August 28, 20213 yr $1.5 Million Renovation of Silver's Vogue Shop Building Planned https://businessjournaldaily.com/silvers-sold-owner-plans-1-5m-renovation-with-business-living-space/ Silver's Vogue Shop had been a staple of Downtown Youngstown for 49 years until it shut down in 2020, marking the closure of one of the last Downtown clothing stores. The plan calls for commercial spaces and luxury apartments. Four commercial spaces will be on the first floor and two in the basement. The developer hopes to keep space in the building cheap for local businesses, particularly minority owned businesses. The top floor will be converted into 20 "affordable" loft style apartment units - I'd be kind of surprised if none of the building is market rate since a luxury apartment market definitely exists in Downtown Youngstown, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
September 18, 20213 yr Coffee Shop coming to the Garden District: https://businessjournaldaily.com/cold-brew-manufacturer-plans-200k-plus-project-on-mahoning-ave-buildings/ This isn't huge news, but Voyager Coffee and Tea is moving their roasting facility and opening a cafe on Mahoning Avenue in the Garden District. They will be occupying two old buildings adjacent to Casa Ramirez. This will hopefully be a big step in revitalizing the Mahoning Avenue corridor which has seen an increase in popular new establishments, namely West Side Bowl. Unfortunately though, this location is several blocks away from the up-and-coming Rocky Ridge business district near West Side Bowl. I wish a coffee shop would have opened closer to there, but this location isn't bad either. It's walking distance from Mill Creek Park and a few restaurants, so perhaps this could spur further revitalization of this part of Mahoning Ave.
September 19, 20213 yr Deported Businessman Returns to Youngstown, Resumes Pig Iron Press Building Restoration Project: https://www.mahoningmatters.com/local-news/after-nearly-4-years-away-al-adi-is-getting-back-to-work-in-downtown-youngstown-here-are-his-plans-4346736 In feel good news, local businessman "Al" Adi Othman is back in Youngstown after his highly publicized 2018 deportation to Jordan! He was deported in 2018 after living in the US since the 70s due to him allegedly faking a marriage in the 70s. Othman owned several businesses in Youngstown and was an early re-investor in Downtown Youngstown with plans to revitalize the Pig Iron Press Building along the new Phelps Street pedestrian street. His deportation case came at the height of angst over ICE's deportation practices, and reached national news. His deportation was mourned by Democrats and Republicans alike due to his contributions to the local economy through job creation and him having to leave his family behind in Youngstown. A few weeks ago, Adi was allowed back into the US on a special visa that puts him on the path to citizenship. A lot has changed since he left, but his family held on to the Pig Iron Press Building, and he now announced that he is resuming the restoration plans of it! He's still planning to open a deli on the first floor with apartments on the upper floors. He also is considering a cigar bar to honor one of the building's original uses. When he returned to his former business Downtown to announce these plans, he was met by a small crowd of friends and former employees welcoming him back home.
October 8, 20213 yr Mill Creek Metroparks Aquires Land for New Nature Preserve in Springfield Township https://businessjournaldaily.com/mill-creek-metroparks-acquires-land-in-springfield/ Mill Creek Metroparks has purchased an 88 acre parcel of land in Springfield Township off of I-76. The land has some primitive trails already and includes a portion of a lake. Before the park bought it, it seems the property was used mostly for deer hunting and fishing. The new nature preserve will be known as Springfield Forest. The property will get a new parking lot, an improved trail network, wayfinding signage, a fishing dock/boardwalk, and ecological restoration. The project is set to be completed in fall of 2022. I'm pretty excited for this personally. Mahoning County already has some surprisingly great hiking options in Mill Creek Park, but it would be nice to see that expanded into the areas outside of the city more.
October 19, 20213 yr New Businesses Coming to South Side's Idora & Indian Village Neighborhoods https://www.wfmj.com/story/44997659/plans-for-yearround-fresh-food-market-in-youngstown-underway The YNDC has been renovating a plaza at the corner of Glenwood and Canfield in the Idora/Indian Village neighborhoods of the South Side. The building will have several retail spaces but a large part of the building is being set aside for the Glenwood Fresh Market, a small-scale grocery store aiming to bring healthy and fresh foods year round to what is otherwise a food desert. The only complaint I have is that they got rid of the rainbow color scheme of the building, but I guess that isn't necessarily a modern look! In addition, a new coffee shop known as Glenwood Grounds is coming to a two story brick building across the street! I don't have too much information about it, but it appears it will be owned and operated by a local church but will be open to all people. It looks like it will be a really beautiful space! I'm glad there's finally going to be some shops opening on this corner. I don't know how successful it will be as the neighborhood has a long way to go, but it has a lot of positive attributes. The Glenwood commercial district still has a decent amount of old buildings standing (many which have been stabilized or renovated by the YNDC), it's a 3-5 minute walk from Youngstown's biggest tourist attraction (Lanterman's Mill), and the neighborhoods to the west of Glenwood are improving or in some cases even beautiful and well-kept such as Indian Village. Additionally, the Foster Theater restoration a block away has the potential to bring another great business to the Glenwood corridor and the YNDC still has lots of plans for improvements to the corridor. This seems to be the neighborhood they've really put all their energy into over the past decade, so I hope it works out for them!
November 19, 20213 yr Rooftop Restaurant in 20 Federal’s Future? Friday, November 19, 2021 George Nelson YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A rooftop restaurant and observation deck, basement parking garage and an open space from the ground floor to the top of the building are all elements of a proposed reimagining of the 20 Federal Place building downtown. Jim Ambrose, director of business development for Desmone, the Pittsburgh-based architectural firm the city is working with, shared his company’s proposal for the city-owned building Thursday afternoon. https://businessjournaldaily.com/rooftop-restaurant-in-20-federals-future/
November 19, 20213 yr 5 hours ago, yanni_gogolak said: Rooftop Restaurant in 20 Federal’s Future? Friday, November 19, 2021 George Nelson YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A rooftop restaurant and observation deck, basement parking garage and an open space from the ground floor to the top of the building are all elements of a proposed reimagining of the 20 Federal Place building downtown. Jim Ambrose, director of business development for Desmone, the Pittsburgh-based architectural firm the city is working with, shared his company’s proposal for the city-owned building Thursday afternoon. https://businessjournaldaily.com/rooftop-restaurant-in-20-federals-future/ I like the ideas but I sort of doubt any of them will actually come into fruition. But I do think we could use at least a modernized market/food court area with some coworking spaces. I visited Springfield recently and they have a really beautiful food court coworking space combo in their Downtown; if Springfield can support such a development, I imagine Youngstown could as well.
November 21, 20213 yr Really ambitious! The basement parking garage seems most ambitious, but addresses the parking issue that seems to be the biggest issue for most folks in this area. Creating an atrium and demolishing the 3-story addition seems like it would significantly reduce the leasable square-footage. But, maybe that's balanced out by making the remaining area more desirable. It seems to have worked at the Commerce Building.
November 23, 20213 yr On 11/21/2021 at 12:18 PM, JRC said: Really ambitious! The basement parking garage seems most ambitious, but addresses the parking issue that seems to be the biggest issue for most folks in this area. Creating an atrium and demolishing the 3-story addition seems like it would significantly reduce the leasable square-footage. But, maybe that's balanced out by making the remaining area more desirable. It seems to have worked at the Commerce Building. I would love to see a new parking garage on the surface lot on the corner of Commerce and Wick, across from this building. There actually used to be one there decades ago, but it's still a good spot for a new one. I really hope at least some of their plan pans out though. Having a permanent market/upscale food court would be a great attraction for Downtown. It may also encourage some restaurants to open a downtown location in the food court if they are maybe too scared to open a full Downtown location.
November 23, 20213 yr Fifth Avenue Improvements Completed: This is kind of old news by now, but I didn't have any pictures of the finished improvements to post here. Luckily, the city has posted some pictures! In case you didn't know, Fifth Avenue was formerly an aging 5-6 lane road which links Downtown and Youngstown State University. As part of the city's recent SMART2 project to rebuild Downtown infrastructure, Fifth Avenue was reduce to two lanes of traffic with a multi-use bike and walk path, landscaping, bus pullouts, and more. It looks so much better and it's great that it will finally be safe to cross Fifth Avenue or to bike along it now that traffic has been slowed down. It really helps improve the look of the city. Eventually, a second small phase will be done which will do similar streetscaping from YSU campus up to Stambaugh Auditorium - in my dream world, they'd continue the landscaped median all the way up to the beautiful existing boulevard at Crandall Park! BEFORE: AFTER: BEFORE: AFTER: South Phelps Street Progress: Additionally, work on the rebuilding of South Phelps Street has been progressing really quickly and will hopefully be completed before the new year. Sadly, the street will not be pedestrian only like North Phelps Street, but it will only have one narrow lane of traffic and will sort of be adopting the pedestrian prioritized "living street" model. The traffic lane, as seen below, is actually a textured concrete surface which will hopefully emphasize that this is meant to be a largely pedestrian area for cars that do not need to use this street. There are two blocks being rebuild, so once the project is done, there will be a contiguous pedestrian corridor between the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater/Wean Park, Downtown's entertainment district, and YSU. Hopefully the block between Boardman and Federal can be livened up a bit with this project - there's already a new vintage store on the corner of S. Phelps and Boardman and apparently there's someone planning to reopen the storefronts facing Phelps on the old Silver's building.
November 23, 20213 yr Good stuff coming out of my hometown! The small wins happening in downtown Youngstown and Warren give me some hope that the region can regain vitality in the urban centers.
December 6, 20213 yr On 11/22/2021 at 11:25 PM, Dblcut3 said: Fifth Avenue Progress: Big improvement. A protected bikeway along here would be nice. There appears to be room.
December 14, 20213 yr City Council & Economic Development Director Debate Cancelled Dorian Books Project: https://businessjournaldaily.com/council-economic-development-director-debate-canceled-dorian-books-project/ Unfortunately, and to the surprise of very few I'm sure, the project to restore the old Dorian Books building into retail and apartment space is dead on arrival. The announcement has caused tensions to run high within the city as various groups are pointing fingers at each other, with both sides alleging a long-standing lack of communication between the Economic Development Department and City Council. The Economic Development Department is blaming City Council for tabling the legislation which would extend a loan to the developer who wanted the project cleared immediately, while City Council blames the Economic Department for not giving them enough information beforehand. But whoever's at fault, everyone looses as this could have been a pivotal project for an up-and-coming but struggling business district which has seen several closures since COVID. To make matters worse, City Council began to debate with each other again when the topic of road diets and streetscaping in Downtown (around EGCC campus) came up. About half of council believes Downtown investment is most important to create a strong center of the city which results in development filtering out into the other neighborhoods. The other half of council seems to have finally hit their limit and think no more money should be spent on Downtown projects. Overall, it's a bit of a mess and it's quite possible that this project gets cancelled to. Either way, the City of Youngstown seems to have a big communication problem between different departments as this seems to be a constant point of contention from just about everyone working for the city.
December 17, 20213 yr On 12/14/2021 at 1:20 PM, Dblcut3 said: City Council & Economic Development Director Debate Cancelled Dorian Books Project: https://businessjournaldaily.com/council-economic-development-director-debate-canceled-dorian-books-project/ Unfortunately, and to the surprise of very few I'm sure, the project to restore the old Dorian Books building into retail and apartment space is dead on arrival. The announcement has caused tensions to run high within the city as various groups are pointing fingers at each other, with both sides alleging a long-standing lack of communication between the Economic Development Department and City Council. The Economic Development Department is blaming City Council for tabling the legislation which would extend a loan to the developer who wanted the project cleared immediately, while City Council blames the Economic Department for not giving them enough information beforehand. But whoever's at fault, everyone looses as this could have been a pivotal project for an up-and-coming but struggling business district which has seen several closures since COVID. To make matters worse, City Council began to debate with each other again when the topic of road diets and streetscaping in Downtown (around EGCC campus) came up. About half of council believes Downtown investment is most important to create a strong center of the city which results in development filtering out into the other neighborhoods. The other half of council seems to have finally hit their limit and think no more money should be spent on Downtown projects. Overall, it's a bit of a mess and it's quite possible that this project gets cancelled to. Either way, the City of Youngstown seems to have a big communication problem between different departments as this seems to be a constant point of contention from just about everyone working for the city. (couldn't read the article; it's behind a pay wall) I'm disappointed that a project isn't moving forward. I feel it's likely that any development of this building will require help from the city, because the equity in the property isn't there yet, and any development will have a hard time getting traditional financing. But people have soured on the idea of the city offering help, because of the Chill Can project. Most of my neighbors have assumed that the developer was fly-by-night, and the fact that they killed the project so quickly after this set-back, only reinforces that opinion.
December 17, 20213 yr 18 hours ago, JRC said: (couldn't read the article; it's behind a pay wall) I'm disappointed that a project isn't moving forward. I feel it's likely that any development of this building will require help from the city, because the equity in the property isn't there yet, and any development will have a hard time getting traditional financing. But people have soured on the idea of the city offering help, because of the Chill Can project. Most of my neighbors have assumed that the developer was fly-by-night, and the fact that they killed the project so quickly after this set-back, only reinforces that opinion. If only YSU had an interest in preserving old buildings instead of just tearing them down.... It would be amazing if they were to reinvest on that block to bring life back to the Dorian Books Building and the old fire house. There's a large student population on that corner, it makes a lot of sense for them to invest in that block to make Elm Street a more welcoming and attractive place. But sadly they seem to have no interest in this and if they acquired these properties, they'd probably just knock them down anyways.
January 8, 20223 yr Youngstown’s oldest church awaits wrecking ball JAN 6, 2022 DAVID SKOLNICK YOUNGSTOWN — The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown has decided to demolish the former Welsh Congregational Church, the oldest house of worship still standing in the city. https://www.vindy.com/news/local-news/2022/01/youngstowns-oldest-church-awaits-wrecking-ball/ Sad news. The report seems incomplete, though. Everyone seems to have the "oh well, we tried" attitude, but it wasn't explained why the third location wasn't viable, or what was preventing a move there. If there was no clear outline of where/when/how the church was going to be moved, I don't blame the diocese for finally moving forward with demolition. They've already waited at least four years.
January 17, 20223 yr On 1/8/2022 at 9:58 AM, JRC said: Youngstown’s oldest church awaits wrecking ball JAN 6, 2022 DAVID SKOLNICK YOUNGSTOWN — The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown has decided to demolish the former Welsh Congregational Church, the oldest house of worship still standing in the city. https://www.vindy.com/news/local-news/2022/01/youngstowns-oldest-church-awaits-wrecking-ball/ Sad news. The report seems incomplete, though. Everyone seems to have the "oh well, we tried" attitude, but it wasn't explained why the third location wasn't viable, or what was preventing a move there. If there was no clear outline of where/when/how the church was going to be moved, I don't blame the diocese for finally moving forward with demolition. They've already waited at least four years. It's ridiculous in my opinion. I don't think the diocese even wants to build anything there besides a green space. Which let's face it, no one will use that green space. It could have had so much potential as a unique events space or something, but oh well. It's ridiculous that it couldn't have just been moved to Wick Park like originally planned but I guess one person on the board had a problem with that.
February 2, 20223 yr City, Downtown Stakeholders Oppose First Energy Power Line Proposal on Youngstown Amphitheater Property https://businessjournaldaily.com/city-downtown-stakeholders-concerned-over-power-line-proposal/ So this news has pretty much made my blood boil... First Energy is planning on building a six mile transmission line along the Mahoning River which will go right behind the new Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater. Just as the city has finished investing millions into cleaning up the former brownfield into a new amphitheater and park, there are now plans to run power lines right through the property. The city is obviously extremely opposed to this as it has the potential to really hurt the aesthetics of the amphitheater and park. It hasn't been approved yet, but frankly I don't have much hope in First Energy caring too much about it. Just imagine how bad it would look to have 60-135 foot tall power lines blocking this view:
April 6, 20223 yr Sorry for the poor quality images, but there's some progress on road diets for two major Downtown streets: South Phelps Street between Federal and Front (two blocks) has been converted into a "living street" model in which one way traffic is still allowed but highly discouraged. I'm not sure why they didn't just go ahead and block the road off to cars, but this isn't a bad deal either. The street parking has been removed so there's significantly more pedestrian space. And because the road is the same elevation as the sidewalks, it can easily be closed off for pedestrian only space for events. This is significant because it completes a pedestrian oriented corridor between the Wean Park Amphitheater and the bars and restaurants along the new Phelps Street Gateway pedestrian street. Additionally, you can keep walking beyond that up the public steps to YSU's campus! Also, the Silver's Vogue Shop Building (to the left in the first picture) has been sold, but I haven't seen any work done on it. I believe the plan was to turn it into a local business incubator of sorts where local businesses can set up shop there for a decent price. Secondly, work on Front Street has begun! I'm pretty surprised that they started working on it already. This is a much needed improvement which will transform a bloated and crumbling 5 lane road into a two-lane road with a beautiful two-way separated bike lane! I hope they actually make this bike lane nice and don't just throw down concrete and ugly orange cones as barriers and call it a day like they seemingly have done on Mahoning Avenue. Either way, this is a big deal for bikers as it means you can now get from Mill Creek Park to the center of Downtown and beyond almost solely by protected bike lane. This project is important of course because it is the road in front of the amphitheater - my dream is that eventually this street will see a new apartment building or something! It's a great location but most of the road is only being occupied by ugly surface parking lots. The rendering below shows the corner of South Phelps and Front, which shows what both of these projects will hopefully look like. The Front Street project is pretty massive and covers a 6 block span between South Avenue east of the Covelli Center and Vindicator Square/Marshall Street. After Front Street and South Phelps are done, the next project is a road diet for Commerce Street, then Rayen Avenue by YSU, then finally Federal Street.
April 20, 20223 yr This isn't really big news, but I found a cool site plan for the Commercial Street and Federal Street portions of the SMART2 road diet project. A cool part of this plan is that the Federal Street landscaped median will be extended all the way from Fifth the Commerce which is really cool! Also, preliminary work has begun on the water pipes under Commerce Street to get ready for construction to begin. I'm glad things are moving so quickly! Hopefully when it's all done, Downtown can get a big comeback because it's struggled a lot post-COVID. Here's the pdf for the plan.
April 21, 20223 yr Demonstrating what I was saying about the sharp decline in Downtown business since the pandemic, this article just came out today about the indoor food court at 20 Federal Place being virtually empty now. Today, a popular long-standing Lebanese restaurant shut down. The article also says how the coffee shop, pizza shop, and vegan restaurant inside the food court all shut down recently as well. Now the only thing left in there is a Subway and a small lunch restaurant. To add insult to injury, it looks like the Lebanese restaurant is planning to relocate to Boardman. Not that I blame them by any means, but it's yet another blow to Downtown. Downtown was in great shape pre-COVID, but now it's barely holding on, especially as about half the bars never reopened. That combined with remote work has made it unviable to open a business Downtown unless it's right next to YSU. I have hope that it will turn around, but it's pretty sad to see.
May 1, 20223 yr Sadly, I'm a contributor to that decline. I'm now officially a full-time work from home employee. I went into the office a month or so ago, and visited the food court for lunch. I was sad to see that the Pizza Joes had closed. I love chili-dogs from Capitol Grille, though. Hopefully, with the lack of competition, there's enough business left to keep them--and the Subway--open.
May 2, 20223 yr Monday, May 2, 2022 George Nelson New Owner Plans New Look for Rica Building YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The new owner of the Rica Building downtown plans to convert its upper levels into apartments and commercial space. He has no plans to relocate the Soap Gallery art studio that has occupied its ground floor since 2015. But what Tim Huber does plan is a colorful new mural that would be painted on two sides of the building. Huber, an investor in several health care businesses as well as part owner of the Prima Cucina Italiana restaurant downtown... https://businessjournaldaily.com/new-owner-plans-new-look-for-rica-building/?utm_source=Youngstown+Publishing+Company&utm_campaign=78a1383ebb-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_10_8_2020_10_2_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d70048470c-78a1383ebb-383892683
May 2, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, yanni_gogolak said: Monday, May 2, 2022 George Nelson New Owner Plans New Look for Rica Building YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The new owner of the Rica Building downtown plans to convert its upper levels into apartments and commercial space. He has no plans to relocate the Soap Gallery art studio that has occupied its ground floor since 2015. But what Tim Huber does plan is a colorful new mural that would be painted on two sides of the building. Huber, an investor in several health care businesses as well as part owner of the Prima Cucina Italiana restaurant downtown... https://businessjournaldaily.com/new-owner-plans-new-look-for-rica-building/?utm_source=Youngstown+Publishing+Company&utm_campaign=78a1383ebb-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_10_8_2020_10_2_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d70048470c-78a1383ebb-383892683 I'm not really a fan of the gigantic mural planned, but I guess there already is a huge mural covering the building anyways. Hopefully it turns out looking nice!
May 2, 20223 yr I'm shocked to read about the sale of the RICA building! I wonder where Mr. Mills has moved to? I'm also happy to read the word "condo". If they sell quickly, maybe others will follow?
May 6, 20223 yr On 5/2/2022 at 5:27 PM, JRC said: I'm shocked to read about the sale of the RICA building! I wonder where Mr. Mills has moved to? I'm also happy to read the word "condo". If they sell quickly, maybe others will follow? There's a big untapped market for downtown apartments and condos in my opinion. To my knowledge, every existing apartment building is fully leased or sold pretty much. My dream is one day Downtown improves enough to justify a new condo/apartment building on Front Street overlooking the amphitheater!
May 22, 20223 yr On 5/6/2022 at 4:38 PM, Dblcut3 said: There's a big untapped market for downtown apartments and condos in my opinion. To my knowledge, every existing apartment building is fully leased or sold pretty much. My dream is one day Downtown improves enough to justify a new condo/apartment building on Front Street overlooking the amphitheater! It is good to see Youngstown investing so much in its downtown. A lot of other medium-sized cities are too. Once this trend goes far enough, I hope walkable neighborhoods will become affordable to everyone. The significant lack of supply is why the few walkable places that do exist in the US are only affordable to the wealthy.
June 2, 20223 yr There's been a fair amount of development on the east side of Boardman around the South Avenue I-680 exit recently. At the former K-Mart site, a new plaza was built recently which is home to Mission BBQ and Coolah, a fast casual Indian food chain. Recently, Condado announced that they'll be occupying the middle spot. They already put in a nice garage-door style facade for the store which will allow for the front patio to be more connected with the rest of the restaurant. I'm pretty surprised that Condado decided to open a Youngstown area location - I wish it was in Downtown, but this works too! Next door to this plaza, there is a new Swenson's being built which is Swenson's first restaurant in the Mahoning Valley. Down the road on South Avenue across from Sam's Club is a new development called "The Enclave at Boardman" which plans to bring over 40 townhouses to the area. The 3 bedroom units are currently listed for $245,000.
June 7, 20223 yr On 6/1/2022 at 9:06 PM, Dblcut3 said: Recently, Condado announced that they'll be occupying the middle spot. They already put in a nice garage-door style facade for the store which will allow for the front patio to be more connected with the rest of the restaurant. I suppose this comment is my city/urban bias showing, please don't take it personally, but what is the appeal of dining outside with a view of: the parking lot, traffic on 224, and the McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A and gas station, across the street?
June 8, 20223 yr 22 hours ago, JRC said: I suppose this comment is my city/urban bias showing, please don't take it personally, but what is the appeal of dining outside with a view of: the parking lot, traffic on 224, and the McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A and gas station, across the street? I couldn't agree more. I grew up in Boardman and the northern parts (the older parts) have some charm, but the bulk of the township is so painfully suburban. I can't imagine why people find sitting outside on 224 to be charming, but hey, some people do I guess! I wish it could have opened in Downtown Youngstown or something instead. Or that Boardman could make a main-street type area along Market Street near the South Side with restaurants like this.
June 11, 20223 yr In yet another blow to Downtown Youngstown, OH Donut Company (formerly One Hot Cookie) is leaving Downtown and moving to Poland.... Downtown has really been struggling post-COVID which is a huge shame considering how vibrant the downtown area was becoming before the lockdowns. https://businessjournaldaily.com/oh-donut-closes-downtown-youngstown-location/
June 12, 20223 yr ^That is sad. But, the way the story is "spun" makes a difference, IMO. According to them, (their Facebook posts) they were already planning to open a third location in Poland. But, more recently decided to close the downtown location due to the mentioned lack activity downtown, but also the seemingly endless street construction and little help/communication/cooperation from the city. It's a subtle difference, but I think it's worth noting. I have the impression from a friend who lived in Cleveland during the construction of the Healthline, that the same kind of thing happened to businesses along Euclid Ave. Let's hope that we can get past the pandemic slump, and, once all of the infrastructure updates are completed, businesses move back in.
June 27, 20222 yr Steelite Anounces Downtown Youngstown Headquarters https://businessjournaldaily.com/steelite-announces-youngstown-hq-plans-to-maintain-new-castle-operations/ In an increasingly rare positive Downtown-Youngstown story, tableware supplier Steelite has announced that they intend to move their corporate headquarters to Downtown Youngstown from New Castle. Steelite currently operates a showroom in the Commerce Building on East Federal Street. They have entered an agreement with the Youngstown Business Incubator to occupy a large part of their campus, taking up most of the Taft Technology Center and second floor of the adjoining Semple Building. The headquarters is slated to bring 70 new jobs to Downtown Youngstown, which is huge given how many offices never went back to in-person work. Steelite says they came to this decision due to the great response their clients had to their Downtown Youngstown showroom location and the proximity to the DoubleTree Hotel, which is within walking distance. Overall I'm pretty excited for this - Downtown Youngstown desperately needs stuff like this to happen.
July 3, 20222 yr Penguin City Brewery Opens Downtown: https://businessjournaldaily.com/the-taps-are-flowing-at-penguin-city-beer/ Penguin City Brewery has opened its new taproom in a restored warehouse on East Federal Street on the eastern edge of Downtown. The building will also be home to DOPE Cider House which will open in August as well as Cockeye BBQ which will open in November.
July 8, 20222 yr Electric Bikeshare Coming to Youngstown https://businessjournaldaily.com/design-review-approves-concept-for-bike-share-stations/?fbclid=IwAR21UmOIo_SEC5pw2B-p41VIIRXwqNf7K78E4QSsjg2k3egPxP6Hs4WtUQk A local electric bikeshare startup, YoGo, will be bringing 15-30 electric bikes to three (maybe four?) docking stations in the Downtown area. The three planned stations are: Penguin City Brewery/Youngstown Flea area, Realty Tower/Central Square, and West Federal/YBI area. There is also another planned for Wick Park (as mentioned below) but wasn't mentioned in the article. Hopefully they open one up at YSU because if not, that's a major oversight. New Bike Shop Opens in Wick Park https://businessjournaldaily.com/new-bike-shop-on-wick-park-gets-up-to-speed/ A new bike shop, CycWard, has opened up in the former RIchard Brown Methodist Church on Elm Street in the Wick Park neighborhood. This will be the first bike shop in city limits in recent memory. The article says that eventually the store will sell coffee, which I'm not sure how I feel about that considering there's already a great coffee shop one block away (Culturehouse Coffee) and I doubt the area can support two of them. Hopefully they stay primarily as a bike shop - but either way, the space is beautiful! There will also be a docking station for the new YoGo Electric Bike Share which is coming to Youngstown soon and CycWard will help maintain them.
July 9, 20222 yr On 6/10/2022 at 8:14 PM, Dblcut3 said: In yet another blow to Downtown Youngstown, OH Donut Company (formerly One Hot Cookie) is leaving Downtown and moving to Poland.... Downtown has really been struggling post-COVID which is a huge shame considering how vibrant the downtown area was becoming before the lockdowns. I think the remedy to this problem is more residential development in downtowns. For decades the model in most cities has been about making them places for employers and commuters. In order to make downtowns desirable, car traffic has to be reduced. Y'town is making progress in in this area. Fingers crosse🤞
July 9, 20222 yr 4 hours ago, gildone said: I think the remedy to this problem is more residential development in downtowns. For decades the model in most cities has been about making them places for employers and commuters. In order to make downtowns desirable, car traffic has to be reduced. Y'town is making progress in in this area. Fingers crosse🤞 I think it looked like the Gallagher Building is finally being renovated last time I drove past - that will hopefully add more apartments. But yeah, we desperately need more Downtown residential. It appears that Downtown residential units are almost completely full, so the demand is there. Currently there's like 2-3 highrises for sale on Central Square, I wish someone would just buy them and turn them into apartments or just devote a much smaller area to offices. The part that really concerns me is that a lot of the bars never came back after COVID, I just hope that trend starts to reverse itself. In a way, this is a perfect time to rebuild all the Downtown streets because of this, so hopefully after it's done Downtown will get a second wind.
July 10, 20222 yr @Dblcut3Other downtowns are still doing well, like Kent and Sandusky. I think downtown Y'town will come back. The city is doing a lot of things right.
July 27, 20222 yr Mixed-Use Renovation Proposed for Huntington Building Wednesday, July 27, 2022 George Nelson YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city’s Design Review Committee will hear a proposal to convert the Huntington National Bank Building downtown into a mixed-use space. Project architect Annissa Neider of A Neider Architecture LLC, Canfield, will present the plans to the review panel, which is scheduled to meet next Tuesday. According to the documents submitted to the city, floors one through four of the building would remain as commercial space, while floors five through 13 would be converted for residential units. Each residential floor would have eight units, containing a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units for a total of 72 apartments. https://businessjournaldaily.com/mixed-use-renovation-proposed-for-huntington-building/?fbclid=IwAR2z2Cmz1VypzkTpa3OqZNi_RfLS4AuMIRKhXcNzxG-O0Ac328hW7gR3YPs
July 29, 20222 yr On 7/27/2022 at 5:15 PM, JRC said: Mixed-Use Renovation Proposed for Huntington Building Wednesday, July 27, 2022 George Nelson YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city’s Design Review Committee will hear a proposal to convert the Huntington National Bank Building downtown into a mixed-use space. Project architect Annissa Neider of A Neider Architecture LLC, Canfield, will present the plans to the review panel, which is scheduled to meet next Tuesday. According to the documents submitted to the city, floors one through four of the building would remain as commercial space, while floors five through 13 would be converted for residential units. Each residential floor would have eight units, containing a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units for a total of 72 apartments. https://businessjournaldaily.com/mixed-use-renovation-proposed-for-huntington-building/?fbclid=IwAR2z2Cmz1VypzkTpa3OqZNi_RfLS4AuMIRKhXcNzxG-O0Ac328hW7gR3YPs Great to see this news come through yesterday. This in conjunction with the 20 Federal Place redevelopment efforts and the current construction work taking place to redevelop the Gallagher Building are all positive things for Downtown Youngstown!
August 3, 20222 yr City supports plans to renovate historic downtown Huntington building into apartment units https://www.wfmj.com/story/47012191/city-supports-plans-to-renovate-historic-downtown-huntington-building-into-apartment-units Article and video on plans to renovate the Huntington Building in Downtown Youngstown.
August 9, 20222 yr Selah Owner Plans Boutique Hotels & Event Space in Downtown Struthers https://businessjournaldaily.com/selah-owner-plans-event-center-boutique-hotel/ The owner of the longstanding Selah Restaurant in Downtown Struthers has purchased the building next to his restaurant (126 S. Bridge Street) and hopes to turn it into a tiny four or five room boutique hotel with an event space on the first floor. The hotel would be aimed towards visitors to baseball tournaments at Bob Cene Field as well as other Struthers visitors who want to stay in the city rather than have to drive all the way to Boardman for lodging. He is also considering a retractable cover over the alleyway which runs between the two buildings, which he currently uses as outdoor seating space.
November 7, 20222 yr I was in town recently and stopped to see the progress on the Front Street road diet... the dedicated bike lanes are looking quite nice!
November 8, 20222 yr ^Looking good. The road diet projects around downtown Youngstown have been great. Commerce seems like the next good candidate.
November 8, 20222 yr 6 hours ago, ink said: ^Looking good. The road diet projects around downtown Youngstown have been great. Commerce seems like the next good candidate. Commerce's road diet is already in full swing actually!
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