Toledo Westgate project breaks ground with Trader Joe’s, tax exemption
Toledo OH – Westgate Village North has broken ground at the former Sears site, with Trader Joe’s announced and a 15-year tax exemption already approved.
Toledo’s long-vacant former Sears site at 3450 W. Central Avenue is moving from retail rumor to construction site, after the City of Toledo and Abbell Associates held a June 10, 2026 groundbreaking for Westgate Village North.
The headline for many shoppers is Trader Joe’s. But for West Toledo residents, taxpayers, workers and commuters, the project is bigger than one grocery announcement. The city describes Westgate Village North as a $60 million redevelopment at Central Avenue and Secor Road, with several national retailers and restaurants announced, a public tax incentive already approved, and more activity likely along one of Toledo’s busiest commercial corridors.
Stores have been announced, but opening dates are not settled
The City of Toledo said the confirmed tenant list includes Dick’s House of Sport, Golf Galaxy, Nordstrom Rack, Sierra, Trader Joe’s, Mission BBQ and Smoothie King. The city said Trader Joe’s will serve as an anchor tenant for the development.
That does not mean those stores are open now. The current public record supports a tenant announcement and groundbreaking, not a completed opening. No firm opening date should be assumed from the June 10 announcement.
13abc reported that the stores announced so far represent phase one of the project, with a second phase closer to Secor expected to be announced later. The station also reported that Sears closed at the Westgate shopping plaza in 2017, Elder-Beerman closed in 2018, and the former Sears building was demolished before the land sat empty.
For nearby households and small businesses, the practical change is that a prominent vacant retail property is being put back into active commercial use. For relocators or shoppers across the metro, it also adds another reason to watch the Westgate area as a regional retail destination rather than a single-store opening.
The public incentive is part of the story
Toledo City Council records show Ordinance O-538-25 was approved on Nov. 18, 2025, authorizing a Community Reinvestment Area real-property tax exemption for Westgate Village North, LLC.
The ordinance approved a 100% exemption for 15 years on the increase in assessed valuation resulting from the new construction. That distinction matters: the record describes an exemption tied to the added value from the project improvements, not a blanket statement that every tax obligation on the property disappears.
The council record listed an earlier estimated investment of $50,148,392 for the CRA-backed project, while the city’s June 2026 announcement put the redevelopment value at $60 million. The ordinance also said the project was expected to include about 183,081 square feet of new commercial space, more than 80 permanent jobs and estimated annual payroll of $3,868,103.
For residents in the Washington Local School District, the school-tax issue is especially important. Council records say the district was notified and that approval of the abatement was contingent on Westgate Village North, LLC entering into a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement with the district to compensate it for a portion of forgone tax revenue.
The records reviewed do not provide a specific dollar amount for what the district may forgo or receive through that agreement. That makes the PILOT terms and follow-through a key item for taxpayers and school-district families to monitor.
Traffic and access will matter on Secor and Central
The site sits at a high-profile West Toledo intersection, with the developer’s project page describing direct access from both Secor Road and Central Avenue. Abbell Associates also describes Westgate Village North as a 27-acre retail development.
The City of Toledo’s Secor Road corridor page classifies Secor as a Principal Arterial because of its traffic counts and function. The city lists average daily traffic of 19,245 vehicles in 2024, along with average speed data of 38.3 mph and an 85th percentile speed of 43.9 mph.
The city also said in a Nov. 20, 2025 project update that it paused the planned 2026 reconstruction of Secor Road and would reevaluate the full corridor from Dorr Street to Central Avenue.
Those figures do not quantify how much new traffic Westgate Village North will generate. They do show why construction access, turning movements, store openings and any future Secor corridor decisions will matter for daily commuters, nearby neighborhoods and customers trying to reach the new stores.
Items for residents to follow
The next questions are practical ones: when each tenant will open, what hiring will look like, whether wage and job numbers match the earlier projections, how the school-district PILOT is implemented, and how traffic access is handled as construction progresses.
The former Elder-Beerman property next door remains separate. The City of Toledo said Abbell Associates is partnering with The Nikki Group on an approximately $30 million redevelopment of that adjacent site, with retail tenants expected to be announced in the coming months.
For now, Westgate Village North is best understood as a major West Toledo redevelopment entering construction with named tenants and public support already attached. The store signs will draw attention, but the tax, school and traffic details will determine much of the day-to-day impact for residents.
Sources
- City of Toledo Westgate Village North announcement, June 10, 2026
- Toledo City Council Ordinance O-538-25
- 13abc report on Westgate Village North groundbreaking
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