A 47-unit apartment complex wouldn’t normally spark excitement in a city the size of Toledo.
The proposed “Bridges of Toledo” in the Vistula neighborhood is an exception.
The project right along the Maumee Riverfront at 1338 N. Summit St. is expected to be presented to the Toledo city Plan Commission on Oct. 8. What should be most encouraging to local citizens is the way the project validates a key strategy in the preliminary Forward Toledo land use plan.
The starting point vision document for citizen input says “introducing water as a component of residential living helps to diversify neighborhoods in a way that can help differentiate Toledo from the rest of the region.”
Bridges of Toledo developer Keith Brown says the complex will be designed so that every unit has an unobstructed river view. The apartments are expected to come on the market near the end of 2023 with market prices and amenities that are similar to the Marina Lofts southeast of the Vistula, also featuring river views.
Mr. Brown says his project, first planned as a condo complex 17 years ago, will catalyze more development along the riverfront. The Forward Toledo plan assumes exactly the same outcome. It would be a terrible mistake to spend $200 million on a fabulous Glass City Riverwalk and then fail to create synergistic, private economic development around the investment.
A world class riverfront park has helped bring long dormant land to life in a suddenly resurgent neighborhood, and it’s just getting started.
Metroparks conservatively estimates a billion dollars of new value created around the riverwalk through increased property values, private development, and ecotourism. They say Columbus turned a $100 million riverfront investment into $1.4 billion of nearby private investment.
The numbers are less important than a highly visible change in momentum.
Toledo’s waterfront development is bearing fruit and providing ratification that the Forward Toledo land use plan is built upon a solid foundation for success.
First Published September 18, 2022, 4:00 a.m.
