Developer Plans to Begin Work On Gallagher Building This Summer
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The owner of the Gallagher Building says he expects to begin renovation work on the downtown landmark sometime this year.
“My intent is to start while we still have decent weather,” Brian Angelilli, principal of YO Properties 23 LLC, told members of the city’s board of zoning appeals commission Tuesday. “The latest would be August or September we’d be underway – maybe sooner.”
Angelilli said that he wants to turn the building into a 36-unit residential apartment complex with retail on the ground floor. He said the apartments would be efficiency, market-rate housing targeting single occupants.
The Gallagher Building, located on the corner of Commerce and North Hazel streets, was once the home of Cedar’s Lounge, a downtown club that attracted a diverse slate of bands. The club closed there in 2013 and reopened as the Cedar’s West End on Steel Street on the city’s West Side.
The Gallagher Building has been vacant ever since, and earlier efforts by two other developers to repurpose the building never materialized. Angelilli purchased the structure in 2019 and announced plans to convert the building into apartments. The developer said he encountered delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m excited to see this project finally moving forward,” said Nikki Posterli, the city’s director of economic development.
Angelilli requested and received approval from the board to reduce the number of parking spaces for tenants from 72 to 24 spaces at a lot along North Hazel.
“We’re coming from this as a minimum parking that is adjacent to the property,” he said.
The developer leases space from the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. Additional parking could be offered to tenants at a parking deck a block away managed by USA Parking. Angelilli also noted that he could work with the city to include additional parking from a city-owned lot next door if there were available spaces.
“It’s a great project,” Angelilli said. “We’re looking forward to getting it done and getting things underway this year.”
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
