A Canton-based developer says his company plans to turn the former Longaberger Basket Co.’s iconic headquarters into a luxury hotel.Steve Coon, whose company is co-owner of the massive basket-shaped building on the east side of Newark, made the announcement Monday night at a reception for the preservation group Heritage Ohio.
“We’ve just got to make the numbers work,” Coon told WBSN-TV. “It’s a heavy lift, but it’s a great project to spend the time on to make happen.”
Coon and a business partner bought the shuttered building in 2017, about a year after the once-highly-successful basket maker moved out of the property just off State Route 161.
State Sen. Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) wrote on Twitter that “the plans are to renovate the interior & reopen the place as a luxury hotel sometime in 2020.”
