NORTH CANTON, Ohio (AP) — A development firm purchased the site of the former Hoover Co. vacuum cleaner factory, and future plans call for a mix of retail shops and perhaps loft-style homes, city officials said Monday.
Downey, Calif.-based Industrial Realty Group LLC, which has been extremely active in acquiring old industrial sites in Ohio, added the Hoover campus for a mixed-use development.
The sale price of the property and its several buildings was not disclosed, Mayor David Held said.
The site over the next five years could add hundreds of jobs through various commercial ventures, Held said.
''This is a way to preserve our past and have hope for the future,'' Held said. ''We're very excited.''
Hong Kong-based Techtronics Industries Co. Ltd. acquired Hoover last year from Whirlpool Corp. and closed the 85-acre campus, resulting in 750 job cuts in North Canton, the northeast Ohio city where Hoover was based for nearly 100 years.
IRG recently also was the key player in a $900 million plan to build a new headquarters building in nearby Akron for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., redevelop old Goodyear buildings and other nearby properties.
