YOUNGSTOWN — The owners of the badly damaged Realty Tower building emailed a letter to the tenants of the building’s 23 apartments, stating they have “regrettably determined that demolition is the safest long-term solution.”

The letter Tuesday also left open hope the former residents, who had to evacuate the building after an explosion destroyed the lower floors May 28, might someday get personal items they were forced to leave behind.

The letter, from Live Youngstown Property Management and YO Properties 47, stated the owners can “confirm” demolition is their plan, despite “mixed messages in the media and elsewhere as we worked diligently to exhaust all possibilities of building stabilization.”

It added, “We did not arrive at this decision without careful and thorough counsel. There is no specific date for demolition, but we will keep you updated as this plan is put into action.”

The letter stated the company, which is now back in control of the building from the city and National Transportation Safety Board, has no “time line” for retrieval of personal items from the apartments, “but will keep you informed of our progress as we explore all possibilities.” It stated that the effort to retrieve items will “require a highly orchestrated event involving several entities and technologies.”

The NTSB is investigating the explosion to determine the cause and examine other issues in order to try to prevent another similar tragedy. One JP Morgan Chase bank employee was killed and six others were injured when their branch on the first floor was destroyed.

The letter started by acknowledging that “this has been a time filled with traumatic uncertainty that has left many experiencing a multitude of emotions, including despair and frustration; we share in those emotions and stand with you in sorrow.”

It stated the company will now be back in control of the building “for the foreseeable future;” it will have security, and unauthorized personnel will not be given access.

Before the letters went out, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, at a news conference, again expressed his commitment to the safety of the downtown, the welfare of the 173 residents of the International Tower next door to the Realty Tower and getting the Stambaugh Building that houses the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel back open on the other side of the Realty Tower.

He lamented that YO Properties 47 and its insurance company are “bickering about a bottom line, a cost” instead of making a decision on whether to demolish or stabilize the building.

He said the Mahoning County Building Department had issued an adjudication order for the Realty Tower on June 5, giving the building’s owners 30 days — until July 5 — to apply for a building permit to rebuild, stabilize or demolish affected areas of the structure. The mayor said if the Realty Tower owner did not act by July 5, legal action would be taken.

The adjudication order states that if the building’s owners do not act by July 5, the chief building official, Jeff Ureseva, “shall take the necessary steps” to turn the violation over to the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office for prosecution under state law.

Ureseva said Wednesday his office has not received any response from the Realty Tower owners, indicating they had decided what they were going to do in response to the building department’s order.

Brown said Tuesday that multiple engineering reports have indicated the Realty Tower can be repaired, but that is where lots of “what ifs” come in, and the city does not have the time to entertain “what ifs.” He said, “That’s too far down the road and too costly. Nobody can give you the cost.”

Brown issued a press release June 17 stating the Realty Tower owners told city officials that day the building would be demolished after the owners met with several engineers who expressed significant concerns regarding the ability to safely stabilize the building.

But a week ago, Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward, told council’s finance committee that a Cincinnati engineering firm assessed the building and told officials it is confident the building can be “easily stabilized.”

Tracey Winbush, who lived in one of the 23 Realty apartments, said she thinks the Realty owners will demolish the building because there was never a “public-private partnership” offer to save the building.

Winbush said “nobody stepped up to the plate and said, ‘We’re going to work with you on this.’ They have to do what is best for their company.”

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