Bowling Green Council is eyeing the purchase of a series of properties downtown, including the building
that now houses the Four Corners Center, and a former Huntington Bank branch.
“We’re trying to think in terms of the big picture and the long term,” said Councilman Bruce Jeffers at
Monday’s meeting.
According to a legislative package document prepared for council, the city may turn the former Huntington
mini-bank, located across the street from the Wooster Green, into downtown restrooms.
The building that houses the Four Corners Center, at 130 S. Main St., would be purchased with the goal of
selling it later. That building currently houses the Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors
Bureau, Downtown BG and BG Economic Development. The goal would be to keep those organizations in that
location for years to come. Other purchases would enable additional parking.
Council introduced two ordinances at Monday’s meeting related to the project. The first would provide for
the issuance and sale of $890,000 in notes in anticipation of issuing bonds that would allow the city to
have the funds to purchase the properties. The second would permit the purchase of the properties, as
well as the issuance of a request for proposals for the sale of the 130 S. Main St. property.
According to the legislative package document, the city has been interested in acquiring the former
mini-bank, at 119 S. Church St., for several years and “is interested in this building for downtown
bathrooms that will serve those utilizing the Wooster Green as well as visitors to downtown Bowling
Green.”
The property is located near the south end of the Bowling Green Police Division, and a portion could be
utilized for a future expansion of the police building, though no such expansion is planned right now.

The document also noted that “the addition of an improved safety dispatch center is one of the city’s
long-term capital plans and adjacent land to consider for the center or other improvements is
advantageous.”
The “out of state” owner of the former bank building, listed in Wood County Auditor online records as
Bowling Green Bank Investors LLC, contacted the city about the building. This group also owns the
building at 130 S. Main St., and a parking lot adjacent to City Parking Lot 3.
“The property owner said that all of the associated parcels are to be sold together and would not be
separated into separate sales,” the document stated.
The document noted that the lease on the 130 S. Main St. property expires on Dec. 5, 2020.
“The city, by acquiring the LLC that owns the building and holds the lease, can take ownership of the
lease” meaning “that there will be no changes for the building tenants.”
Prior to the expiration of the lease, the city would issue a request for proposals to sell the building.

“Given the important community element of the Four Corners Center, the ultimate sale will include a
provision that the Four Corners Center be given a lease arrangement for the area it now occupies for a
set rental amount to be established before advertising.”
The net cost of the former bank site, the parking lot and the 130 S. Main St. site would be $730,000,
according to the document. However, the city would make an initial payment of approximately $555,000,
leaving a balloon payment of $175,000 due to the structure of the LLC and lease on the building.
There is another building located between the former bank and the parking lot, which currently houses
Bowling Green Mirror and Glass, owned by members of the Bortel family, at 123 S. Church St.
While a downtown business owner unnamed in the document reportedly has decided to purchase that building,
the owner is not interested in some parcels adjacent to the building also owned by the Bortels located
immediately south of the building where customers for the business park now, and is willing to work with
the city so that the purchase can be split, leaving the city with a large parking area that will connect
other purchases.
The cost of that portion would be $325,000.
“When all of the land is put together,” the document stated, “the city would own adjacent parking and
will be able to reconfigure the area for improved traffic flow, driveway consolidation and improved
aesthetics.”
But, because of the lease arrangements on the land, substantial work cannot be done until after the
leases have expired in late 2020.
Regarding the issuance of bonds for the purchase, it states that the plan will be, eventually, to roll
this debt in with borrowing to improve city parking lots 1, 3, and 4 (anticipated for summer 2020) and
other bonded city debt as may be applicable at that time.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, resident Nathan Eberly said he a “slight concern” about
the plan, specifically the purchase and planned resale of the 130 S. Main St. property, referring to the
city’s recent general fund issues and the increase in parking fees. He asked about risks that the city
might be taking on that could be an “undue burden” in the short- or long-term.
“It could be a good project,” Eberly said, “but how it’s explained to the city taxpayers and residents, I
think, is very important.”
Later in the meeting, Jeffers and Councilwoman Sandy Rowland said that council has met in executive
session to discuss the matter.
If the property acquisition and sale fits into long-term goals, then Jeffers said thinks council would be
prepared to go ahead with it.
Rowland said the ability to work out a deal to keep the organizations currently in the Four Corners
Center there for years to come posed a unique opportunity.
“You just couldn’t ask for anything better,” she said, adding that more parking is “dreadfully needed in
most of downtown.”
“We have pretty strong convictions about this,” Rowland said.
Council President Michael Aspacher said the importance of the downtown to the community, and the need for
the city to support the mission of downtown merchants, is often discussed.
“(The purchases) represent the administration and the city council’s efforts to … acquire property that
is going to support the mission of the downtown,” he said.
The purchases will also help balance municipal parking spaces on both sides of Main Street, and provide
other benefits, he said.
On the financial side, Aspacher said that the bonds will be purchased at a good interest rate and the
expense paid off over 20 years.
“Not only are we acquiring this real estate at fair market value,” he said, but they will also be able to
leverage what he termed the city’s excellent bond rating.
These factors, Aspacher said, “make it a project that is very easy to support.”