A decade after it was first built, one of the largest sports facilities in the U.S. is now on the market.
Real estate brokerage Colliers International announced on Monday that the Spire Institute, a 750,000 square foot sports complex in Geneva, Ohio, which includes both indoor and outdoor facilities, is now up for sale.
“The options and creative opportunities are boundless," Mark Abood, senior vice president and principal at Colliers International, said in a press release. "With over $100 million invested since its debut in 2009, a savvy investment group could acquire the entire project for a tiny fraction of the replacement cost! Or, they could submit a proposal to acquire only a part of the property, perhaps the 100,000square-foot office building or a portion of the excess land."
Although Colliers International has not publicly listed an asking price, The Ashtabula Star Beacon reported last July that the 170-acre property once valued at $55 million had recently been appraised at "about $7 million at best." About 100 acres of the property still remain underdeveloped.
“In many respects, the facility provides a sports training and competitive venue that is world-class; it is certainly capable of meeting the needs of a wide variety of athletes training for or competing in national- and world-class events,” reads one summary comment in the draft of the appraisal, per The Star Beacon.
“The facility is so large, however, and so poorly located (in a rural area of Ohio) that it does not have the population to create attendance, visitation (or) utilization by athletes and coaches or trainers. It is grossly over-capacity and located in much too small a market or trade area to garner the revenues necessary to support a competitive return on investment.”
The appraisal also showed that Spire generated an average of $4.1 million in revenue from 2013 to 2017.
Spire is currently owned by Roni Lee LLC, which opened the facility in 2009 under a different name. Last year, Spire CEO Ron Clutter agreed to a deal with Ashtabula County in which Spire would pay $3.9 million in back and future taxes from 2010 to 2026. In light of a potential sale, that deal would reportedly transfer to the new owner.
In November, the Spire Academy made national headlines when prep star LaMelo Ball joined its basketball team. The site has also routinely served as a training facility for Olympic athletes.