Progress continues on the 20 Federal Place building in Downtown Youngstown. 

With construction beginning in April, Youngstown City Council voted to continue to work with a development company throughout the process. 

A decision was also made on the future of the DoubleTree in Downtown Youngstown after it failed to pay thousands of dollars back to loan providers.  

Upcoming asbestos removal and demolition to the back of 20 Federal Place is planned for later this month as council continues to move the redevelopment project forward. This comes after the council unanimously voted to spend $75k for the provision of technical assistance and strategic counsel on the redevelopment of the building to a St. Louis-based firm.

The city has already given $100,000 dollars to Steadfast City Economic & Community Partners in the past year and a half, an economic and community development company that helps communities like Youngstown.

"We have a total invested project of almost $9.2 million dollars at 20 Federal, $2.2 million being what the city put towards that project under the match requirement," said Kyle Miasek, Youngstown Finance Director. "Those would be our outside costs associated with the redevelopment of the project."

"Steadfast City Economic & Community Partners have been very beneficial with this project by giving us guidance and understanding of working large projects with the city, how it collaborates with other partners, and how to successfully move forward," Miasek said.  

"The first thing is going to be a crane out there to remove things from the roof as part of this process," explained Mike Ray, 4th Ward Councilman. "So as you peel back all those layers, especially anyone who owns an old home when you start doing a construction project, then you open up the guts and always find something different from what you expect. So, we'll see how that unravels."

From a nearly 7 million dollar Ohio Brownfield Remediation grant and a $40k ARC grant, Miasek explained to 21 News the city has matched $2.2 million dollars of its own money to go towards the project. Those dollars go to Desmone Architects and HP Group, a historical preservation company.

After a third reading, city council voted in favor of the loan restructuring agreement with the DoubleTree in Downtown Youngstown.

"This might not be our ideal dance partner but we're stuck in a dance with them," Ray explained. "We've all expressed it's important to downtown and it's important to the economic development."

Officials tell 21 News the estimated cost of the total 20 Federal Place project is hovering around $96 million dollars. The city has also applied for a historical tax credit which could earn the project anywhere from $5-8 million. If the city is successful in earning that, there will be an additional $10 million given at the federal level. 

"We won't know the final price until we sit down with new redevelopers and they give us their vision of what they think the building could be transformed into," Miasek said.

Public Works Director Chuck Shasho said at council the fire escape improvements at city hall continues. They're in the process of removing debris and priming fixtures and the necessary repairs will be done from there. He gives the project a 3 week time zone from here.