Kroger Bakery/Ford Assembly Plant

2019 Most Endangered Sites

KROGER BAKERY

Year Built: 1914
Address: 457 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus Ohio 43215
Original Building Use: Ford Assembly Plant
Owner: The Kroger Company

The Ford Motor Company built this substantial brick factory with ornamental white terra cotta trim across Cleveland Avenue from Fort Hayes. Designed by Ford Architect John Graham, Model T parts arrived by train and were assembled here and distributed to area dealerships until c1925. Assembly at this site ended in 1932 and the plant closed in 1939. The building was later adapted as an expansion of the neighboring commercial bakery for the Kroger Company where 14 production lines filled downtown Columbus with a sweet aroma for 90+ years. The Kroger Bakery closed in February 2019, citing outdated layout of the plant and aging equipment, and eliminating 411 jobs.
Why is this Site Endangered?
The Kroger Bakery building is for sale and offers unique adaptive reuse opportunities in a downtown commercial corridor ripe for creative solutions for this one of a kind, historic property.

Photos by Orbit Design & Richard Burry

THIS BUILDING SPEAKS TO YOU… Speak to us about saving it, acquiring it or both.