YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s design review committee rejected a request to install cellphone antennas and ground equipment on the top of a West Rayen Avenue building because the property owner failed to send a representative for the second straight meeting to discuss the proposal.

The committee rejected the request Tuesday from AT&T to install T-Mobile antennas and ground equipment on the roof of a building it owns at 106 W. Rayen Ave. by the Youngstown State University campus.

Some of those antennas are being relocated from Parkway Tower, a former luxury high-rise apartment building at 291 Park Ave. by Wick Park that is slated for demolition.

Most of the cellphone antennas on the eight-story Parkway Tower are being relocated to a tower being built on Eastbound Service Road with the AT&T building on West Rayen used as a secondary location, said Michael Durkin, the city’s code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent.

ProQuality Demolition of Youngstown, the Parkway Tower contractor, started doing asbestos abatement work Tuesday at the building as part of a $277,900 project, Durkin said.

The abatement will take 10 to 20 days and the demolition would take about 10 to 12 days, Durkin said.

But the demolition work won’t start until cellphone antennas are removed from the structure, he said. Durkin didn’t know when the antennas would be relocated, but expects it in the coming weeks.

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

The company had cellphone antennas and related equipment placed on top of the building and collected a rental fee of about $25,000 annually.

Simcha Vashulem has also failed to pay its property taxes for several years and currently owes Mahoning County $33,166 in delinquent fees for that property.

The county foreclosed on the property March 4, 2024, after Simcha Veshulem failed to respond to the lawsuit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Parkway Tower, built in 1929, used to be a high-end apartment complex with 38 units. It hasn’t been used for anything but cellphone antennas for at least 20 years.

POSTPONED VOTE

The design review committee on Tuesday postponed a vote on a request for a $20,000 facade grant requested by the owner of Quik Mart at 1308 McGuffey Road after members said not enough information about the project was provided.

The company is planning a $43,200 project for siding and concrete work; the installation of gutters, downspouts and canopies; and the replacement of its parking lot.

But Charles Shasho, a committee member and the city’s deputy director of public works, said the request was incomplete because it didn’t provide colors, architectural drawings, renderings and product samples.

“You’re using our money and we can’t see” what the project will look like, Shasho said.

The committee also delayed approving the request at last month’s meeting.

Bobby Singh, who operates Quik Mart, said he’s spent about $1 million to improve his business and is out of money to complete this project.

Singh said he will provide the requested materials. The request will be reconsidered at the committee’s next meeting, Feb. 4.

City council in December 2022 approved setting aside $1 million of Youngstown’s $82.7 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the business facade program. It allows eligible companies to receive up to $20,000 each to help pay for the cost of exterior improvements.

In order to get the grants, companies have to obtain permission from the design review committee. Companies must show they are paying at least half the cost of the work being done.

The facade grants are forgivable loans with a five-year term. Every year a business remains open at its location in the city, 20% of the loan is forgiven until it reaches 100% in five years.

The committee has authorized 53 businesses to receive grants from the program.