Building sale causes records company move

New owners plan food venture

The leader of a local record company says his business needs to find new space due to the change of ownership of a building on Broadway.

Global Exec Records, also known as Soulful Voices Entertainment, will leave 422 Broadway.

But it is unclear where its next home will be, said CEO Daniel Rucker.

In August, the building sold to Harbourtown Provisions Co. Ltd.

It will become the home of Union Town Provisions, a gourmet food venture of new owners Shawn Grieves and Tim Scholl.

Meanwhile, Global Exec Records will vacate by Sept. 30, Rucker said.

The change in ownership also affected Lifestyle Studio, operated by Desmond Carter, who had his store in the building, Rucker said.

The space also was a rehearsal space for the Barbies of Steel City girls’ dance troupe and the headquarters for online entity Since 1974 Radio.

“The whole point of me being frustrated isn’t about Broadway, it isn’t about a new owner purchasing a property,” Rucker said. “It’s about the culture that the city says they embody. What I mean by that is, how can you praise a business coming to the city when you eliminate four?”

The building served as a large platform for entertainment, something that city officials say they want for downtown Lorain,

Rucker said.

The businesses at 422 Broadway created the Love, Peace & Soul festival.

Global Exec Records has developed local talent as well.

Most recently, Lorain singers E’javien Franklin, 13, and Hannah Lurry, 16, released online albums and had a concert at Lorain High School in September.

Last year, E’javien referred to the building as “the four-two-two” in his single “Do What I Do.”

“We’re in the entertainment district, we are the entertainment,” Rucker said. “We’re no longer on Broadway now.

“How are we going to build the entertainment district when there’s no entertainment in the city?”

A Lorain native, Rucker said he wants to keep the record company in the city, but has been reluctant to buy a building because he travels frequently to make contacts in the music industry.

The building at 422 Broadway transferred Aug. 21, according to records of the Lorain County Auditor’s Office.

“The deal is done,” Grieves said.

Global Exec Records occupied about 7,000 square feet of space, but based on

current recording technology, that size likely is too large and expensive for the music company, Grieves said.

“Nothing against him,” Grieves said. “I love music, I’m for it. He should be in this neighborhood, he should be in a studio.”

Rucker had more than 30 days’ notice to vacate the building but did not reach out to the new owners for help finding a new space, Grieves said.

“I don’t know the guy,” he said. “I wish him the best and something good will come out of it. It always does. You just have to have a little faith.”

Meanwhile, demolition has begun inside the building, Grieves said, and crews have found 1930s-era tiles and fixtures still in place.

Earlier this month, Grieves and Scholl said they will renovate the 12,000-square-foot space to include a cafe for breakfast, lunches, wine and cheese tastings.

There will be rooms for aging cheeses and meats.

The rooms upstairs have a view of Black River Landing and will become bedand-breakfast lodging.

The plans are to open “soon,” they said, but a schedule will depend on renovations.