YOUNGSTOWN – More than two weeks after the deadline, the city received a second formal proposal to purchase and redevelop the 20 Federal Place building in downtown.
Although the formal deadline was June 1st and the city received a proposal from the Downtown Development Group in Warren that day, there is a line in the call for proposals that says, “Proposals received after the deadline are reviewed until a redevelopment agency is selected. ”
Pittsburgh-based Desmone Architects, who had expressed interest in the project and asked for more time to submit an official proposal, filed a Wednesday, said Doug Rasmussen, president and CEO of Steadfast City Economic and Community Partners, the design firm in St. Louis and oversee the redevelopment of 20 Federal Square.
“Since no developer has been selected yet, another company could submit and if so, the city has the right to consider / consider the proposal or not,” said Rasmussen.
He added, “I don’t expect any additional suggestions at this point.”
Mark Marvin, President and Owner of Downtown Development, said, “The city’s decision is beyond my control. I don’t think it’s a fair process if a deadline is set and not met, but that is the city’s decision, not mine. As mentioned before, I will let the process go and if we are (not) selected, I wish the renovation team the best of luck and look forward to seeing their finished product. “
Rasmussen said the original schedule for selecting a remediation company for the project remains in place with interviews in July and August, presentations to the city council in August, and a company selected that month. An agreement would be finalized by October.
The project already had some problems.
Hunter Morrison, the city’s planning advisor, initially told a reporter that no formal proposals for the project had been submitted by the June 1 deadline. Downtown Development and Desmone had only expressed interest and wanted more time to submit official proposals, he said.
After reading a June 6 article in The Vindicator that did not deal with any formal proposals, Marvin contacted a reporter and city official and asked why his company’s filing was not viewed as such.
After speaking with Morrison and looking at the company’s filing, the city’s legal department found that Downtown Development had submitted a formal proposal and apologized for the miscommunication.
Marvin also said he was concerned that “there was a deadline and the city was extending it,” and if other companies make suggestions, Downtown Development could “adjust our thinking process and see if we can move forward with our proposal.”
Downtown Development Group has renovated properties in Warren including the Robins Theater, the Mahoning Building and CharBenay’s Wine on the River.
Desmone is largely an architecture firm and has worked with other companies on projects.
The city’s legal department has declined to suggest, citing the Ohio Revised Code, that materials be provided “in response to a competitive solicitation” by the “date the public office announces the award of the contract “Is not viewed as a public record or someone decides not to award it.
The city bought 20 Federal Place in November 2004 after Phar-Mor, a national retail company, went out of business. The property at 20 W. Federal St. was the Phar-Mor Center, the company’s headquarters. Before that, it was the flagship of the Strouss department store for several decades.
The city has tried unsuccessfully on a number of occasions to sell the 332,000 square meter, 95-year-old building.
The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded Steadfast City a $ 40,000 contract last year to provide the city with technical and marketing support for 20 federal places.
Steadfast presented a $ 34.5 million redevelopment proposal in March for the downtown building with apartments mixed with office space on the top four floors, an upgraded food court on the first floor, and technology firms, small businesses, and meeting rooms on the second and fourth floors third floor with third bowling alley, bar and malt shop in the basement.
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