Photo by Emma Delk During Tuesday’s announcement for the project, Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said the $63 million project would be “one of the most impactful projects in downtown Wheeiling modern history.”

WHEELING — As he stood before the Wheeling Coffee & Spice Co. and National Equipment Co. buildings — which would soon be demolished to make way for a $63 million hotel, dining, retail and event center — project spearhead Barry Allen told city officials and residents he was “getting on the Wheeling train.”

At Tuesday’s formal announcement for the project held outside WesBanco Arena, Allen and city officials shared what “getting on the train” for creating the 100,000-square-foot multi-use building at Wheeling Waterfront entails.

Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott explained that his initial involvement in the project was many conversations with Allen about what the city needed. Elliott noted that this new project is an example of business owners stepping up to participate in Wheeling revitalization efforts.

“This is an incredible, incredible project that’s going to bring more vitality, more entertainment and a much-needed hotel and condo living space,” Elliott said Tuesday. “A rooftop bar, a first-floor restaurant and a coffee shop are all things you need in a 24-hour economy. It’s also right next to an 800-space parking garage that mostly sits empty, so it’s hard to envision anything checking more boxes for what we need right here.”

For Allen and his wife Lisa, who are the former president and former CEO and chair of the board of directors of The Ziegenfelder Co., respectively, getting on the train for the project has included establishing Vol for Life. This Wheeling-based development company will lead in the creation of the multi-use building to fuel the city’s revitalization.

The Allen family will also be the seed funders for the building that will encompass the area on 14th Street between Main and Water streets adjacent to WesBanco Arena and the Robert C. Byrd Intermodal Transportation Center.

To kickstart the project, City Manager Bob Herron said the the city of Wheeling has assembled “all the necessary property” for the $63 million project by using TIF District Economic Development funds. The “necessary property” the city will purchase for the project through the Ohio Valley Area Development Corp. encompasses five buildings totaling $2,187,000.

Herron explained after the announcement that “at this point” in the project, funding to purchase the buildings would come mainly from Tax Increment Financing. He noted that the city’s land acquisition budget is “factored into the overall project” as well.

“Depending on what private financing, tax credits, BUILD WV incentives and other private or public incentives are in the final capital stack, TIF money could be used and/or credited in other areas,” he said.

Herron added that Allen has agreed to reimburse the city through the OVADC for “100% of the site acquisition costs” by purchasing all or part of the project back from the city and OVADC if the project does not move forward.

Three buildings to be purchased by the city for the project are part of National Equipment Co.’s operations. According to Herron, the city will purchase the company’s warehouse on 14th Street and showroom building on Main Street by the end of this month.

Swann Realty owns the main National Equipment Co. building on 14th Street, located next to the warehouse. According to Herron, the city’s purchase of the building “is still being finalized” and should be completed by the end of the year. National Equipment Co. will move to another Wheeling location within the next year. The owners have yet to announce their new location.

The space of the main National Equipment Co. building will be used for the hotel, and Herron added that the smaller National Equipment Co. building on Main Street is being considered for use as a hotel management office.

Wheeling City Council contributed to the purchasing of two buildings for the project during Tuesday night’s meeting by approving the transfer of $540,000 in TIF District Economic Development Purposes funds to the OVADC. The city will use this money through the OVADC to help purchase the Coffee & Spice building and the National Equipment Co.’s showroom building on Main Street.

The city has also purchased the small building on the corner lot between 14th and Main Street for the project. That building is owned by 404 Partners LLC, a Wheeling-based company owned by T.J. Radevski.

Demolition of these buildings is scheduled to begin in December, and Vol for Life aims to cut the ribbon on the building in April 2026.

The project’s architects, the Mills Group, were also present during Tuesday’s announcement to detail the renderings created for the project.

Mills Group Managing Principal Michael Mills described the first floor of the building as geared toward the “public sector.” The bottom floor will contain a dedicated retail area on the 14th Street side of the building, with the entrance to the hotel’s lobby and bar on the first floor located on Main Street.

According to Mills, the building will also have a more general public-oriented entrance facing Water Street, where the restaurant will be located. The first floor of the building will also contain a coffee shop.

The second through sixth floors will contain 122 hotel rooms, with the seventh floor dedicated to eight condos. The eighth floor will contain an almost 3,000-square-foot meeting room with a bar and a balcony-covered entertainment area on the rooftop.

Mills Group Principal Architect Victor Greco explained that the building’s materials would be chosen to fit into the “context” of the surrounding buildings. The architects considered materials like glass to match the neighboring WesBanco Arena while also incorporating brick to match the nearby Waterfront Hall.

The architect group is also investigating the feasibility of preserving historical design elements from the National Equipment Co. and former Wheeling Coffee & Spice buildings by incorporating their facades into the building.

“We don’t want this to just be a giant block of glass in the middle of the city,” noted Mills. “We want to break up the design so the building matches the scale and materiality of the rest of the city.”

On the project’s construction, Mills Group Associate Principal Chris Clark noted that working in the area is “challenging,” as the group has learned from their other downtown projects, such as the Flatiron Building and The Health Plan building. What will make construction for this project difficult are the deep foundations they have to build on and the building’s location on a floodplain.

“This area will be a challenge, but we’ve done similar work on many other projects, so we’ll continue moving forward,” said Clark.

Elliott noted that elements that must be “added to the mix” to complete the project are still in the works. Though he will not be there to facilitate putting these pieces into place, Elliott noted leaving the role as mayor in July with the announcement of this project under his belt was “gratifying.”

“This is a perfect example of the city playing a facilitating role in private investment in the city,” added Elliott. “It’s the private sector seeing an investment opportunity here that will change Wheeling and have more businesses and families see the opportunities here. All these buildings that define the Wheeling skyline were built 130 years ago by the private sector seeing an opportunity, so that’s what it will take.”

After the announcement, Allen noted that seeing the project renderings displayed in front of the National Equipment Co. and Wheeling Coffee and Spice Co. buildings was an “incredible” experience.

“I’ve walked this street and visited these buildings a million times, but I’ve never seen the rendering boards in front of it,” explained Allen. “I want people to be able to take this project and not see the buildings here today but to see the vision and get excited about what we are planning for the city’s future.”