Surprising buyers for Book Loft building
Bookstore’s owners and investor close the deal
The one-of-a-kind Book Loft in German Village has started a new chapter.
After renting space for decades, the owners of the bookstore, famous for its 32 rooms of books, have purchased the building at 631 S. 3rd St.
On Wednesday, the bookstore’s partners, Russ Iler and Carl Jacobsma, along with German Village investor Jared Jablonka, closed on the deal, paying slightly more than $2 million for the 8,400-square-foot building that’s been standing since 1920. (The purchase also includes the attached building at 632 City Park Ave.)
For the trio, the deal was a way of ensuring that the quirky, labyrinthian operation would continue in the same fashion that made it a German Village institution.
“It’s a great feeling knowing I won’t have to think about what’s going to happen with the Book Loft in 10 or 20 years. Now we can make sure it stays the Book Loft for a long time to come,” said Iler, who started working at the store in 1981, four years after Jacobsma and Roger Tompkins founded it.
In March, the building’s owner, the California-based real estate investment firm Great Valley Land, which had owned the property since 2006, put it on the market with the Worthington firm First Site Realty.
Jablonka, a Pickerington native, recently had moved to German Village after 15 years as a real estate investor in Washington, D.C. He was looking for Co
lumbus-area investments when his brother, Evan, noticed the Book Loft listing.
“They (Iler and Jacobsma) were kind of at risk with their lease, with only a few years left and rent well below market,” Jablonka said. “Someone could buy the building and crank up the rent in a few years. I thought that would be a real shame, so I put the building in contract as a defensive move, so no one could do that.”
Jablonka wasn’t the only one eyeing the building. In the two weeks the property was listed before Jablonka put it into contract, the listing attracted more than 2,000 views, said Michael Metersky, owner of First Site Realty.
“I had two dozen inquiries and six or eight offers,” he said. “There was significant interest before we put it into contract.”
Jablonka said he approached Iler and Jacobsma with the suggestion that the three partner on buying the building. Working with Huntington Bank and the Ohio Statewide Development Corp., the trio came up with a financing plan, Jablonka said.
Even the seller was on board, said Jablonka.
“He was a dream to work with,” he said. “He knew he could have maybe gotten more and closed more quickly with a conventional sale.”
Jablonka said the new owners plan some “modest” upgrades, mostly mechanical, but have no plans to truly change the maze of a building.
“The most important thing is to keep the charm and uniqueness of the building,” he said. “Clearly the experience of wandering around and getting lost in the stacks is the appeal of the place.” jweiker@dispatch.com @Jimweiker