City Plans Legal Action If Realty Tower Owner Doesn’t Act

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The owner of the Realty Tower and its insurance company have until July 5 to take action to address the building or the city will pursue legal action, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said Tuesday.

“We’re being held hostage right now,” he said. “Because the insurance company, Cincinnati Insurance and YO Properties 47 [the owner] are bickering about a bottom line, a cost.”

Neither the attorney representing YO Properties nor a representative for the insurance company could be reached to comment.

The citizens of Youngstown deserve better and the city wants to make sure that if those entities aren’t doing what they need to allow downtown to be safe, “we will take action,” Brown said.

He referred to a June 5 adjudication order from Jeffrey Uroseva, Mahoning County chief building official, that deemed the building a safety hazard.

To comply with the order, the building owner must, by July 5:

• Immediately secure walkways, driveways and surrounding areas from public access.

• Secure services of an Ohio engineer/firm qualified to perform a structural analysis of the structure, identify the current structural conditions and provide an analysis/report with recommendations and conclusions of the structure.

• Apply for a building permit to rebuild, stabilize or demolish affected areas of the structure.

• Once approved and permitted, obtain all required inspections for a certificate of occupancy to reoccupy the structure.

If the corrections haven’t been made or an appeal hasn’t been filed within 30 days of the mailing of the order, the county’s chief building officials will “turn the violation over to the prosecutor for prosecution of the owner” for violation of the law, the order said.

Uroseva said he hadn’t received anything from the property owner as of early Tuesday afternoon.

“No one’s done anything at this building …,” Brown said. “There’s no plans; there’s no designs; and we’re saying those actionable things need to happen now. And if by July 5 those actions have not happened, we will take legal action on the city’s behalf.”

Brown said the city wants to make sure International Towers residents are able to return to their homes. They were evacuated earlier this month because a structural engineer determined Realty was in imminent danger of collapse without modification.

“We want to make sure that our downtown hotel is open,” the mayor said, referring to the DoubleTree by Hilton Youngstown Downtown, which has been closed since the explosion. “One of our premiere attractions downtown is closed …” 

The May 28 explosion killed one man, Akil Drake, 27, an employee of Chase Bank, injured several others and displaced the residents of the 23 Realty Tower apartments.

Earlier this month, the city said the owner planned to raze the building.

Downtown community groups, however, have mounted a campaign to try to preserve it. Two City Council members hired another engineering firm that determined the building can be stabilized quickly. That would enable residents to retrieve belongings, and then the building to be demolished or restored.

“At the end of the day, it’s up to the owner and their insurance company,” Brown said of Realty’s fate. “But all accounts we’ve talked to, they’ll say, ‘Sure, you can save it,’ but the reality is that’s too long-term. That’s too far down the road and too costly. No one can tell you the cost.” 

And no one has said how the building can be stabilized.

“Do I want to have a historic building downtown demolished? No,” Brown said. “Do I look at that corner as the epicenter and the face of downtown? Yes. “But the reality is, we can’t deal with what ifs.”

Deanna Rossi, who lived in Realty Tower with her family, said she and her family are in a status quo mode.

“We’re waiting to hear what the method of demolition will be and if during that demolition process, will tenants have any access or is it unsafe for us to have access,” she said. We’re looking forward to that answer.”

Brown said residents may never be able to access the building to retrieve belongings. That’s up to the property owner.

Rossi too, is concerned about safety.

“We want what’s safest for the community and whatever the safe method is moving forward is what all we would like to see,” she said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, and a preliminary report last week said workers relocating utility lines cut a natural gas line that had been abandoned. The line, however, was pressurized, meaning it had gas in it. The explosion occurred about six minutes after the line was cut.

Pictured at top: Mayor Jamael Tito Brown speaks during a press conference Tuesday.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.