St. Joseph demolition still on hold

LORAIN — The demolition of the former St. Joseph Community Center remains at a standstill. Bricks and debris are left behind from work to demolish the former hospital since the city issued a stop-work order March 30 after the demolition company Earth Exchange Inc. and property owner A7 Development failed to pull demo permits for each individual building. The company owes the city about $6,000 in unpaid permit costs, Building, Housing and Planning director Max Upton said Thursday. Building, Housing and Planning staff failed to notice the demolition of the other six buildings happened without the proper documentation on file. Building officials realized the department's mistake when the city sought an updated liability insurance certificate, Upton said. Mayor Jack Bradley said the blame goes to the entire department. "I basically told them I wasn't happy and that I expect them to do everything in their power to get those permits paid for," Bradley said. "We have been in contact with the company that owns the property and their lawyer and we're attempting to get that taken care of." Demolition permits for all seven buildings were supposed to cost about $8,500 — the property owner still owes the city about $6,700, Upton said. The original permit was issued to Earth Exchange Inc., but performed by All Star Dismantling LLC, according to a listing on the company's website. Massachusetts-based A7 Development partner Karl Youkstetter is listed as the president, secretary and treasurer of Earth Exchange Inc. on the Massachusetts secretary of state's website. A7 Development purchased the former hospital complex from South Shore Development Corp. LLC in March 2020 for $150,000. A lawyer for A7 Development did not return a request for comment Friday. More than $509,000 in back taxes are owed on the property, with no payments being made since before 2009, according to the information from the Lorain County Treasure's office. According to documents from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, there was no asbestos in the buildings torn down, they were abated while still owned by South Shore Development Corp. in 2015. Upton said since the permits fell through the cracks, a "tickler" system Bradley pushed for will eventually automate the entire process by the fall. "We are working with a vendor that we've procured through CARES Act funds that will automate all of those processes," Upton said. "Right now, our permit process is painstakingly paper and pencil and Excel spreadsheets and not a whole lot of it is automated at this point in time." CentralSquare Technologies' product will cost the city about $160,000 from federal funds, he said. In the meantime, the city is working with A7 Development to get the former hospital complex razed and sold again, Bradley said. He said the lawyer for the company indicated there is a private developer interested in the site, and that A7 plans to raze the parking garage, which will incur an additional fee. "I did have a conversation with the private developers this week and I made them aware of the liens and they are talking to the owners of the property so we're having conversations," Bradley said. "Hopefully it's going to be in everybody's best interest to get these things resolved. I'm certainly glad that the eyesore of St. Joseph's Hospital has been taken down. I don't think that the situation there now is going to prevent the developers from wanting to acquire the property, but I certainly want the city to be made whole when and if that property is transferred." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.