Former Lancaster shoe factory will be converted into commercial space and apartments
LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- A building that once housed the Fairfield Shoe Company will be converted into a commercial space that includes apartments.
The renovation of a century-old factory at 219 N. Columbus St. will usher in "The Shumaker" -- a mixed-use project that will include 60 residential apartments and five short-term rentals. The property will additionally feature three interior courtyards.
Built in the early 1900s, the building being used for The Shumaker once housed the Fairfield Shoe Company, which employed nearly 2,000 people and was manufacturing 20,000 pairs of shoes a year by 1919. Given that history, Urban Restorations renamed the building to The Shumaker to acknowledge its history.
Stephanie Bosco, Lancaster's economic development director and executive director of the Lancaster Port Authority, said that the gears started turning on the project more than two years ago when former mayor David Scheffler and former economic development director Mike Pettit met with Bob Schilling, president of Urban Restoration.
"This redevelopment is already attracting and enabling the type of growth and quality of life Lancastrians are looking for including more retail and downtown living options," Bosco said. "This will be a catalyst for more development in downtown Lancaster."
On Jan. 29, The Shumaker announced that Urban Restorations received a $2 million tax credit from a state program that provides tax credits to help finance mixed-use projects, such as recently announced changes to the former Kroger Bakery in Columbus.
“This project is going to be a gateway for this quarter of our downtown to new development, much-needed residential space and more commercial space," Lancaster Mayor Don McDaniel said. "We are already getting more interest in revitalizing this section of our downtown, so we are excited to see what the future holds as The Shumaker comes to fruition.”
Urban Restorations also received funding from the Ohio Department of Development and a federal tax credit of 20% of the renovation cost.
The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2025.