Youngstown hired a company on an emergency basis after bricks fell off the city-owned 20 Federal Place building onto 16 Wick Ave. The company hired by the city removed the fallen bricks as well as those that were loose and put up a protective covering on the shuttered building.

YOUNGSTOWN — A large section of bricks on the exterior of the city-owned 20 Federal Place, a shuttered nine-story downtown structure, fell off and landed on the roof of a nearby structure.

It’s the latest problem for the mothballed building that has sat empty for close to four years.

Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works, said the discovery that “a large section of the brick facade” fell off the east side of 20 Federal Place was made in March. The bricks landed on the adjacent 16 Wick Ave. building.

“We’re not aware of any damage caused, but more bricks looked like they were going to fall so we had to emergency stabilize it,” Shasho said.

City council will consider legislation at its Wednesday meeting to permit the board of control to pay $64,329 to H&J Restoration Specialists of Poland for the removal of the fallen bricks onto 16 Wick Ave. and for the removal of loose bricks.

Shasho said: “My suspicion is because there’s no heating of the building that it caused distress to the outside. It fell off of multiple floors, four of them, and unstable bricks had to be removed.”

H&J removed the fallen bricks, the ones that were unstable and put up a covering over that portion of the building to make sure nothing else falls off the building.

The city evicted 20 Federal Place’s 19 tenants, taking up about 20% of the building, in July 2022 though some tenants received extensions.

That came a month after the city received a $6.9 million state grant to remove asbestos and partially demolish portions of the building. The project’s total cost was about $7.4 million.

Before the asbestos remediation and partial demolition project finished, the city had to spend about $175,000 in August 2024 in repair work after the floor and wall between the upper three floors of the building separated.

Those upper three floors of the nine-story building were primarily used to house transformers, electrical and mechanical equipment.

The building has remained vacant since the tenants were evicted with two failed attempts to redevelop it.

The second failure occurred in August when the city announced it ended a relationship with a potential redeveloper of the West Federal Street building and that $24 million in state and federal historic tax credits wouldn’t be used.

City council approved legislation Jan. 7 to permit the Western Reserve Port Authority to seek buyers for a number of city-owned properties, including 20 Federal Place.

The city had an agreement since June 17, 2020, with the WPRA to identify properties owned by the former available for “lease, sale, renovation or redevelopment and properties not owned by the city that could be obtained for the same purposes.”

The updated contract lists specific parcels. WRPA has greater flexibility to sell the properties than the city, which has restrictions under state law, Law Director Adam Buente has said.

The city purchased the downtown 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, the 332,000-square-foot building was the flagship location of Strouss’ department store for many decades.

Damage allegedly caused by the $7.4 million project to two nearby buildings resulted in lawsuits against the city.

The city settled a lawsuit in May 2025 filed by the owner of Erie Terminal Place, which contended that jackhammering during the project at 20 Federal Place caused damage to its facade, marble and walls. The city paid $40,000 in November in the settlement without admitting liability with Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Co. of Youngstown, through its insurance company, paying $80,000.

The owner of Wick Tower sued the city on Oct. 8, claiming the violation of an easement agreement for a stairwell during the 20 Federal Place project caused about $82,000 in damage. The case is pending.