“Me and my wife, we'd come out here, especially around Christmas time, and go up into the restaurant and have dinner,” said Mike Luchini. “When they closed that, that was kind of sad, and now to see this come down, it's really sad.”

This project is the 264th undertaken by the Allen County Land Bank and its largest to date. The state has provided millions of dollars in brownfield grants to aid redevelopment efforts across Ohio, including in Allen County.