The Longaberger Basket Building, the seven-story office shaped like a giant picnic basket on the east edge of Newark, is back on the market with an asking price of $8.5 million. The post-modern landmark clocks in at roughly 180,000 square feet on about 21.5 acres and has sat largely empty since the company moved staff out in 2016. The new listing has revived interest from developers, preservationists and Ohio drivers who still catch sight of those oversized handles from SR-16.
Listing snapshot
According to a listing brochure from Shai-Hess Commercial Real Estate, the property at 1500 E. Main Street is being marketed at $8,500,000 and is described as a seven-story, 180,000-square-foot Class A office campus. The brochure highlights a media room, glass elevators that look out over a multi-story atrium, a workout facility, and 555 parking spaces, including 25 heated underground executive spots. The materials also note capacity for more than 500 employees on a 21.5-acre lot.
Where it sits
Heritage Ohio and the broker's materials both emphasize the building’s visibility from SR-16 and its proximity to The Ohio State University at Newark and Denison University. The listing pitches those campuses as a potential draw for investors and institutional users. The marketing packet also plays up regional access to Columbus and the area's growing tech presence, including Intel's nearby expansion, arguing that the combination of highway visibility and institutional neighbors is part of the value proposition.
Owner and broker comments
Brandon Hess of Shai-Hess Commercial Real Estate told ABC6 (WSYX) that "the current owner would love to see it become a boutique hotel" and that "we want it to be an attraction." Hess toured the property with ABC6's Cam Fontana last month as interest in the listing picked up, echoing earlier redevelopment ideas that have been floated for the site.
A checkered past and stalled conversions
The basket-shaped headquarters was completed in the mid-1990s for Longaberger and, after the company scaled back, the building was vacated in 2016, and the brand later declared bankruptcy, according to architectural records. SAH Archipedia documents that timeline and notes a 2017 sale to a developer. Outlets covering the property also reported a 2019 proposal to convert the site into a 150-room luxury hotel, a plan that stalled once the pandemic arrived. The history of unrealized concepts has underscored how complicated adaptive reuse can be for a one-of-a-kind footprint like this.
What a buyer will inherit
Any new buyer is staring at significant renovation costs, an unconventional interior layout, and local expectations about preserving a familiar landmark. Heritage Ohio and other local groups have pointed to the building's cultural value and its status as a notable example of mimetic architecture as factors in any future reuse. Taken together, that means the next owner will need both deep pockets and a clear reuse strategy if they plan to turn the novelty into sustained activity.
The listing brochure includes contact information for Brandon Hess at Shai-Hess and notes that the property is available for sale or lease, with full details laid out for prospective buyers. ABC6's recent onsite tour remains one of the most detailed public looks inside the basket since it closed, and the $8.5 million asking price now sets the baseline for whatever comes next for Newark's most recognizable office building.
