The United Way of Greater Toledo is putting its 10-year-old downtown building up for sale in an attempt to save money and work in a space better suited to reach people in need.
President and CEO Wendy Pestrue said the building is "a little too large" for the nonprofit organization and its current structure. United Way is using fewer processors, and an increasing number of employees work from home.
Mrs. Pestrue said the time is right to place the parcel on the market, which will happen this week. The move has been approved by the nonprofit’s board.
"The market is good downtown right now with a lot of neat things happening and it might make sense for some other organization to come in and use this space. So it seems like the right time,” Mrs. Pestrue said.
United Way selected Toledo-based Reichle Klein Group to market the property at the corner of Jackson and North Superior streets. United Way executive vice president Matt Morris said the land — which consists of the building, adjacent parking lot, and green space — will be priced at $5.5 million. The Lucas County Auditor values the property at $6,063,300.
Reichle Klein President and CEO Harlan Reichle said the firm will use a multi-pronged approach to market the space, including broadcast and email advertising. He believes the green space could be split from the rest of the property.
“Given the interest in downtown for multi-family housing or condos, this is a tremendous site I think for residential development downtown,” Mr. Reichle said. “I expect that should a buyer not be interested in the land, we will find a developer to buy the land separately and develop it.”
Mrs. Pestrue said the building and parking lot are probably a package deal, but agreed the green space along Jackson Street could be sold separately. The entire parcel is zoned for C-5, central business district, according to the city's zoning map.
"We've kept it very quiet to this point, but we've already had people say they'd like to take a look at the space and they're interested," Mr. Morris said.
Toledo Plan Commission Chair Ken Fallows declined to comment on what the city would like to see happen with the space. A spokesman for Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz did not provide comment after multiple requests.
In 2008, United Way's 22-member board voted unanimously to demolish the old building, which was built in the late 1960s in the same location. The 100,000-square foot facility had five floors and fell into disrepair.
The odd-shaped building was financed with several million dollars in contributions from the Stranahan family, founders of Champion Spark Plug Co. in Toledo.
Then-Councilman Joe McNamara and former Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop opposed demolition plans.
The Blade reported in 2008 the building required $10 million of renovations. United Way opted to build a new energy-efficient building for $4.9 million.
“It's a beautiful building; it's fabulously constructed,” Mr. Reichle said. “The setting is great with great exposure. There's no question the momentum we're seeing downtown is going to make this job easier.”
Mrs. Pestrue said United Way has been offered in-kind space from "a couple" community partners, but the organization's next destination has yet to be decided.
"We like the idea of being downtown," she said. "We also really like the idea of being close to the work we offer. In this zip code, there are a lot of folks the United Way and our partners serve, so I think staying close to that is a nice idea."
Like many nonprofits, United Way has faced its fair share of financial hurdles in recent years. The organization saw its highest fund-raising year in 1999 with $15 million. By 2016, the annual figure dropped by nearly $4 million.
United Way saw total revenues drop from $12.5 million in 2016 to $11.5 million in 2017, according to tax records. That number fell again in 2018 to $11.3 million.
First Published March 9, 2020, 5:32 p.m.
