COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A pizza shop Downtown wants out of its current location, citing a “nightmare” at the property ever since a new owner bought it.
Luke Edwards, the owner of OH Pizza and Brew, announced Wednesday on the shop’s social media that he plans to relocate his shop after six years at 88 E. Broad St. The straw that broke the camel’s back came in the form of a letter from AEP Ohio. The utility provider’s notice stated that due to a lack of payment, it would be disconnecting electricity at the building, known for its Key Bank branding.
“It has become obvious that the owners of 88 E Broad St. no longer care or are completely inept,” Edwards wrote. “Since SPG sold it over a year ago, it has been nothing but a nightmare. Water, electrical, heating and cooling issues have plagued our operation to the point of complete shutdowns on top of the terrible electric shorting out our refrigeration equipment. This is not okay and I can’t continue to operate a business like this.”
A New York-based company, Baruch Broad Street LLC, acquired the tower housing OH Pizza and Brew for $12,025,000 in January 2022, according to the Franklin County Auditor’s Office. Business records from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office tie the LLC to Asher Roshanzamir, the CEO of Zamir Equities, also based in New York.
Zamir Equities did not respond to a request for comment on the issues Edwards referenced. But the pizza shop owner did speak with NBC4, sharing an array of issues that have hurt his business since the takeover.
After Roshanzamir’s shell company took over, Edwards said it hired Colliers International to manage the property. The group honored OH Pizza and Brew’s existing lease with the prior owner, but other financial problems appeared.
The pizza shop owner described multiple instances where maintenance work on the skyscraper would force him to close his store, sometimes for multiple days in a row, because he could not operate with shut-off utilities during the work. With the past owner, this resulted in a discounted rate on his monthly rent. But within the first month and with a five-day shutdown, Edwards said the property manager hit his business with a late notice, claiming he only paid a partial amount.
Colliers has cycled through three lead managers since taking over management at the Key Bank Building, Edwards noted. And he blamed the property management for a nearly $10,000 burglary, which resulted in Edwards having to replace all of his point-of-sale systems.
Because the building’s storefronts use magnetic locks, his team had no control over the OH Pizza and Brew’s security or when the doors would shut.
“Over Christmas, they didn’t lock the doors. We got burglarized,” Edwards said. “He came in, thought we were open and wanted to use the restroom. We got him on camera. He looked around, he sat there for 30 minutes, walked around in my kitchen, grabbed pretzels and just started eating them. … Lo and behold, he took our registers.”
Edwards owner said that he has avoided involving attorneys or officially going through Franklin County courts to put his rent in escrow, and instead has directly negotiated his rent factoring in shutdowns with the owner. More recently, the owners initiated court proceedings to put OH Pizza and Brew in rent default, according to Edwards.
The management company, Colliers, suffered from payment issues with the owners as well, Edwards said. It left and then returned after the owners paid them for an additional month, but as of Monday, Edwards said the property owners had not paid Colliers beyond that.
AEP Ohio’s communications team told NBC4 that it couldn’t discuss individual customer accounts like the one for the Key Bank Building. However, they did share that the utility provider had withdrawn disconnection orders for the skyscraper and had no plans to do so as of Tuesday.
One of Edwards’ biggest concerns through the issues at the Key Bank Building has been his employees’ wellbeing and was part of his decision to get them to a new location.
“It sucks because … when my staff looks at me, I want to be able to tell them ‘Hey, I’ve got your back. We’re doing this together,’” Edwards said. “When the riots were going on Downtown, I was standing right there with them.”
For the future, OH Pizza and Brew is looking for another location Downtown, rather than a long-distance relocation, Edwards said. He asked customers on social media to “please be kind as the next couple days, weeks or months will be bad.”
“We’ve had a lot of suitors try to get us elsewhere, and my biggest thing is, for the staff, I want to be there for them,” Edwards said. “So I want to keep it as close as possible. … We’re going to stay open until we find a better place.”