Short-term Rental Apartments Are Centerpiece of Calvin Center Renovation

YOUNGSTOWN – After receiving a $300,000 makeover, one of the city’s oldest buildings has been transformed into short- and long-term rental apartments and studio spaces.

Calvin Center, 755 Mahoning Ave., just west of downtown, has been given a complete renovation by owner Erin Timms.

The three-story brick structure was built in 1877 by renowned local architect P. Ross Berry as a school. Timms has spent the better part of the last four years renovating it

“It’s a phenomenal project and I’m amazed it got done in this amount of time,” said Timms, who did a lot of the work herself and with the help of friends.

Timms has a background in archeology and a strong interest in historic preservation. In renovating the building, she respected its historical aspects.

Most of the former classrooms and a third-floor auditorium have been subdivided into apartments. Each room boasts the original hardwood floors, high ceilings and massive windows that let in lots of light.

Many of the rooms have exposed brick wall segments. All of them include historical furnishings.

Four apartments in the building are dubbed Old School Lofts and are available to rent via Airbnb. Timms said she will likely add two more rental apartments. 

There are also three other apartments in the building rented by full-time residents, including one who was displaced by the May explosion at Realty Tower.

A photography studio rents another space, and an additional space is being renovated into more studio space.

Timms calls the building Nyasa Urban Retreat Centre. 

The apartments are close to downtown and Youngstown State University, making them popular with short-term visitors.

Timms said she was able to obtain the services of some contractors and renovation experts for reduced prices.

Thanks to the help of Syracuse, N.Y., architect William Walton, Timms said she was able to reduce her costs by about $200,000. 

Timms took over the 23,000-square-foot building in 2018 and began the renovation a couple years later.

She was told by experts that she would have to install a sprinkler system to meet building code – an expense that could have killed the project.

Then she met Walton, who was staying in the building during a visit to the city. Walton proved to be a godsend, Timms said.

He took an interest in the building and determined a way to add living spaces without installing a sprinkler system and still meet code.

“We had to put in more drywall, fire stairwells, update the alarm system, put in smoke detectors and fire doors and changed a lot of the hardware,” Timms said. “Every part of this building has been touched by some type of construction and then put back together.”

The project also involved installing plumbing for bathrooms and kitchens.

The first phase of the building’s renovation, completed in 2021, involved getting the commercial kitchen up to code. Timms uses the kitchen in a food preparation business she owns.

Calvin Center was used as a city school in its earliest decades. It was purchased by a neighboring church in the 1950s and given a complete renovation. A gymnasium was also added by the church. It is currently used by a local roller derby team two nights a week for matches.

Berry, the building’s architect, is a notable figure in Youngstown history. An African American who moved to the city from Pennsylvania in 1860, Berry designed and built several public buildings, including the former Rayen School (now the city board of education building) at the corner of Rayen and Wick avenues.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.