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In 2018, after an outcry
by residents and local leaders, including elected officials
such as Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and U. S. Congresswoman
Marcy Kaptur, whose families have a history with the church,
the Diocese of Toledo donated the property to the Land Bank.
Since that time, the Land Bank has organized a series of
listening sessions with community residents to understand
how redevelopment of the property could benefit the people
of the neighborhood.
Earlier this year the Land
Bank engaged The Toledo Design Collective and Rudolph-Libbe,
and has invested $300,000, to analyze the various possible
uses for the property and the construction costs of
remodeling to fit those uses. That analysis projects a $3
million investment needed to make the property useful again.
The Land Bank has listed
the property for sale with Signature Associates and is
actively seeking proposals from developers whose plans are
funded, sustainable and will create positive investment in
the Junction neighborhood. A redevelopment committee
comprised of neighborhood stakeholders and redevelopment
experts will be formed to review the submitted proposals.
“We need the community to
step up and invest; we need a team to work with developers,”
said Lucas County Treasurer Lindsay Webb, during the
announcement. “St. Anthony has stood a very long time and
it’s possible to redevelop the building. We are calling on
the private sector, developers, non-profits” to work with
us.
“We want investors to have
a great opportunity,” said Amelia Gibbon, who shares
redevelopment co-chairman duties with Webb. “We are in this
for the long haul.”
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