks has been the fact that the three high-rises already there are for people on fixed income. The Realty and Wick buildings will generate about $300,000 a year rent when they're fully occupied. Figures like that should encourage national chain stores to look closely to the progress of downtown redevelopment, and who knows, maby one day, we might have some of the same problems that Boardman has been experiencing.
Certainly families that can come up with $1100 a month rent would want higher end stores. Who knows, we might just see the day come when land downtown will be at a premium, and will start spreading South of the river, a dream that goes as far back as the early 1900's.
Is J Wms promoting Downtown Housing for Gays?
Obviously Mayor Williams is banking on the Gay Community to rent and purchase this new idea of "High-End Downtown Apartment/Condominium" complexes. I don't think that the Mayor is aware that, the primary population that lives in high end downtown communities are Gay Men and Alternative Lifestyle Artist type Individuals and these people move into the downtown areas of our cities because they are often priced out of their established Gay Communities [like German Village in Columbus]. If the Mayor is modeling a plan after Mayor Mike Coleman's efforts in Columbus to cater downtown housing to attract the high income Gay Community, he is on the wrong path...The Columbus Gay Community is very large, well established and have high paying jobs in the Legal, Medical, University and State Government sectors...Youngstown has non of theses employment advantages...Maybe the Mayor believes that "If he builds it they will come"...the City's 4 Million Loan to one development/owner company is very risky to the City of Youngstown and the Wick Building Owners...There is no existing market of tenants for renting or purchasing high end smaller units in Mahoning County...Even the present Gay population in the Youngstown area are not fools...They know that their dollars can purchase bigger and better properties with higher market values in the suburbs of Youngstown...Its reasonable to think that this project will end up as a high end albatross around some owners neck, that will be crying to the city about its high vacancy rates and asking for more money to help cover their overhead costs until these high end buyers arrive...Just think, the City of Youngstown gave the Wick building away [for $125,000] to Management Parking LLC that's a Steal of a Price and there should be enough equity in the building to pursue private financing if this project is such a great idea.... It also appears that our City Council thinks its ok to allow a Mayor lead "Board of Control" to enter into contracts and spend city money without oversight, to do repetitive consultant studies on joint area developments...I thought the City of Youngstown and its surrounding communities all employed Professional Planning and Development personnel as full time staffers, so why the need for more research studies?...Its been my experience that these types of "Board of Control" are often used to dole out political favors to the officeholder's political friends and campaign donors. Mr. Mayor please come up with a plan that addresses the core problems of Youngstown's cancer...Chemotherapy is needed not just mere facial reconstruction.
I don't think the new housing is targeting strictly the gay community.
My initial reaction is that the new housing targets young, single professionals who want an urban neighborhood, rather than living in the suburbs. These people would probably be employed by the University, Hospitals or the many downtown businesses.
It is the hope that the housing will attract these people and the people will attract businesses.
In my opinion, if I were considering living in the proposed housing, I would want to see some of the businesses in place first.
$1200 a month to live in a neighborhood that might be something someday seems a bit pricey. Perhaps the rents should start out lower, say $900, to get people in. If the neighborhood develops, the rents can always be raised.
The floor plans do look great. They are spacious and have between 2-3 bedrooms. Most with their own laundry facilities in the units.
I was told that when Rich Mills was renovating his building to make himself a living space, he had lots of interest from lawyers, judges, etc about possible apartments downtown. Mr. Mills had planned to make additional apartments in his building. But after finishing his own unit, he decided he liked the privacy better.
Youngstown has nun of the employment advantages warranted to support expensive Downtown Housing....The Mayor and City Council are way off track for what is needed to move Youngstown forward! ...Maybe the Mayor believes that "If he builds it they will come"...the City's 4 Million Loan to one development/owner company is very risky to the City of Youngstown and the Wick Building Owners...There is no existing market of tenants for renting or purchasing high end smaller units in Mahoning County...Even the present Rental and Buyer spopulation in the Youngstown area are not fools...They know that their dollars can purchase bigger and better properties with higher market values in the suburbs of Youngstown...Its reasonable to think that this project will end up as a high end albatross around some owners neck, that will be crying to the city about its high vacancy rates and asking for more money to help cover their overhead costs until these high end buyers arrive...Just think, the City of Youngstown gave the Wick building away [for $125,000] to Management Parking LLC that's a Steal of a Price and there should be enough equity in the building to pursue private financing if this project is such a great idea.... It also appears that our City Council thinks its ok to allow a Mayor lead "Board of Control" to enter into contracts and spend city money without oversight, to do repetitive consultant studies on joint area developments...I thought the City of Youngstown and its surrounding communities all employed Professional Planning and Development personnel as full time staffers, so why the need for more research studies?...Its been my experience that these types of "Board of Control" are often used to dole out political favors to the officeholder's political friends and campaign donors. Mr. Mayor please come up with a plan that addresses the core problems of Youngstown's cancer...Chemotherapy is needed not just mere facial reconstruction.
Jamesrivers please organize your thoughts into paragraphs. Its very hard to read your posts when you put everything in a single block of text.
Youngstown has nun of the employment advantages warranted to support expensive Downtown Housing....
The Mayor and City Council are way off track for what is needed to move Youngstown forward! ...Maybe the Mayor believes that "If he builds it they will come"...the City's 4 Million Loan to one development/owner company is very risky to the City of Youngstown and the Wick Building Owners...
There is no existing market of tenants for renting or purchasing high end smaller units in Mahoning County...Even the present Rental and Buyer spopulation in the Youngstown area are not fools...They know that their dollars can purchase bigger and better properties with higher market values in the suburbs of Youngstown...
Its reasonable to think that this project will end up as a high end albatross around some owners neck, that will be crying to the city about its high vacancy rates and asking for more money to help cover their overhead costs until these high end buyers arrive...Just think, the City of Youngstown gave the Wick building away [for $125,000] to Management Parking LLC that's a Steal of a Price and there should be enough equity in the building to pursue private financing if this project is such a great idea....
It also appears that our City Council thinks its ok to allow a Mayor lead "Board of Control" to enter into contracts and spend city money without oversight, to do repetitive consultant studies on joint area developments...I thought the City of Youngstown and its surrounding communities all employed Professional Planning and Development personnel as full time staffers, so why the need for more research studies?...Its been my experience that these types of "Board of Control" are often used to dole out political favors to the officeholder's political friends and campaign donors.
Mr. Mayor please come up with a plan that addresses the core problems of Youngstown's cancer...Chemotherapy is needed not just mere facial reconstruction.