A New York City investment group paid $40 million for the 32-story One SeaGate building in downtown Toledo, Lucas County auditor's records show. The signature office tower, which for 25 years was the world headquarters of Owens-Illinois Inc. before the company moved to Perrysburg last year, is now the property of Amtrust Realty Corp., .

State of Ohio officials assessed the building's value last year at $41 million.

Officials of Amtrust, which specializes in undervalued commercial property, could not be reached for comment.

However, the new owner, which bought the building from RVI Group Inc., of Stamford, Conn., plans to make a significant investment in the building and renovate space for new tenants, according to Harlan Reichle, manager of CB Richard Ellis/Reichle Klein in Maumee, a firm hired by RVI to market the site.

O-I's departure left nearly 500,000 square feet of the building's 707,000 square feet of rentable space vacant, said Jeremy Miller, a commercial real estate agent with CB Richard Ellis/Reichle Klein. Fifth Third Bank is taking 127,000 square feet for its northwest Ohio operations, including a full-service banking center on the lobby floor. About 350 bank employees will move into One SeaGate starting in October, Karen Fraker, Fifth Third spokesman, said.

First Published August 22, 2007, 10:06 a.m.