Columbus Landmarks Announces First Endangered Properties Fund Investment
Columbus Landmarks purchased the Nagy Brothers Shoe Repair building at 1725 Parsons Avenue in the Hungarian Village neighborhood on the south side of Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Landmarks worked with the Nagy Family heirs to acquire the historic commercial building for $35,000. With this purchase, the family has entrusted Columbus Landmarks to preserve the building and to connect it to a new owner for an appropriate and productive use that respects its important place in local history. Since then, Columbus Landmarks has had the building listed on the Columbus Register of Historic Properties and placed a protective easement on the property, protecting its history.
Made Possible by Our Supporters!
Funds to support Columbus Landmarks and our work to protect places of cultural heritage has ben made possible the Albert W. and Bonnie R. Van Fossen Fund and a $50,000 grant from The 1772 Foundation to grow the fund capital.
More About the Nagy Brothers Show Repair
The Nagy Brothers Shoe Repair building was featured on Columbus Landmarks Most Endangered Sites List in 2020 due to vacancy and for its potential for adaptive reuse. The 1932 commercial building is a small, single-story, painted brick and block structure with intact original interior fixtures and equipment. The southern section (with peaked roof) was originally an automobile service station. Joseph and Steve Nagy, both deceased, purchased the building just after World War II, added on to the building, and operated Nagy Brothers Shoe Repair for 63 years along the Parsons Avenue Business Corridor of Columbus’ South End. Joseph Nagy walked a block from his Hungarian Village home to this shop daily, until his retirement in 2009. The site represents diversity in the city’s cultural inheritance and an opportunity to recognize, remember, and preserve overlooked assets.
Columbus Landmarks entered into an Option to Purchase Agreement with the Nagy Family in November 2021. During the 120-day option period, the organization utilized a combination of donated professional services and paid consulting services to examine the site and building as part of its due diligence. The due diligence included a structural examination, title search, soil testing, zoning code and development regulations review, historic site eligibility review ,and economic development due diligence. In December, Columbus Landmarks hosted a community workshop and visioning session that included mapping and site analysis and discussion of desired future uses. The workshop resulted in preliminary sketches of compatible uses for the building and the rear (west) portion of the property as well as an adjacent vacant parcel currently owned by the City of Columbus Land Bank.