Arrowhead Park Association
Member of the Month – November 2018
Each month, the APA features one randomly chosen member; Tomahawk Development has been chosen for November. We hope you can use these brief overviews to learn more about your neighbors and reach out to network and create relationships that help you grow your businesses.
Tomahawk Development
Tomahawk Development goes back to the early days of Arrowhead Park. The Anderson family owned much of the land and wanted to be sure that it was developed with thought and care. The majority of the Indian Wood Circle section of Arrowhead Park was farmland, with a wooded area, now Eppstein Park, in the center. Several businesses had been making investments in the area, pairing together for certain projects. At one point these businesses decided to pool their investments and work together. Bill Lathrop, Dick Ransom, Virgil Gladieux, Ed Searles, Jim White, Bob Ransom, Chuck King and Mark Rasmus began to develop buildings as a team, more efficiently, with a shared vision. In 1986, Tomahawk Development was off and running. In the early years, Mark Rasmus ran Tomahawk and was there for most of his life. Tomahawk projects spanned the Toledo area, but were primarily focused on Arrowhead Park. (The annual APA golf outing is held in his honor.)
George Lathrop, President, worked for Mark Rasmus in the late 90s and early 2000s, focusing on managing existing buildings so that Mr. Rasmus could work on new projects. Mr. Lathrop still has a handful of tenants who he helped move-in in early 90s. He enjoys working with them and seeing how they’ve become successful. Mr. Lathrop says that offering many properties in Arrowhead Park benefits his clientele. If a tenant needs more space, he is able to let them out of their lease if they remain in one of Tomahawk’s buildings. Mr. Lathrop happily reports, “We’ve been lucky to be north of 90% occupied, but with so many properties, we always have some vacancies.”
Mr. Lathrop, who handles the bulk of the marketing activities for Tomahawk’s buildings, is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Ohio, and also represents buildings owned by partners of Tomahawk. Currently the company is orchestrating renovation of 480 W. Dussel, the former Andersons’ headquarters into suites and hopes to complete the project in early December. He is excited to show off the renovations and new common areas.
Suffolk Square on Dussel Drive
Currently, Tomahawk Development occupies a storefront in Arrowhead Shops, at the corner of Holland and Dussel. The office has occupied many places in Arrowhead Park over the years, moving as clients requested the space. He has found the 4 years in this location convenient because it is easy to find and minutes from each of his Arrowhead clients.
Tomahawk’s primary focus today is managing the buildings in inventory and keeping tenants happy. He reports that he has some nice storefronts available in Suffolk Square Plaza (Dussel and Ford), and is looking for flex tenants for Arrowhead Corporate Center. These versatile units vary from 3,200 to 16,000 square feet, and have and offices in the front and a warehouse in back. Tomahawk also manages Arrowhead Shops and many other properties.
George Lathrop
Because the founders of Tomahawk were like family to each other, the company retains that family business flavor. Mr. Lathrop feels he is personally representing the well-known families in Northwest Ohio who banded together to create Tomahawk Development, and approaches tenants from a family standpoint to this day. “Making sure that the tenants are happy is important” says Mr. Lathrop, and he makes that the focus of the business.
If you know of a business which would be a great fit in Suffolk Square or Arrowhead Corporate Center, reach out to George Lathrop today.
