As ProMedica moves the last of its employees into its new downtown headquarters, the company is searching for a buyer for the Monticello-styled building that has served as its main corporate office for the last decade.
The health-care company has listed its campus at 1801 Richards Rd. for $8.75 million.
“It’s a wonderful building. We really enjoyed being there and being at that location,” said Robin Whitney, the senior vice president of real estate and construction at ProMedica. “As we have reported, we’ve grown so much and the ability to try to have everybody in one location was really the driver for us to come downtown and it wasn’t going to be possible at that location. It’s a great building, it just no longer met our needs.”
Built in 1995 by Dana Inc. for its now-defunct Dana Commercial Credit leasing subsidiary, the 52,000-square-foot building sits on more than 9 acres and features a small underground parking garage. It also has a fitness center with a sauna, a large cafeteria, and 38 private offices.
ProMedica bought the property from Dana in 2006 for a reported $9.3 million. Ms. Whitney said the building had housed about 100 people, including senior executives, marketing and communications employees, and the company’s legal department.
The campus has been on the market about a year but it hasn’t elicited any offers. “I think the interest has been a little lighter than what we expected, but we also know it’s a very unique building,” Ms. Whitney said.
Commercial real estate agents selling the building say having ProMedica completely out may help buyers better understand its potential. The last employees in the building are to move downtown on Friday, officials said.
“As beautiful as it was with them in there, I think it will almost be easier to show with them out,” Stephanie Kuhlman, senior development agent for NAI Harmon Group, said. “I’m hoping we can get a better visual now walking through there that can better let you see what this could be for somebody else and not just what it is for ProMedica.”
In an unusual arrangement, the listing is shared between Lance Tyo, an agent with Re/Max Preferred Associates in Toledo, and NAI Harmon. Both agents said Tuesday the pairing helps marketing and allows a wider net to be cast.
While there’s a narrow demographic of firms that would want such a large building, Mr. Tyo and Ms. Kuhlman said opportunities to acquire a corporate campus are rare.
“One of the benefits for this building is you can have a beautifully constructed building that you couldn’t reproduce for any reasonable cost. The furniture is there, the setting is there, the IT is run through the building,” Ms. Kuhlman said.
The building could be divided. But Mr. Tyo said its best use is as one owner’s corporate headquarters, similar to what ProMedica had, or as a hub for a larger firm.
Pete Shawaker, a commercial Realtor at the Reichle Klein Group, who isn’t involved in the listing, said he feels the most likely end user would be a local firm looking to move up to a nicer, larger headquarters and wants the prestige of its own campus. While an outside buyer could scoop it up, Mr. Shawakwer thinks it unlikely.
One of the property’s more interesting features is a bridge over a small creek south of the building that was built to replicate the 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Club.
Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com, 419-724-6134 or on Twitter @BladeAutoWriter.
First Published August 23, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
