Final Financial Step Taken for $2M Thompson Building Renovation

EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – The Community Improvement Corporation on Thursday took the final financial step to pave the way for the $2 million renovation of the Thompson Building downtown.

With a unanimous vote and one abstention – Scott Shepherd, project architect – the CIC approved a grant/development agreement with CE-Thompson Building LP, a Pennsylvania limited partnership headed by businessman Craig Cozza.

During an August meeting, the CIC had approved a sale/purchase agreement with the partnership, allowing the historic structure and an adjacent empty lot to be sold to the partnership for $1 as part of the renovation project.

Thursday’s action made it possible for the CIC to release $186,000 in grant funding for the project. Of the amount, $100,000 must go toward general construction, and $86,000 must be used for facade work, since the funds came from the CIC’s Facade Improvement Grant. 

Other funding earmarked for the project includes $333,495 from Cozza; $414,105 in Ohio Historic Preservation tax credits; $435,900 in Federal Historic Preservation tax credits; $600,000 in Vibrant Communities Grant funding; $10,000 in a Columbiana County Beautification Grant; and $200,000 in Transformational Mixed-Use Development Program funding.

CIC members were thanked for “being on board with this project” by Patrick Scafide, president. “I think you can tell that by the presentation in a couple weeks how important this is. The governor’s coming in,” he said.

Gov. Mike DeWine and others will tour the city with officials, reportedly making an announcement about a major investment in the city’s historic downtown.

“It’s a big thing for East Liverpool,” Scafide said about the Thompson project after the meeting. “This is the final step. It’s in the developer’s hands. It took a little longer because we owe the taxpayers to do our due diligence.”

He pointed out there are restrictions on how the money the CIC provided can be used, with documentation required showing how it was spent.

“[The developer] can bring in an invoice any day, and we can sign a check and hand it to him. He can get a partial payment or get it all [at once],” Scafide said.

Scafide said he believes the project will create some spinoff business in the city. 

“I hope the entire area benefits from it,” he said.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.