I have a
lot of news out of Youngstown today....
Downtown's DoubleTree Hotel Now Open!
The new DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Downtown opened yesterday in the historic Stambaugh Building. The building had been mainly empty and in a state of disrepair for years until it was purchased by NYO Property Group. They had been working for years to turn the building into a hotel.
The entrance of the Stambaugh Building:
The first floor has four retail spaces, the lobby is on the second floor. The first restaurant, Bistro 1907 will open on May 23rd. It will be an upscale Parisian bistro inspired restaurant owned by a reputable local chef. Another restaurant, YOSTERIA, will eventually open. It will be an upscale Tuscan restaurant. It is currently running a test kitchen out of Downtown's B&O Station. The third business will be Branch Street Roasters - an award winning Boardman based coffee shop. The fourth business will be a bank.
The lobby of the hotel:
The top floor is a large ballroom and conference center. There are future plans for a rooftop bar and pool. The hotel is already nearly booked in its first week and will have its grand opening on May 30.
One of the hotel rooms:
Inside Bistro 1907 on the first floor:
The Enclave Project Drops Retail Plans:
There's some bad news coming out of the YSU neighborhood - The Enclave project's developers have dropped plans for a retail building along Wick Avenue in favor of building a 4,500 square foot student health center for YSU. I'm a bit dissapointed that there will no longer be any retail there - it could have been a good way to slowly link YSU's campus with Downtown via Wick Avenue. Nonetheless, the project is going strong and the apartment portion is nearing completion. It looks great to see some density on that corner. The apartments are almost fully reserved.
The health center taking shape with the apartment portion in the background:
A drone photo of The Enclave from this week:
Phelps Street Pedestrian Plaza:
The City will be holding a meeting on May 23rd to receive public opinion on closing North Phelps Street to traffic in order to make it into a pedestrian plaza similar to Cleveland's East 4th Street. I'm really happy that the city is going this route, especially since this option didn't seem to popular. It could still be blocked, but I haven't heard any significant NIMBY opposition, and the restaurants on the street seem to be in support.
The non-pedestrian plaza proposal rendering:
Wick Tower (on corner of Federal and North Phelps), owned by NYO Property Group, has been trying to attract a business to the first floor without success. A restaurant was supposed to be opened last fall, but as usual in Youngstown, the owner got indicted and is getting his assets seized. NYO has
this listing on Loopnet and area using the future pedestrian plaza as a selling point. Another planned development for North Phelps Street was the relocation and expansion of Circle Deli & Hookah Bar into a new building - but the owner, Adi Othman, was deported. I'm not sure if his kids still plan on expanding the business to Phelps Street.
Wick Tower's first floor retail space with North Phelps Street construction to the left:
Coffee Shop Relocation & New Smoothie Bar in Downtown
And one more random piece of news: Joe Maxx Coffee Company (A nationwide chain based in Youngstown) was forced out of their space at the Realty Building by NYO Property Group. This is possibly due to NYO bringing in Branch Street Roasters across the street... but NYO already has a new tenant secured, The Smoothie Bar on Central Square. The good news is, Joe Maxx decided to stay in Downtown and have reopened in the Youngstown Business Incubator Campus on the west end of Downtown! It'll be great to have a coffee shop down there.