TOLEDO, Ohio -- Libbey-Owens-Ford Co., a long-time Toledo glassmaker, will relocate its headquarters and lease half of a new 16-story downtown office building, the company announced Thursday.
President Ronald W. Skeddle said the move to LOF Tower is planned primarily to save money but is not expected to cost any of the 300 employees at corporate headquarters their jobs.
Construction on the LOF Tower is contingent on the city's assistance in providing a parking garage, Skeddles said.
The $40 million office-retail complex, known as Summit Center, is to be completed during the first part of 1989. The deal calls for Summit Center Co. to acquire LOF's old headquarters building.
Skeddles said LOF uses 175,000 square feet of the 28-year-old building it now owns. The company will lease 100,000 square feet of the new building and become its primary tenant.
'LOF is excited about moving its corporate offices to the riverfront and securing a future position in this city, beginning with this long-term commitment,' Skeddles said. 'It is a positive development for our Toledo employees and also for the city.'
LOF, which has 8,200 employees in the United States, is a subsidiary of the Pilkington Group in St. Helens, England. The international glass company bought the Toledo business in 1986.
As a result of the Pilkington purchase, LOF's two other businesses in fluid power and plastics moved from the downtown office and became the Trinova Corp., headquartered in suburban Maumee.
'We are keenly aware of the sensitivity of cities like Toledo,' said Kenneth Appleton, president of Pilkington Holdings. 'We always had a good feeling about Toledo.'
