Case Study: NAI Harmon Group Revitalizes Retail and Office Building in Toledo Shopping Center
Key Information
Client: The Town Center at Levis Commons
Location: Perrysburg, OH
Topline: Developing a retail and office building in a major shopping center
The Challenge
The Town Center at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, OH is an open-air lifestyle center which features shopping outlets, restaurants, office space, and apartments. Following its inception in 2000, its first stores opened in 2004. Several years later, a financial crisis struck Levis Commons and the developer was forced into foreclosure. While most of the land was sold back to the bank, one remaining building named the Orleans building went up for sale through public auction. The Orleans building was 67,000 square feet but was only 30 percent occupied at the time. High bonds, taxes, and other liabilities were attached to the property as well. Due to these circumstances, the building owner was having a difficult time selling. As a result, the owner of the building forgave all liabilities in another attempt to sell it.
The Solution
NAI Harmon Group was made aware of this real estate opportunity and attended the fourth public auction that was held for this property. In October 2016, NAI Harmon placed the highest bid and was granted ownership of the Orleans building, but they still needed to find tenants to occupy the remaining square feet. This would require investing a large sum of capital to get the remainder of the property up to move-in standards. As the leading independent commercial real estate brokerage and property management firm in Northwest Ohio, NAI Harmon Group has an extensive knowledge of the area. They knew what would succeed there and found desirable tenants who were interested. Development began on the unfinished portions of the building, and as they progressed the space continued to become more attractive to potential tenants.
The Result
Today, the Orleans building at Levis Commons is thriving and is 100 percent full. The building currently leases four high-quality restaurants: Benchmark Restaurant, Nagoya, Basil, and Fat Fish Blue. It also leases space to Funny Bone Comedy Club and two Fortune 500 company offices: Liberty Mutual and Morgan Stanley. Since NAI Harmon Group made the investment, a total of 180 jobs have been created in the Orleans building. NAI Harmon Group’s ability to be the property manager, develop new land, and market the space they build has led this venture to be a great success for both NAI and the community. Dallas Paul, NAI Harmon Group principal broker, said that “the partnership with NAI global gave us advantages to get this deal done that other local brokers did not have.” A total of 10 million dollars has been invested in this property, which shows their dedication and capability to complete a significant retail building such as this one. In addition to this property, NAI Harmon Group has also acquired a 40,000 square foot area adjacent to the Orleans building in Levis Commons. The land is currently under development and plans are to use the same strategies that made the Orleans building a success on this new property.