Potential buyer reviewing Von Loh building, city officials say

Published 1:51 pm Monday, October 12, 2026

The bank holding the loans on the Von Loh building properties is working with a potential new owner, according to C.J. Heaton, Blair’s deputy city administrator of public works.

Stop work orders were posted Oct. 1 at the properties at 1600 and 1626 Washington St. No new permits have been applied for or approved since, Heaton said in an email.

“That potential owner is doing their due diligence on the project to determine what work needs to be done to get the project completed, what funds that might take, and what the entire process will look like,” Heaton said. “Given that they need time to do that, it could be several weeks before anything new happens.”

The city is in contact with the bank and the potential new owners, he said.

“As long as there is forward progress, we will continue to work in good faith,” Heaton said. “As anyone can see, a lot is going on with these projects, and unfortunately there isn’t a quick fix at this point.”

Aaron Barrow, the city’s deputy city administrator of public safety, said in an interview that there has been interest in completing the project.

“We have had people express interest in taking it across the finish line, and I hope they can,” Barrow said.

Barrow said the situation is more complicated than many people realize. “This issue is far more complex than I think people appreciate,” he said. “You’re talking people with interests in that property that have invested a lot of time and a lot more money than people even realize. I think our goal, again, has always been that we want that project to succeed. Whatever we can do to make that happen, within reason, that’s what we wanna do.”

Some aspects of the situation involve other parties, Barrow said. “There are some details I really can’t get into that involve other people and other entities, and so I’m not gonna go into that,” he said. “Hopefully we can get some movement on that soon.”

Barrow said the red notice on the door is a stop work order, not a condemnation. “They’re separate issues right now,” he said. “It’s been the determination of the building inspector, who is the city building official, is that those permits for those buildings are no longer valid.”

After the stop work order was issued, the city asked that the building be secured, Barrow said. “Not that there was work being done in the building, but we allowed them to button up. We asked them to button up, at the very least, the ground-level entryways to prevent anybody from getting access,” he said. “It was a life safety thing.”

Heaton said the biggest safety issue was that the properties were not secure, allowing the elements and essentially anyone off the street inside. “Public safety has always been the top concern,” Heaton said. “The City asked to have the right of way cleared and the building secured to prevent access immediately.”

The previous permits had expired and need to be renewed, which requires inspections and updated plans, Heaton said. “Given the current state of the building and potential damage from the elements, the building inspector is going to require updated plans for all aspects of the project — electrical, fire, elevator — and ask for an engineer to review the property to determine what can be salvaged or not,” he said. “This will be the path forward for whoever ends up purchasing the property.”

There is no deadline for the bank or potential owner to obtain permits, Heaton said, and the immediate concerns have been addressed. “The bank is not interested in having an empty building; they will want to get their investment back,” he said. “I have high hopes that the potential owner will move quickly to get the permits reinstated and start work again just as soon as they can assure that they can have a successful project.”

Heaton said the city should know within a few weeks whether the potential owner will proceed.

After documented attempts to have the sidewalk cleared, city staff removed items from city property and stored them in a secure location, Heaton said. The city has not assessed any fees to the property. “We have tracked the time and equipment used to clean up the sidewalks and may choose to bill this to the property in the future,” Heaton said.

Barrow said he would not call the cleanup a weight off anyone’s shoulders because the issues remain. “I don’t know if I’d say it’s a weight. The issues still exist,” he said. “You still have a very visible, iconic structure at one of the busiest intersections in town that needs some work. Our goal has always been the same, that that project gets finished.”

Barrow said he hopes the public feels the area looks better after the cleanup. “My approach to it has always been I want to solve the problem,” he said. “I think if I felt anything, it’s some frustration because the problem isn’t getting resolved.”

Heaton said the city did not want to slow the project down. “I think I can speak for all three of the Deputy Administrators in saying that the primary goal was to clear the sidewalk, secure the site, and get things moving on this project,” he said. “With the bank being involved and a potential new owner coming in, we didn’t want to add any other setbacks to getting this issue resolved.”