A new tenant will soon move into the first floor of the South Tower, and more are expected in the near future as the city of Wheeling continues to market the sox buildings on the OVMC campus.
Kurt Zende, the economic development specialist for the city, confirmed that employees with the Ohio County Family Resource Network will be relocating in the near future.,
“There has been a lot of interest in the South Tower,” Zende confirmed. “There is nothing definitive at this point, but we do have a couple of the small offices that will be filled by the employees of the Ohio County Family Resource Network, and we hope to have a couple of other non-profits relocate there, too.
“If that’s the case, they will locate on the first floor and, we hope that takes place within a few months,” he said. “There are leases that are running out during that time frame, and I believe it will be a better fit for them because it will be more convenient for them than their current locations are. The South Tower, though, has the large parking lot, and there’s much more space for storage than what they have now.”
Move-In Ready
The seven-floor South Tower houses doctors’ and dentists’ offices as well as the oncology treatment center and the hospital’s sleep-study facility. While most of the equipment was removed by Alecto employees after the corporation shuttered the campus 13 months ago, there remain several pieces of office furniture on all of the floors.
“We can do something as far as competitive rates are concerned,” Zende explained. “It’s not our goal to undercut anyone in the private sector, but right now we can do something for $8-9 per square foot as is, and what we have found is that there are very few rentable office spaces in the city as we sit here today.
“So, the South Tower has a lot of potential for those kinds of relocations,” he said. “And the interest that we have received has been very encouraging. The building is in great shape, and there is plenty of space that is move-in ready right now.”
On the Market
Just as City Manager Bob Herron has explained since the city acquired the campus from MPT, LLC in June, the hope is to sell the structures to the private sector.
“And that remains the ultimate goal,” Zende said. “We would love to find someone who wants to buy the South Tower and lease it out themselves. It’s a lot easier if we sell the building and allow the owner to get the most out if it because it’s full, so that has been my goal from the very beginning.”
Right now, the South Tower does not have hot water, but Zende, who also serves as the general manager of Centre Market, said the repair is to be performed in the near future.
“There is work that needs to take place, and we know that,” Zende said. “We have to get hot water to the building now, and that’s just a matter of repairing a heating coil. That will be completed shortly, and once we fire up the boilers for the whole campus, the South Tower will be good to go.
“For next summer, we will have to install a new chilling unit for the South Tower,” he explained. “We can cool the offices with Remington units, but the chilling unit is the better way to go for the whole building to be as efficient as possible. If we have the opportunity to sell the building, of course, we would make that need known to the buyer.”
The Wrecking Ball
When Alecto-West Virginia initially purchased the property from the non-profit organization that operated OVMC and East Ohio Regional Hospital for many years, the corporation entered into a deal that included upgrades to the Center Wheeling Parking Garage and the demolition of the former Nurse’s Residence.
That structure includes the original residence as well as a newer portion that was constructed in the 1960s around the same time the South Tower was erected. Zende confirmed that at this time that plan remains the city’s intention.
“The plan to demolish the nurse’s residence is still in place, and right now we have the auction that started Thursday to get some of the medical equipment and some of the furniture sold,” Zenda said. “We have received a lot of interest about the auction, too, and the interest has been local and from a lot of people from outside this area.
“Once the auditorium is empty and we are sure the offices have been searched for anything that needs to be saved, the fire department will use those buildings for training purposes,” he continued. “Then, the plan calls for the demolition of the buildings.”
