5-minute read
In its heyday, the historic building at 121 and 123 N. Kentucky Ave. was a Montgomery Ward department store. But for most of the past 25 years, it has sat empty facing Munn Park, falling into progressively worse repair and frustrating downtown revitalization efforts.
A short walk away, the century-old Hartsell building at 106-114 E. Main St. housed several businesses in its three storefronts, including Liggett’s Drugstore, a Singer sewing machine store, restaurants and a bus terminal. But it has been vacant and neglected for more than a decade.
Lakeland tried for years to persuade the buildings’ owners to fix or sell their properties in the Munn Park Historic District, but to no avail, City Attorney Palmer Davis said.
Now it’s asking the 10th Judicial Circuit Court to intervene.
Lakeland has moved to foreclose on both buildings, citing unpaid code enforcement fines that have accrued since 2019 and are now over $390,500 and $109,850, respectively.
Montgomery Ward – then
A safety show sponsored by Montgomery Ward, 1936. | Lakeland Public Library 
Children line up for the annual Montgomery Ward bicycle parade in 1936. | Lakeland Public Library 
Montgomery Ward in 1951. | Lakeland Public Library
Montgomery Ward – now
The entryway of the former Montgomery Ward building. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The floor outside 123 N. Kentucky Ave. still has an MW logo. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The lobby of the former Montgomery Ward building. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
Inside the former Montgomery Ward buildling. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The front window of the former Montgomery Ward building. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
Code enforcement officers have flagged the awning as a safety hazard. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
Plywood covers cracked glass. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The building faces Munn Park. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Eyesore in the core
The Montgomery Ward building on North Kentucky Avenue was completed in 1932 and was a destination for Lakeland shoppers for more than three decades. It moved to the former Lakeland Mall opposite Searstown in 1966.
Jeffrey K. Holden of Prime Park Centre LLC purchased the building in May 2001 for $525,000, with financing from GG V Investments, owned by Sunil Gulati of Tampa.
Holden contemplated turning it into a restaurant and bar dubbed “On the Park,” but that never happened. Instead, code enforcement documents say the prime parcel next to the Kress Building has become a water-damaged, termite-infested eyesore that threatens public health and safety.
The city filed its commercial foreclosure lawsuit on Nov. 21 naming both Prime Park and GG V Investments, but Holden signed a “deed in lieu of foreclosure” on June 28, leaving Gulati’s company as the sole defendant.
On May 30, Lakeland asked Judge Ellen S. Masters to issue a summary judgment in the city’s favor.
Davis said she could rule on the motion any day now.
If she grants it, Gulati will have to pay all the code enforcement fines — which were $390,500 in November and have been growing by $250 a day — and remedy the problems immediately. Or he will have to sell the building.
Davis said the best-case scenario would be for someone with experience and skill at redevelopment to purchase the building for more than the value of the city’s lien. Lakeland would get the money owed, plus attorney’s fees, and the building would get a new life.
Alternatively, Lakeland could end up owning the building as payment for the fines. The city would likely make emergency repairs and search for a developer to buy it.
“Our goal is to get the property into productive hands,” Davis said. “This is an important property in the middle of our downtown.”
Hartsell Building – then
Liggett’s Drugstore, in 1925, was one of the original tenants of the Hartsell Building. | Lakeland Public Library 
The Singer Sewing Machine store in the Hartsell Building, 1925. | Lakeland Public Library 
The Hartsell Building served as a bus terminal in the 1920s. | Lakeland Public Library 
The interior of the bus terminal inside the Hartsell Building, 1928. | Lakeland Public Library 
Liggett’s Drugstore at 108 E. Main St., shown here in 1928. | Lakeland Public Library 
A view of Main Street in 1937. The Hartsell Building is the first awning in the left foreground. | Lakeland Public Library 
By the 1970s, the Hartsell Building’s window and sidewalk awnings had been removed. | Lakeland Public Library
Hartsell Building – now
The Hartsell Building, viewed from across the street. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The Hartsell Building’s three storefronts are empty. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
There are no goods in the windows of the Hartsell Building. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The former bus terminal, as it looks today. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
Inside another storefront in the Hartsell Building. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The Hartsell Building has been vacant for many years. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow 
The building is owned by Fred Lohr, of Lohr Enterprises. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
The Hartsell Building has been owned by the Lohr family for more than five decades. Joseph Lohr purchased it from Emily Lohr in September 1981 for $275,000. She bought it in 1967.
The city filed its foreclosure lawsuit against Joseph Lohr on Feb. 14, citing $109,850 worth of code enforcement violations dating back to 2019. They have continued to accrue at $50 a day.
Vacant and vexing
The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority asked the city to take action against the properties.
In a letter to the city, LDDA Executive Director Julie Townsend wrote: “Vacant buildings in downtowns have a number of negative impacts, including but not limited to decreased property values, increased crime and public health hazards.”
“We looked at it and saw that there were substantial code enforcement liens,” Davis said.
The city’s Code Enforcement Board approved taking legal action. Davis said the City Commission has been briefed, but was not involved in the decision.
Abel Putnam, of Putnam and Creighton P.A., is representing the city in the Montgomery Ward case. Nicholas Merriwether is representing the city in the Hartsell Building case.
Davis said the city often uses outside counsel in foreclosure lawsuits because reasonable attorneys’ fees are added onto the liens if the city wins. It saves taxpayer money by freeing city attorneys to work on other things.
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