Dashing Pacific to sell Marina District property
7/9/2015The Chinese company that bought the Marina District, with promises of developing the riverfront property, has decided to sell it.
Toledo Director of Business and Economic Development Matt Sapara confirmed late Wednesday that Dashing Pacific Group informed the city it planned to sell the East Toledo property.
Company officials said if they weren’t able to get a redevelopment plan moving by the July 1, they would list it for sale, Mr. Sapara said.
Dashing Pacific bought the 69-acre site along East Toledo’s riverfront in July, 2011, for $3.8 million. The company planned a $300 million project that would include residential, retail, office, and entertainment space.
As time went by, however, Toledo city officials became frustrated with a lack of real progress on the site.
Last June, with about a year left on Dashing Pacific’s timeline to redevelop the parcel, then-Mayor D. Michael Collins said he had no faith in the company’s ability to make good on its promises.
“There’s a reality here,” Mr. Collins said. “Dashing Pacific is not going to build anything on that property. What did they build in China? Nothing. They created something in China. They created a name for themselves. That’s all it was.”
The mayor said he was stonewalled in his attempts to meet with company leaders.
Mr. Collins said if he didn’t get assurances by the fall of 2014, he would notify Dashing Pacific of the city’s intention to start marketing the property to new developers.
Toledo City Council’s deal with Dashing Pacific includes buyback rights.
Under the purchase agreement, the city can buy it back between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017, if there hasn’t been “substantial” development.