Vacant buildings in Lorain, Elyria bring state of downtowns into question

It can be hard to tell what properties are vacant or not in downtown Lorain. It can be even harder to know the state inside those once-bright storefronts now left to decay. Are they structurally sound? Is there water damage to the roof, basement or elsewhere? City officials are trying to get answers as they hope to push owners into complying with vacant property regulations and zoning codes. "We want that corridor to be beneficial to the city," Zoning Administrator Evelisse Atkinson said. That means buildings cannot be used just for storage — which is not a permitted use by the zoning code — or left to rot. "... We want to make sure that those businesses are providing some economic development." Vacant buildings are supposed to be registered with the city, and Building, Housing and Planning staff are sending notices to tax mailing addresses to get a dialogue going with owners, Director Matt Kusznir said, but it is a slow process. Inspection records are scarce, in part because getting search warrants for vacant buildings can be difficult, Chief Building Official Dave Faciana said. "Just because it's vacant doesn't give me probable cause," he said. "We have to know that there's actually something — an issue or violation or code problem for us to get into it right now." He estimated about 70 percent of Broadway's buildings are in compliance with the zoning code, and about 30 percent are vacant or being used for storage. In part, it is about what the city's administration wants, Faciana said. "I can probably go in and tear down a third of those buildings, but then where does that leave Broadway?" he said. "We have to look at a lot of the aspects of these things. Can these buildings be saved? Absolutely. That depends on how deep your pocket is." Sorry state Heather Doskocill and Tonja Rhodes, owners of Over the Moon, have a front-row seat to what happens when commercial buildings languish. Their rented storefront shares a wall with The Style Center, 418 Broadway, which had a partial roof collapse this summer — but it is unclear when the damage actually happened. The Style Center is a hulking white building not far from the Broadway district's entrance off West Erie Avenue. From the outside it is obviously vacant, but the extent of what blight has crept through the brick structure is hard to tell. A piece of plywood covers a hole where a marquee would be and leaves and debris catch in the setback front entrance where a Lorain County Public Health notice was taped to the cracked glass door this fall. It is not just aesthetics that concern the two business owners whose boutique occupies the first floor of the property next door, but the problems the vacant building invites. The main problem, they say, is raccoons. The trash-loving fiends found their way into the Style Center, even before the roof collapsed, and can cross from the vacant property to Doskocill and Rhodes' space through the walls — drawn by the warmth of the cozy store and the building's buzzing HVAC. "I don't understand why it got to this point," Doskocill said. "Why it's gotten so dilapidated in some of these buildings, because I'm sure there's a lot worse down here than what I have." The pair agreed it was sad to see their neighboring buildings — and others up and down Broadway — get to such a sorry state. For the Style Center, part of the issue is confusion over who owns it. Jon Veard Jr. and his company, JJV2 Development LLC. are listed as the owner on the Lorain County Auditor's website. But Veard said there is a land contract in place — making him more like a bank than the property owner itself, he said. And, like a bank, he cannot address the issues in the property. He said he may be open to taking direct ownership of the property under his own development company, but is unsure of the state of the Style Center itself. "Until I get in and see how bad it is — does it need to be torn down, does it need saved — I don't know," he said. "I don't have a legal right to go into it." Veard Jr.'s company owns myriad properties on Broadway. Some are vacant, others are gems of what redevelopment and investment could be, like the Duane Building. When Veard Jr.'s father, Jon Veard Sr. purchased the Duane Building in the early 2000s, he transformed a burnt-out husk into the apartment and retail space it is today. That work took investments — time and money, including $1.8 million in federal historic tax credits — to restore the Renaissance Revival-style structure. "We've got a gem," Veard Jr. said, but admitted not every building — or developer — is up for that kind of renewal. "I'm on the Design Review (Board) and I like to tell people 'Not every building can be saved.' Some buildings need to be sacrificed to save other buildings." He said Broadway's biggest problem is its lack of parking and tight street access since the Broadway Streetscape saw the sidewalks widened for foot traffic. "You've got to get people living downtown, you've got to make it safe and hopefully, it'll make a turnaround," Veard Jr. said. "... It's possible — you never say never … But when you've got store owners, some that don't even sweep up the leaves in front of their buildings, it's kind of like you've got to take pride in ownership." Veard Jr. is in the process of taking over JJV2 Development LLC. and his father's related companies and assets. Jon Veard Sr. died in March. Work to be done In downtown Elyria, the vacancy list is shorter — in part because the demolition list has been longer. In 2021, two Century Block buildings and the old Mussey Block building met the wrecking ball to make way for a revitalization, and a fire that raged through the long-closed Uncle Vic's and Mardi Gras building led to a date with the excavator that February. Crews also tore down the century-old Shane Furniture building at 327 Broad St. in 2022 — which saw mishaps that caused damage to neighboring properties due to substandard work by the contractor. During his 2023 campaign, Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker pledged to bring businesses and life back to the city's downtown. In his time at the helm, the city has created and expanded grants to help downtown business owners renovate and Assistant Safety Service Director Dawn Calvert has led the city's economic development work. "A challenge for us is the older buildings that have sat vacant, some of them for quite a few years," Brubaker said. "As people want to move into these buildings, there's a lot of work that has to be done. And because they are commercial buildings, it does require an architect to do the design, and there are a lot of building code things that come into play." In Elyria, rehabbing century-old properties requires architectural designs and capital some developers do not have, Brubaker said, which can sometimes see projects hire more affordable architects with less experience in the city. These architects sometimes produce designs that don't meet state code requirements, so designs have to be done again, adding to the cost. This was why Brubaker pushed for the city to implement an architectural design grant, which was approved by City Council last year. The city also has grants that help fund facade improvements to buildings downtown and on Cleveland Street, as well as for historic building renovations. Brubaker has pushed back on claims that Elyria's Building Department is overly harsh, arguing that architectural plans submitted to the city are actually reviewed by independent third-party architects, and the department simply enforces state code. But, he said, the city could always get better at working and communicating with business owners, and he has started having weekly meetings with Chief Building Official Darryl Farkas to see where businesses are in their redevelopment and who may need more guidance. The administration believes that with more shops and especially restaurants, workers will stay in Elyria longer or come back to the city with family and friends after work, creating a cycle where more people being downtown draws more business and vice versa. "Downtown is not going to be Sears, JCPenney's, Woolworth's and those things we had as kids," Brubaker said. "But you look at what was done in Wellington and Lorain; they rebuilt their downtowns with an array of small businesses. That is what we are trying to do." 'A good place to start' Dan Martin owns several buildings throughout downtown Elyria. After years of work, he finally has the first one, The Shoppes on Broad, fully up and running. The building at 374 Broad St. originally was built as a small shopping center in the mid-1970s before being bought by Lorain County and becoming a county annex office. Earlier this year, Martin reopened the building after returning it to its original purpose, and five small businesses now operate stores there. "You see the old postcards of downtown Elyria, and it was unbelievable, just constant traffic," Martin said. "I think downtown is still very busy, but people just aren't stopping because they have gotten used to not having much to do. I hate to say that when you've got Erie Island, Mystic Moon, The Foundry, Keith's Comics and places like that, but they are ahead of their time. We don't have enough people doing stuff like that downtown yet, and the more that happens downtown, the better it will be for everybody." Martin was fortunate with The Shoppes on Broad that the building had been maintained and partially renovated by the county before he bought it. One of the main tips he offers prospective business owners is to find a building that has not been left vacant for too long, as those that have been vacant for a long time often have serious maintenance issues hidden in plain sight. Echoing Brubaker's point about communicating with the city, Martin urged business owners to check in with the Building Department throughout renovations and to utilize the city's grant programs. "Elyria is a good place to start because they have these grants in place now," Martin said. "I am hoping that they keep those around, because it does incentivize you to upgrade the building… There are hidden costs with trying to take an old building and making it usable for a new purpose, but I also think it is worth it." Martin said that the key to reinvigorating downtown Elyria will be a collaboration between business owners, even those who may perceive themselves to be competitors. "The more people come downtown, the better it is for every single business," Martin said. "... I don't care if there are three clothing stores; if somebody is coming for one clothing store, they are going to check out the other two while they're downtown." Creative solutions Ohio History Connection's Diana Welling said Elyria and Lorain have taken the initial steps to preserve their downtowns: both are listed on the national register and have local historic districts. The tools are there; now it is up to property owners and developers to get to work. Welling, director of the State Historic Preservation Office, said there are options for state and federal historic tax credits to help get work off the ground. If a property is too far gone to be saved, she suggested infill construction compatible with the rest of the district can save what may look like a gap-toothed smile in a downtown – but noted she has been inside properties once deemed ready for the wrecking ball that ultimately ended up being successful historic tax credit projects. The Newark Arcade came to mind as an example, she said. At one point, the site was on a 24-hour fire watch until a group got together to save the 110-year-old structure. When Newark Development Partners acquired the landmark, which was one of Ohio's eight glassed-in shopping centers designed by architect Carl Howell and built by the Arcade Realty Company, it was another dilapidated building in the Licking County seat's downtown. Six years after the acquisition, it opened as a retail and dining hub under the glass canopy, with 19 market-rate loft apartments above. Its rehabilitation, as well as a similar project in Dayton, were projects that at a time gave developers and city officials pause as to whether or not the buildings should even be left standing. "A lot of people thought that (demolition) was the only option," she said. "There are creative solutions to make financing available." For Doskocill and Rhodes, who took a chance on a storefront less than a block from their current Broadway space, they would agree with Welling's assessment: Demolition is not the only option. Standing in the T.R. Bowen Building at 312 Broadway, the two have a vision to turn the long-blighted space into their new storefront on the first floor and an apartment for Rhodes and her husband on the second floor. "We were looking at three (buildings)," Doskocill said. "And between the three that we looked at, that was best..." Rhodes finished her sentence: "Well, kind of best for the money." Built in the mid-1890s, the space was at some point a shoe store, then a clothing store and, most recently, left to decay by the prior owner. When the women of Over the Moon purchased the property, it was trashed – insulation hung from the ceiling, the floor was warped from water damage and debris from the prior tenant littered the space. In the months since, they and their husbands have cleared out the space and plan to do a large portion of the work themselves, save for the help from a structural engineer needed to address the back brick wall, which is starting to separate from the other three. Doskocill said they plan to go through the Lorain Port and Finance Authority for financing help, and hope to be open in the new space within the next year or so. Rhodes' philosophy on Broadway was simple: "If you own it, you should put some pride into it." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chronicle.com.