NILES — A nearly $5 million proposed renovation project at the former Niles Masonic Temple building received a $1.1 million state historic tax credit to be transformed into a multipurpose space.

A tax credit for that project along with a $2 million credit for a $20.2 million proposal for Youngstown’s Central Tower, the city’s tallest building, were announced Wednesday by Gov. Mike DeWine’s office.

In all, $56.1 million was awarded to 37 projects statewide under the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program that is to generate $716 million in private investment.

The program provides financial incentives for the private redevelopment of historic buildings that are vacant and / or generate little economic activity. The credits are given once project construction is done and all program requirements are verified.

Federal tax credits are also typically given to buildings that receive state tax credits.

Said DeWine, “By preserving our historic buildings, we’re retaining the unique identity of Ohio’s communities. Through the tax credit program, we’re ensuring that future generations can experience the character and stories that shaped our state in the spaces where they happened.”

The former Niles Masonic Temple building at 22 W. Church St. received a $1.1 million tax credit for a $4.9 million proposed project.

Developer Dominic L. Gatta III, president of the Gatta Construction Co. and a Niles resident, bought the 102-year-old building Jan. 8 for $40,700 at a Trumbull County sheriff’s sale.

His plan is to restore the temple’s architecture and turn it into a multipurpose space for the community. The project would transform the space into a mixed-use facility focused on meeting social and community engagement as well as economic activity, according to DeWine’s office.

The structure has been empty for several years and is heavily damaged, including a fire set in 2022.

In November 2023, city council voted to declare it a nuisance and have the Trumbull County Land Bank demolish it with state funding.

Instead, Gatta purchased the building with plans to redevelop it. Gatta’s proposal has the support of Niles city officials.

The building was sold for $60,000 by the Niles Masonic Temple Association on Oct. 15, 2009, to Genesis Christian Community Center. The center, which didn’t open the building, owed more than $26,000 in delinquent taxes on the building in 2023.

Gatta has renovated three buildings in Youngstown, including two in the downtown area. He owns one of them, the Federal Building.

YOUNGSTOWN PROJECT

A $20.2 million proposed renovation project to Youngstown’s tallest building — Central Tower in the city’s downtown — received a $2 million state historic preservation tax credit to be converted into 64 apartments on its upper floors with office space on the lower floors.

Central Tower, also called the First National Bank building with a branch on the ground floor, is the tallest building in Youngstown at 17 floors and 224 feet. It is at 1 W. Federal St.

The 95-year-old art deco building was sold Sept. 15, 2023, for $1.3 million to FNB Youngstown, a company based in Tanafly, New Jersey, from Big Blue Properties LLC Series XXI, a South African company that bought it Nov. 21, 2019, for $1.1 million.

FNB Youngstown plans a $20.2 million project to convert the building into a mixed-use purpose with 64 housing units on the upper floors and office space on the lower floors.

First National Bank is expected to remain the building’s anchor tenant.

This is the third downtown Youngstown building to receive state historic preservation tax credits in the past 12 months. The others are 20 Federal Place and the former Mahoning National Bank building.

Said Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, “Historic preservation is an economic driver in Ohio communities. It’s more than just saving old buildings. We’re preserving Ohio’s history while investing in its future through this program.”