The buildings at 132 and 134 E High Street in downtown Toledo, commonly known as the Horbach Buildings, were recently acquired by Toledo Economic Development, Inc. in hopes of preserving and renovating the buildings after they have sat vacant for the past decade under negligent ownership. The once-stately brick buildings were built in 1900 and were the home to the Freemasons lodge in Toledo for many years prior to their consolidation. Some of the original woodwork from the masonic lodge remains intact in the upper floor of the larger building including a stained glass dome adorning the center of the main lodge hall. – Photo by Darvin Graham

For the past decade one of Toledo’s most prominent downtown buildings has laid vacant and has most recently turned into a public nuisance.

The former Horbach Furniture commercial buildings at 132 and 134 E. High St. in downtown Toledo was purchased in 2012 from Larry Horbach by Sandra McAntire under the business name Shoestring Jungle LLC.

Around the same time McAntire also purchased another commercial space in Toledo, the former Zack’s Game Bag store on Old Business Hwy 30 next to the Super 8 motel.

Over the past 10 years all three properties have turned from once active retail spaces to vacant nuisance properties overflowing with refuse and becoming more dilapidated by the year.

The properties at the corner of E. High Street and Church Street sit at a key intersection within Toledo’s downtown district, sharing the area with Wilkerson Hardware along with the historic Wieting Theatre and Otterbein apartment buildings.

An interior view of the former Horbach Furniture showroom at 134 E High St. illustrates both the state to which the property had fallen into over the past decade as well as the historic character that remains in areas like the metal ceiling decor. Project organizers expect to focus the renovation efforts first on upper story apartments before investing into any sort of renovation in the lower floor. – Photo by Darvin Graham

In September 2021 Toledo Economic Development, Inc. (TCDI), a local non-profit that has received city hotel/motel tax funding in previous years for development projects, purchased the former Horbach buildings for $35,000 in an attempt to preserve the deteriorating structures with hopes of getting them turned around and in use again in the future.

“I’m hopeful that (this project) would have a positive impact on the area,” TCDI Board President John Kavalier said. “You know, you already have the Wieting Theatre directly east across the street fully renovated. You have the old Otterbein Methodist church that’s been renovated into apartments and is a very nice looking building. So I could see this helping to anchor that intersection and hopefully it’ll spring on other property owners. Of course you can’t force things like this either, it’s like pushing on a rope.”

With a pair of two-story buildings covering thousands of square feet in need of a laundry list of repairs including replacement of the brick wall on the east side of the building facing Church Street as well as tuckpointing and roof repairs, TCDI is hoping to renovate the building in phases to keep the project budget manageable.

The first phase of the project is being approached with assistance through Region 6 Resource Partners who are helping TCDI apply for grant funding to renovate the upper floor of the smaller of the two buildings on the corner (132 E. High St.) that used to be a grocery store prior to its days under the Horbach Furniture umbrella.

The proposed plan would renovate the second story of the 132 building into three single bedroom apartments.

A recent view of the lower floor of 134 E High St. where the Horbach Furniture store used to be located. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

“Downtowns have drastically changed over the years, which for Toledo, accelerated with the Highway 30 by-pass,” Toledo Mayor Brian Sokol said. “Our new downtown is essentially Business Highway 30, which means we need to get creative with the historic business district. This may include revisiting the possibility of housing conversions. It is my hope this project will be the catalyst to spark more interest in downtown properties.”

Phase one of the Horbach building project is estimated to cost around $861,000. TCDI has already secured $100,000 through a grant from the Region 6 Housing Trust Fund and is awaiting grant decisions from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and their Emergency Catalyst Program as well as their Downtown Upper Story Housing Fund that was created with dollars from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

According to Region 6 Executive Director Marty Wymore, the development team working on the Toledo Horbach building project hopes to receive word from the IEDA regarding their grant applications, together which total $400,000, by the end of March.

Should those grant funds be made available, that would leave an additional $361,000 to be made up to fully fund the project. Half of the $361,000 is expected to be accounted for with a bank loan paid off by rental income from the three apartments with the remaining $181,000 yet to be identified.

Should phase one of the project move forward as planned in 2022, it’s expected construction could start this spring with a target completion timeline of one year.

Over the past few years concerns of broken windows at 132 E High St. have posed a safety hazard to pedestrians on the sidewalk below. The broken windows have since been secured and should the renovation project being undertaken by TCDI proceed forward, would be part of the upper-story apartment renovation. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

This phase of the project will only impact the upper floor of the smaller building at 132 E High and not the larger storefront to the west where the furniture showroom was housed and the Toledo Masonic Lodge was formerly located.

The entire east wall of the building will also be replaced as the brickwork on that side is in critical need of repair.

Kavalier said the hope would be to continue the project to the 134 E High building and into the ground floor spaces sometime in the future but that the state of downtown retail storefronts in Toledo is reason for a cautious and gradual approach.

The buildings at 132 and 134 E High St. in Toledo share an intersection with the historic Wieting Theatre that serves the community as a movie theater as well as a well-appointed venue for live entertainment. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

An upper story apartment at 132 E High St. in Toledo. -- Photo by Darvin Graham