There was a time when it looked like the former Frank Llewellyn law office building in the center of Summit Hill might be targeted for a wrecking ball.

Deemed “condemned” several years ago and exhibiting the effects of wear and tear, the once-majestic-looking structure that sits at the corner of Ludlow and Chestnut streets became an eyesore in the community.

Some of its owners tried to rehabilitate the structure, which until this year sat empty and waiting for an opportunistic investor to come along.

Frank Ingrassia, the 36-year-old businessman from Hauto who owns Symmetry Construction Enterprises and Black Rock Property Management, a residential leasing and property management firm, is the next to try.

Ingrassia, who said his firm is contracted with 500 long-term rentals across the country, bought the building earlier this year for $100,000. He plans to make it a money-making property again.

“I’m a ready, aim, fire type of guy so when I heard the building was for sale, I arranged to go through a walk-through with the owner,” Ingrassia said. “What I found was it is a building that needed a building, so to speak, but I got a good deal on the sale and decided to invest in the community.”

Ingrassia said he completed a projection on renovations that would be needed from top to bottom and estimated he would need to make a $300,000 investment.

“Summit Hill is a nice community, and the building brought blight to the neighborhood,” he said. “It was condemned, but one thing I always do in business, is follow the rules, and so we hired Carbon Engineering to put together blueprints/plans that we would submit to the borough.”

To get the building out of condemnation, Ingrassia said numerous issues needed attention, some that still do. They include a smoke detection system, a new façade, roof, electrical, plumbing and a heating system.

“The building had to be brought into compliance with the borough’s zoning issues, and that, obviously, is for safety reasons,” he said.

The developer also had to address the antiquated fire escape system on the building, removing the rusty ladder unit and deteriorating porch on the front of the building, instead installing firewalls throughout the building and fireproofing its hallways.

When he met the borough’s zoning enforcement official, Ingrassia said, the latter’s reaction was, “This is not the first time (someone wanted to renovate the building) I’m hearing this.” But, after meeting all of the zoning regulations, Ingrassia was told his plans are “good to go.”

“It was a building being damaged by the elements, but we made it one of our bigger projects and were able to do some of the preliminary work until the final plans were approved,” he said. “It seemed we needed permits for everything, electricity, concrete, fire safety, and a whole lot more, but we were willing to make an investment in Summit Hill.”

Ingrassia said the building has one commercial unit and 10 apartments. He said the plan is to use the commercial area in some form yet to be determined. Initial thoughts, some of which are not ruled out, include a laundry mat, ice cream shop and/or a tanning salon.

“We haven’t decided,” he said. “We are looking at it from the perspective of it’s not what Summit Hill wants, it’s what Summit Hill needs.”

When told of Ingrassia’s plans for the landmark building, Summit Hill Borough Councilman David Wargo, who is chairperson of the council’s Economic Development Committee, was elated.

“This is great news for our town,” Wargo said. “COVID paused our work on pushing economic development forward and rebuilding our downtown. We are committed to pursuing opportunities to revitalize our community’s business district and this will be a large step in the right direction. I’m grateful to Mr. Ingrassia’s investment in our community and we fully support his effort and we intend to use this as one of our foundational building blocks to transforming our downtown into a thriving shopping and business district once again.”

The apartments, Ingrassia said, will be on the “high end,” saying his company has a “pretty rigorous” vetting policy when it comes to qualifying factors it looks at from prospective renters. They include a 600 credit score, background, income verification and a policy that the renter will have to be able to pay their rent with one-third of their monthly income.

Ingrassia said use of the building will “be definitely catered to the blue collar society, the socio-economic of Summit Hill. Our thought is this project has to be good for the community. We want to bring an influx of money into Summit Hill in the way of people living here, and spending their money here.”

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Ingrassia moved to Pennsylvania in 2000 and was a welder for the Kovatch firm in Nesquehoning.

“About 2016-17, I began thinking, ‘I wanted more,’ and so I started Symmetry and in no time it became a seven-figure company,” he said. “I started to make some money, and decided to educate myself on real estate, and eventually we grew from a company standpoint.”

A self-proclaimed hard worker, he said he did roofing, masonry and construction work before settling in on the operations part of his businesses.

“I’m here for the long haul, investing time and resources in projects we undertake,” Ingrassia said.