Youngstown Design Review Panel OKs $40K in Facade Funds
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city’s Design Review Committee approved facade improvement grants totaling $40,000 for two businesses, including one that has former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan as an officer.
Zoetic Global LLC, which announced plans in May to open a refrigerant production plant in Youngstown, was awarded one of two $20,000 grants during Tuesday’s meeting. Ryan, who represented Mahoning Valley communities in Congress for 20 years, was hired this year as the company’s chief global development officer.
The city established a $1 million fund for facade improvements, administered by Valley Partners, using a portion of the $82.7 million it received through the American Rescue Plan Act. The grants are structured as forgivable loans requiring the recipient of the funds to remain at the location for at least five years, with 20% of the loan forgiven each year.
Zoetic Global, which is headquartered in Westlake, has leased space at 360 E. Federal St. and is doing improvements, including glass block window installation, building signage and exterior building security totaling $55,124.
“We’re excited to be here, and we’re looking for big things,” Scott Gorley, a member of Zoetic Global’s board of directors, told members of the committee.
The company is eyeing an early 2024 start for the Youngstown refrigerant plant, but an official announcement would be forthcoming, Gorley said during a phone interview following the meeting.
“We’re really just in the initial stages,” he said. “We’ve been doing a lot of the prep work and trying to get the building cleaned up. … We’re hoping, come the first of the year, that we’ll be ready for business.”
The committee approved another $20,000 grant for Love and Beauty, 2732 Hillman St., to support $154,176 in improvements, including new asphalt for the parking area, a 48-inch-by-23-inch nonlighted aluminum sign, new handrails, repairs to chipped and broken masonry and removing and redesigning the front masonry.
The committee also approved a request by YoGo Bike Share and Olsavsky Jaminet Architects to site two electric bicycle charging, renting and return stations at the Erie Terminal Building on West Commerce street and by the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre on Emily Street.
The committee deferred action for a second time on approving window signage for Youngstown Kicks, 23 W. Boardman St., to allow the owner to incorporate suggestions made by committee members.
Pictured at top: The building at 360 E. Federal St., Youngstown, that has been leased by Zoetic Global.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
