YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown officials have given the Subway restaurant at 20 Federal Place until Monday to vacate the building or the city will take the business to court to get it evicted.

Subway is the only tenant at the city-owned building that refuses to leave, said Law Director Jeff Limbian.

“They’re fighting us for a cash settlement,” he said. “They are looking for us to buy them out of their lease, which we believe doesn’t exist anymore. We say they were on a month-to-month lease and they were told to leave. They disagree. We’ll file in court next week for eviction.”

The city posted Friday a three-day notice with Subway to “demand that you vacate (LEAVE) the premises now in your possession.”

It added: “The demand is based upon your failure to vacate the premises after being provided with adequate notice to vacate pursuant to your status as a holdover, month-to-month tenant.”

Limbian said: “A three-day process isn’t necessary, but we decided to post it so there’s no miscommunication.”

Stuart Strasfeld, Subway’s attorney, couldn’t be reached Friday to comment.

The city evicted tenants at 20 W. Federal St. earlier this month because a project to remove asbestos and other hazardous materials and a partial demolition of the downtown building is scheduled to start Nov. 7.

The 332,000-square-foot building, which has an occupancy rate of less than 20 percent, had 19 tenants.

Besides Subway, the only other tenant remaining at the building with employees is the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Limbian said. The city is negotiating with BCI to find those employees another location, he said.

There’s also an internet company at 20 Federal Place without any employees and the city is working with it, too, Limbian said.

City council members have criticized the administration for how it handled the eviction notices, which were sent to tenants July 11 without prior discussion.

The city received a $6,962,250 Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program grant on June 18 for the abatement and partial demolition. The city is providing $2.3 million in matching dollars for the work.

The city declined to offer financial assistance to businesses at 20 Federal Place.

That’s because the city had kept rent so low at the building for years, which it considered previous financial help, Sarah Scribner, project manager for Steadfast City Economic and Community Partners, a St. Louis firm assisting Youngstown with the 20 Federal project, said last month.

Also, the city has been losing money for a long time on the building with those low rents, she had said.

Bids for the project will be ready by next week with a contract expected to be awarded Oct. 31 and work starting Nov. 7.

Under terms of the grant, the work has to be finished by June 30, 2023.

A redevelopment plan for the building includes demolishing the three-story mezzanine on the Commerce Street side of the building, where the food court is located; building a skylight in the roof that would create natural light all the way down to the ground floor; a parking lot in the basement; and a place to buy baked goods, produce and other foods on the ground floor.

The proposal also calls for the restoration of the archways on the Federal Street entrance and remove the canopy; improving the Phelps Street entrance; a rooftop restaurant as well as an observation deck on the roof; one-bed, one-bathroom apartments; and space for innovative businesses.

The city purchased the building in November 2004 after Phar-Mor, a national retail store company, went out of business. The property was the Phar-Mor Centre, the company’s corporate headquarters. Before that, it was the flagship location of Strouss’ department store for decades, closing in 1986.