TOLEDO, Ohio — WTOL 11 has learned that 2024 could be a significant year for development in Toledo. City leaders said there is currently more than $1 billion of investment property primed for projects this year.
Wanting to highlight these various projects, WTOL 11 met with Toledo's commissioner of economic development, Brandon Selhorst, Wednesday morning outside of the former Commerce Paper building, one of the first major pieces of city development that will be finished this year.
Expected to be complete by March or April, the Overmyer Lofts will offer 75 more apartments in the growing downtown area.
"It's one of our newest residential conversion projects in downtown," Selhorst said. "It's about a $40 million project."
Selhorst said the more housing that can be added to the downtown region, the more business the city can entice. That's why another project scheduled for a 2024 start is so critical, which includes the renovation of two of Toledo's abandoned skyscrapers, the Nicholas and Spitzer buildings.
"It's about a $200 million renovation of both the Nicholas and Spitzer buildings, taking them from office spaces to new units," Selhorst said. "But this should create some 367 units for downtown."
Add in renovations to the Jefferson Center and other projects and, in total, downtown development will make up the lion's share of the city's investments this year.
"Over a billion, $1 billion of the $1.5 billion total is going to downtown projects," Selhorst said.
The other half billion will be going to projects like the former Elder-Beerman site at the Westgate Shopping Center in west Toledo, which is also about to break ground on a $50 million facelift in the coming months.
"There's a lot of moving pieces with the Westgate project, but the developer has been very clear about wanting to create a lifestyle center," Selhorst said.
That plan means turning the patch of dirt that is currently there into a space for up-and-coming retail and modern apartments, much like Levis Commons in Perrysburg.
Up the road in north Toledo, the city's next industrial park is set to break ground this year at the former NorthTowne Square mall site.
This $100 million project, soon to be called the Toledo Trade Center, will host a new electric vehicle battery manufacturer, Mobis International. Selhorst called the future industrial park the city's new economic engine.
"Just a major opportunity to attract new jobs, new technologies, new opportunities to our city," said Selhorst.
He said the upcoming year of development indicates something all Toledoans can celebrate: momentum.
"This isn't just a one-and-done kind of thing like we've seen in other years," said Selhorst. "There are constantly things being built all over our city."
Selhorst called this year the start of a revitalization for the city and said if you don't notice any major changes this year, just wait until next year when many of these projects will be complete and start opening their doors.
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