The Block With Nothing Happening

[Sharonite]

That block looks terrible and is a black eye for Fifth Avenue.  The city should go after Select Specialty to demolish those houses.  The only good thing, I suppose, is that the site is in a good location and could be developed in a number of ways.

[Rick Rowlands]

The properties sold for that amount since there was a demand for that property. 

[ForumManager]

I visited a friend, Becky who lived in the house on the left.  I served on a committee with her  She was a wonderful person, made really great blintzes and latkes. She was always fussing over everyone, making sure they were comfortable.  The house seemed original at that time - no remodeling done that I could see. The sink in the kitchen was from the early part of the century. The house is larger than it looks. She died a few years ago.  It is very sad to see it in that condition.

[Sharonite]

Select Specialty Hospital is currently located inside St. E's.  Personally, I'd rather see them move into an existing building (for example, the old Tod Children's Hospital) than build a new facility from the ground up.

I believe this property is currently listed for sale.

[jay]

WOW! How could those homes be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Now the north side can claim to have the most expensive stripped out houses.  What a shame.

Who is the councilman for the ward where these houses are located?

[Glenna]

I checked the Mahoning County Auditor website and this is what I found

  Address       amt paid     date
836 Fifth Ave    65,000      7/2006
848 Fifth Ave   330,000     8/2006
850 Fifth Ave                    8/2006
852 Fifth Ave   200,000     7/2006
854 Fifth Ave   290,000     7/2006
858 Fifth Ave                    7/2006

SELECT MEDICAL PROPERTY 
VENTURES LLC 
P.O. BOX 871 
KIRKLAND, WA 98083 USA 

I am not sure if some of the properties were sold as one purchase. I had to look at the transfers and I could have gotten something wrong.  All I know is I wish I would have sold one of them! It looks like 854 Fifth was bought for 4,200 on 9/19/2004 and sold again for 290,000. Maybe I did get something wrong on the purchase prices.
At one time they were beautiful homes. I though someone was putting money into them to rent. Shows you what I know.

[jay]

What was the most recent sale price for each of these homes?  With the structures stripped, maybe they could be purchased for a reasonable price.

Does anyone know the addresses of the homes?

[northside lurker]

I'm not saying it's OK.  But I'm wondering what the city could have done to prevent it, if the houses were sold by private entities to another private entity.  Basically, the company that now owns them is responsible for this eyesore, and should be responsible for fixing the problem.

Maybe the company responsible for this mess, if they're not interested in developing/restoring the properties anymore, could give the properties to the city (or county) who could then implement a program similar to what I linked to above?

[Shar]

I believe they were stripped by the company that purchased all of the properties to prepare them to be torn down.  That company is now trying to sell the property.  So...we now have a new eyesore on Fifth Ave, a block north of YSU's stadium and I guess its OK because the owner did it???  I don't know???

[northside lurker]

Was the stripping of the houses legal, or was it theft?

In the end, if the city finds themselves owning these properties, this might be a good opportunity to implement a program to sell the properties for $1 to individuals interested in restoring them.

See:
http://talesfromnorthside.blogspot.com/2007/07/homesteading-in-youngstown.html
-or, something similar-
http://ytownrenaissance.blogspot.com/2007/08/nothing-down-0-month-hammer-required.html

I'd be very interested in the brick house on the right side of the picture, if I could buy it for $1.

[Shar]

My understanding is that the medical facility is not moving forward and the property is now for sale.  It's a shame that these old homes...all of which were occupied are now stripped and sitting there boarded up.  How does the City let things like this happen?   

[jay]

Nothing is happening with the block of homes along Fifth Avenue just south of Stambaugh Auditorium.  A medical facility was supposed to have been built on the large parcel of land assembled by purchasing the entire block.  The residential structures were stripped out and boarded.  Now the homes are just sitting there. 

A photo is below.