Owner: Once-Great Eastern shopping center to be again

Can the Great Eastern shopping center be great again?

Northwood city officials and business owners are hopeful.

The 57-acre plaza off Woodville Road, now known as Northwood Commons, was once home to JCPenney, Value City, Kroger, Sears, Thom McAn shoes, and a Fanny Farmer candy shop. Now it sits mostly vacant and dilapidated with a parking lot that is falling apart and dimly lit — if at all — at night.

The center has also been deemed a public nuisance by the city. Northwood Dhaliwal Plaza, LLC, owned by Amrit Dhaliwal, has been cited 51 times over the last year.

Ms. Dhaliwal was in court last week and agreed to an improvement timeline, said Amy Stribrny, Northwood’s zoning inspector. That includes six months to fix the buildings’ roofs and keep Ms. Stribrny informed of work that is going on at the property. The lighting work should start in two weeks and pavement repairs will be done as weather permits.

In an interview Friday at the property, Ms. Dhaliwal said work is beginning immediately on the roofs, parking lot, and lights.

“Once that is taken care of, the interior lighting and whatever needs to be done inside, then we’ll be doing the exterior facade,” she said. “It was in very bad shape when we took it over.”

Ms. Dhaliwal said she and her husband, Gurpreet Singh, have been in real estate for 20 years.

“We do purchase the value-added properties, in which we can get a better deal, and do the renovations, and get it rented out,” she said.

Possible future businesses at the site include a banquet hall, laundromat, bowling center, and arcade, Ms. Dhaliwal said.

She said she does not want to demolish the buildings and sell the property.

“We want to renovate it and lease it out,” Ms. Dhaliwal said. “I do get a lot of inquiries for the location.”

It’s been a slow process, Ms. Dhaliwal said. She has architectural plans, which took a year to develop, that depict a new exterior with all the buildings in different colors.

Ms. Stribrny said any plans would have to be approved by the city.

“Citing someone into court is the last thing I want to do. But if it takes that to get them moving ... ,” she said. “It would be great to see this come back to life.”

There are mixed feelings in Northwood about whether the complex should be saved or leveled.

“She does have a gold mine here, we’ve tried to tell her,” Ms. Stribrny said.

Northwood Administrator Kevin Laughlin said the city constantly receives complaints about the Great Eastern property.

“Everyone asks what the city is doing about it. The city is doing what it can ... enforcing zoning regulations and taking them to court,” he said. “It’s sometimes a frustratingly slow process.

“What I’d like to let folks know is we’re not sitting on our hands here,” Mr. Laughlin said. “We’re literally doing everything we can. The city can’t just take ownership of it.”

He believes the property is valuable because of its location.

“It’s a great spot for commercial development,” Mr. Laughlin said. “You have high traffic counts along the road corridor; it’s very centrally located.”

Ms. Stribrny said the city first offered Ms. Dhaliwal a demolition grant through the Wood County Planning Commission when she bought the property.

It would cover the buildings on the site’s southwest area.

“And she turned it down. She says that she can save the buildings,” Ms. Stribrny said.

Ms. Dhaliwal was cited last summer, Ms. Stribrny said.

“We didn’t see much change, so we started a public nuisance case with her,” Ms. Stribrny said.

The roof problems and parking-lot lighting — just nine of 57 light poles currently work — were the biggest problems, she said.

“This is black at night,” she said. “It’s in a condition now where we consider it hazardous.”

The center’s current tenants include a dollar store, pet shop, insurance agency, and day care center.

Debbie Reynolds owns Deb’s Body Jewelry & More LLC and has been at Great Eastern for 12 years.

“When I grew up, there was the mall and Great Eastern,” she said, referring to Woodville Mall, which was foreclosed in 2011 and demolished in 2014. “They were both crowded all the time.”

The city now owns that site and is developing the Enclave, a mix of homes, senior living, some small commercial businesses, and a community center, there.

Ms. Reynolds is eager to see Northwood’s remaining commercial anchor revived.

“I think that once the owner starts the heavy construction, people are going to say, ‘Great Eastern is open again,’” Ms. Reynolds said. “I think it’s going to be good.”

Jean Garrison and her family have operated seven stores, including six flea markets and the pet store, in the plaza for the last eight years.

Ms. Garrison said she is thrilled with Ms. Dhaliwal’s vision for the shopping center.

“Beautiful — it’s like every store will have its own identity. Some will have windows at the top. It’s going to be fabulous,” Ms. Garrison said. “We’ve been waiting a long time for someone to come in and do something for the plaza. And we’re hoping she’s the answer.”

Not only was there great shopping at Great Eastern 50 years ago — it was also the hub of family activity, with a putt-putt course, giant slide, and the first Christmas tree with lights set to music, Ms. Garrison recalled.

“Everybody came and sat in the parking lot. It was filled,” she said. “This is the center of Northwood, and it has great, great potential.”

The buildings’ once-heralded facade — a mix of metal, brick, glass, and concrete — is in disrepair.

A November, 1956, newspaper article described the variation in storefront construction. There was tile, porcelain enamel, brick, stone, and glass.

Thousands attended the grand opening of the $10 million “Great Eastern Shopping City” that month, according to a Blade article.

Another building on the property received newspaper coverage when it opened.

The United States Postal Service self-service unit had vending machines for stamps and postcards, deposit boxes, and a direct-line, free telephone to the nearest main post office.

Today, it’s a decaying red-white-and-blue shell with flaking paint.

Wood County land records show Northwood Dhaliwal Plaza, based in Upper Darby, Pa., purchased the properties at 2500, 2534, and 2680 Woodville for $2.2 million on Dec. 6, 2022.

“We want her to clean this up,” Ms. Stribrny said. “She said she has the means to do it. She seems to have the passion for making it better.

“And that’s our main goal, to get this back to a condition where people want to be here, it’s safe to be here, and there are businesses that want to be here.”

Contact Debbie Rogers at: drogers@theblade.com.