Buderer making sizable investment in Sandusky

SANDUSKY — Sandusky officials believed they prescribed the right remedy to tear down a blighted building and help build up one of the city's oldest businesses.During a recent public meeting, city commissioners approved two related pieces of legislation for Buderer Drug Co., a local pharmacy in continuous operation since 1860. Today it's at 633 Hancock St.Buderer Drug, a Sandusky-based business on Hancock Street, recently bought a neighboring condemned property, the former Fisher Drug, with plans to raze this dilapidated structure by Dec. 31. The pharmacy will then create new corporate offices at this site.Razing the former Fisher DrugIn addition to its pharmacy, Buderer Drug also owns the neighboring structure, formerly home to Fisher Drug Co. Buderer rented sections of the building for years. In December, the company purchased this adjoining parcel for $57,000.More structurally sound portions of the Fisher building housed Buderer's drug repository program. The program supplies costly medication and sells this medicine to patients for a fraction of the retail cost.Though the overall footprint posed as a safety threat for both employees and those walking or driving by, project stakeholders said. Various inspectors, in fact, recommended the building shouldn't be salvaged and, instead, come crashing down.Here's an inside look at a Hancock Street blighted building once housing Fisher Drug. Buderer Drug, located beside this property, recently purchased it strictly for demolition purposes. The site should get cleared by Dec. 31."The (former) landlord did not invest in maintaining this building," said Matt Buderer, the company's president and compounding pharmacist. "All maintenance was up to us. While we did a lot of investment into the interior and exterior of the portion we rented, the rest of the structure was allowed to deteriorate, making it unsafe."Buderer Drug purchased the property with the primary purpose of demolition in mind, coming at a cost of about $212,000.Normally, city officials don't provide local funds when private tax-producing entities, such as Buderer Drug, want to raze condemned commercial structures.But officials did withdraw $150,000 from its EMS account — which pays for large-scale demolition jobs and generates funds through ambulance billing — helping offset private costs for Buderer Drug, which must cover the remaining $62,000 amount.This does serve as a special exception, as explained by city chief development officer Matt Lasko:• "The city's next target commercial demolition was to be the former Fisher Drug facility."• "Had the city attempted to demolish directly, the costs would have been in excess of $200,000, however, with the purchase of the building by the adjacent Buderer Drug, the city is able to achieve the same outcome at a significantly lower cost through the leveraging of private funds."• "This further provides room for future growth, when needed, while adding to the growing list of beautification efforts on Hancock Street."Demolition work should start soon and end by Dec. 31. For now, Buderer's drug repository program temporarily relocates into the pharmacy's main Sandusky office.Here's an inside look at a Hancock Street blighted building once housing Fisher Drug. Buderer Drug, located beside this property, recently purchased it strictly for demolition purposes. The site should get cleared by Dec. 31.Renovating and expanding in SanduskyThe upcoming demolition project serves as Buderer Drug's most notable enhancement in a series of recent improvements.Throughout this past year, beyond demolition costs, Buderer spent an additional $238,000 for facility upgrades, new equipment and employee training for these fresh amenities.These sizable financial commitments signify Buderer's renewed faith in Sandusky. After tearing down the dilapidated structure, Buderer wants to build new corporate offices atop this site — another reason why Sandusky doled out public funds for this project."Buderer Drug will continue to maintain its company headquarters within the city of Sandusky for decades to come," Lasko said. "The demolition will open up new, developable land adjacent to their headquarters for future expansion activities for both the compounding pharmacy and drug repository, two critical services offered to residents of Sandusky, Erie County and the broader region."Buderer Drug, a Sandusky-based business on Hancock Street, recently bought a neighboring condemned property, the former Fisher Drug, with plans to raze this dilapidated structure by Dec. 31. The pharmacy will then create new corporate offices at this site.Lasko then summarized the overall project's endgame: "To both accomplish blight elimination of a large deteriorated site within the city while supporting a legacy company remaining within the city of Sandusky is a major win," he said.Before signing a deal with commissioners, the pharmacy's leadership team gave heavy consideration to leaving Sandusky and re-establishing its headquarters elsewhere."We had looked at Perrysburg and other locations in Sandusky and Perkins to relocate," Buderer said. "We decided that, if we could get (the former Fisher Drug) demolished and have room for expansion, we could stay where we are and reinvest in our current property. We could not stay there if a dangerous structure threatened our facility. We would have to take our high-tech business operation elsewhere."Buderer also envisions the building's impending demise sparking positive change along Hancock Street."The demolition would also clean up part of the neighborhood and, hopefully, invigorate others to invest in their parcels, bringing a rebirth of the area and make it attractive for others to locate in the area," Buderer said. "It is a great central location to grow our business and, hopefully, attract others to do the same. Hancock Street is a main artery feeding downtown, and making it more attractive is vital."Making sense of the dollars and centsThroughout the past year, Buderer Drug committed $357,000 to improve land in and around its business on Hancock Street in Sandusky:• $238,000: private funds committed for facility upgrades, new equipment and employee training for these fresh amenities.• $62,000: private funds committed to tear down the former Fisher Drug building; The city also provided $150,000 for this expense.• $57,000: private funds committed to purchase the former Fisher Drug BuildingNote: The company will continue to invest money into this site as it builds new corporate offices where Fisher Drug once stood.Source: Buderer Drug, Sandusky community development officeJacquelin Woodings, a lab manager for Buderer Drug, compounds a powder used in a capsule for hormone replacement therapy at the Hancock Street business on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.