Fire-damaged vacant building in Jeannette back in city's hands

The fate of a fire-damaged building on Clay Avenue in Jeannette is back in the hands of taxpayers.

Council on Thursday unanimously approved rescinding the transfer of the property after a sale apparently fell through.

In January 2024, council approved transferring 416-418 Clay Ave. to the Jeannette Redevelopment Authority and then to Checko Properties for $1 plus recording fees, transfer taxes and closing costs.

“The person who was authorized to purchase it did not move forward with purchasing the property,” City Manager Ethan Keedy said.

The owner of Checko Properties, Matt Yanecko, said he wanted to move forward with the project but ran into what he described as a lack of communication and cooperation with city officials.

“I never said no and they just completely dropped the ball,” he said.

The properties are home to an empty lot and a two-story building that caught fire in November 2020. The blaze started on the first floor of the building that housed the the business Computer Clinic, but investigators weren’t able to determine what sparked it because of a partial building collapse. A large amount of electronic equipment was on the first floor.

The owner of the properties at the time of the fire donated them to the city a few years ago.

Checko Properties already owns a couple of parcels along Clay Avenue, including one building Yanecko said houses apartments and business in the 200 block. He said he moved money allocated to the416-418 Clay Ave. work to an existing project in Greensburg.

Keedy said city officials will see if there’s any interest from developers in the Clay Avenue properties. If not, razing it might be the answer to remove the eyesore from the downtown area, he said.

City officials had been trying to prevent demolition, especially on Clay Avenue, Keedy said, but too much time had passed without the sale going through.

“We’ll be happy to finally get it done,” he said.