YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control hired a law firm to assist with the potential redevelopment of 20 Federal Place and awarded a $2.76 million contract for a major downtown improvement project.

The board of control on Thursday also signed off on increasing the payment for a Covelli Centre roof replacement project by 10% and entered into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation on repaving sections of four streets at a cost of about $1.28 million with the state paying 80% of it.

The board agreed to pay up to $25,000 to Bricker Graydon LLP, a Cleveland law firm, and specifically work with attorney Colin J. Kalvas. Kalvas helped the city in 2023 with the restructuring of a $700,000 loan borrowed by the owners of the downtown Stambaugh Building, where a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel is located.

The law firm will advise the city as it moves ahead with the potential redevelopment of 20 Federal Place, a nine-story downtown building.

The board signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding on Dec. 18 with Bluelofts Inc., a Dallas redevelopment firm, for a ground lease agreement at the city-owned building that is not to extend past Oct. 15 unless both sides agree.

Under the proposal, Bluelofts is teaming with Madrone Community Foundation of Berkeley, California, which would own the building through a nonprofit charitable organization in what is called a public-private partnership. The city, which owns 20 Federal Place, would retain ownership of the ground underneath the building.

The city has no experience with anything like this, so decided it was best to bring in Bricker Graydon, said city Finance Director Kyle Miasek.

The city on Jan. 16 paid $24,363 to Zonda Advisory, with an office in Dallas, to conduct a market feasibility study for the potential 20 Federal Place project.

Bluelofts is proposing a $57 million project at the building at 20 W. Federal St., and will use the results of the study to finalize development plans.

Miasek said the study should be done in about two weeks.

Bluelofts’ most-recent proposal in December, which could change based on the study, is to build 100 apartments to house 180 people in one-to-three-bedroom units with 43 of the apartments being affordable / workforce housing at 80% median income rent as well as 30,000 square feet of commercial space, a small wellness center, and e-commerce and mini-warehouse space on the first two floors for smaller businesses.

The project also calls for 62 parking spaces in the basement.

Bluelofts’ proposal is to start construction in October and be finished around June 2027.

The building has $10 million in state historic tax credits and $14 million in federal historic tax credits that expire at the end of 2025 if a project at the building isn’t started by then.

STREET CONTRACTS

The board on Thursday entered into a $2,756,473 contract with Parella-Pannunzio Inc. of Youngstown to make improvements to Boardman and Walnut streets downtown.

State and federal funding will cover $2.1 million of the project’s cost.

The work will begin in early June and take about four months to complete, said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works.

The work is to Boardman Street between Walnut and Market streets, and Walnut Street between Commerce and Wood streets.

One street will be done at a time because the work will require closures and using that process will reduce issues, Shasho said.

The work includes repaving, reducing vehicular lanes, adding diagonal on-street parking on Walnut Street, new crosswalks and curb ramps, improved lighting, landscaping and new traffic controls.

The project also features a pedestrian walkway, or step street, on Walnut Street to better connect downtown to Youngstown State University.

The site of the walkway is currently a steep asphalt hill near Choffin Career and Technical Center at the top and a parking lot for the downtown YMCA at the bottom.

The board also entered into an agreement Thursday with ODOT on an estimated $1,275,986 repaving project to sections of four streets: Wood Street, McGuffey Road, Sheridan Road and Powers Way.

Under the agreement, the state would pay $1,020,789 of the project’s cost, with the city responsible for $255,197.

The work includes resurfacing, drainage rehabilitation, new curb ramps, signage and road striping.

The board on Thursday agreed to pay an additional $164,986 to Boak & Sons of Austintown for the replacement of a large portion of the city-owned Covelli Centre’s original roof.

The company’s initial price for the work was $1,236,000.

But the increase, which is 10% higher than the initial cost, is needed because more work to the roof was needed than anticipated, Shasho said.

The work was finished in October.

Ice and snow caused extensive damage to the roof, resulting in water leaking into the kitchen, office space and some of the loges.

The board hired A Neider Architecture LLC of Boardman to design a storage facility for the Covelli Centre that would eventually be used to store 1,800 temporary chairs on the floor and other equipment. Center officials also want to replace those chairs.

The board also agreed to pay $305,981 to #1 Cochran Ford of Boardman for seven new water department vehicles and $142,803 to Ohio Machinery Co. of Broadview Heights for a backhoe for the water department.