The Chinese development firm Dashing Pacific completed the purchase of 69 acres of Marina District property on July 1, marking the first major milestone in the development of the East Toledo property.

The $3.8 million purchase agreement includes additional options for Dashing Pacific to purchase and develop more land in the 127-acre Marina District. Dashing Pacific already owns The Docks restaurant complex near International Park.

Government officials and business leaders joined Dashing Pacific for a celebration of the property closing on July 2 at Marina Drive on the east bank of the Maumee River.

Mayor Mike Bell and Dashing Pacific officials unveil a 7,000 pound granite rock to symbolize their commitment to the project. (Press photo by Scott Grau)

“We are very pleased to announce this important first step in the Toledo Marina District project,” said Wu King Hung of Dashing Pacific. “We’re proud and honored to become part of the Toledo community and we’re thrilled to be here to celebrate the Fourth of July in Toledo. It’s a perfect time to celebrate the purchase of the property, the beginning of an enduring relationship with this community and the exciting project to come.

“Thank you for being here to share our vision for the Marina District and the City of Toledo,” Wu continued. “Thanks for the vision and trust. Today is not only an accomplishment, but it is a commitment and a promise to the future of the Marina District.”

Daniel J. Angel, a District 3 city council candidate in the next election, wrote in an e-mail to The Press, “I am happy that the Marina District has been sold. I would like to have seen all the offers considered before the final sale but at least now the people of the east side will finally see the area developed.” 

Dashing Pacific officials unveiled a 7,000 pound granite rock at the ceremony they said would symbolize the strength of their commitment to the project and to the community. The rock will be transported to the Toledo Zoo where it will be presented as a gift to the zoo’s new baby elephant, Lucas.
In addition, Wu and fellow Dashing Pacific investor Yuan Xiaohong announced they would be making their homes in the Toledo area.

“What was nice was they were making a big deal about their commitment,” District 3 councilman Mike Craig said. “That’s their interest. They want to do it right.”

Craig believes for Dashing Pacific’s planned $200 to $300 million mixed use of residential and commercial development to be a success, it has to bring in new residents from outside the Toledo area — that includes from out of state or overseas.

“That’s economic development,” Craig said. “I keep on telling people every time a new person comes to Toledo, that’s like creating jobs. It doesn’t matter whether they work here or not. That’s the same as creating a job with all of their taxes plus they spend their money in Toledo, plus they are helping to support the housing market. So bringing new people to Toledo is huge. If we can bring 200 people a year to Toledo, at the end of five years that’s the same economic impact as 1,000 new jobs.

“I think maybe one of their concepts is maybe bringing other investors from elsewhere in the world. They think that Toledo is a great place. You come here if you want to invest in the Midwest and you open your first office in Toledo and then look around.”

Craig noted that a businessman wanting to sell a product in the United States can reach most of the nation’s market within a day’s drive, making this a better place to set up shop compared to the east coast.

“Half a day is getting out of New York. Half a day from here and you’re in Cincinnati or Chicago,” Craig said.

Two decades later
The Marina District has been on the table for nearly 20 years. This is the first time a developer has actually held a groundbreaking ceremony, although no detailed plans were revealed and dignitaries did not bring shovels.

“One of the things when I actually ran for mayor is that I knew if everybody in Northwest Ohio would come together, that we could start in a very positive way and maybe we can turn our city around,” Mayor Mike Bell said. “So this day right here will start as day one of being able to make that happen.

“For me, this is a bit of a family affair. The City of Toledo, the people who live here are family, and I also have some new family members (Dashing Pacific investors and their families) in the front row.

“With my honored guests here, my new family, we kept them under cover. But we kept them under cover because we want them to stay right here in Northwest Ohio and Toledo. When I first went over to China, it was a very interesting experience for me because I didn’t know what to expect. But, what I ran into was a lot of smiling faces. One of the first smiling faces I ran into was Mr. Wu here,” Bell continued.

“Mr. Wu, the way I actually got to know him, was actually through a little cocktail, where he continued to challenge me until he felt that I had appropriately loosened up. That actually became an unbelievable feeling when you are so far away from home for somebody to step up and right away make you feel at home,” Bell continued, drawing laughter.

Bell noted that it is customary in China for people to drink while discussing business.

“Then, we had the honor of being able to travel and I met Mr. Yuan — another top business person from China who had done some remarkable things over there and so I had the honor of meeting two very powerful people right away,” Bell said.

At the ceremony was former Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, who made the Marina District project one of his priorities during three terms in office.

Finkbeiner started with Columbus developer Frank Kass and later Perrysburg developer Larry Dillin, but both backed out for different reasons. Former Mayor Jack Ford at one time had the Pizzuti Company of Columbus on board.

“Mayor Finkbeiner put a lot of time and effort into this, and so did Mayor Ford so that today this project is going to be able to move forward. A lot of times it is very easy when you are in a political position to say, ‘You did it all.’ Well, I’m going to tell you I’m not like that. It’s about a lot of teamwork, it’s about a lot of stepping up and pushing the football to the goalposts and being able to get it across,” Bell said.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed