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by Jon Chavez, Blade business writer
The Blade (Toledo, OH)
12-17-97
A decision to proceed with or abandon plans for an upscale regional mall on Toledo-owned land in west Maumee remained on hold yesterday despite earlier statements by a co-developer that a final determination had to be made by the previous day.
George Isaac, Jr., president of the Bryan-based Isaac Group, was out of town and unavailable. But through a spokesman he said yesterday no decision had been reached and that a decision is likely to come by Friday.
However, prospects for the project seem to be waning, because Mr. Isaac said last month he needed 15 days to close on the land purchase, and his option to buy it expires Dec. 30. That meant a decision to proceed had to be made by Dec. 15.
Mr. Isaac's co-partner in the project, General Growth Properties, Inc., of Chicago, a national mall developer, had no information yesterday about whether the development would proceed.
The project, dubbed the South Mall, would be built on 430 acres owned by the city of Toledo but situated in Maumee.
The co-developers have had control of the 430 acres, through an option to buy, since May, 1995. But after granting the last extension on the option, Toledo's city council said last year that the option ends if the land is not purchased for an additional $6.51 million by the end of this year. The original option cost $500,000.
The property is southwest of Maumee's Arrowhead Industrial Park and was bought by Toledo in the 1980s in the hopes it would be developed for industrial or commercial use, from which the city would receive real-estate taxes.
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