Toledo Development Company Renovates Historic Building with CDFI Financing
Client: Ambrea and Kevin Mikolajczyk, owners of ARK Restoration and Construction
Client Location: Toledo, OH
CDFI: Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP)
CDFI Service Area: OH
Financing and technical assistance, with support from the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and Google.org Grant Program
Located in the heart of the Vistula neighborhood adjacent to downtown Toledo, OH, the former Wonder Bread Factory has long sat abandoned and underutilized. Now ARK Restoration and Construction, a local woman- and Black-owned business started 11 years ago by Ambrea and Kevin Mikolajczyk, is using financing from Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP) to turn this historic site into a modern mixed-use facility for residential and commercial tenants.
The building will offer 33 units of affordable rental housing, 4,000 square feet of commercial space, and more than 11,000 square feet of garage and storage space for incoming tenants. ARK will also move its 15-employee operation into the building. The renovation of this historic site will play a pivotal role in strengthening the Summit Street commercial district. Project partners include the City of Toledo, the Lucas County Land Bank, ProMedica, and fellow CDFI Local Initiatives Supporting Corporation (LISC).
“The historic Vistula neighborhood is critically important to our city and is well-positioned to benefit from the great resurgence of investment downtown in recent years. This mixed-use redevelopment project is a significant investment for Vistula and an important catalyst for similar economic development and job creation,” shared Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz with local media.