Berdan Building sold for $700,000 to Lansing company

The vacant Berdan Building.

A vacant downtown Toledo landmark has been sold for $700,000, setting up what could lead to a $20 million investment to create new living and retail space.

A Lansing business bought the empty Berdan Building at 1 S. Erie St. on Tuesday, according to records on file with the Lucas County Auditor.

Kevin Prater, a developer based in Lansing with The Berdan LLC, said the goal is to develop apartments and retail space. He said the project will take at least two years.

The Building stands across from the entrance to Fifth Third Field and could be filled with 115 market-rate apartments with retail space on the ground floor, Mr. Prater has said.

The previous owner was listed as Parkstone Berdan LLC.

Mr. Prater’s firm successfully redeveloped the nearby Standart Lofts, an upscale 75-unit apartment building, with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and a rooftop deck.

The sale was facilitated by a decision by the Lucas County Board of Commissioners last month to release liens on the property owed to the county by a previous developer dating to 2005.

Mr. Prater has said the project will be privately financed, though he hopes to obtain historic-preservation tax credits.

The Berdan Building is a Toledo landmark and an example of early 20th-century commercial style, according to the 1974 application for the structure to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The five-story building was completed in 1902 and has terra cotta molding around its main doorway and elsewhere.

Contact Tom Troy at: tomtroy@theblade or 419-724-6058.