5.13 | 2008
Downtown to get upscale housing
The mayor said he's considering moving into the downtown apartment building.
YOUNGSTOWN — The phrases "penthouse apartments" and "downtown Youngstown" aren't often found together, but developer Lou Frangos is about to change that.
He is starting massive renovations that will turn the vacant, dilapidated Realty Towers into an upscale apartment complex. On the 13th floor, the two largest and most deluxe units — the penthouse apartments — will have a bird's eye view of the downtown square.
"It's just fabulous," said Bill Sperlazza, development project manager for Frangos, as he looked from the top floor windows at the traffic and pedestrians below. "Without overexaggerating, it's almost breath-taking."
Frangos, a Cleveland developer who owns several downtown properties, is staging a ceremony Wednesday to kick off the $8.3 million renovation of Realty Towers at Federal and Market streets.
Mayor Jay Williams is doing more than giving verbal support for the project. He has asked his wife, Sonja, about moving in.
"She was not adverse to it," he said. " We could potentially take up residence there. If I can persuade her, we'll move. If not, I'll be jealous of those living there."
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4.29 | 2008
 The mayor calls Frangos the 'Donald Trump of the Mahoning Valley.'
YOUNGSTOWN — Despite a sluggish economy, Louis A. Frangos said he strongly believes the city's downtown is on the cusp of a major turnaround.
That's why the real estate developer purchased another major downtown property, the Chase Bank Building at 6 W. Federal St., for $775,000.
Frangos' companies, particularly USA Parking Systems, already own or co-own 10 downtown buildings — including Realty Towers, the Plaza Parking Deck, the Stambaugh Building and the First National Bank Tower — and several parking lots.
Frangos, of Cleveland, is one of the major nonpublic owners of property in the city's downtown.
"With the purchase of this latest property, the Chase Bank Building, we continue to demonstrate and express our confidence in the future and redevelopment of not only downtown Youngstown but also to the entire [Mahoning] Valley," he said. The 135,298-square-foot building, constructed in 1925, is 40.6 percent occupied. Its anchor tenant is JPMorgan Chase Bank, which occupies 25,064 square feet.
"It's a great, great building," Frangos said. "I'm excited about the acquisition. It's an exceptionally good deal."
The deal closed Friday, he said.
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2008
 County commissioners paid $22 million for the property, where they planned to build government offices. They invested about $15 million more before abandoning the plan and setting a minimum price of $35 million to sell.
K&D offered the county $35,005,000, and commissioners are expected to snap it up. In the end, the county will have lost about $3 million on the transaction.
Debate continued Tuesday about the prudence of the county's Ameritrust purchase.
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2008
College Town - Creating a District
Situated along one of Cleveland's most recognizable arterial streets, the development of a College Town at Cleveland State University is conceived to take advantage of it's critical location and surrounding synergy that is now gaining momentum. Euclid Avenue's history has spanned from it's early 19th century growth and wealth struggles through the Great Depression, depreciation and change in scale in the mid-20th century, to its current state of reinvention and redevelopment.
Once heralded as "The Showplace of America", Euclid Avenue's "Millionaires' Row" was home to many of Cleveland's wealthy entrepreneurs and successful business. Linking Public Square to the eastern suburbs, Euclid Avenue's importance as a connector has remained as its condition and overall aesthetic has changed throughout its rich history.
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