Timing could be everything when it comes to creating a viable business venture at the Erie Street Market, city officials believe.
Although the Libbey Glass Factory Outlet, the Art on Market shops, and Hull & Associates comprise a portion of the market, only remnants of a once bustling Erie Street Market remain now beneath the expansive arched ceiling of bay 4, the 25,000 square-foot space and former civic auditorium.
But a new business plan focused on culinary training and entrepreneurship proposes to breathe new life into that area.
And a deal could eventually be on the way for bay 3, the now vacant area that once housed local artisans selling their goods and wares, said Joe Marck, the director of development for IBC Properties, the firm that purchased the Erie Street Market from the city in 2015.
With more than 1,000 new residents now living in Toledo’s downtown warehouse district, having made the move over the past decade, as well as a significant number of planned projects in development, downtown is booming.
And with new restaurant openings, the expansive Glass City Metropark project, Walleye and Mud Hens games, city officials are banking on a market comeback with the new proposal. The movement comes nearly two decades after the former market, which had been plagued with declining business and political drama, closed its doors on a significant portion of business there.
“I just feel like the public interest in downtown is totally different than it was when this [market] had gotten going in the 1990s,” Mr. Marck said this week. “The Erie Street Market kicked off really at the tail end of the exodus of people leaving downtown. There was a lot of outside pressure pulling people’s attention away from downtown to places like Arrowhead Park [in Maumee].”
The proposal calls for the former Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant, located near the front entrance, to be redeveloped into a smart commercial kitchen, which will be utilized and managed by the Center for Innovative Food Technology and Opportunity Kitchen, an initiative of Catholic Charities. Both organizations are focused on culinary training and development and a smart kitchen offers automated technology, new equipment, and techniques to inspire future innovation.
CIFT is a private nonprofit organization with a commercial kitchen located in Bowling Green that’s focused on providing business and technical assistance to the food, agricultural, and regional manufacturing industry. The opportunity to bring services to downtown Toledo makes this project appealing, said Rebecca Singer, president and CEO of CIFT.
“For many years we have tried to look at what we could do to enhance the food ecosystem in Toledo and I think this gives us a nice opportunity to bring people together and showcase some innovation. But also really celebrate the uniqueness of what our community has to offer,” Ms. Singer said.
A $1.1 million federal grant made possible with the support of U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) supports funding for the smart kitchen.
The Economic and Community Development Institute, a Columbus-based non-profit organization, will oversee the culinary incubation hubs to be located in the civic center auditorium. The city has allocated $500,000 in federal relief funds to upgrade the existing kitchen infrastructure in that space.
The ECDI incubator program is based on projects completed in other cities and will expand upon the kitchens and create more space for other artisans and food incubators, said Brandon Sehlhorst, commissioner of economic development.
Additional seating will also be added, and the civic auditorium stage will remain for live performances.
The project is estimated to cost $12 million; however, ECDI has recently hired an architect and engineering firm to lay out final plans and refine the cost estimates.
“Until we know what the exact cost is and what funding we can attract through tax credits and what ECDI will fund, it’s difficult to say what further involvement the city will have in funding this project,” Mr. Sehlhorst said.
In addition, funding is “strictly performance-based,” which means the money will be allocated when the work is completed, he said. The project will be implemented in phases and construction could be completed next year, with the facility operational in 2025.
The proposal falls in line with Toledo’s overall economic development strategy in growing existing Toledo businesses, Mr. Sehlhorst said. It goes hand in hand with the robust grant program that serves the city’s economic development vibrancy initiative to create tenant-ready spaces within downtown and other commercial business districts.
“One of the challenges on the other end of the equation is having businesses ready to operate within those spaces. This [Erie Street Market] is an answer to that question to help provide a space for those companies to incubate and grow to test and refine their business model and hopefully one day grow into a bricks and mortar location,” Mr. Sehlhorst said.
Historical Significance
The market was built in 1913 to provide a space where farmers would bring their produce to sell to restaurant owners, hucksters, and the public. In 1928, it was remodeled into an indoor-outdoor market and the civic auditorium was added. Then in 1966, the facility became a warehouse and garage for the city’s transportation division.
In 1997 the city opened the Erie Street Market as a destination center for visitors to shop and dine with food restaurateurs and local artisans on hand. The Toledo Warehouse District Association initially managed the property, but it was later taken over by the administration of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and its nonprofit contractor, CitiFest Inc.
By the mid-2000s, however, the market was failing to remain viable, and the city agreed to sell the building to IBC Inc. for $600,000, though the city walked away with about $186,500 from the sale after deductions.
Mr. Finkbeiner, who was elected Toledo mayor for two consecutive terms beginning in 1993, then again in 2005, hosted a Saturday morning radio show at the market. The building’s historical significance and location made it an appealing venture for the city, Mr. Finkbeiner said this week.
“I felt this could be a centerpiece,” Mr. Finkbeiner said. “I thought it could become a really popular destination for the Old West-Enders and would encourage others who were considering moving into the center of Toledo.”
Lack of foot traffic throughout the week was a major factor in its downfall, Mr. Finkbeiner said. He believes the current proposal is intriguing and is hopeful it will be a success.
There was a big push by city officials to maintain the space, said former Toledo City Councilman Rob Ludeman who served on council for a total of 26 years from 1994 to 2008 then from 2009 to 2021. But as a conservative Mr. Ludeman objected to the city being in the business of owning and leasing property, he said this week.
“My interest over the years was to get it into private hands and get it out of the city’s control because we’re just not good at managing property,” he said. “If the Marcks can work with some different types of vendors and get those spaces leased out and get income generated and income tax generated by people who are working there and paying taxes could be a good revenue source for everybody.”
Past Vendors
News reports from the early 2000s list complaints about management, empty food bays, and lack of customers, especially on weekdays and in the winter months.
In 2006, Pam Weirauch, the owner of Pam’s Corner, was among the vendors operating in bay 4 who were given short notice to vacate the market. The request came after the city received a $630,500 federal grant for a renovation project.
The tenants were told they could submit a business plan and negotiate rent structures to return to the market after the improvements were completed. Ms. Weirauch had operated her shop for four years beginning in 2002 but after receiving the letter, she decided not to return. Instead, she opened a new shop on 10th street in downtown.
“There’s no way I would trust that kind of management again,” Ms. Weirauch said, noting that it took months to receive her deposit check after she left the market. “I got a following while I was there and I think I was one of the vendors that the experience was about. I don’t think it was ever meant to be a full-time gig for anyone. I think it was meant to be an incubator. So to be honest, I had a great experience. The ending, however, how they treated people who paid their rent on time, that’s the part that ruffles my feathers.”
It does not appear that the market ever reopened to vendors again in bay 4; however, there may have been some limited concert events in the auditorium in 2008 and 2009.
Jamie Thompson took over Superior Antiques Mall in 2004 but moved the business to Holland in 2006 due to a need for expansion. When the recession hit in 2008, he downsized the business and moved to a location in Perrysburg until that business closed. He now operates an estate sale and private brokering business through Carriage House Antiques.
“We were probably there 15 years too soon,” Mr. Thompson said this week. “I drive downtown now and my heart sort of aches for the possibility that could have been. There is so much going on and there is so much potential and so many great things unfolding. There’s so much redevelopment and so many dollars there that I wish those dollars were there 15 years ago for us.”
First Published June 4, 2023, 11:30 a.m.
