The Toledo Warehouse District will soon be enhanced by the conversion of 163,000 square feet of abandoned blight into the new home of Fry Heating, Cooling & Plumbing. (“Warehouse District to get new business,” Tuesday.)
The 94-year-old company is moving from Maumee to 152 Hamilton St. and plans to add five new jobs when they have the extra space. The sprawling property is a connection of seven buildings that can be used beyond the business.
Read more Blade editorials
It will take a zoning change from light industry to mixed-use commercial, but when that obviously beneficial move is made apartments can be added on the second story.
The restoration project is possible thanks to a $637,500 loan from an Ohio Department of Development fund administered in northwest Ohio by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.
Fry’s owner Dan Pienta gave the Port Authority a strong endorsement, telling Blade reporter James Trumm, “any business looking to do something like this couldn’t find a better source of help.”
The Ohio loan program is a huge assistance to development projects like the Hamilton Street rehab, with a 3.5 percent interest rate on a 20-year loan. Below-market rates make the project possible and soon an empty, deteriorating building will be brought back to commercial life.
The local tax base will benefit from the property, income, and sales tax revenue created by a thriving business and its employees. The new location for Fry Plumbing, Heating & Cooling is close to many restaurants and pubs which are enhanced by the proximity of potential new nearby patrons.
Communities rise or fall depending on exactly this type of synergy. Empty buildings produce a domino effect as the business prospects of commercial neighbors are damaged by the loss. Eventually the remaining businesses have a tax burden that is too great for the decline in revenue caused by the loss of nearby patrons.
Toledo has spent years trying to reverse that momentum and create a positive feedback loop for local business. The attraction of Fry Plumbing is a big step in the right direction and deserves to be celebrated as such.
The state and local economic development program worked just as intended and a longtime Lucas County business and city of Toledo are the beneficiaries. The Port Authority says they do an enormous amount of outreach to make businesses aware of the help they can provide.
Nothing will do that better than highly visible projects like Fry’s move to the Warehouse District.
Most Popular
Comments / 0