The City of Toledo announced the project as a roughly $60 million redevelopment of the former Sears site near the Central Avenue and Secor Road retail corridor. Confirmed future tenants named by the city include Trader Joe’s, Dick’s House of Sport, Golf Galaxy, Nordstrom Rack, Sierra, Mission BBQ and Smoothie King.

For shoppers, that means the Westgate area is not just getting one high-profile grocery name. The plan is a broader retail rebuild at a corridor that already draws traffic from West Toledo and the region. For nearby businesses, workers and commuters, the bigger questions are how quickly construction proceeds, when tenants actually open, what jobs materialize and how the corridor handles added shopping trips.

A former Sears site moves forward

City Council records identify the project property as 3450 W. Central Avenue, the former Sears site within the West Toledo Community Reinvestment Area. A Toledo City Plan Commission staff report from September 2025 described the site as about 28.3 acres, zoned regional commercial, with a proposed use as a regional shopping center.

Local reporting by 13abc adds the backstory many West Toledo residents know well: Sears and Elder-Beerman closed in the Westgate shopping plaza in 2017 and 2018, and the building was later leveled, leaving the land empty. The June 10 groundbreaking is the first visible step toward replacing that vacancy with a new retail lineup.

The city announcement also said Abbell Associates is working with The Nikki Group on an adjacent former Elder-Beerman redevelopment, framed separately at about $30 million, with tenants expected to be announced later. That piece is worth watching, but the current confirmed tenant list applies to Westgate Village North.

The tax incentive is part of the story

The redevelopment is not only a private retail announcement. Toledo City Council approved Ordinance O-538-25 on November 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 new construction at the site. That distinction matters: the abatement is tied to the added value from project improvements, not a blanket statement that the property has no tax obligations.

Council materials cited an estimated project investment of $50,148,392 for the incentive approval, while the city’s June announcement described the redevelopment at about $60 million. The same council record said the project was expected to create more than 80 permanent jobs with estimated annual payroll of $3,868,103. Those are projections used in the approval record, not a final hiring count.

The approval was also contingent on the applicant entering into a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement with Washington Local School District to compensate the district for a portion of forgone tax revenue. That makes the school district one of the key public bodies to watch as the incentive moves from approval to implementation.

What residents should watch next

For West Toledo households, the practical upside could include more shopping options closer to home, new service and retail jobs, and additional customer traffic for nearby restaurants and stores. For taxpayers and school families, the tradeoff is the use of a long-term tax abatement to help make the redevelopment happen.

Traffic is another reasonable local question, especially because the project sits near Central Avenue and Secor Road. Public records and the city announcement confirm the corridor location and the scale of the retail project, but they do not document a specific congestion finding. Residents should watch for any site-plan updates, access changes, signal work or construction notices that affect daily trips through the area.

The city’s announcement did not provide store opening dates. The next useful markers will be construction progress, tenant-specific opening timelines, final hiring numbers, the details of the school-district PILOT arrangement and any public updates on the adjacent Elder-Beerman property.

Sources

• City of Toledo Westgate Village North announcement
• Toledo City Council Ordinance O-538-25
• 13abc report on Westgate Village North
• Toledo City Plan Commission September 2025 staff report

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