As a teen, Larry Dillin ran the projector at the single-screen movie house in his tiny hometown of Marengo, Iowa, and dreamed about becoming an astronaut.
But his life took a different route. And at 47, he has emerged as one of Toledo s most high-profile developers.
Mayor Jack Ford has tapped him to help lead the stalled redevelopment of a 125-acre industrial site known as the Marina District along the Maumee River s eastern banks.
And in suburban Perrysburg, he has beaten retailing giant General Growth Properties, Inc., to the starting line with a village green-style retail center that is to be the linchpin of a $250 million residential-commercial development. Envisioned as a 100-acre mix of housing, stores, and offices in northern Wood County, Levis Commons, which is based on the “new urbanism” style, is described as the largest single development ever in the fast-growing Toledo suburb.
He is an enthusiastic cheerleader for the projects in which he is involved. “People are dying to see this project go forward,” he said of the Perrysburg development, whose village-style retail section is called Town Center at Levis Commons. “Since we had the announcement about the retail tenant base, my phone has been ringing off the hook from people wanting to live out there.”
Outside local development circles, the soft-spoken engineer who would rather be known as a planner is somewhat of an unknown.
People who have worked with Mr. Dillin give him high marks, describing him as honest, diligent, and up-front. However, court records show that at least one business relationship ended on a sour note.
He lives in a Victorian mansion built in 1882 on Front Street in Grand Rapids, a picturesque riverfront farming town turned weekend tourist jaunt.
He spent much of his time in the late 1990s traveling the world for corporate clients in Toledo and elsewhere looking for places to build factories, negotiating incentive packages with government officials, and overseeing construction.
In recent years, he had begun to focus more on development projects. He led partnerships responsible for Access Pointe, an industrial park in suburban Northwood that has attracted companies such as Alcoa, Toronto-based Magna International, and Wonder Bread maker Interstate Brands.
Outside Toledo, he is working with a Cleveland community group to help turn a 27-acre inner-city site that includes abandoned St. Luke s Hospital into a $70 million housing-commercial development.
From an office in downtown Perrysburg he operates a commercial realty firm and a consulting business. He and accountant Dave Smith, a longtime friend from Iowa, own Perrysburg-based Dillin Automation Systems, which produces conveyer lines, bottle-capping equipment, and testing devices for packaging firms, including Toledo s Owens-Illinois, Inc. The two bought the former Roe, Inc., four years ago.
While the purchase price was not revealed, Jack Simmons, former principal shareholder, said in court papers that the company s value was estimated at $3.2 million in late 1998. Mr. Simmons later filed suit against Mr. Dillin in Lucas County, claiming he was wrongly discharged. The suit was dropped in 2002. Mr. Simmons last week declined to comment on the dispute. Mr. Dillin is not actively involved in management of the firm.
There have been persistent questions about how Mr. Dillin finances his projects. Said one longtime real-estate executive who spoke on the condition he was not identified: “Dillin isn t Donald Trump or Bill Gates. Of course, there s help. I give him credit. He found it.”
Mr. Dillin conceded that he had just $1,000 when he started his first business providing real-estate advice to corporations. However, he added, “I have no financial backer other than great banking relationships with local and national institutions.”
He describes the people behind Hillard LLC, which owns a chunk of Levis Commons, as a group of metro Toledo investors who wish to remain low-profile. LaSalle Bank, Chicago, is the principal lender, for the retail portion of the project. Merrill Lynch Capital, Chicago, is providing additional financing, Mr. Dillin said. A substantial sum of his own money is also at stake, the developer added.
Loans are not in place for the larger, residential component. Mr. Dillin said he is considering proposals from builders now and hopes to select one or two builders soon. He plans to sell them property while staying in the picture to make sure they adhere to design and quality specifications.
“If they are hesitant, I ll joint venture with them,” he said. “If neither feels comfortable, I m going to go it on my own. The time is now to move forward on this.”
Inspiration for Levis Commons came from his world travels, the developer said. He recalled looking from an architect s office window in Singapore onto the streets below that were filled with shops, restaurants, pedestrians, and traffic. “It gave me the opportunity to think ... about how we might create an environment that de-sanitizes our typically sanitized zoning code and puts that blending back together to create that social mix.”
This view of development coincides with the currently popular new urbanism concept.
There was skepticism about whether the project would get off the ground until a few weeks ago when buildings started to rise in Town Center at Levis Commons. At the same time, he and co-developer, Hill Partners, of Charlotte, N.C. - which is overseeing recruitment of retailers - announced an impressive tenant list that includes a multiscreen cinema, upscale boutiques, and restaurant chains not yet in the Toledo market.
Some prospective tenants are delaying a decision on renting space until they see what happens at a lifestyle center proposed by General Growth Properties in nearby Maumee, Mr. Dillin conceded.
“Toledo s a small market,” said a real-estate executive who asked to remain anonymous. “People questioned if he could pull it off. It s getting closer to being clear that he can.”
Levis Commons is even winning over people who were unhappy about government incentives provided to the project, including $4 million spent by Perrysburg on roads, utilities, and other improvements. David Kienzle complained to City Council because he feared the project would suck tenants and customers from his nearby retail center built without incentives.
“It s over,” Mr. Kienzle said. “Now, I want his project to be successful. If he continues bringing in the level of tenants he s announced, it could help my center.”
On the East Toledo project, Mr. Dillin s views coincide with a recent shift away from high-end retailing once discussed. Instead, he is considering “good quality housing,” and when enough is there, retail may follow, he said.
Mr. Dillin describes himself as a “small-town guy.” He makes frequent trips back to his 2,500-resident hometown in east-central Iowa to visit his mother and to relax in a “get-away” home he owns along a rural ravine that is filled with hardwood trees. Among his favorite pastimes is attending football games with a younger brother at Iowa State University in Ames, where Larry Dillin attended.
Mr. Dillin s father, who is deceased, was president of a small-town bank in Marengo. But the future developer s childhood was far from privileged. In high school, he delivered newspapers and held down two other jobs.
He paid his way through college working construction jobs.
He is divorced with one grown daughter. He said his marriage, like those of so many others, fell victim to frequent business travel.
Over the years, he has made personal and business contacts that have served him well.
Among his college friends was Peter Douglas, son of wealthy Toledo developer Bruce Douglas. After college, the elder Mr. Douglas recruited Mr. Dillin to come to Toledo in 1983 as a manager at his construction firm. The pair again are working together on Toledo s Marina project, now known as Esplanade at River East.
Peter Douglas remains friends with his old classmate, but said they are not involved in joint business deals. He called Mr. Dillin a “bright, conceptual thinker.”
Later, working as vice president for building development at the former Webstrand Corp., Mr. Dillin played a major role in the development of Arrowhead business park in suburban Maumee.
Mr. Dillin “built a reputation for himself as being a high quality guy with lots of integrity,” said Bill Ammann, a retired vice president of Trinova Corp., which was Mr. Dillin s first cilent when he struck out on his own as a consultant. At one point, Mr. Dillin was traveling the world for Trinova and managing $1 billion in real estate and capital improvement projects. That work fell by the wayside when Trinova, by then renamed Aeroquip-Vickers Corp., was bought by Eaton Corp. in 1999.
By then, Mr. Dillin had cultivated other important corporate clients, including bottle and packaging giant Owens Illinois, Toledo s second-largest corporation.
That relationship was to play an important part in the Levis Commons project. When O-I began considering the sale of property surrounding its longtime research and manufacturing center in Perrysburg off I-475 along State Route 25, Mr. Dillin got the nod.
“Our agenda was more than just making money,” explained Frank Butler, manager of Toledo area properties for O-I. “In essence, we re selling our front yard. We need to have an ongoing working relationship with someone.”
Besides work, he is a member of the board of directors of the Sight Center of Northwest Ohio, Wood County Economic Development Commission, and executive board of the Erie shores council of the Boy Scouts.
First Published February 15, 2004, 5:12 p.m.