“Part of the northeast corner of the building had collapsed, and now it looks like the northeast corner through the north side of the building is sheered off,” Chris Riegel, owner of Stratacache Tower told the Dayton Daily News. “We were told to evacuate the building because there’s another round of storms and wind coming through.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Riegel said he believes the fire department is concerned about the stability of the historic building.
Parts of the building fell on to Stratacache Tower, according to video sent to the Dayton Daily News.
The building at 34 N. Main St. is owned by the Montgomery County Land Bank. It was transferred to the land bank from the city of Dayton in 2022.
The empty building has a checkered past.
The 14-story tower was built in 1926 to house the Third National Bank and Trust company. It later became the Society Bank Building and then KeyBank. In more recent years, the building was in the hands of a self-proclaimed Hindu mystic.
Key Bank vacated the building n 2008. The classically styled building features 245,000 square feet of space.
In August 2010, a self-proclaimed Hindu guru, Annamalai Annamalai, who called himself Dr. Commander Selvam, bought the building $525,000 in cash and renamed it Paru Tower. Two businesses opened in the tower, Commander’s Cantina and a grocery.
As legal troubles mounted for Annamalai in Georgia, the building was placed into receivership and has remained vacant since 2012.
In 2013, with Annamalai owing more than $300,000 in back taxes, Montgomery County foreclosed on the building.
Dayton City Commission voted in May 2016 to spend $300,000 to pay back taxes and $200,000 for the structure off the creditors' receivership.
The city was working with a developer to use historic tax credits to redevelop the building before the pandemic. That never came to fruition.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
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