Dealership buildings

[Towntalk]

WELL WELL ... FINALLY, THESE BUILDINGS ARE GOING TO BE DEMOLISHED ,,, GOING ... GOING ... AND SOON GONE! GONE FOREVER!

[Towntalk]

Actually, one of the reasons why no one is looking at the buildings in question is the potentual costs in abatement. I suspect that in the service areas, it's full of pollution of various sorts that would be considered hazardous waste. I just wonder how the medical center in the former Lincoln/Mercury/Avante dealership coped with the service area in their building.

[Rick Rowlands]

Completely different situation.  In that case there are two parties interested in purchasing the building for a new use.  No parties have come forth to reuse the Wick buildings. 

[Towntalk]

Then tear the bloody ramshackled buildings down once and for all and give the land to YSU. Or create another project like the Smokey Hollow District. Just get rid of the ramshackled buildings once and for all.

I suppose that you are also opposed to the news about the Wean buildings.

[Rick Rowlands]

Building solar panels??  You have to be joking!  There are numerous solar panel manufacturers who could not survive even with millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Satcon, Solyndra, Evergreen to name a few.  You actually want to repeat those mistakes here?  Building solar panels and windmills seems to be everyone's stock answer for  economic development.  Guess what, every tom dick and harry economic development entity from here to Nome is trying to do the same thing.   As for windmills, GE has that market sewn up and that industry is also widely sought out by ED agencies.

Actually, every parcel of property on Hubbard Road from Papa's Diner to the city limits is occupied and there are several established and successful businesses that I call my neighbors.   Not desolate at all.   However, the entire area between Arrow Street and Sycamore between Wick and Andrews is pretty much unoccupied. 


If someone wants to reuse any of those properties then they can find the owner, make a deal to buy the property and invest his or her own money to make a go of it.   But don't ask for any taxpayer money to do it.

[Towntalk]

Here's a ginger peachy idea on how these buildings could be reused.

Our friend Dennis has many wonderful contacts and hopefully one of the buildings could be used to manufacture parts for wind turbines and another solar panels. They could work in conjunction with YSU.

Dennis, this is not made as a joke but a serious idea.

[Towntalk]

First it wasn't my idea but the idea of Metro Monthly in its editorial this month. And desolate part of town? My god man  just how far is this area away from Ursuline and YSU ... Talk about desolate ... your museum isn't exactly in a thriving part of town, yet no one would take away from your efforts, especially yours truly. The Northside Citizens Coalition sees value in those buildings and since the Publisher of Metro Monthly is the head of that group, he's tossing out the idea. Me, I never gave the buildings a second thought till I saw that editorial.

[Rick Rowlands]

You just helped prove my point.  The private sector need for large rundown showrooms in a desolate part of town has disappeared.  I drive by those buildings quite often and watch as window after window is smashed and the buildings continue to deteriorate.  They have been stripped of valuables, their roofs leak and are beyond economical salvage.  It would be cheaper to knock them down and construct a new building.  But if office space is truly needed, there is an entire white terracotta skyscraper in downtown that is much more worthy of restoration than these pieces of garbage.

Simplistic?  That was the way thing were for centuries!  These buildings were constructed as places where cars were sold.  Cars are now sold south of 224 and these purpose built buildings are no longer needed.  Are you now proposing that government should spend our tax money to restore vacant buildings of which there is no viable use for?  What really is your idea of the proper role of government? I guess it would be too "simplistic" to want govt. to maintain roads, build bridges, hire police officers and operate court houses. 

[Towntalk]

Lets establish one very important fact my friend one that seems to escape your memory, bu over the years since the dealership left Wick Avenue, the buildings have been occupied as businesses, which either went out of business or relocated.

Your simplistic solution is that unless some private sector company, using their own cold hard cash doesn't invest in a building that it should either stand empty to rot away, or be demolished, and that might be fine and dandy for you, but that is not always the way it works in the real world.

[Rick Rowlands]

Have any major projects happened in Youngstown recently that did not involve government money?  Government now is the first stop for financing for any large project. Whether it be grants, loans, tax abatements, waiving fees, etc. it is all geared toward taxpayers paying for private business development. 

If there was a true private sector need for those buildings they would not be vacant.

[Towntalk]

Who says it has to be done with govt. money? By packaging it right, a commercial real estate company could lease out space. One such Real Estate Co. that comes to mind is the Edward J Lewis Co. which has a wealth of experience in such matters.

I agree that such projects should be in the hands of private enterprise, and not govt.

[Rick Rowlands]

So who would pay for it?  Are we to use govt. as a venture capital firm, stealing money from taxpayers and dumping it into this bunch of buildings? All the while continuing to ignore the potholes in the streets that are supposed to be govt.'s responsibility but can't be dealt with because govt. is so busy being real estate developers?

[Towntalk]

There are several former auto dealership buildings standing empty on Wick Avenue and Metro Monthly this month suggested that they be turned into office complexes which would be a great idea. One former Wick Avenue dealership is now a medical center so this is a workable idea that would greatly enhance that stretch of Wick Avenue and encourage further business activity.