The former Lord Corp. property at the southwest corner of West 12th Street and Greengarden Road has been sold.
GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Twelve years have passed since Lord Corp. closed its plant on West 12th Street and moved to Summit Township.
And although ownership of the 14-acre property, located near Interstate 79 and just west of Greengarden Road has changed five times, none of those owners has built anything new.
Drew Whiting, CEO of the Erie Downtown Development Corp. and the owner of Five Iron Golf in downtown Erie, vows that the waiting is almost over.
The property’s most recent owner, Finish Thompson Inc., a 75-year-old Erie company, has sold the property it acquired three years ago.
Finish Thompson, which purchased the property for $1.37 million, has sold it for $1.3 million to a limited liability corporation identified as Greengarden Gateway, according to a deed recorded at the Erie County Courthouse.
That corporation, formed in August, is registered to Whiting’s home address in Erie.
Whiting, who is acting in his personal capacity and not as leader of the EDDC, said his partners in the project include his wife, Emily, and Mike and Janelle Peterson, owners of Slate and Copper Sales Co. at 1561 E. 12th St. Janelle Peterson is also an interior designer and operates a vacation rental business.
What they plan to build
Although the Erie area has indoor facilities for soccer and hockey, what’s missing are facilities that could be used for training and tournaments for basketball, volleyball and other court sports, as well as wrestling and cheerleading competitions, Whiting said.
He and his partners hope to change that with a project they are calling the Greengarden Gateway, a development expected to cost between $30 million to $50 million.
Preliminary plans call for a 50,000-sqaure-foot building to house light manufacturing or warehouse tenants and a 120,000-square-foot indoor sports facility.
Whiting, a native of the Buffalo, New York area, said he came to Erie a number of times as a kid while playing in youth soccer events.
“We never knew that Erie had a downtown or a bayfront,” he said, referring to the location of the former Family First Sports Park’s location in Summit Township.
Located just off Interstate 79, at the entrance to the 12th Street corridor, the former Lord. Corp. property is in a highly visible spot and relatively close to both downtown and the bayfront.
“We aim to build a community asset that benefits the adjacent neighborhood and the community as a whole, a gateway into Erie that we can all be proud of,” Whiting said.
And they hope to move quickly.
“We anticipate getting through this early design phase and hopefully getting shovels in the ground sometime in the middle of next year,” Whiting said.
Whiting said he thinks there’s an unmet demand for a facility of this type and that it could benefit Erie by helping to fill hotels and restaurants and attract visitors.
Ben Huggler, executive director of the Erie Sports Commission, doesn’t disagree.
“I do believe there is a demand for it,” he said. “Our market could support it for 25 to 40 tournaments a year, especially a purpose-built new facility of the modern era.”
Huggler said the Erie Sports Commission is prepared to help.
“We would be in support of doing our job to help market and promote organizations to choose Erie,” Huggler said. “Our goal would be to help them fill that weekend business.”
Plans aren’t set in stone
Current plans call for moving ahead with a sports facility and warehouse space.
Whiting said that the plan for a sports facility could be relocated elsewhere.
“If another tenant came along and would create 100 (manufacturing) jobs on the site, that could be a good option too,” he said. “We are in a key location. Regardless of what happens here, we are going to build something the city can be proud of.”
Former owner had another offer for Greengarden property
Finish Thompson, which has its headquarters just a few blocks away, purchased the property with plans to build a new facility.
Earlier this year, owner and CEO Casey Bowes confirmed that those plans had been shelved.
A few months ago, Whiting said, Bowes received a $1.3 million offer from a company that wanted to develop a large self-storage facility.
Before accepting that offer, however, Whiting said that Bowes asked the Erie County Redevelopment Authority if others had interest in the property.
In an email to the Erie Times-News, Bowes wrote: “I wasn’t satisfied that the potential buyers had plans that benefitted the community given the importance of the property as a gateway to the City. The offer was from a legitimate and reputable business, and while the property made sense for them, it’s not what I wanted to see end up there in terms of jobs potential and something that would bring more visitors to that part of the City.”
Janelle Peterson is confident they can accomplish that goal.
“Together, we are going to transform a site that once was into something that thrives for generations and beyond,” she said.
Whiting sees a role for the EDDC
Although Whiting, who joined the EDDC in 2023, is involved, the development won’t be owned by the organization.
But plans call for the EDDC to manage the development.
Whiting said developers also see hospitality as a component of their plans and will look to provide entertainment, food and drink options.
“We see a very family-oriented site that will be a big draw for the region,” he said.
Janelle Peterson has high hopes.
“With thousands of cars passing by each day, its visibility gives us a powerful opportunity to create something that inspires pride among Erie residents, sparks excitement for visitors, and builds curiosity about all our city has to offer,” she said.
Contact Jim Martin at jmartin3@usatodayco.com.
(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Buyer of former Lord property has plans for Erie sports facility
Reporting by Jim Martin, Erie Times-News / Erie Times-News
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Traffic passes at the corner of West 12th Street and Greengarden Road. GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA TODAY Network, Reuters
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This story was originally published October 1, 2026 at 1:22 PM.