“Today we want to accomplish a couple of things; we want everybody to know River Valley purchased this building, which is a staple in the community, and let everybody know this is where we are now and also let them know if you want to come into this building and create a professional office, we have that,” said Richard Williams, owner of River Valley Realty.

Williams purchased the Fremar Building at 16569 St. Clair Ave. in Calcutta back in September and has been working to modernize the building which was built back in the 1970s. The building closed in 2015 and has sat empty since.

Williams said they ran over 1,000 feet of wiring to start bringing the building up to date because there was no network system in place.

He plans to make it a one-stop shop for purchasing a home by offering lending, buying and title services all in one location. They currently have lending and home buying available through River Valley Realty, which is a family run business with his wife Kim as the broker and his son Christopher as the main agent and Novus Home Mortgage to help buyers with financing. He estimates adding a title service to the building within the next six months.

Business owners, their families and members of the public enjoy a BBQ dinner hosted by River Valley Realty during their Friday open house. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

He feels there is a real need for title services in the area since the closest title agency is located in Youngstown. He has an affiliation with a title service in Warren, with which he plans to have open a satellite office in the new building.

Williams’ businesses do not occupy all the space inside the building, so he is creating professional office suites to rent out.

He currently has three tenants including Novus Home Mortgage and The Feldman Agency.

Williams said that even though the Feldman family sold him the building they still wanted to keep a presence there and rent space from him.

He noted that if a company that needs limited space and is working with a limited budget needs professional office space, this is their solution.

Ella Bahen, 6, and Blake Williams 7, enjoy the bounce house slide at the open house hosted by River Valley Realty. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

The office suites include the phones, internet service, electric, gas, heat, and everything needed for an office at one set price per month. With this the business has all the business conveniences they would need, including printing/faxing services and a commons area.

“It’s the new way of doing business,” Williams said. “This is the modern office space for people who work from home but still want to meet with a client in a professional environment and provide that professional experience to a client when necessary. We are going to fill that need here.”

Williams noted that they can be the face for the businesses owners when they are not present in the office, by having someone greet their clients and see what they need and even answer phones for them from the common area.

Christopher said that the event was about opening the Fremar building to the public as they bring life back to the old building.

“It’s been a very famous building and has been around here a long time and everybody has always wanted to see it… so we teamed up with Brooke (Infante, owner of Novus Home Mortgage) and said hey let’s open it up. Let’s have everybody come in and enjoy it and have some food while we are at it, and that’s what we are doing.”

Ella Bahen, 6, and Blair Williams, 2, enjoy playing in the bounce houses at the River Valley Realty open house. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Christopher also noted that it’s tough times right now and Infante offers some creative lending which can help in the community.

Infante said there are grant programs to help people in the community who are interested in purchasing a home.

Infante and Christopher both agreed that down payments are probably the biggest hurdle in Columbiana County right now for prospective home buyers, so this is a positive thing that could help those interested in purchasing a home obtain that goal.

Kgarabrandt@gmail.com

Richard Williams, owner of River Valley Realty, stands in his office at the business’s new location, the Fremar Building at 16569 St. Clair Ave. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

River Valley Realty Agent Christopher Williams and Brooke Infante, loan officer with Novus Home Mortgage, stand outside their new location located at 16569 St. Clair Ave., Calcutta. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)