YOUNGSTOWN — The Parkway Tower, once a luxury eight-story apartment building that sits essentially abandoned on the North Side, is slated to be demolished before the end of the year.

“It’s been an eyesore for several years,” said Michael Durkin, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent. “We’re glad to see it finally come down. The property owners have done nothing but treat it badly. They’ve never done anything to fix it.”

Simcha Vashulem LLC, a property investment company based in Brooklyn, New York, purchased the 25,000-square-foot, 95-year-old structure at 291 Park Ave. – across the street from Wick Park and near Stambaugh Auditorium — in October 2007.

It placed cellphone antennas and related equipment on top of the building and collects a rental fee for them of about $25,000 annually.

Simcha Vashulem hasn’t paid its property taxes in years and owes $27,224 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. Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Donofrio on March 4 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 for a breach of contract. After Simcha Vashulem failed to respond to the lawsuit, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum ruled Sept. 4 in favor of Landmark.

The lawsuit states 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.

Landmark is relocating its cellphone antennas to another building, Durkin said. Attempts to reach officials with Simcha Vashulem on Friday were unsuccessful.

The city has issued property code violations on Parkway Tower for the past eight years.

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.

“The wall already collapsed and the building is in danger of imploding,” Durkin said.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, who lives on the city’s North Side, said the building has been a serious problem for several years.

“It doesn’t seem to get any better,” he said. “We want to get it down.”

The city’s board of control, of which Brown is chairman, voted Thursday to pay $39,586 to MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown to provide development and preparation of plans and specifications for asbestos abatement and demolition of Parkway Tower.

Durkin said the plans are almost finished. After that, abatement and then demolition work will start on Parkway Tower, he said.

Though a contractor hasn’t been hired, Durkin said demolition should cost about $300,000.

The demolition work would take about 60 days to complete, he said.

The money for the demolition work and to pay MS Consultants is coming from the $3 million American Rescue Plan fund allocation city council set aside to take down vacant structures in Youngstown.

“We never had the ability to demolish this building, but with ARP, we have the funds,” Durkin said. “We’ll pay for it, and it will go on the property owner’s tax bill.”

Durkin acknowledged getting Simcha Vashulem to pay is next to impossible.

The Parkway Tower project will probably use up what is left of the $3 million ARP set-aside fund for demolition, Durkin said.

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.