Youngstown city leaders must once again consider how they will handle mounting late payments from the property owner of Youngstown's DoubleTree Hotel.

According to Youngtown's Director of Finance Kyle Miasek, Youngstown Stambaugh LLC is now behind 23 payments which comes to more than $120,000 including principal, interest and late fees.

At the beginning of 2021, we reported that the property owner of Youngstown's DoubleTree Hotel had missed 14 payments on their mortgage loan and were more than $73,000 behind. That debt has now grown.

At the time, the city had agreed not to foreclose on the mortgage.

Mayor Tito Brown noted the impact of the pandemic and said, "People not going to hotels. They are not traveling."

City officials agreed that instead of allowing Youngstown Stambaugh's loan to continue in default, the late payments would be deferred to the end of the loan and added to the balloon payment, including late fees and interest. The balance of the balloon payment is due in December 2026.

Miasek said it now appears the DoubleTree Hotel is turning around and starting to make inroads.

Miasek said the company has restructured it's largest loan with it's senior lender, FCB Bank. Miasek said that fact that the company was able to get a restructured deal shows they have reliable income.

"Any time a business in a post-pandemic period finds itself in a place where it can do something to modify it's loan agreements and with an uptick in people staying in the hotel, obviously that's a good barometer for business in the community," said Jeff Limbian, Youngstown Law Director. 

On Wednesday, the Board of Control is being asked to show they support the refinancing between Youngstown Stambaugh, LLC and FCB Bank. The Board of Control will also consider deferring the additional nine payments missed to the end of the loan in 2026.

If the city were to foreclose on the hotel's mortgage, it would trigger a default on the bank mortgages and throw the hotel, the banks, and the City into court.

Miasek said it is a careful balance for city leaders to consider. As a city serving as a lender, it's important to recoup tax payer dollars. Also, it's important to support business operations that lead to income tax and job creation.

The Youngstown Board of Control meets Wednesday morning.