YOUNGSTOWN — Asbestos abatement work at the Parkway Tower, a former luxury high-rise apartment building by Wick Park, should begin next month with demolition commencing early next year.

The city’s board of control on Thursday approved a $277,900 contract with ProQuality Demolition of Youngstown for the project. ProQuality submitted the lowest proposal from 12 companies bidding on the project.

The engineer’s estimate for the work was $509,000.

The project includes asbestos abatement, demolition, backfill, seeding and mulching the property, and the disposal of hazardous waste. The demolition is the most expensive part of the work.

Asbestos abatement should begin next month with demolition starting early next year, said Michael Durkin, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent, who has called the structure at 291 Park Ave. on the North Side “an eyesore.”

The project should take about 60 days to complete, Durkin said.

The funding for the work is coming from the city’s American Rescue Plan funding. City council allocated $3 million from its ARP fund for the demolition of vacant structures.

This will use the last of the ARP demolition money, Durkin said.

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. in October 2007. The building is located across the street from Wick Park and is near Stambaugh Auditorium.

Simcha Vashulem had cell phone 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 $33,166 to Mahoning County in delinquent taxes for this location, according to the county auditor’s website. It also owes $310 in delinquent taxes for an undeveloped lot on Park Avenue.

County Treasurer Daniel R. Yemma’s office filed a foreclosure lawsuit April 3, 2023, against the company for the Parkway Tower site. Mahoning County Court of 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, Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of the 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. Landmark is relocating its cell-phone antennas to another building.

Numerous attempts to reach officials with Simcha Vashulem in the past few weeks were unsuccessful.

City officials said company officials haven’t responded to them for years to repair the building.

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.

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 cell phone antennas in at least 20 years.