Youngstown City Council voted Wednesday to approve millions of dollars in financial incentives for the renovation of the historic Mahoning National Bank building.

“It helps us with the city’s goals of increasing our housing stock in the city,” said Councilman Julius Oliver following the vote. “We lost a lot of housing stock in the tragedy that came with Realty Tower. … There'll be more people downtown to help support our businesses.”

The 13-story building, originally constructed in 1910, is slated for conversion into a mixed-use development. Plans for the site include 71 residential apartments on the upper floors and commercial space on the lower levels. Developers also intend to transform the historic bank vault into an event space.

Under a new Community Reinvestment Area agreement between the city and 22 Market Street Ohio LLC, the property owner will not have to pay taxes on increases in the property value that result from the construction for 15 years. The city will also levy up to $17.3 million in special assessments to pay for energy efficiency upgrades at the site, which will be repaid by the property owners over 30 years. 

Wednesday evening also marked Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell’s first city council meeting since swearing in Jan. 1. One member of the public and several council members took time to welcome McDowell and his cabinet, including Oliver, who addressed “speculation on whether I was maybe going to be a problem” for the new mayor. 

“I want to let you know and let the community know that I don’t plan on being an obstruction to progress in the city at all,” Oliver said to McDowell directly. “I plan on working with you as much as I can. I know we both want to work for the city, and we both want to see things happen.”

Later, Oliver told 21 News he felt the need to share that statement in order to start on a positive note with the new administration.

“I've learned over the years that being an adversary to the administration, even though it may be done with the right heart, you know, for the citizens to be able to get things done, you can't always impose the way you feel or the way you think on an administration,” Oliver said. 

McDowell responded in his own remarks, saying he looks forward to working with Oliver and all members of council. 

“The perspective that he and I carry as entrepreneurs and wanting to get things done for the city, they’re amazing,” McDowell said. “They just get often interpreted as things that will put us backwards, when they can be things that propel us forward.”