Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Crews from ProQuality Demolition continue demolition work Friday on the former Parkway Tower on Park Avenue near Wick Park on Youngstown’s North Side. Razing the blighted structure had been delayed several months because of delays in removing cellphone antennas from the former luxury apartment complex’s roof.

YOUNGSTOWN — After months of delays from the stalled relocation of cellphone antennas and equipment on its roof, the demolition of the Parkway Tower, a former luxury high-rise apartment building by Wick Park, is finally underway.

ProQuality Demolition of Youngstown, the Parkway Tower contractor, did asbestos abatement work in January to the building at 291 Park Ave. as part of a $277,900 contract awarded Nov. 21 by the city’s board of control.

But the demolition phase didn’t start until Thursday — nearly six months after it was supposed to commence — because AT&T and T-Mobile antennas and equipment on the building’s roof didn’t get moved until recently.

“We’ve been in a holding pattern to get all of the cellphone equipment moved,” said Michael Durkin, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent.

The cellphone equipment that was on the eight-story Parkway Tower was relocated to a tower that was built nearby on Eastbound Service Road, Durkin said.

City officials initially expected the relocation to be done months ago, but the cellphone companies failed to move their equipment in a timely manner, forcing the delay.

ProQuality should have the demolition done by the end of the month, Durkin said. Once the demolition is finished, the site will be backfilled and graded, Durkin said.

The city has issued property code violations on Parkway Tower for the past eight years. Durkin calls the structure “an eyesore.”

Part of the building’s upper facade fell off the building in March 2023. Fire Chief Barry Finley ordered a fence around the building after that and has since declared an emergency demolition for the structure.

Parkway Tower, built in 1929, used to be a high-end apartment complex with 38 units.

It hasn’t been used for anything but for cellphone antennas in at least 20 years.

The money for the project, as well as $39,586 awarded in September to MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown for design work, came from the city’s American Rescue Plan funding.

City council allocated $3 million from its ARP fund to take down vacant structures in Youngstown. This was the last of the ARP set-aside money for demolition.

Simcha Vashulem LLC, a property investment company based in Brooklyn, New York, purchased the 25,000-square-foot, 96-year-old structure in October 2007. The building is located across the street from Wick Park and is near Stambaugh Auditorium.

Simcha Vashulem had cellphone antennas and related equipment placed on top of the building and collected a rental fee for them of about $25,000 annually.

Simcha Vashulem hasn’t paid its property taxes in years and owes $33,830 to Mahoning County in delinquent taxes, according to the county auditor’s website.

County Treasurer Daniel R. Yemma’s office filed a foreclosure lawsuit April 3, 2023, against the company. Judge Anthony Donofrio of common pleas court on March 4, 2024, ruled that the treasurer’s office could foreclose on the property after Simcha Vashulem failed to respond to the lawsuit.

Also, Landmark Infrastructure Operating Co. of El Segundo, California, which leased Parkway Tower for cellphone antennas since 2017 sued Simcha Vashulem on May 6, 2024, for a breach of contract. After Simcha Vashulem failed to respond to the lawsuit, Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of common pleas court ruled Sept. 4 in favor of Landmark.

The lawsuit said the lease could be broken because the building’s owner had neglected the structure and didn’t pay property taxes in violation of the agreement.